Task 2 (Open)

How the field flew this task, and which behaviours separated it.

View task

Top 3 winning behaviours

Finding the next climb without huntingclear pattern
Fast glidesclear pattern
Timing the start gate wellclear pattern

The optimised route — radii, leg distances and start times are on the task page.

Analysis computed

Pilots: 53
Airtime: 163h (12:48–18:22 AEDT)
Thermals: 418116 shared by 2+ pilots
Working band: 942–2525 m
Airtime split: searching35%
climbing38%
gliding27%

What the weather did

From the weather model

Independent of the tracklogs: modelled conditions for the task area.

Fetching the day’s weather — it will appear here in a moment.

From the pilots' tracks

What the field actually flew — wind, climb strength and leg timing measured from every pilot's tracklog.

The day’s wind, hour by hour and leg by leg. What the air did, read from the field itself. We estimate the wind from the circling of every pilot. The first method is the drift of the circle centre, and the second method, used when the first is not available, is the modulation of the ground speed. We then combine the estimates two ways. The table by hour of day shows how the wind increased and changed direction through the day. The table by speed-section leg shows the wind on each part of the course. This metric describes the day, so it has no value for each pilot.

How strong the day’s climbs were, hour by hour. When the day started, reached its peak, and ended. We group the thermal climbs of all pilots by the hour in which each climb started, labelled in the time zone of the competition. The median and the 90th-percentile average climb rate for each hour show how the lift developed. This metric describes the day, so it has no value for each pilot.

Share of the flight spent in air that wasn’t sinking. How much of the flight was in air worth being in. The value is the share of the airborne time of a pilot, on the shared grid, with a 30 s-smoothed vario at or above −0.5 m/s. The time they flew, the line they steered and the way the flight ended all feed this value. It is therefore a reading of the day as much as of the pilot. There is no expected direction, and the sign of the correlation is the finding. The timing table compares the window of the day’s best climbs against the time when the field launched.

All charts share that one time axis. Arrows fly WITH the wind — direction figures are degrees the wind blows from.

The day's thermals

The 10 most-shared of 230 multi-pilot thermals, reconstructed by pooling every pilot's track through the same climb.The 40 most-shared of 230 multi-pilot thermals, reconstructed by pooling every pilot's track through the same climb. Everything shown is measured from the tracks — no fitted lift model. Select a thermal to see it in detail.

Thermal at 14:00 AEDT — 22 pilots, 44 climbs

Wind 13.7 km/h from 85° (E), measured from 71 circle estimates in the pilots' own tracks.
Model wind cross-check loading…
Leans 16° from vertical toward 120° (ESE), 145° off downwind (265°).
Strongest on the NW side of the core at +1.9 m/s against +1.2 m/s on the SE side.
Multiple cores in 6 of 9 bands between 1900 and 2600 m — separate feeders (⬧ in the rose) before they merged.

Watch this thermal in the 3D replay

Pilots in this thermal (climb rates)

Pilot	Min	Median	Max
Guy Hubbard	-2.0 m/s	+3.3 m/s	+5.8 m/s
Neale Halsall	-1.7 m/s	+1.8 m/s	+4.0 m/s
Steve Blenkinsop	-3.5 m/s	+1.5 m/s	+3.3 m/s
Gordon Rigg	-4.0 m/s	+1.5 m/s	+3.7 m/s
Rich Reinauer	-2.0 m/s	+1.3 m/s	+2.5 m/s
Cedric Joyce	-2.8 m/s	+1.3 m/s	+5.8 m/s
Jochen Zeischka	-3.5 m/s	+1.3 m/s	+4.8 m/s
Mitch Butler	-1.5 m/s	+1.0 m/s	+4.8 m/s
Pawel Cedro	-2.0 m/s	+1.0 m/s	+4.0 m/s
Scott Barrett	-5.0 m/s	+1.0 m/s	+6.8 m/s
Ward Gunn	-1.0 m/s	+1.0 m/s	+4.3 m/s
Jon Durand	-1.5 m/s	+1.0 m/s	+3.3 m/s
Tony Cross	-2.0 m/s	+1.0 m/s	+4.3 m/s
Paul Bissett-Amess	-0.7 m/s	+1.0 m/s	+2.5 m/s
David Drabble	-1.3 m/s	+1.0 m/s	+3.5 m/s
Mark Jeffree	-0.8 m/s	+1.0 m/s	+3.5 m/s
Trent Brown	-1.0 m/s	+1.0 m/s	+4.5 m/s
Steve Docherty	-0.8 m/s	+0.8 m/s	+2.5 m/s
Steven Crosby	-1.0 m/s	+0.8 m/s	+3.0 m/s
Diego Mendonca	-1.5 m/s	+0.8 m/s	+5.0 m/s
Vic Hare	-2.5 m/s	+0.8 m/s	+4.0 m/s
Andrew Sutton	-1.0 m/s	+0.3 m/s	+2.0 m/s

Each pilot's slowest, typical and best climb over their own vario samples in this thermal — a negative minimum means they touched sink inside it.

Band table (exact numbers)

Band	Core offset E/N (m)	Working radius	Extent	Mean climb	Best climb	Samples	Pilots	Cores
2500–2600 m	52 / 23	187 m	316 m	+1.1 m/s	+5.8 m/s	354	7	2
2400–2500 m	78 / 30	123 m	178 m	+1.2 m/s	+6.8 m/s	64	6	1
2300–2400 m	-105 / 199	212 m	293 m	+1.2 m/s	+4.0 m/s	151	3	2
2200–2300 m	22 / -26	193 m	304 m	+0.9 m/s	+4.3 m/s	252	4	2
2100–2200 m	-52 / -14	200 m	276 m	+1.1 m/s	+5.0 m/s	255	9	3
2000–2100 m	-148 / 53	239 m	358 m	+1.5 m/s	+5.0 m/s	255	6	2
1900–2000 m	-91 / 83	163 m	232 m	+1.7 m/s	+5.8 m/s	144	5	2
1800–1900 m	-121 / 264	122 m	280 m	+2.9 m/s	+5.3 m/s	38	2	1
1700–1800 m	-68 / 349	168 m	360 m	+2.7 m/s	+5.8 m/s	52	2	1

Start	Pilots	Height band	Mean climb	Strongest side
13:40 AEDT	15	1100–2600 m	+2.9 m/s	SE
13:53 AEDT	16	1900–2600 m	+1.4 m/s	NE
13:54 AEDT	21	800–2600 m	+1.4 m/s	NE
14:00 AEDT	22	1700–2600 m	+1.3 m/s	NW
14:05 AEDT	20	1600–2600 m	+1.3 m/s	NE
14:12 AEDT	17	1000–2600 m	+2.3 m/s	E
14:15 AEDT	16	2100–2600 m	+1.0 m/s	NE
14:32 AEDT	22	1400–2600 m	+2.3 m/s	NE
14:57 AEDT	14	1500–2400 m	+2.5 m/s	W
15:07 AEDT	15	1500–2500 m	+1.8 m/s	SW

Start	Pilots	Height band	Mean climb	Strongest side
13:10 AEDT	9	800–2200 m	+1.7 m/s	W
13:16 AEDT	12	1300–2300 m	+1.7 m/s	E
13:31 AEDT	12	900–2300 m	+2.2 m/s	S
13:40 AEDT	15	1100–2600 m	+2.9 m/s	SE
13:40 AEDT	9	900–2200 m	+1.0 m/s	W
13:40 AEDT	9	1800–2600 m	+1.1 m/s	NE
13:43 AEDT	9	900–2600 m	+2.4 m/s	E
13:47 AEDT	11	1400–2600 m	+1.7 m/s	NE
13:50 AEDT	7	800–2300 m	+2.9 m/s	NW
13:52 AEDT	9	700–2400 m	+2.4 m/s	NW
13:53 AEDT	10	2000–2600 m	+1.3 m/s	NE
13:53 AEDT	16	1900–2600 m	+1.4 m/s	NE
13:54 AEDT	21	800–2600 m	+1.4 m/s	NE
14:00 AEDT	22	1700–2600 m	+1.3 m/s	NW
14:04 AEDT	9	2000–2600 m	+2.1 m/s	SE
14:05 AEDT	20	1600–2600 m	+1.3 m/s	NE
14:06 AEDT	9	2200–2600 m	+1.2 m/s	NW
14:09 AEDT	9	2200–2600 m	+1.0 m/s	SW
14:12 AEDT	17	1000–2600 m	+2.3 m/s	E
14:15 AEDT	8	1500–2600 m	+1.5 m/s	S
14:15 AEDT	16	2100–2600 m	+1.0 m/s	NE
14:16 AEDT	10	1200–2600 m	+2.5 m/s	E
14:17 AEDT	10	900–2600 m	+2.2 m/s	N
14:21 AEDT	10	1300–2000 m	+1.6 m/s	N
14:21 AEDT	11	1500–2200 m	+1.0 m/s	NW
14:27 AEDT	10	1600–2100 m	+1.0 m/s	E
14:28 AEDT	9	1000–2600 m	+1.5 m/s	SE
14:30 AEDT	8	1600–2000 m	+1.3 m/s	E
14:30 AEDT	12	1400–2600 m	+2.0 m/s	NW
14:30 AEDT	11	1700–2600 m	+1.3 m/s	NW
14:32 AEDT	22	1400–2600 m	+2.3 m/s	NE
14:38 AEDT	8	1600–2600 m	+2.7 m/s	SW
14:50 AEDT	13	1200–2600 m	+2.1 m/s	W
14:57 AEDT	14	1500–2400 m	+2.5 m/s	W
15:06 AEDT	9	2200–2600 m	+1.9 m/s	NE
15:07 AEDT	15	1500–2500 m	+1.8 m/s	SW
15:09 AEDT	11	1900–2600 m	+1.4 m/s	SW
15:18 AEDT	8	1300–2400 m	+2.3 m/s	E
15:18 AEDT	9	1100–2600 m	+2.1 m/s	SE
16:04 AEDT	7	1100–2600 m	+2.0 m/s	W

The dashed “forecast” arrow is the weather model’s wind — a model run, not an observation.

Which behaviours went with better ranks

Each row is one behaviour, compared against the published ranks. Select a row to plot it against rank.

Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb

Label every pilot

Each dot is a pilot. ρ = 0.80 (clear pattern, n = 51). Less is expected to be better here, and it was: top ranks gather to the left. The curve is a trend fitted through the dots: left to right it runs from about rank 7 to about rank 52. 2 pilots have no value and are not plotted.

Speed-section phase shares, field p25/median/p75: climb 34/37/39% · glide 26/32/40% · search 23/28/39%

Behaviour	Strength	What it means	Pilots measured
Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb		clear pattern
Glide speed between climbs		clear pattern
How long after the gate opened the pilot started		clear pattern
Distance covered between climbs		clear pattern
Glide L/D against the field median		clear pattern
Time spent flying with a gaggle		clear pattern
Arriving at ESS with height to spare		clear pattern
Share of the height gain made outside thermals		clear pattern
Share of lift turned in that was kept as a climb		clear pattern
How often leaving the gaggle paid off		some pattern
Gliding wide of the optimal course line		some pattern
Final glide committed to when leaving the last climb		some pattern
Climbs joined on another pilot's marker		some pattern
Climbing faster than the pilots sharing the thermal		some pattern
How round and consistent the circles were		faint pattern
How much of the thermal the pilot climbed before leaving it		could be chance
How low the pilot gets between climbs		could be chance
Share of the flight spent in air that wasn’t sinking		could be chance
Climb rate at thermal exit		could be chance
Low saves dug out from the bottom of the band		could be chance
Time to core thermals		could be chance
Gliding faster when the next climb is stronger		could be chance

Metrics with a clear pattern, plotted against rank

Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb

Measured in percent · lower is better

Time that goes into neither a climb nor progress down the course. This is the time spent to find lift, to stay up, and to decide what to do next. The value is the share of the speed-section time, from the start to ESS or to the landing, in which the pilot neither climbed in a thermal nor glided with real net speed. A lower value means less time lost between climbs.

