SAFA Skysailor Magazine

6 SKY SAILOR May | June 2023 Manilla XC Camp 2023 by Godfrey Wenness After a two-year Covid break, Australia’s largest week long international XC paragliding event, the Manilla XC Camp, was back. With 162 pilots from 19 nations registered, the event started on the back of two months of amazing XC flying which saw dozens of flights over 200km and a few around 300km. Day 1 Pilots were keen to make the most of the conditions on Day 1 and quickly headed up Mt Borah after the morning briefing. A slow moving trough setting up in western NSW was producing showers and storms around Bourke and Walgett (300-400km from Manilla) which reduced the potential for a over 300km day due to high clouds later. The winds were light easterly and cloudbase rose from 1800m to over 2500m as the day progressed. Pilots mostly flew west towards Boggabri and Narrabri and then beyond into the vast north-west flatlands dotted with green cotton fields. Some also initially flew north and then west across to the flatlands via the Horten Valley, passing by the picturesque Mt Kaputar National Park on the way. Many pilots flew PBs, including some novice pilots flying 30-40km on their first ever XC flights! Winner of Day 1 was local pilot Luke Beresford, flying his Sports Class glider 183km. Luke and second placed Ramon Collodetti (Melbourne) both flew the scenic north route via Mt Kaputar. Their distances are based on the three turnpoint (TP) total.