2019 New Zealand Paragliding Cross-Country Championships
April 1st 2018 to March 31st 2019
End of Season Wrap Up
Here's the confirmed standings and wrap up of the 2019 competition! Weather-wise, the season was a bit of a mixed bag, and I think some who thought they'd wait until after Christmas before taking their holidays for flying, found out that they had left it a bit too late for getting the best days. Eight out of the ten best scoring flights were flown before Christmas, and of those flights, six were flown on two just days in December!
One pilot who was all prepared and geared up earlier in the season was this year's XC Champion, Louis Tapper. By December 23 Louis already had the rewards of a trio of long flights that comfortably placed him at the top the table, and he was never overtaken. Well done, Louis!
Louis says: “Nice to have won finally. The process of progression is still however the most fun part for me, not the trophy or winning... The new wings/online contests are making flights more accessible and visible than ever, however planning and preparation are key for those aspiring to fly big or deep in NZ”.
One pilot who was all prepared and geared up earlier in the season was this year's XC Champion, Louis Tapper. By December 23 Louis already had the rewards of a trio of long flights that comfortably placed him at the top the table, and he was never overtaken. Well done, Louis!
Louis says: “Nice to have won finally. The process of progression is still however the most fun part for me, not the trophy or winning... The new wings/online contests are making flights more accessible and visible than ever, however planning and preparation are key for those aspiring to fly big or deep in NZ”.
Here are some highlights from the season:
- A 150+km FAI triangle flight, NZ's fourth longest (Tapper, 156km, Treble Cone)
- A 125+km out-and-back flight, NZ's third longest (Dave Watson, 127km, Mt Alfred)
- NZ's longest FAI triangle flown outside of Otago (Fraser Monteith, 89km, Cheeseman)
- Three NZ100km open distance flights
- Three North Island 75km open distance flights
- Twelve flights over 100km, when measured with up to three turn points
- A new regional open distance record for Auckland (Leighton Joll, 77.0km, Dills Hill)
- A new regional open distance record for Northland (Mike Ferguson, 50.2km, Tiwakawaka)
- A new regional out-and-back record for Canterbury (Monteith, 64.7km, Cheeseman)
- The long standing (Nov 2000) open distance record for Roys Peak, Otago bettered (Benjamin Kellet, 91.6km).
2019 NZ XC Champions and Category Winners
*1st place and 2019 NZ XC Champion
Pilot: Louis Tapper
After consistently placing in the top four of the Champs in the last five seasons, Louis this year wins the competition with flights that included the longest ‘free flight’ category (3 turn point) flight (168 km); and a superb 156 km FAI triangle flight, 30% further and higher scoring than the next best of the competition!
* 1st Runner Up
Pilot: Dave Watson
Dave's 120 km triangle flight on December 23 was the second highest scoring flight of the season and really puts take off Mt Alfred on the paragliding map (if it wasn't on it already). When measured as an out-and-back, the flight ranks as NZ's third best ever!
* 2nd Runner Up
Pilot: Fraser Monteith
In his second season of the Champs, Fraser really demonstrated how to navigate through the mountains of the Arthurs Pass area with time to get back again - just commit and go deep and direct! And proving that you can fly big triangles away from Central Otago. Fraser's flights broke the Canterbury Regional records for both FAI Triangle and Out-and-Back task types!
* 2019 Women's XC Champion
Pilot: Sanae Noguchi
Sanae's flying included an open distance best of 44 km, and XCs in three South Island regions - Otago, Canterbury and Nelson!
* Best Rookie
Pilot: Nicholas Sand
Nicholas's flights included an open distance best of 82 km, which was mountainous back country flying from Pakituhi Spur, Otago, all the way through to the edge of the MBZ (mandatory broadcast zone) of Mt Cook!
* North Island Champion
Pilot: Mark MacDonald
One of Mark's flights was the season's best open distance from Kamai (69 km). (Also notable was a great late season triangle attempt, from Kaimai again, that was so close to doubling the distance of the North Island FAI triangle record!)
* North Island Best Open Distance
Pilot: Barry Sayer
82.8 km from Te Mata Peak, Hawkes Bay.
* South Island Best Open Distance
Pilot: Rory Devine
124.4 km from Brewster Hut, Otago.
(Report written by Tim Percival, administrator of the NZ PG flights database, on behalf of the NZHGPA Paragliding Competition Committee).Well done all of the above! (Especially Louis) :) Thank you to all who submitted flights so we could see where there was good flying to be had.
2019 NZ PG XC Champs Final Standings (top 50 placings)
Click on these links to go to full report for the 2019 New Zealand Paragliding Cross-Country Championships, including the table of the top 50 placings. (Note that the XContest-published XC Championship table is, at the time of writing, still incorrectly including some ineligible coastal soaring flights).XC Champs Table - Final Standings
North Island Table
2019 Season Site Best Flights
Seasons 2018 and 2019 Milestone Flights