Speed-section phase shares, field p25/median/p75: climb 34/37/39% · glide 26/32/40% · search 23/28/39%

Glide speed between climbs

Measured in kilometres per hour · higher is better

How fast the pilot moves down the course when they are on a glide. The value is the duration-weighted mean ground speed over every glide after the start, which is the glide distance divided by the glide time. A higher value means more ground covered in each minute between climbs.

Each dot is a pilot. ρ = -0.77 (clear pattern, n = 50). More is expected to be better here, and it was: top ranks gather to the right. The curve is a trend fitted through the dots: left to right it runs from about rank 41 to about rank 2. 3 pilots have no value and are not plotted.

Field glide speed: median 62.0 km/h · p90 70.8 km/h (50 pilots)

How long after the gate opened the pilot started

Measured in seconds · lower is better

Every second between the opening of the gate and the crossing of the start line is a second lost for nothing. The value is the seconds from the start gate taken to the scored SSS crossing. On an elapsed-time task, the pilot’s own crossing is the reference, so the delay is 0 by definition. The start table adds the crossing altitude, and the distance behind the leading pilot who had already started.

Each dot is a pilot. ρ = 0.69 (clear pattern, n = 51). Less is expected to be better here, and it was: top ranks gather to the left. The curve is a trend fitted through the dots: left to right it runs from about rank 8 to about rank 44. 2 pilots have no value and are not plotted.

Distance covered between climbs

Measured in kilometres · higher is better

How far the pilot gets down the course before they must stop and circle again. This is the direct reading of how often they stop. The value is the scored flown distance divided by the number of thermals taken after the start, so 3 km means three kilometres of course for each climb. The pilot must fly 20 km or more. The note of each pilot adds their mean climb percentile inside shared thermals, so you can read the number of stops together with the climb strength. Long legs between weak climbs is a different day from long legs between strong ones.

Each dot is a pilot. ρ = -0.69 (clear pattern, n = 49). More is expected to be better here, and it was: top ranks gather to the right. The curve is a trend fitted through the dots: left to right it runs from about rank 42 to about rank 20. 4 pilots have no value and are not plotted.

Glide L/D against the field median

Measured in ratio · higher is better

Whether the pilot found better air on glide than the other pilots on the same leg. For each completed speed-section leg, we take the pilot's glide-phase L/D. That is the path distance divided by the net altitude lost during the glides, and we skip a leg that loses less than 100 m. We divide it by the median L/D of the field on that same leg, and then average over the legs. 1.10 means the pilot glided 10% further for each metre lost than the usual pilot on those legs.

Each dot is a pilot. ρ = -0.68 (clear pattern, n = 48). More is expected to be better here, and it was: top ranks gather to the right. The curve is a trend fitted through the dots: left to right it runs from about rank 45 to about rank 4. 5 pilots have no value and are not plotted.

Time spent flying with a gaggle

Measured in percent · no expected direction

Whether the pilot raced with other pilots or alone. The value is the share of their flying time after the start inside a detected gaggle, that is, clustered with one other racing pilot or more on the shared time grid. There is no expected direction. A gaggle increases the power to search for lift, but it also holds a pilot to its own speed. The sign of the correlation says which of the two occurred here.

Each dot is a pilot. ρ = -0.61 (clear pattern, n = 51). No expected direction — the sign is the finding: larger values went with better ranks here. The curve is a trend fitted through the dots: left to right it runs from about rank 41 to about rank 7. 2 pilots have no value and are not plotted.

131 gaggle episodes detected (peak size 17 pilots).

Arriving at ESS with height to spare

Measured in metres · lower is better

Height still available at ESS that the pilot no longer needed. That altitude was available for more speed, and the pilot did not use it. The value is the altitude at ESS minus the altitude needed to glide to goal at the standard glide ratio of the sport, which is 5.0 for HG and 4.0 for PG (S7F §13.4.6). A large positive margin means the pilot arrived too high. A margin near zero means they flew the final glide with little height to spare.

Each dot is a pilot. ρ = 0.61 (clear pattern, n = 29). Less is expected to be better here, and it was: top ranks gather to the left. The curve is a trend fitted through the dots: left to right it runs from about rank 4 to about rank 28. 24 pilots have no value and are not plotted.

ESS altitude margin over final glide: top-10 median -62 m (n=10) vs rest median 66 m (n=19).

Share of the height gain made outside thermals

Measured in percent · no expected direction

Dolphin flying: how much of the height that the pilot gained came outside of circling. The value is the share of the altitude gain after the start, smoothed over 10 s, that the pilot made outside a detected thermal. There is no expected direction. The sign of the correlation shows whether dolphin flying paid on this day.

Each dot is a pilot. ρ = 0.59 (clear pattern, n = 49). No expected direction — the sign is the finding: larger values went with worse ranks here. The curve is a trend fitted through the dots: left to right it runs from about rank 20 to about rank 30. 4 pilots have no value and are not plotted.

Share of lift turned in that was kept as a climb

Measured in percent · no expected direction

How selective the pilot is about the lift they stop for. Each period of circling of 30 s or more after the start counts as lift that the pilot sampled. If the period overlaps a detected thermal, the pilot kept that lift. If it does not, they turned a few circles and left it. The value is the percentage kept. A low value means they are selective. A high value means they keep almost every climb they turn in. There is no expected direction: selection wins on a strong day and wastes time on a weak one.

Each dot is a pilot. ρ = -0.52 (clear pattern, n = 50). No expected direction — the sign is the finding: larger values went with better ranks here. The curve is a trend fitted through the dots: left to right it runs from about rank 52 to about rank 3. 3 pilots have no value and are not plotted.

Outcome checks

These measure the result, not a behaviour, so they always follow the ranks.

Outcome	Strength	What it means	Pilots measured
Race time behind the leader at ESS		clear pattern
Race time lost against the fastest pilots, leg by leg		some pattern

The whole field at a glance

1. Olav Opsanger

2. Rory Duncan

3. Jochen Zeischka

4. Mitch Butler

5. Jon Durand

6. Scott Barrett

7. Gordon Rigg

8. Pawel Cedro

9. Steve Docherty

10. Trent Brown

11. Paul Bissett-Amess

12. Rohan Holtkamp

13. Neale Halsall

14. Vic Hare

15. Rich Reinauer

16. Tony Cross

17. Gary Herman

18. Peter Adriaans

19. Neil Hooke

20. Nils Vesk

21. Bruce Atkinson

22. Todd Wisewould

23. Guy Hubbard

24. Dustan Hansen

25. Steve Blenkinsop

26. Stuart Cathcart

27. Steven Crosby

28. David Drabble

29. Ken Millard

30. Peter Burkitt

31. Ian Miller

32. John Harriott

33. Michael Free

34. Ben Torrance

35. Cedric Joyce

36. Grant Tatham

37. Ward Gunn

38. Tushar Pokle

39. Enda Carrigan

40. Troy Horton

41. Andrew Sutton

42. Mark Jeffree

43. Bobby Gillham

44. Gavin Nicholls

45. Jason Lannstrom

46. Adrian Connor

47. Diego Mendonca

48. Neill Hollingsworth

49. Peter Garrone

50. Ryan Brown

51. Brett Davis

52. Marty Hearne

53. Wayne Johnston

The pilots in rank order against every behaviour. A darker cell is a better percentile in this field, and an empty cell is a behaviour that does not apply.

Pilot style clusters

The groups are flying style, and not score. The spread of ranks in each group shows where that style paid and where it did not.

Group A — Bold leavers

20 pilots · ranks 1–44 · median 11.5 · middle half 5.8–18.8

High — How often leaving the gaggle paid off group median P84 in this field (100 percent)
Low — Low saves dug out from the bottom of the band group median P21 in this field (0.0 count)
High — Glide speed between climbs group median P79 in this field (65.4 kilometres per hour) · usually a strength
High — Time spent flying with a gaggle group median P76 in this field (50 percent)

1. Olav Opsanger
2. Rory Duncan
3. Jochen Zeischka
4. Mitch Butler
5. Jon Durand
6. Scott Barrett
7. Gordon Rigg
8. Pawel Cedro
9. Steve Docherty (most typical of this group)
11. Paul Bissett-Amess
12. Rohan Holtkamp
13. Neale Halsall
14. Vic Hare
17. Gary Herman
18. Peter Adriaans
21. Bruce Atkinson
22. Todd Wisewould
30. Peter Burkitt
31. Ian Miller
44. Gavin Nicholls

Group B — Escape artists

29 pilots · ranks 10–49 · median 34 · middle half 25–41

High — Low saves dug out from the bottom of the band group median P76 in this field (2.0 count)
High — Share of the flight spent in air that wasn’t sinking group median P73 in this field (60 percent)
Low — Distance covered between climbs group median P28 in this field (1.4 kilometres) · usually costly
High — Gliding wide of the optimal course line group median P70 in this field (26 percent) · usually costly

10. Trent Brown
15. Rich Reinauer
16. Tony Cross
19. Neil Hooke
20. Nils Vesk
23. Guy Hubbard
24. Dustan Hansen
25. Steve Blenkinsop
26. Stuart Cathcart
27. Steven Crosby
28. David Drabble (most typical of this group)
29. Ken Millard
32. John Harriott
33. Michael Free
34. Ben Torrance
35. Cedric Joyce
36. Grant Tatham
37. Ward Gunn
38. Tushar Pokle
39. Enda Carrigan
40. Troy Horton
41. Andrew Sutton
42. Mark Jeffree
43. Bobby Gillham
45. Jason Lannstrom
46. Adrian Connor
47. Diego Mendonca
48. Neill Hollingsworth
49. Peter Garrone

Not clustered: 50. Ryan Brown — only 12 of 22 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%); 51. Brett Davis — only 10 of 22 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%); 52. Marty Hearne — only 3 of 22 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%); 53. Wayne Johnston — only 5 of 22 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%).

49 pilots on 22 behavioural metrics formed 2 groups.

The metrics in detail

best: could be chance (0.18)

#	Pilot	NonSink%
1	Olav Opsanger	57
2	Rory Duncan	56
3	Jochen Zeischka	54
4	Mitch Butler	59
5	Jon Durand	56
6	Scott Barrett	55
7	Gordon Rigg	57
8	Pawel Cedro	59
9	Steve Docherty	55
10	Trent Brown	58
11	Paul Bissett-Amess	54
12	Rohan Holtkamp	57
13	Neale Halsall	58
14	Vic Hare	58
15	Rich Reinauer	57
16	Tony Cross	60
17	Gary Herman	57
18	Peter Adriaans	52
19	Neil Hooke	59
20	Nils Vesk	59
21	Bruce Atkinson	52
22	Todd Wisewould	57
23	Guy Hubbard	62
24	Dustan Hansen	61
25	Steve Blenkinsop	63
26	Stuart Cathcart	61
27	Steven Crosby	62
28	David Drabble	60
29	Ken Millard	56
30	Peter Burkitt	57
31	Ian Miller	58
32	John Harriott	61
33	Michael Free	56
34	Ben Torrance	58
35	Cedric Joyce	59
36	Grant Tatham	60
37	Ward Gunn	65
38	Tushar Pokle	62
39	Enda Carrigan	62
40	Troy Horton	61
41	Andrew Sutton	61
42	Mark Jeffree	60
43	Bobby Gillham	56
44	Gavin Nicholls	56
45	Jason Lannstrom	60
46	Adrian Connor	57
47	Diego Mendonca	63
48	Neill Hollingsworth	56
49	Peter Garrone	61
50	Ryan Brown	56
51	Brett Davis	57
52	Marty Hearne	36
53	Wayne Johnston	55

The day’s wind, hour by hour and leg by leg

Measured in kilometres per hour · no expected direction

What the air did, read from the field itself. We estimate the wind from the circling of every pilot. The first method is the drift of the circle centre, and the second method, used when the first is not available, is the modulation of the ground speed. We then combine the estimates two ways. The table by hour of day shows how the wind increased and changed direction through the day. The table by speed-section leg shows the wind on each part of the course. This metric describes the day, so it has no value for each pilot.

