SAFA Skysailor Magazine

20 SKY SAILOR March | April 2022 Some took the first start at 13:00, while others waited for the day to develop and risked a 30-minute delay attempting to catch the early birds before goal. Jonny Durand on his Moyes Litespeed RX3.5 Pro had a decisive win over Scott Barrett – scores for Open Class . Sport Class task was a 50km race to goal, heading NW of BMIA to the small town of Trundle, with great landing opportunities all the way and an easy retrieve for any land-outs or first cross-countries – Sports Class scores. Forbes Flatlands, Task 2 With the cobwebs blown away, we set a more challenging 145km crosswind task to ‘Tallim’ (Tallimba town) with a first TP to the west at ‘Ootha’. Winds in the paddock were fairly consistent 10-15km/h E-ESE, with cu’s showing a promising sky ahead. Soon all competitors were in the air, seeing cloudbase of ~7000ft (2100m) and making the first TP in good time with a reasonable tailwind. The task became more challenging as pilots had to turn 90°, heading SSW. On the plus side, increasing cu’s showed the way but requiring glides east of course line so as not to drift off the optimal line. A large 17km goal radius made sure competitors had good landing options in case of effects of recent local floods remained. Scott Barrett won, followed by Trent Brown ~5 minutes behind and Attila Bertok in third place. Scores for Open Class and Sport Class . Forbes Flatlands Day 3, Task 3 The last task of 2021 is a triangle starting from BMIA. A classic looking Forbes day with cu’s forming from early on, a slight breeze and beautiful temperatures! The first leg send competitors NNW to ‘Billa’, a 400m radius TP 74km away. Arriving at the most northern point, it’s time to hang a U-turn and head 35km SW for ‘Skulls’, another 400m radius, before heading east and into the slight headwind, arriving at goal ‘Bogan’. Guy Hubbard reported the day’s conditions to be quite technical and punishing when low, but great clouds – approximately 15-20% cloud cover, with cloudbase topping out around 8500ft at midday! Attila turned on the heat on his Litespeed RX5Pro, winning by over 20 minutes, followed by Scott Barrett, and Jonny Durand. Scores are compressing for the top spot and it’s all up for the final days – Open Class and Sport Class . Flatlands 2022, Day 4! The new year started off with amazing con- ditions and a primo Forbes triangle task. From BMIA, with a 5km exit cylinder, first TP send competitors SW for 54km to ‘Caraga’ with a 3km cylinder, next a 61km leg heading east to brush past the northern end of the Coninbla NP with another 3km radius, and finally a 50km into wind push back to BMIA. With back to back 1000 point scores, Attila had another decisive win, second Jonny Durand, followed closely by Scott Barrett. Attila rounds up the day thus: Fantastic Forbes 2022