"No matter what the competition is, I try to find a goal that day and better that goal." - Bonnie Blair, American Gold Medal Speedskater

PARLICK GRID CHALLENGE INVENTOR BEATEN!

Richard Tang, having made the very first entry ever into the Grid Challenge, has made another entry and leaped into the lead from Dave Evans. Another windy day in the west bowl on May 5th saw him beat the previous total by three clear points, heroically diving into the 11th cylinder just before bombing out. Karma rewarded the brave with a lift straight back to his car!

This is, we think, the limit of what's possible without thermals. Richard said "Those last four are going to be tricky!"

All details, including waypoints for the scoring cylinders can be found in the Defined Task Coaching Guide, available from This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Pennine Parafest Competition Format

Weather permitting, we will be running a competition at Parafest. The format is very, very simple, and anyone with a GPS that records tracklogs can enter. There are NO TURNPOINTS, NO GOAL, and NO SPEED SECTIONS. The intention is to create a format that rewards tactical flying as well as long XCs.

The concept is simple: at the end of the day, each pilot will submit ONE tracklog to the competition secretary. That tracklog will be loaded into GPSDump, which will analyse the flight track to work out the maximum open distance (i.e. biggest distance between any two tracklog points) and optimum FAI triangle. The pilot's score will be simply the open distance figure, multiplied by the FAI triangle figure, in km. If the optimum FAI triangle is smaller than 1km, it will be rounded up to 1km.

Note that it doesn't matter where the triangle is done - obviously it'll probably be easier to do a triangle at the starting area, then head off over the back when possible, but if you get a thermal immediately on launch and can then do a triangle somewhere over the Dales, that'll count too.

So if you can do a triangle that's 1km on each side (i.e. 3km), then fly a few km over the back for an open distance of 10km, you'll score 3 x 10 = 30 points.

If you can do a triangle that's 2km on each side, then fly about the same distance over the back, you'll score 6 x 10 = 60 points... so it pays well to max out your triangle before you leave.

That said, even a short bit of bimbling about can give you a triangle 500m on each side, for a 1.5 multiplier, and if you get a good thermal and the sky looks like being good for a big distance, it may be worth getting away when you can and counting on your open distance for your score. The decision is yours!

Notes: there will be no other multipliers - the score is the perimeter of the optimum FAI triangle multiplied by the optimum open distance, both figures to be calculated by GPS Dump. Each pilot may only score ONE tracklog for the day.

It will be the responsibility of each pilot to ensure they have a cable to enable download to USB socket. No USB cable - no download. Bring your cable!

All pilots must sign to fly and notify the committee when they're safe. No sign-to-fly OR no down-and-safe notification - no score.

The 2013 UK XC League is now OPEN - Fly 10km and win a beer

You can now start submitting flights to the UK XC League for the 2013 season. Pennine's top four pilots won the league last year (and the year before!) but we weren't the biggest club in the league. In 2013, we want to change that - we want to see more Pennine pilots in the league than from any other club. It only costs £6, and if you need a further incentive, the competition secretary has committed to buying a pint for every pilot who puts a flight in the national league for the first time this year. We have some of the easiest sites in the country on which to fly more than 10km - on a good day any CP rated pilot on an EN A wing can do it without even leaving the hill, so make sure your batteries are charged, have a look at the Defined Flights Guide for what the minimums are, and get out there and fly!

Registration for the two most important UK-based competitions is now OPEN.

The Lakes Charity Classic is open to all qualified pilots rated CP(Hill) or above, and takes place in Buttermere valley at the end of May. See here for details.

The BP Cup is now open for registration to all pilots rated P(Hill) or AP(Hill). 30 places are open for the first round on the Isle of Wight, which promises some short, technically challenging tasks in pretty much any wind direction within a short drive and some beautiful scenery like nowhere else in the UK. Cost for entry is only £40 for four days, 3rd to 6th May 2013.

The main BP Cup round is to be held, as last year, at the Derbyshire and Lancashire Gliding Club at Great Hucklow, just a few minutes drive from many excellent Peaks sites including Mam Tor, Eyam Edge, Bradwell and Lord's Seat. There are 60 places open on this round. Plentiful camping space, comfortable cheap bunk rooms available, good food, excellent facilities and supportive yet competitive atmosphere are guaranteed. Weather, unfortunately, is not, but there's a nine day window for setting tasks between SATURDAY AUGUST 3RD and SUNDAY AUGUST 11TH. Note that these dates are a good deal earlier than last year and have just been changed to avoid conflict with the British Championships in France. Entry for the Peaks round is only £55 for the week. Pennine pilots won overall, Sports Class AND Best Newcomer last year. Get in there! See here for details.

"I don't know if it's just me or everyone, but the whole vibe with skiing is not so much thriving on competition against others as it is against myself and the clock." - Picabo Street, American Gold Medal Skier