Wind by hour

Period	Speed (km/h)	Dir (°)	n
Whole task	9.8	99	10501
12:00 AEDT	6.2	332	42
13:00 AEDT	10.0	77	1361
14:00 AEDT	10.6	119	2825
15:00 AEDT	9.9	101	2905
16:00 AEDT	8.8	72	2479
17:00 AEDT	9.7	44	866
18:00 AEDT	7.3	302	23

Each circle gives one wind estimate. GlideComp uses centre drift where it can, and ground-speed modulation where it cannot. The direction is the vector mean of the estimates, in degrees the wind blows FROM (0° = north). The speed is the median of their magnitudes, because the length of a vector mean falls toward zero when the directions scatter.

Hours are shown in the competition’s time zone.

Wind by leg

Leg	Flown	Pilots	Circling	Speed (km/h)	Dir (°)	n	From pilots
ELLIOT (SSS)→WALWA	14:01–16:51 AEDT	48	14:05–16:46 AEDT	10.9	132	2321	48
WALWA→CUDGWE	14:54–17:51 AEDT	38	14:55–17:44 AEDT	9.2	84	2385	38
CUDGWE→ELLITP	15:44–17:59 AEDT	29	15:49–17:59 AEDT	8.9	358	1594	29
ELLITP→CORRY (ESS)	16:19–18:05 AEDT	29	16:24–17:59 AEDT	12.4	265	53	9
CORRY (ESS)→CORRY (GOAL)	16:25–18:05 AEDT	29	—	—	—	0	0

“Flown” is when the field was ON the leg — the first pilot entering to the last leaving — over the “Pilots” who started and flew the whole leg.

“Circling” is the narrower window the wind was actually measured in: first to last circle estimate any pilot logged while on the leg, from “From pilots” pilots. Glides produce no estimate, so a leg the field mostly glided shows a sliver of its flown window (or “—” where no one circled at all) — and a late leg the leaders glided can be measured EARLIER than the leg before it without either being wrong.

How strong the day’s climbs were, hour by hour

Measured in metres per second · no expected direction

When the day started, reached its peak, and ended. We group the thermal climbs of all pilots by the hour in which each climb started, labelled in the time zone of the competition. The median and the 90th-percentile average climb rate for each hour show how the lift developed. This metric describes the day, so it has no value for each pilot.

Climb by hour

Hour	Median (m/s)	p90 (m/s)	n
12:00 AEDT	0.9	2.9	9
13:00 AEDT	1.1	2.4	334
14:00 AEDT	1.1	2.3	838
15:00 AEDT	1.2	2.4	863
16:00 AEDT	1.1	2.1	659
17:00 AEDT	1.1	2.1	222
18:00 AEDT	0.8	1.1	4

The average climb rate of every thermal use across the field, grouped by the start of the climb. The hours are in the time zone of the competition.

Share of the flight spent in air that wasn’t sinking

Measured in percent · no expected direction

How much of the flight was in air worth being in. The value is the share of the airborne time of a pilot, on the shared grid, with a 30 s-smoothed vario at or above −0.5 m/s. The time they flew, the line they steered and the way the flight ended all feed this value. It is therefore a reading of the day as much as of the pilot. There is no expected direction, and the sign of the correlation is the finding. The timing table compares the window of the day’s best climbs against the time when the field launched.

Day timing

	Time
Best conditions	15:00–16:00 AEDT
Earliest takeoff	12:48 AEDT
Median takeoff	13:49 AEDT
Latest takeoff	17:42 AEDT

Best conditions is the one-hour window with the strongest median climb (1.2 m/s), among hours with enough climbs to be representative (≥20% of the busiest hour).

best: clear pattern (0.52)

#	Pilot	Out-climb	Core s	LeaveRate	Kept%	TopOut%	Round
1	Olav Opsanger	73 (43 shared climbs)	46 (15 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.6 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	92 (11/12 circling bouts led to climbs)	76 (mean on-course altitude 62% of band)	0.17 (210 circles, 20% left)
2	Rory Duncan	72 (61 shared climbs)	37 (26 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (17 climbs ≥ 90 s)	94 (15/16 circling bouts led to climbs)	86 (mean on-course altitude 59% of band)	0.16 (187 circles, 14% left)
3	Jochen Zeischka	77 (47 shared climbs)	56 (19 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	87 (13/15 circling bouts led to climbs)	79 (mean on-course altitude 63% of band)	0.18 (180 circles, 8% left)
4	Mitch Butler	68 (64 shared climbs)	35 (25 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.2 (17 climbs ≥ 90 s)	83 (15/18 circling bouts led to climbs)	87 (mean on-course altitude 61% of band)	0.15 (267 circles, 37% left)
5	Jon Durand	71 (52 shared climbs)	34 (22 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.1 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	80 (8/10 circling bouts led to climbs)	55 (mean on-course altitude 49% of band)	0.17 (216 circles, 45% left)
6	Scott Barrett	74 (39 shared climbs)	54 (16 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (15 climbs ≥ 90 s)	100 (13/13 circling bouts led to climbs)	23 (mean on-course altitude 38% of band)	0.17 (231 circles, 24% left)
7	Gordon Rigg	74 (55 shared climbs)	36 (21 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	87 (13/15 circling bouts led to climbs)	66 (mean on-course altitude 47% of band)	0.18 (223 circles, 47% left)
8	Pawel Cedro	61 (63 shared climbs)	49 (24 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (18 climbs ≥ 90 s)	95 (19/20 circling bouts led to climbs)	73 (mean on-course altitude 64% of band)	0.16 (229 circles, 0% left)
9	Steve Docherty	76 (36 shared climbs)	45 (18 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	83 (15/18 circling bouts led to climbs)	66 (mean on-course altitude 54% of band)	0.18 (205 circles, 31% left)
10	Trent Brown	71 (66 shared climbs)	48 (24 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (17 climbs ≥ 90 s)	83 (20/24 circling bouts led to climbs)	22 (mean on-course altitude 40% of band)	0.17 (208 circles, 75% left)
11	Paul Bissett-Amess	62 (36 shared climbs)	58 (15 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.1 (12 climbs ≥ 90 s)	67 (14/21 circling bouts led to climbs)	77 (mean on-course altitude 62% of band)	0.15 (168 circles, 25% left)
12	Rohan Holtkamp	75 (31 shared climbs)	42 (21 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.7 (18 climbs ≥ 90 s)	88 (15/17 circling bouts led to climbs)	70 (mean on-course altitude 53% of band)	0.19 (226 circles, 28% left)
13	Neale Halsall	69 (68 shared climbs)	37 (27 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (18 climbs ≥ 90 s)	70 (14/20 circling bouts led to climbs)	51 (mean on-course altitude 48% of band)	0.19 (234 circles, 25% left)
14	Vic Hare	70 (62 shared climbs)	35 (19 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (12 climbs ≥ 90 s)	83 (15/18 circling bouts led to climbs)	61 (mean on-course altitude 49% of band)	0.18 (315 circles, 30% left)
15	Rich Reinauer	72 (81 shared climbs)	38 (26 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (14 climbs ≥ 90 s)	86 (18/21 circling bouts led to climbs)	58 (mean on-course altitude 50% of band)	0.16 (198 circles, 39% left)
16	Tony Cross	70 (71 shared climbs)	35 (25 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (18 climbs ≥ 90 s)	89 (17/19 circling bouts led to climbs)	44 (mean on-course altitude 43% of band)	0.15 (267 circles, 50% left)
17	Gary Herman	73 (22 shared climbs)	35 (16 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (12 climbs ≥ 90 s)	93 (14/15 circling bouts led to climbs)	41 (mean on-course altitude 45% of band)	0.15 (171 circles, 0% left)
18	Peter Adriaans	72 (46 shared climbs)	36 (21 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (14 climbs ≥ 90 s)	83 (19/23 circling bouts led to climbs)	68 (mean on-course altitude 54% of band)	0.18 (205 circles, 5% left)
19	Neil Hooke	67 (43 shared climbs)	51 (22 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.2 (14 climbs ≥ 90 s)	65 (17/26 circling bouts led to climbs)	38 (mean on-course altitude 41% of band)	0.14 (199 circles, 45% left)
20	Nils Vesk	47 (21 shared climbs)	131 (23 climbs ≥ 60 s)	-0.3 (23 climbs ≥ 90 s)	75 (15/20 circling bouts led to climbs)	59 (mean on-course altitude 34% of band)	0.35 (30 circles, 63% left)
21	Bruce Atkinson	42 (19 shared climbs)	95 (20 climbs ≥ 60 s)	-0.3 (20 climbs ≥ 90 s)	82 (18/22 circling bouts led to climbs)	89 (mean on-course altitude 63% of band)	0.32 (11 circles, 64% left)
22	Todd Wisewould	77 (58 shared climbs)	35 (21 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (16 climbs ≥ 90 s)	76 (22/29 circling bouts led to climbs)	64 (mean on-course altitude 52% of band)	0.15 (243 circles, 28% left)
23	Guy Hubbard	70 (84 shared climbs)	40 (24 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (18 climbs ≥ 90 s)	86 (18/21 circling bouts led to climbs)	37 (mean on-course altitude 44% of band)	0.16 (314 circles, 49% left)
24	Dustan Hansen	66 (80 shared climbs)	35 (20 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (16 climbs ≥ 90 s)	86 (18/21 circling bouts led to climbs)	41 (mean on-course altitude 42% of band)	0.17 (249 circles, 53% left)
25	Steve Blenkinsop	57 (55 shared climbs)	52 (33 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.1 (24 climbs ≥ 90 s)	84 (16/19 circling bouts led to climbs)	32 (mean on-course altitude 36% of band)	0.15 (570 circles, 19% left)
26	Stuart Cathcart	59 (42 shared climbs)	45 (34 climbs ≥ 60 s)	0.6 (26 climbs ≥ 90 s)	73 (24/33 circling bouts led to climbs)	54 (mean on-course altitude 38% of band)	0.22 (102 circles, 53% left)
27	Steven Crosby	69 (56 shared climbs)	56 (28 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (19 climbs ≥ 90 s)	80 (20/25 circling bouts led to climbs)	53 (mean on-course altitude 39% of band)	0.17 (297 circles, 52% left)
28	David Drabble	69 (55 shared climbs)	40 (28 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (18 climbs ≥ 90 s)	75 (21/28 circling bouts led to climbs)	55 (mean on-course altitude 44% of band)	0.17 (268 circles, 76% left)
29	Ken Millard	73 (48 shared climbs)	59 (9 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.9 (4 climbs ≥ 90 s)	87 (20/23 circling bouts led to climbs)	44 (mean on-course altitude 39% of band)	0.21 (301 circles, 15% left)
30	Peter Burkitt	64 (46 shared climbs)	31 (15 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (10 climbs ≥ 90 s)	82 (14/17 circling bouts led to climbs)	70 (mean on-course altitude 50% of band)	0.18 (157 circles, 70% left)
31	Ian Miller	71 (12 shared climbs)	37 (21 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (15 climbs ≥ 90 s)	75 (15/20 circling bouts led to climbs)	70 (mean on-course altitude 58% of band)	0.18 (173 circles, 45% left)
32	John Harriott	72 (55 shared climbs)	35 (12 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (9 climbs ≥ 90 s)	73 (19/26 circling bouts led to climbs)	63 (mean on-course altitude 46% of band)	0.17 (297 circles, 1% left)
33	Michael Free	63 (13 shared climbs)	62 (20 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.1 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	71 (17/24 circling bouts led to climbs)	44 (mean on-course altitude 37% of band)	0.16 (281 circles, 9% left)
34	Ben Torrance	69 (25 shared climbs)	42 (17 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.2 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	67 (12/18 circling bouts led to climbs)	76 (mean on-course altitude 58% of band)	0.20 (261 circles, 60% left)
35	Cedric Joyce	69 (69 shared climbs)	34 (22 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (20 climbs ≥ 90 s)	72 (13/18 circling bouts led to climbs)	59 (mean on-course altitude 52% of band)	0.19 (247 circles, 49% left)
36	Grant Tatham	74 (32 shared climbs)	35 (24 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.1 (16 climbs ≥ 90 s)	71 (17/24 circling bouts led to climbs)	40 (mean on-course altitude 39% of band)	0.15 (293 circles, 29% left)
37	Ward Gunn	60 (79 shared climbs)	39 (19 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	83 (15/18 circling bouts led to climbs)	56 (mean on-course altitude 49% of band)	0.21 (215 circles, 9% left)
38	Tushar Pokle	70 (36 shared climbs)	36 (21 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.2 (12 climbs ≥ 90 s)	71 (17/24 circling bouts led to climbs)	80 (mean on-course altitude 66% of band)	0.16 (226 circles, 24% left)
39	Enda Carrigan	64 (57 shared climbs)	36 (24 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (17 climbs ≥ 90 s)	76 (28/37 circling bouts led to climbs)	64 (mean on-course altitude 59% of band)	0.18 (241 circles, 61% left)
40	Troy Horton	75 (23 shared climbs)	49 (21 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.2 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	83 (15/18 circling bouts led to climbs)	7 (mean on-course altitude 34% of band)	0.20 (230 circles, 73% left)
41	Andrew Sutton	63 (47 shared climbs)	40 (16 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.0 (8 climbs ≥ 90 s)	69 (11/16 circling bouts led to climbs)	69 (mean on-course altitude 51% of band)	0.18 (173 circles, 64% left)
42	Mark Jeffree	61 (60 shared climbs)	68 (19 climbs ≥ 60 s)	0.6 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	68 (19/28 circling bouts led to climbs)	52 (mean on-course altitude 40% of band)	0.18 (208 circles, 46% left)
43	Bobby Gillham	82 (4 shared climbs)	80 (13 climbs ≥ 60 s)	0.3 (10 climbs ≥ 90 s)	62 (16/26 circling bouts led to climbs)	60 (mean on-course altitude 31% of band)	0.23 (31 circles, 42% left)
44	Gavin Nicholls	71 (33 shared climbs)	42 (10 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (7 climbs ≥ 90 s)	69 (9/13 circling bouts led to climbs)	79 (mean on-course altitude 59% of band)	0.19 (119 circles, 29% left)
45	Jason Lannstrom	69 (30 shared climbs)	13 (7 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (4 climbs ≥ 90 s)	81 (13/16 circling bouts led to climbs)	71 (mean on-course altitude 62% of band)	0.18 (84 circles, 54% left)
46	Adrian Connor	65 (31 shared climbs)	37 (14 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (7 climbs ≥ 90 s)	46 (6/13 circling bouts led to climbs)	55 (mean on-course altitude 40% of band)	0.18 (123 circles, 3% left)
47	Diego Mendonca	72 (53 shared climbs)	36 (20 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (12 climbs ≥ 90 s)	68 (19/28 circling bouts led to climbs)	10 (mean on-course altitude 29% of band)	0.16 (221 circles, 57% left)
48	Neill Hollingsworth	58 (36 shared climbs)	41 (10 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.6 (3 climbs ≥ 90 s)	89 (8/9 circling bouts led to climbs)	57 (mean on-course altitude 41% of band)	0.18 (76 circles, 8% left)
49	Peter Garrone	55 (25 shared climbs)	50 (9 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.2 (7 climbs ≥ 90 s)	90 (9/10 circling bouts led to climbs)	35 (mean on-course altitude 34% of band)	0.12 (112 circles, 27% left)
50	Ryan Brown	68 (12 shared climbs)	60 (5 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (4 climbs ≥ 90 s)	—	32 (mean on-course altitude 9% of band)	0.15 (141 circles, 93% left)
51	Brett Davis	51 (8 shared climbs)	43 (6 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (2 climbs ≥ 90 s)	0 (0/3 circling bouts led to climbs)	—	0.19 (43 circles, 0% left)
52	Marty Hearne	—	37 (1 climb ≥ 60 s)	—	—	—	0.18 (16 circles, 94% left)
53	Wayne Johnston	62 (8 shared climbs)	47 (2 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.8 (2 climbs ≥ 90 s)	—	—	0.22 (12 circles, 67% left)

