SAFA Skysailor Magazine

11 May | June 2023 SKY SAILOR Results: 1st Joshie Tie (AUS, Flow XC Racer, XC (up to EN-D/3-liners), 202 points); 2nd Magdy Malik (AUS, Advance XAlps 3, Comp (EN-D/CCC/2-liners), 192 points); 3rd Hammed Malik (AUS, Phi Allegro Light, Sport (up to EN-C), 154 points). Day 7 The forecast was the same for the third day in a row and again didn’t accurately predict the rapid overdevelopment, and later on the big storms in the region. The sky was initially very blue with gusty NW winds making it hard to launch. The convergence line to the west, which generally brought a westerly wind direction change on previous days, also took much longer to arrive over Mt Borah. Once it did arrive, around 2pm, the clouds above were already tall and menacing. Only a few game pilots launched into the conditions, so the day wasn’t valid for scoring. One pilot managed 56km to the south of Lake Keepit, while a few others flew in the same direction for 20 to 30km. All were mostly focused on out-running the big clouds rather than a big XC. The evening brought a spectacular stormy sunset light show to the region. Day 8 The last day of the 2023 Manilla XC Camp finally promised more regular XC conditions along the classic route north towards Bingara. The day was slow to get going and most of the pilots launched within an hour of the thermals starting on the west side of Mt Borah. Climbs to 3000m and regular clouds made the flying fun and easy for most, if not a little Day 7 and a spectacular end to the day All photos: Courtesy Godfrey Wenness