Share of lift turned in that was kept as a climb

Measured in percent · no expected direction

Acceptance by hour

Hour	Median accepted (%)	pilots
14:00 AEDT	100	38
15:00 AEDT	88	49
16:00 AEDT	75	48
17:00 AEDT	61	26
18:00 AEDT	0	6

Median per-pilot acceptance %, bucketed by the hour (competition time zone).

How round and consistent the circles were

Measured in ratio · lower is better

Whether the pilot flies clean, repeatable circles, or moves around the thermal. We fit each detected circle by least squares. The RMS fit error divided by the fitted radius measures how round the turn was. The value is the median over all of the circles of the pilot. A lower value means smoother and more consistent turns.

Turn direction across the field: 36% left (10504 circles).

best: clear pattern (0.77)

#	Pilot	GlideSpd	GlideL/D	SpeedToFly	Wide%	Dolphin%
1	Olav Opsanger	72.0 (19 glides, 61 min gliding)	1.13 (4 legs compared)	-3.1 (18 glide→climb pairs)	9 (4 legs completed)	5 (301 of 5623 m gained outside thermals)
2	Rory Duncan	64.7 (18 glides, 65 min gliding)	1.14 (4 legs compared)	-3.9 (17 glide→climb pairs)	6 (4 legs completed)	5 (288 of 5248 m gained outside thermals)
3	Jochen Zeischka	75.2 (16 glides, 69 min gliding)	1.03 (4 legs compared)	4.8 (15 glide→climb pairs)	19 (4 legs completed)	6 (381 of 6918 m gained outside thermals)
4	Mitch Butler	68.8 (21 glides, 71 min gliding)	1.14 (4 legs compared)	4.2 (20 glide→climb pairs)	13 (4 legs completed)	8 (455 of 5788 m gained outside thermals)
5	Jon Durand	68.9 (21 glides, 69 min gliding)	1.12 (4 legs compared)	2.5 (20 glide→climb pairs)	13 (4 legs completed)	9 (522 of 5642 m gained outside thermals)
6	Scott Barrett	70.9 (20 glides, 76 min gliding)	1.14 (4 legs compared)	1.4 (19 glide→climb pairs)	14 (4 legs completed)	13 (860 of 6777 m gained outside thermals)
7	Gordon Rigg	74.0 (18 glides, 67 min gliding)	1.03 (4 legs compared)	-0.5 (17 glide→climb pairs)	17 (4 legs completed)	10 (741 of 7076 m gained outside thermals)
8	Pawel Cedro	70.8 (22 glides, 67 min gliding)	1.03 (4 legs compared)	-1.0 (21 glide→climb pairs)	12 (4 legs completed)	8 (520 of 6506 m gained outside thermals)
9	Steve Docherty	65.8 (23 glides, 79 min gliding)	1.07 (4 legs compared)	-0.4 (22 glide→climb pairs)	14 (4 legs completed)	9 (634 of 6899 m gained outside thermals)
10	Trent Brown	61.9 (24 glides, 81 min gliding)	1.01 (4 legs compared)	1.7 (23 glide→climb pairs)	20 (4 legs completed)	10 (770 of 7592 m gained outside thermals)
11	Paul Bissett-Amess	63.9 (17 glides, 86 min gliding)	1.16 (4 legs compared)	0.8 (16 glide→climb pairs)	17 (4 legs completed)	7 (438 of 6081 m gained outside thermals)
12	Rohan Holtkamp	65.2 (24 glides, 83 min gliding)	1.01 (4 legs compared)	0.2 (23 glide→climb pairs)	22 (4 legs completed)	11 (753 of 6595 m gained outside thermals)
13	Neale Halsall	65.1 (22 glides, 84 min gliding)	0.95 (4 legs compared)	-1.4 (21 glide→climb pairs)	16 (4 legs completed)	11 (796 of 7240 m gained outside thermals)
14	Vic Hare	71.5 (23 glides, 82 min gliding)	1.06 (4 legs compared)	5.6 (22 glide→climb pairs)	24 (4 legs completed)	10 (755 of 7376 m gained outside thermals)
15	Rich Reinauer	64.1 (31 glides, 88 min gliding)	1.02 (4 legs compared)	5.0 (30 glide→climb pairs)	29 (4 legs completed)	12 (868 of 7229 m gained outside thermals)
16	Tony Cross	63.0 (31 glides, 87 min gliding)	0.90 (4 legs compared)	-2.2 (30 glide→climb pairs)	28 (4 legs completed)	13 (1013 of 8073 m gained outside thermals)
17	Gary Herman	62.9 (26 glides, 90 min gliding)	0.90 (4 legs compared)	4.3 (25 glide→climb pairs)	18 (4 legs completed)	10 (804 of 8406 m gained outside thermals)
18	Peter Adriaans	58.6 (22 glides, 96 min gliding)	1.04 (4 legs compared)	2.9 (21 glide→climb pairs)	26 (4 legs completed)	8 (585 of 7765 m gained outside thermals)
19	Neil Hooke	58.9 (22 glides, 97 min gliding)	0.95 (4 legs compared)	0.4 (21 glide→climb pairs)	14 (4 legs completed)	14 (1024 of 7402 m gained outside thermals)
20	Nils Vesk	61.7 (11 glides, 69 min gliding)	0.94 (4 legs compared)	-9.8 (10 glide→climb pairs)	11 (4 legs completed)	3 (289 of 8289 m gained outside thermals)
21	Bruce Atkinson	47.9 (8 glides, 70 min gliding)	0.99 (4 legs compared)	-10.5 (7 glide→climb pairs)	7 (4 legs completed)	4 (296 of 7460 m gained outside thermals)
22	Todd Wisewould	63.8 (31 glides, 103 min gliding)	1.03 (4 legs compared)	-2.6 (30 glide→climb pairs)	24 (4 legs completed)	11 (924 of 8131 m gained outside thermals)
23	Guy Hubbard	64.6 (34 glides, 101 min gliding)	0.97 (4 legs compared)	4.0 (33 glide→climb pairs)	28 (4 legs completed)	13 (1070 of 7939 m gained outside thermals)
24	Dustan Hansen	64.5 (41 glides, 109 min gliding)	0.98 (4 legs compared)	4.1 (40 glide→climb pairs)	32 (4 legs completed)	22 (1787 of 8064 m gained outside thermals)
25	Steve Blenkinsop	60.3 (38 glides, 128 min gliding)	1.06 (4 legs compared)	3.2 (37 glide→climb pairs)	40 (4 legs completed)	11 (947 of 8677 m gained outside thermals)
26	Stuart Cathcart	56.2 (25 glides, 102 min gliding)	0.97 (4 legs compared)	-1.3 (24 glide→climb pairs)	23 (4 legs completed)	5 (504 of 9394 m gained outside thermals)
27	Steven Crosby	64.5 (32 glides, 97 min gliding)	1.01 (4 legs compared)	0.9 (31 glide→climb pairs)	25 (4 legs completed)	12 (973 of 7960 m gained outside thermals)
28	David Drabble	63.1 (41 glides, 124 min gliding)	0.94 (4 legs compared)	-1.7 (40 glide→climb pairs)	45 (4 legs completed)	12 (1192 of 9734 m gained outside thermals)
29	Ken Millard	62.0 (54 glides, 121 min gliding)	0.88 (4 legs compared)	-3.4 (53 glide→climb pairs)	32 (4 legs completed)	49 (7815 of 15936 m gained outside thermals)
30	Peter Burkitt	65.5 (21 glides, 75 min gliding)	1.06 (2 legs compared)	-0.0 (20 glide→climb pairs)	12 (2 legs completed)	14 (792 of 5855 m gained outside thermals)
31	Ian Miller	56.2 (20 glides, 78 min gliding)	1.01 (2 legs compared)	2.4 (19 glide→climb pairs)	14 (2 legs completed)	11 (620 of 5672 m gained outside thermals)
32	John Harriott	55.9 (36 glides, 129 min gliding)	1.03 (2 legs compared)	2.5 (35 glide→climb pairs)	22 (2 legs completed)	26 (1873 of 7139 m gained outside thermals)
33	Michael Free	50.5 (22 glides, 93 min gliding)	0.78 (2 legs compared)	2.2 (21 glide→climb pairs)	24 (2 legs completed)	9 (672 of 7423 m gained outside thermals)
34	Ben Torrance	50.9 (20 glides, 95 min gliding)	0.86 (2 legs compared)	-1.4 (19 glide→climb pairs)	25 (2 legs completed)	14 (849 of 6172 m gained outside thermals)
35	Cedric Joyce	50.8 (26 glides, 91 min gliding)	0.76 (2 legs compared)	-1.4 (25 glide→climb pairs)	39 (2 legs completed)	14 (1072 of 7823 m gained outside thermals)
36	Grant Tatham	52.7 (32 glides, 115 min gliding)	0.85 (2 legs compared)	-2.2 (31 glide→climb pairs)	76 (2 legs completed)	12 (1120 of 9377 m gained outside thermals)
37	Ward Gunn	68.0 (23 glides, 71 min gliding)	0.88 (2 legs compared)	-0.3 (22 glide→climb pairs)	27 (2 legs completed)	22 (1170 of 5252 m gained outside thermals)
38	Tushar Pokle	47.0 (31 glides, 101 min gliding)	0.94 (2 legs compared)	-2.2 (30 glide→climb pairs)	43 (2 legs completed)	19 (1118 of 5813 m gained outside thermals)
39	Enda Carrigan	59.3 (46 glides, 122 min gliding)	1.06 (1 leg compared)	-1.3 (45 glide→climb pairs)	22 (1 leg completed)	18 (1597 of 8816 m gained outside thermals)
40	Troy Horton	55.8 (24 glides, 73 min gliding)	0.93 (1 leg compared)	4.8 (23 glide→climb pairs)	9 (1 leg completed)	11 (537 of 4961 m gained outside thermals)
41	Andrew Sutton	54.8 (18 glides, 68 min gliding)	1.03 (1 leg compared)	0.1 (17 glide→climb pairs)	19 (1 leg completed)	16 (635 of 3939 m gained outside thermals)
42	Mark Jeffree	48.9 (18 glides, 83 min gliding)	0.89 (1 leg compared)	1.0 (17 glide→climb pairs)	24 (1 leg completed)	8 (518 of 6262 m gained outside thermals)
43	Bobby Gillham	56.1 (6 glides, 55 min gliding)	0.73 (1 leg compared)	-11.9 (5 glide→climb pairs)	41 (1 leg completed)	3 (167 of 6303 m gained outside thermals)
44	Gavin Nicholls	62.8 (14 glides, 51 min gliding)	0.96 (1 leg compared)	0.7 (13 glide→climb pairs)	17 (1 leg completed)	18 (663 of 3607 m gained outside thermals)
45	Jason Lannstrom	54.0 (24 glides, 57 min gliding)	0.91 (1 leg compared)	3.6 (23 glide→climb pairs)	44 (1 leg completed)	24 (828 of 3513 m gained outside thermals)
46	Adrian Connor	47.5 (7 glides, 46 min gliding)	0.83 (1 leg compared)	3.8 (6 glide→climb pairs)	12 (1 leg completed)	24 (619 of 2546 m gained outside thermals)
47	Diego Mendonca	57.6 (32 glides, 75 min gliding)	0.72 (1 leg compared)	9.8 (31 glide→climb pairs)	25 (1 leg completed)	16 (1070 of 6540 m gained outside thermals)
48	Neill Hollingsworth	53.7 (17 glides, 34 min gliding)	0.77 (1 leg compared)	-0.9 (16 glide→climb pairs)	33 (1 leg completed)	22 (731 of 3344 m gained outside thermals)
49	Peter Garrone	55.2 (13 glides, 32 min gliding)	—	2.6 (12 glide→climb pairs)	—	28 (419 of 1517 m gained outside thermals)
50	Ryan Brown	48.0 (3 glides, 11 min gliding)	—	—	—	—
51	Brett Davis	—	—	—	—	—
52	Marty Hearne	—	—	—	—	—
53	Wayne Johnston	—	—	—	—	—

Glide speed between climbs

Measured in kilometres per hour · higher is better

Field glide speed: median 62.0 km/h · p90 70.8 km/h (50 pilots)

best: clear pattern (0.80)

#	Pilot	Floor%	LowSaves	km/climb	Search%
1	Olav Opsanger	58 (13 descents, lowest 23% of band)	0.0	3.7 (mean shared-climb pctile 54%)	12
2	Rory Duncan	62 (14 descents, lowest 2% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from 4% of band)	3.3 (mean shared-climb pctile 53%)	19
3	Jochen Zeischka	54 (11 descents, lowest 4% of band)	0.0	3.7 (mean shared-climb pctile 57%)	17
4	Mitch Butler	63 (12 descents, lowest -11% of band)	0.0	2.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 50%)	23
5	Jon Durand	45 (13 descents, lowest -9% of band)	0.0	2.6 (mean shared-climb pctile 57%)	14
6	Scott Barrett	39 (12 descents, lowest -27% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from -15% of band)	3.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 47%)	23
7	Gordon Rigg	44 (14 descents, lowest -9% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from 4% of band)	2.6 (mean shared-climb pctile 55%)	23
8	Pawel Cedro	55 (14 descents, lowest 16% of band)	0.0	2.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 45%)	20
9	Steve Docherty	56 (14 descents, lowest -10% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from 4% of band)	2.8 (mean shared-climb pctile 58%)	24
10	Trent Brown	13 (15 descents, lowest -30% of band)	3.0 (deepest save from 11% of band)	1.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 49%)	19
11	Paul Bissett-Amess	60 (10 descents, lowest -6% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from -6% of band)	3.0 (mean shared-climb pctile 41%)	25
12	Rohan Holtkamp	26 (12 descents, lowest 4% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from 15% of band)	2.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 62%)	22
13	Neale Halsall	41 (13 descents, lowest 5% of band)	0.0	2.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 51%)	27
14	Vic Hare	23 (10 descents, lowest 3% of band)	0.0	2.3 (mean shared-climb pctile 49%)	28
15	Rich Reinauer	30 (16 descents, lowest -8% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from -8% of band)	1.7 (mean shared-climb pctile 53%)	27
16	Tony Cross	19 (18 descents, lowest -31% of band)	4.0 (deepest save from -7% of band)	1.6 (mean shared-climb pctile 52%)	21
17	Gary Herman	28 (12 descents, lowest -25% of band)	2.0 (deepest save from -16% of band)	2.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 62%)	20
18	Peter Adriaans	49 (16 descents, lowest -21% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from 15% of band)	2.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 56%)	22
19	Neil Hooke	13 (10 descents, lowest -28% of band)	2.0 (deepest save from -9% of band)	1.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 47%)	30
20	Nils Vesk	19 (12 descents, lowest -17% of band)	5.0 (deepest save from -15% of band)	5.5 (mean shared-climb pctile 35%)	17
21	Bruce Atkinson	65 (10 descents, lowest 0% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from 0% of band)	4.7 (mean shared-climb pctile 22%)	9
22	Todd Wisewould	52 (18 descents, lowest -19% of band)	0.0	1.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 54%)	33
23	Guy Hubbard	30 (14 descents, lowest -11% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from 1% of band)	1.6 (mean shared-climb pctile 53%)	28
24	Dustan Hansen	34 (13 descents, lowest -7% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from -1% of band)	1.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 52%)	36
25	Steve Blenkinsop	25 (16 descents, lowest -23% of band)	0.0	1.3 (mean shared-climb pctile 39%)	33
26	Stuart Cathcart	25 (15 descents, lowest -23% of band)	5.0 (deepest save from -23% of band)	2.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 41%)	25
27	Steven Crosby	39 (14 descents, lowest -15% of band)	2.0 (deepest save from -9% of band)	1.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 46%)	33
28	David Drabble	40 (21 descents, lowest -21% of band)	3.0 (deepest save from -21% of band)	1.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 51%)	33
29	Ken Millard	38 (35 descents, lowest -12% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from 8% of band)	1.0 (mean shared-climb pctile 64%)	44
30	Peter Burkitt	41 (10 descents, lowest 5% of band)	0.0	2.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 44%)	28
31	Ian Miller	50 (12 descents, lowest -26% of band)	0.0	2.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 55%)	23
32	John Harriott	51 (16 descents, lowest -10% of band)	2.0 (deepest save from -2% of band)	1.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 48%)	51
33	Michael Free	17 (11 descents, lowest -27% of band)	4.0 (deepest save from -27% of band)	2.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 43%)	27
34	Ben Torrance	63 (11 descents, lowest -7% of band)	2.0 (deepest save from 2% of band)	1.7 (mean shared-climb pctile 54%)	39
35	Cedric Joyce	40 (13 descents, lowest -1% of band)	2.0 (deepest save from 10% of band)	1.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 47%)	32
36	Grant Tatham	25 (13 descents, lowest -33% of band)	3.0 (deepest save from -32% of band)	1.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 54%)	30
37	Ward Gunn	31 (7 descents, lowest -28% of band)	0.0	1.3 (mean shared-climb pctile 48%)	46
38	Tushar Pokle	78 (11 descents, lowest 12% of band)	0.0	1.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 54%)	43
39	Enda Carrigan	46 (16 descents, lowest -21% of band)	0.0	0.7 (mean shared-climb pctile 43%)	41
40	Troy Horton	40 (12 descents, lowest -28% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from -26% of band)	1.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 47%)	43
41	Andrew Sutton	55 (10 descents, lowest -19% of band)	0.0	1.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 43%)	45
42	Mark Jeffree	32 (8 descents, lowest -32% of band)	3.0 (deepest save from -28% of band)	1.6 (mean shared-climb pctile 42%)	32
43	Bobby Gillham	16 (6 descents, lowest -16% of band)	3.0 (deepest save from -16% of band)	4.7 (mean shared-climb pctile 65%)	24
44	Gavin Nicholls	42 (8 descents, lowest 14% of band)	0.0	1.5 (mean shared-climb pctile 54%)	36
45	Jason Lannstrom	58 (8 descents, lowest 22% of band)	0.0	0.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 54%)	43
46	Adrian Connor	33 (2 descents, lowest 8% of band)	0.0	2.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 50%)	36
47	Diego Mendonca	5 (12 descents, lowest -33% of band)	2.0 (deepest save from -17% of band)	0.7 (mean shared-climb pctile 53%)	48
48	Neill Hollingsworth	35 (9 descents, lowest -33% of band)	0.0	1.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 50%)	39
49	Peter Garrone	27 (4 descents, lowest -19% of band)	0.0	1.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 41%)	42
50	Ryan Brown	—	0.0	—	78
51	Brett Davis	—	0.0	—	100
52	Marty Hearne	—	—	—	—
53	Wayne Johnston	—	—	—	—

Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb

Measured in percent · lower is better

Speed-section phase shares, field p25/median/p75: climb 34/37/39% · glide 26/32/40% · search 23/28/39%

best: clear pattern (0.61)

#	Pilot	InGaggle%	Marked%	LeaveWin%
1	Olav Opsanger	71	46 (11/24 climbs marked)	100 (2W–0L (2 departures))
2	Rory Duncan	46	52 (14/27 climbs marked)	—
3	Jochen Zeischka	56	58 (14/24 climbs marked)	100 (3W–0L (3 departures))
4	Mitch Butler	52	53 (16/30 climbs marked)	—
5	Jon Durand	76	53 (18/34 climbs marked)	75 (3W–1L (4 departures))
6	Scott Barrett	47	35 (9/26 climbs marked)	100 (4W–0L (4 departures))
7	Gordon Rigg	74	56 (19/34 climbs marked)	100 (4W–0L (4 departures))
8	Pawel Cedro	48	46 (17/37 climbs marked)	100 (3W–0L (3 departures))
9	Steve Docherty	59	28 (9/32 climbs marked)	80 (4W–1L (5 departures))
10	Trent Brown	51	51 (24/47 climbs marked)	60 (3W–2L (5 departures))
11	Paul Bissett-Amess	54	66 (19/29 climbs marked)	67 (2W–1L (3 departures))
12	Rohan Holtkamp	9	3 (1/40 climbs marked)	—
13	Neale Halsall	54	57 (21/37 climbs marked)	50 (2W–2L (4 departures))
14	Vic Hare	63	51 (20/39 climbs marked)	25 (1W–3L (4 departures))
15	Rich Reinauer	42	59 (30/51 climbs marked)	78 (7W–2L (9 departures))
16	Tony Cross	46	57 (31/54 climbs marked)	100 (3W–0L (3 departures))
17	Gary Herman	12	11 (4/37 climbs marked)	100 (1W–0L (1 departure))
18	Peter Adriaans	49	59 (22/37 climbs marked)	100 (1W–0L (1 departure))
19	Neil Hooke	58	57 (26/46 climbs marked)	0 (0W–3L (3 departures))
20	Nils Vesk	32	31 (5/16 climbs marked)	0 (0W–1L (1 departure))
21	Bruce Atkinson	48	58 (11/19 climbs marked)	0 (0W–5L (5 departures))
22	Todd Wisewould	41	57 (26/46 climbs marked)	100 (3W–0L (3 departures))
23	Guy Hubbard	48	44 (24/55 climbs marked)	50 (1W–1L (2 departures))
24	Dustan Hansen	43	23 (17/73 climbs marked)	0 (0W–1L (1 departure))
25	Steve Blenkinsop	33	14 (9/66 climbs marked)	50 (1W–1L (2 departures))
26	Stuart Cathcart	34	44 (19/43 climbs marked)	100 (1W–0L (1 departure))
27	Steven Crosby	45	47 (30/64 climbs marked)	50 (1W–1L (2 departures))
28	David Drabble	35	38 (24/64 climbs marked)	50 (2W–2L (4 departures))
29	Ken Millard	23	25 (23/93 climbs marked)	100 (1W–0L (1 departure))
30	Peter Burkitt	61	66 (25/38 climbs marked)	100 (3W–0L (3 departures))
31	Ian Miller	0	0 (0/32 climbs marked)	—
32	John Harriott	30	30 (19/63 climbs marked)	0 (0W–1L (1 departure))
33	Michael Free	0	8 (3/36 climbs marked)	—
34	Ben Torrance	4	3 (1/37 climbs marked)	—
35	Cedric Joyce	48	53 (27/51 climbs marked)	50 (1W–1L (2 departures))
36	Grant Tatham	22	22 (12/55 climbs marked)	50 (1W–1L (2 departures))
37	Ward Gunn	46	69 (33/48 climbs marked)	25 (1W–3L (4 departures))
38	Tushar Pokle	7	4 (2/56 climbs marked)	—
39	Enda Carrigan	34	26 (20/77 climbs marked)	—
40	Troy Horton	37	34 (12/35 climbs marked)	—
41	Andrew Sutton	70	70 (23/33 climbs marked)	0 (0W–3L (3 departures))
42	Mark Jeffree	45	45 (13/29 climbs marked)	50 (1W–1L (2 departures))
43	Bobby Gillham	5	0 (0/10 climbs marked)	—
44	Gavin Nicholls	44	77 (23/30 climbs marked)	67 (2W–1L (3 departures))
45	Jason Lannstrom	3	2 (1/44 climbs marked)	—
46	Adrian Connor	40	39 (7/18 climbs marked)	—
47	Diego Mendonca	48	50 (25/50 climbs marked)	50 (1W–1L (2 departures))
48	Neill Hollingsworth	0	3 (1/29 climbs marked)	—
49	Peter Garrone	18	25 (5/20 climbs marked)	—
50	Ryan Brown	0	0 (0/4 climbs marked)	—
51	Brett Davis	0	—	—
52	Marty Hearne	—	—	—
53	Wayne Johnston	—	—	—

Time spent flying with a gaggle

Measured in percent · no expected direction

131 gaggle episodes detected (peak size 17 pilots).

best: clear pattern (0.69)

#	Pilot	StartDly	TimeLost	Behind	Spare m	FinalGl
1	Olav Opsanger	48	0	0.0	-42	3.38 (left last climb 4.8 km out at 1723 m)
2	Rory Duncan	38	15	4.0	-128	9.68 (left last climb 7.2 km out at 1039 m)
3	Jochen Zeischka	1	448	12.4	-81	3.59 (left last climb 8.1 km out at 2537 m)
4	Mitch Butler	27	206	15.5	-9	8.59 (left last climb 6.8 km out at 1084 m)
5	Jon Durand	27	731	17.6	-101	9.18 (left last climb 4.5 km out at 778 m)
6	Scott Barrett	43	869	18.2	-105	2.31 (left last climb 3.8 km out at 1944 m)
7	Gordon Rigg	29	534	19.1	-189	10.37 (left last climb 7.6 km out at 1025 m)
8	Pawel Cedro	302	479	24.2	138	5.31 (left last climb 6.7 km out at 1551 m)
9	Steve Docherty	158	1091	28.6	-37	1.58 (left last climb 3.4 km out at 2443 m)
10	Trent Brown	34	1230	36.6	48	3.55 (left last climb 4.7 km out at 1621 m)
11	Paul Bissett-Amess	166	1156	37.5	104	3.23 (left last climb 5.6 km out at 2030 m)
12	Rohan Holtkamp	303	1223	40.3	-6	7.14 (left last climb 7.6 km out at 1358 m)
13	Neale Halsall	126	1485	41.1	82	6.24 (left last climb 7.3 km out at 1460 m)
14	Vic Hare	177	1608	42.4	-57	2.90 (left last climb 3.9 km out at 1630 m)
15	Rich Reinauer	83	2151	52.0	-111	6.95 (left last climb 6.9 km out at 1281 m)
16	Tony Cross	127	2530	59.2	-33	6.03 (left last climb 7.0 km out at 1452 m)
17	Gary Herman	738	1856	59.7	94	5.87 (left last climb 7.5 km out at 1568 m)
18	Peter Adriaans	87	2597	61.2	-49	6.99 (left last climb 2.4 km out at 633 m)
19	Neil Hooke	118	2816	65.2	66	0.71 (left last climb 1.3 km out at 2091 m)
20	Nils Vesk	271	2664	65.4	-13	6.61 (left last climb 7.1 km out at 1370 m)
21	Bruce Atkinson	707	2438	68.9	94	1.33 (left last climb 2.7 km out at 2350 m)
22	Todd Wisewould	67	3286	72.3	29	6.53 (left last climb 2.5 km out at 669 m)
23	Guy Hubbard	176	3341	74.2	-61	6.30 (left last climb 6.9 km out at 1385 m)
24	Dustan Hansen	103	3577	77.4	252	5.05 (left last climb 6.4 km out at 1551 m)
25	Steve Blenkinsop	372	6761	135.0	380	5.60 (left last climb 6.4 km out at 1440 m)
26	Stuart Cathcart	182	5313	107.3	102	7.03 (left last climb 6.0 km out at 1146 m)
27	Steven Crosby	153	3895	83.1	6	1.08 (left last climb 1.9 km out at 2033 m)
28	David Drabble	278	5718	115.6	388	4.92 (left last climb 6.5 km out at 1609 m)
29	Ken Millard	87	3798	80.5	365	4.48 (left last climb 6.9 km out at 1831 m)
30	Peter Burkitt	52	96	—	—	1.85 (left last climb 2.5 km out at 1662 m)
31	Ian Miller	1897	1365	—	—	0.66 (left last climb 0.3 km out at 712 m)
32	John Harriott	297	3886	—	—	3.02 (left last climb 1.9 km out at 935 m)
33	Michael Free	1152	4176	—	—	—
34	Ben Torrance	42	4075	—	—	—
35	Cedric Joyce	975	4739	—	—	—
36	Grant Tatham	342	7802	—	—	—
37	Ward Gunn	1028	2694	—	—	—
38	Tushar Pokle	333	5037	—	—	—
39	Enda Carrigan	314	1198	—	—	1.86 (left last climb 0.7 km out at 642 m)
40	Troy Horton	101	416	—	—	—
41	Andrew Sutton	338	1422	—	—	—
42	Mark Jeffree	1004	2799	—	—	—
43	Bobby Gillham	532	2628	—	—	—
44	Gavin Nicholls	536	963	—	—	—
45	Jason Lannstrom	1630	2088	—	—	—
46	Adrian Connor	112	1340	—	—	—
47	Diego Mendonca	565	1098	—	—	—
48	Neill Hollingsworth	1326	1412	—	—	—
49	Peter Garrone	623	—	—	—	—
50	Ryan Brown	1647	—	—	—	—
51	Brett Davis	1243	—	—	—	—
52	Marty Hearne	—	—	—	—	—
53	Wayne Johnston	—	—	—	—	—

How long after the gate opened the pilot started

Measured in seconds · lower is better

Start execution

Pilot	Delay	Alt m	Band %	Behind km
Olav Opsanger	0:48	2049	70	17.3
Rory Duncan	0:38	2483	97	27.5
Jochen Zeischka	0:01	2197	79	17.1
Mitch Butler	0:27	2545	101	27.3
Jon Durand	0:27	2147	76	17.2
Scott Barrett	0:43	2035	69	17.3
Gordon Rigg	0:29	2038	69	17.2
Pawel Cedro	5:02	2009	67	12.8
Steve Docherty	2:38	1979	66	9.7
Trent Brown	0:34	1953	64	17.3
Paul Bissett-Amess	2:46	1988	66	9.8
Rohan Holtkamp	5:03	2108	74	26.9
Neale Halsall	2:06	1704	48	17.5
Vic Hare	2:57	2020	68	10.0
Rich Reinauer	1:23	2042	69	17.6
Tony Cross	2:07	2163	77	17.6
Gary Herman	12:18	1706	48	27.5
Peter Adriaans	1:27	1879	59	17.4
Neil Hooke	1:58	1793	54	17.6
Nils Vesk	4:31	1278	21	18.5
Bruce Atkinson	11:47	1925	62	16.3
Todd Wisewould	1:07	2097	73	17.5
Guy Hubbard	2:56	1948	64	10.0
Dustan Hansen	1:43	2248	83	27.0
Steve Blenkinsop	6:12	2210	80	3.8
Stuart Cathcart	3:02	1923	62	10.1
Steven Crosby	2:33	1944	63	9.7
David Drabble	4:38	2028	69	12.2
Ken Millard	1:27	1839	57	0.0
Peter Burkitt	0:52	1792	54	17.3
Ian Miller	31:37	2087	72	25.0
John Harriott	4:57	1919	62	18.7
Michael Free	19:12	1625	43	17.1
Ben Torrance	0:42	2347	89	27.6
Cedric Joyce	16:15	1741	50	6.3
Grant Tatham	5:42	1985	66	3.4
Ward Gunn	17:08	1920	62	6.8
Tushar Pokle	5:33	1913	61	27.3
Enda Carrigan	5:14	1893	60	3.5
Troy Horton	1:41	1794	54	17.5
Andrew Sutton	5:38	1793	54	13.5
Mark Jeffree	16:44	1632	44	6.5
Bobby Gillham	8:52	2102	73	20.7
Gavin Nicholls	8:56	1931	62	15.5
Jason Lannstrom	27:10	2047	70	26.2
Adrian Connor	1:52	1722	49	0.5
Diego Mendonca	9:25	1739	50	15.9
Neill Hollingsworth	22:06	1860	58	26.6
Peter Garrone	10:23	2006	67	26.8
Ryan Brown	27:27	1572	40	27.9
Brett Davis	20:43	661	-18	28.6

Delay = gate taken → SSS crossing. Behind km = extra distance to the next turnpoint vs the furthest-along already-started pilot at the moment of this start (time grid).

Race time lost against the fastest pilots, leg by leg

Measured in seconds · lower is better

For each completed speed-section leg, we compare the leg time of the pilot with the mean of the top 10 pilots by rank who completed that leg. Only the losses count, and we add them together. The sum of the leg times is the race time, and the rank defines the reference, so this metric follows the result by construction. Read the waterfall table, which shows every leg against the task winner, for the diagnosis. Do not read the correlation as a finding.

Rory Duncan, over 4 compared legs: +4:10 overall. — marks a leg the pilot or the winner did not complete; the table below has every pilot.

Leg waterfall — leg time vs the task winner

Pilot	SSS→WALWA	WALWA→CUDGWE	CUDGWE→ELLITP	ELLITP→ESS	Total
Olav Opsanger	+0:00	+0:00	+0:00	+0:00	+0:00
Rory Duncan	-1:58	+3:17	+2:20	+0:31	+4:10
Jochen Zeischka	+0:46	+13:48	-0:02	-1:23	+13:09
Mitch Butler	+1:44	+9:46	+4:40	-0:18	+15:52
Jon Durand	+0:12	+18:10	-1:03	+0:37	+17:57
Scott Barrett	-1:17	-2:24	+22:01	-0:05	+18:16
Gordon Rigg	-1:14	+11:17	+5:08	+4:12	+19:24
Pawel Cedro	+11:05	+5:20	+4:02	-0:29	+19:58
Steve Docherty	+16:56	-2:14	+11:53	+0:13	+26:48
Trent Brown	+4:49	+6:18	+26:20	-0:39	+36:48
Paul Bissett-Amess	+16:45	+10:11	+9:17	-0:43	+35:30
Rohan Holtkamp	+1:44	+9:09	+25:06	+0:03	+36:02
Neale Halsall	+2:04	+22:43	+15:54	-0:50	+39:50
Vic Hare	+15:18	+20:44	+3:46	+0:29	+40:17
Rich Reinauer	+1:54	+24:14	+25:28	-0:14	+51:23
Tony Cross	+1:33	+29:16	+16:42	+10:20	+57:51
Gary Herman	+18:25	+12:20	+14:20	+3:06	+48:11
Peter Adriaans	+9:55	+20:46	+19:30	+10:21	+60:31
Neil Hooke	+10:58	+27:23	+25:33	+0:11	+64:05
Nils Vesk	+22:25	+12:19	+26:28	+0:25	+61:38
Bruce Atkinson	+20:45	+22:18	+11:09	+3:40	+57:53
Todd Wisewould	+10:00	+13:57	+38:27	+9:36	+72:00
Guy Hubbard	+17:32	+32:12	+22:54	-0:38	+72:01
Dustan Hansen	+3:37	+60:43	+12:15	-0:08	+76:27
Steve Blenkinsop	+26:20	+71:30	+31:50	-0:04	+129:36
Stuart Cathcart	+16:06	+66:39	+22:46	-0:24	+105:07
Steven Crosby	+39:16	+16:47	+25:50	-0:33	+81:20
David Drabble	+16:26	+24:40	+71:10	-0:32	+111:44
Ken Millard	+20:43	+39:07	+20:26	-0:28	+79:48
Peter Burkitt	+4:43	+5:09	—	—	+9:52
Ian Miller	+7:34	+24:37	—	—	+32:12
John Harriott	+28:22	+45:50	—	—	+74:12
Michael Free	+40:11	+38:52	—	—	+79:02
Ben Torrance	+27:35	+49:47	—	—	+77:21
Cedric Joyce	+27:21	+61:04	—	—	+88:25
Grant Tatham	+22:12	+117:16	—	—	+139:28
Ward Gunn	+28:07	+26:13	—	—	+54:20
Tushar Pokle	+62:45	+30:38	—	—	+93:23
Enda Carrigan	+23:04	—	—	—	+23:04
Troy Horton	+10:03	—	—	—	+10:03
Andrew Sutton	+26:48	—	—	—	+26:48
Mark Jeffree	+49:46	—	—	—	+49:46
Bobby Gillham	+46:54	—	—	—	+46:54
Gavin Nicholls	+19:09	—	—	—	+19:09
Jason Lannstrom	+37:54	—	—	—	+37:54
Adrian Connor	+25:27	—	—	—	+25:27
Diego Mendonca	+21:24	—	—	—	+21:24
Neill Hollingsworth	+26:39	—	—	—	+26:39

Each cell is the leg time of this pilot minus the leg time of the winner. A + value is slower than the winner, and a − value is faster. A — means that the pilot or the winner did not complete the leg.

The scalar metric instead adds the losses against the mean of the top 10 pilots who completed each leg. A leg flown faster than that reference contributes 0.

Race time behind the leader at ESS

Measured in minutes · lower is better

At each speed-section turnpoint, we compare the elapsed race time of the pilot, which is the reaching time minus their own start, with the fastest pilot to that turnpoint. The value is the minutes behind at ESS. It follows the final rank almost exactly, because this metric is the sanity check of the evaluation.

A line that stops early is a pilot who landed. The top 5 are coloured; the table below has every pilot.

Horserace — minutes behind the leader at each turnpoint

Pilot	ELLIOT	WALWA	CUDGWE	ELLITP	CORRY	CORRY
Olav Opsanger	0.8	2.1	3.8	0.0	0.0	0.0
Rory Duncan	0.6	0.0	4.9	3.5	4.0	4.0
Jochen Zeischka	0.0	2.1	17.5	13.7	12.4	12.4
Mitch Butler	0.4	3.5	14.9	15.8	15.5	15.5
Jon Durand	0.4	2.0	21.8	17.0	17.6	17.6
Scott Barrett	0.7	0.8	0.0	18.3	18.2	18.2
Gordon Rigg	0.5	0.6	13.5	14.9	19.1	19.1
Pawel Cedro	5.0	17.5	24.4	24.7	24.2	24.2
Steve Docherty	2.6	20.9	20.3	28.4	28.6	28.6
Trent Brown	0.6	6.7	14.6	37.2	36.6	36.6
Paul Bissett-Amess	2.7	20.9	32.7	38.2	37.5	37.5
Rohan Holtkamp	5.0	8.1	18.9	40.2	40.3	40.3
Neale Halsall	2.1	5.5	29.8	42.0	41.1	41.1
Vic Hare	2.9	19.6	41.9	41.9	42.4	42.4
Rich Reinauer	1.4	4.6	30.5	52.2	52.0	52.0
Tony Cross	2.1	5.0	35.9	48.8	59.2	59.2
Gary Herman	12.3	32.0	46.0	56.6	59.7	59.7
Peter Adriaans	1.4	12.7	35.1	50.8	61.2	61.2
Neil Hooke	1.9	14.3	43.3	65.1	65.2	65.2
Nils Vesk	4.5	28.3	42.2	64.9	65.4	65.4
Bruce Atkinson	11.8	33.9	57.8	65.2	68.9	68.9
Todd Wisewould	1.1	12.5	28.0	62.7	72.3	72.3
Guy Hubbard	2.9	21.8	55.6	74.8	74.2	74.2
Dustan Hansen	1.7	6.7	69.0	77.5	77.4	77.4
Steve Blenkinsop	6.2	33.9	107.0	135.1	135.0	135.0
Stuart Cathcart	3.0	20.5	88.8	107.8	107.3	107.3
Steven Crosby	2.5	43.2	61.6	83.6	83.1	83.1
David Drabble	4.6	22.4	48.7	116.1	115.6	115.6
Ken Millard	1.4	23.5	64.2	80.9	80.5	80.5
Peter Burkitt	0.8	6.9	13.7	—	—	—
Ian Miller	31.6	40.5	66.8	—	—	—
John Harriott	4.9	34.7	82.1	—	—	—
Michael Free	19.2	60.7	101.2	—	—	—
Ben Torrance	0.7	29.6	81.0	—	—	—
Cedric Joyce	16.2	44.9	107.6	—	—	—
Grant Tatham	5.7	29.2	148.1	—	—	—
Ward Gunn	17.1	46.6	74.4	—	—	—
Tushar Pokle	5.5	69.6	101.9	—	—	—
Enda Carrigan	5.2	29.6	—	—	—	—
Troy Horton	1.7	13.1	—	—	—	—
Andrew Sutton	5.6	33.8	—	—	—	—
Mark Jeffree	16.7	67.8	—	—	—	—
Bobby Gillham	8.8	57.1	—	—	—	—
Gavin Nicholls	8.9	29.4	—	—	—	—
Jason Lannstrom	27.1	66.4	—	—	—	—
Adrian Connor	1.9	28.6	—	—	—	—
Diego Mendonca	9.4	32.1	—	—	—	—
Neill Hollingsworth	22.1	50.1	—	—	—	—
Peter Garrone	10.4	—	—	—	—	—
Ryan Brown	27.4	—	—	—	—	—
Brett Davis	20.7	—	—	—	—	—

The elapsed race time, from the pilot’s own start, minus the fastest elapsed time to that turnpoint. A — means that the pilot did not reach the turnpoint.

Arriving at ESS with height to spare

Measured in metres · lower is better

ESS altitude margin over final glide: top-10 median -62 m (n=10) vs rest median 66 m (n=19).

Footnotes

How the field is compared

Everything that compares pilots to each other uses one shared clock. That includes gaggles, shared thermals, and the position of each pilot at the same moment. GlideComp resamples every track onto a common 10-second grid. Two pilots are therefore always compared at the same instant, whatever rate their instruments logged at.

Metric glossary

How GlideComp measures every metric on this page. On screen, the ⓘ beside a metric opens the same description in place. On paper, this section is the reference for all of them.

Day profile & wind

The day’s wind, hour by hour and leg by leg(“Wind” in tables): Measured in kilometres per hour · no expected direction
What the air did, read from the field itself. We estimate the wind from the circling of every pilot. The first method is the drift of the circle centre, and the second method, used when the first is not available, is the modulation of the ground speed. We then combine the estimates two ways. The table by hour of day shows how the wind increased and changed direction through the day. The table by speed-section leg shows the wind on each part of the course. This metric describes the day, so it has no value for each pilot.
How strong the day’s climbs were, hour by hour(“Climb/hr” in tables): Measured in metres per second · no expected direction
When the day started, reached its peak, and ended. We group the thermal climbs of all pilots by the hour in which each climb started, labelled in the time zone of the competition. The median and the 90th-percentile average climb rate for each hour show how the lift developed. This metric describes the day, so it has no value for each pilot.
Share of the flight spent in air that wasn’t sinking(“NonSink%” in tables): Measured in percent · no expected direction
How much of the flight was in air worth being in. The value is the share of the airborne time of a pilot, on the shared grid, with a 30 s-smoothed vario at or above −0.5 m/s. The time they flew, the line they steered and the way the flight ended all feed this value. It is therefore a reading of the day as much as of the pilot. There is no expected direction, and the sign of the correlation is the finding. The timing table compares the window of the day’s best climbs against the time when the field launched.

Climbing

Climbing faster than the pilots sharing the thermal(“Out-climb” in tables): Measured in percent · higher is better
When this pilot and other pilots were in the SAME thermal, who climbed faster? In every thermal that two pilots or more used, we rank each use by its average climb rate. The percentile of a use is the share of uses that were strictly slower. The value is the duration-weighted mean percentile over the shared climbs of the pilot. 50% is exactly average. 80% means they climbed faster than four in five of the pilots they shared lift with. The shared thermal is what separates centring skill from thermal selection: a pilot who only found better air gets no higher value here.
Time to core thermals(“Core s” in tables): Measured in seconds · lower is better
How long the pilot takes to get into the best lift after they arrive in a thermal. For each thermal of 60 s or more, we measure the seconds from the entry until the 30 s rolling climb rate first reaches 90% of its peak in that thermal. The value is the median across the thermals of the pilot. Every second here is a second spent climbing slower than the thermal can carry them.
Climb rate at thermal exit(“LeaveRate” in tables): Measured in metres per second · no expected direction
The median climb rate that the pilot left thermals at. For each thermal of 90 s or more, we take the climb rate over its final 30 s. A high value means they leave lift that still works. A low value means they stay in a climb until nothing is left. This is an absolute rate, so read it against the day: compare it with the median climb in "How strong the day’s climbs were". A pilot who leaves at 1.5 m/s leaves a good climb on a 1 m/s day, and takes the worst lift available on a 4 m/s day. There is no expected direction. The sign of the correlation says which behaviour paid on this task.
Share of lift turned in that was kept as a climb(“Kept%” in tables): Measured in percent · no expected direction
How selective the pilot is about the lift they stop for. Each period of circling of 30 s or more after the start counts as lift that the pilot sampled. If the period overlaps a detected thermal, the pilot kept that lift. If it does not, they turned a few circles and left it. The value is the percentage kept. A low value means they are selective. A high value means they keep almost every climb they turn in. There is no expected direction: selection wins on a strong day and wastes time on a weak one.
How much of the thermal the pilot climbed before leaving it(“TopOut%” in tables): Measured in percent · no expected direction
Does the pilot climb to the top of every thermal, or leave with lift still above them? We take the altitude where they left each thermal after the start, as a percentage of the day’s working band. 0% is the floor of the field and 100% is its ceiling. The value is the median. There is no expected direction: a climb to the top buys height in reserve, and an early departure buys time.
How round and consistent the circles were(“Round” in tables): Measured in ratio · lower is better
Whether the pilot flies clean, repeatable circles, or moves around the thermal. We fit each detected circle by least squares. The RMS fit error divided by the fitted radius measures how round the turn was. The value is the median over all of the circles of the pilot. A lower value means smoother and more consistent turns.

Gliding

Glide speed between climbs(“GlideSpd” in tables): Measured in kilometres per hour · higher is better
How fast the pilot moves down the course when they are on a glide. The value is the duration-weighted mean ground speed over every glide after the start, which is the glide distance divided by the glide time. A higher value means more ground covered in each minute between climbs.
Glide L/D against the field median(“GlideL/D” in tables): Measured in ratio · higher is better
Whether the pilot found better air on glide than the other pilots on the same leg. For each completed speed-section leg, we take the pilot's glide-phase L/D. That is the path distance divided by the net altitude lost during the glides, and we skip a leg that loses less than 100 m. We divide it by the median L/D of the field on that same leg, and then average over the legs. 1.10 means the pilot glided 10% further for each metre lost than the usual pilot on those legs.
Gliding faster when the next climb is stronger(“SpeedToFly” in tables): Measured in kilometres per hour · higher is better
Speed to fly: the pilot flies faster when a good climb is in front of them, and slower when it is not. We pair each glide after the start with the climb rate of the next thermal that starts within 5 minutes. The value is the mean glide speed before climbs stronger than the median, minus the mean glide speed before weaker climbs. +8 km/h means the pilot flew 8 km/h faster into the good climbs. This is a PROXY, and not true speed to fly, because there is no glider polar data.
Gliding wide of the optimal course line(“Wide%” in tables): Measured in percent · lower is better
How much further the pilot flew on glide than the optimised course line needed. 0% is a flight exactly along the line, and 12% is a glide 12% further than necessary. On each completed speed-section leg, we compare the pilot's route with the optimised distance of the leg, weighted by that optimised distance. Only the glides are measured at their full path length. Circling and searching contribute their entry-to-exit displacement instead. A climb or a search for lift therefore never reads as a wide line, because a pilot chooses a line only on glide. 0% is a real value that a pilot can reach: a pilot who flies the line of the optimiser scores exactly zero.
Share of the height gain made outside thermals(“Dolphin%” in tables): Measured in percent · no expected direction
Dolphin flying: how much of the height that the pilot gained came outside of circling. The value is the share of the altitude gain after the start, smoothed over 10 s, that the pilot made outside a detected thermal. There is no expected direction. The sign of the correlation shows whether dolphin flying paid on this day.

Decision-making

How low the pilot gets between climbs(“Floor%” in tables): Measured in percent · no expected direction
How low the pilot goes before the next climb. A high value is a race with height in reserve, and a low value is a flight that goes down near the ground. We take each pair of climbs that the pilot made after the start, and we find the lowest point between them. We keep only the gaps that go down 100 m or more, because a top-up between two climbs is not a descent. We do not count a sled run or the glide to goal, because the pilot made no climb after them. The value is the median of those low points, as a percentage of the day's working band. 0% is where the lowest tenth of the field's climbs started, and 100% is where the highest tenth stopped. Thus a negative value shows that the pilot went lower than almost all of the field. The pilot must have two or more of these descents. There is no expected direction. The sign of the correlation says whether height in reserve pays.
Low saves dug out from the bottom of the band(“LowSaves” in tables): Measured in count · no expected direction
How many times the pilot got low and climbed out again. We count the climbs after the start that the pilot entered below 15% of the working band, and that then gained 300 m or more. Those are true low saves. Zero is a real value, and not a missing one: it means the pilot never got that low. There is no expected direction. The sign of the correlation says whether a climb-out or a flight that stays high pays.
Distance covered between climbs(“km/climb” in tables): Measured in kilometres · higher is better
How far the pilot gets down the course before they must stop and circle again. This is the direct reading of how often they stop. The value is the scored flown distance divided by the number of thermals taken after the start, so 3 km means three kilometres of course for each climb. The pilot must fly 20 km or more. The note of each pilot adds their mean climb percentile inside shared thermals, so you can read the number of stops together with the climb strength. Long legs between weak climbs is a different day from long legs between strong ones.
Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb(“Search%” in tables): Measured in percent · lower is better
Time that goes into neither a climb nor progress down the course. This is the time spent to find lift, to stay up, and to decide what to do next. The value is the share of the speed-section time, from the start to ESS or to the landing, in which the pilot neither climbed in a thermal nor glided with real net speed. A lower value means less time lost between climbs.

Gaggle

Time spent flying with a gaggle(“InGaggle%” in tables): Measured in percent · no expected direction
Whether the pilot raced with other pilots or alone. The value is the share of their flying time after the start inside a detected gaggle, that is, clustered with one other racing pilot or more on the shared time grid. There is no expected direction. A gaggle increases the power to search for lift, but it also holds a pilot to its own speed. The sign of the correlation says which of the two occurred here.
Climbs joined on another pilot's marker(“Marked%” in tables): Measured in percent · no expected direction
How much of the lift of the pilot another pilot found first. The value is the share of their climbs after the start where another pilot was already established in the same thermal when they arrived. Established means 30 s or more into the climb, and still climbing. A high value means they mostly climb on the markers of other pilots. A low value means they find their own air. There is no expected direction. A marker is free information, but it puts a pilot where the last climb was, and not where the next one is.
How often leaving the gaggle paid off(“LeaveWin%” in tables): Measured in percent · no expected direction
When a pilot leaves a gaggle that continues to fly, did the departure pay off? We compare the arrival of the pilot who left at the next turnpoint against the median arrival of the pilots who stayed. A win rate of more than 50% means their departures beat the gaggle. A pilot counts as a pilot who stayed only if they were still in the gaggle after the split, and reached that turnpoint after it.

Race craft

How long after the gate opened the pilot started(“StartDly” in tables): Measured in seconds · lower is better
Every second between the opening of the gate and the crossing of the start line is a second lost for nothing. The value is the seconds from the start gate taken to the scored SSS crossing. On an elapsed-time task, the pilot’s own crossing is the reference, so the delay is 0 by definition. The start table adds the crossing altitude, and the distance behind the leading pilot who had already started.
Race time lost against the fastest pilots, leg by leg(“TimeLost” in tables): Measured in seconds · lower is better
For each completed speed-section leg, we compare the leg time of the pilot with the mean of the top 10 pilots by rank who completed that leg. Only the losses count, and we add them together. The sum of the leg times is the race time, and the rank defines the reference, so this metric follows the result by construction. Read the waterfall table, which shows every leg against the task winner, for the diagnosis. Do not read the correlation as a finding.
Race time behind the leader at ESS(“Behind” in tables): Measured in minutes · lower is better
At each speed-section turnpoint, we compare the elapsed race time of the pilot, which is the reaching time minus their own start, with the fastest pilot to that turnpoint. The value is the minutes behind at ESS. It follows the final rank almost exactly, because this metric is the sanity check of the evaluation.
Arriving at ESS with height to spare(“Spare m” in tables): Measured in metres · lower is better
Height still available at ESS that the pilot no longer needed. That altitude was available for more speed, and the pilot did not use it. The value is the altitude at ESS minus the altitude needed to glide to goal at the standard glide ratio of the sport, which is 5.0 for HG and 4.0 for PG (S7F §13.4.6). A large positive margin means the pilot arrived too high. A margin near zero means they flew the final glide with little height to spare.
Final glide committed to when leaving the last climb(“FinalGl” in tables): Measured in ratio · no expected direction
How optimistic the pilot was about their final glide. A pilot wins or loses a task by the height at which they leave the last climb. At the last climb of the pilot before ESS, or before the landing, we divide the distance to goal by their height above goal. That is the glide ratio they committed to. 8 means they left and needed 8:1 to make goal. The value counts only when that climb ended within 1.5 times the length of the last course leg longer than 1 km from goal — when ESS and goal share a waypoint, the zero-length hop between them is not that leg. There is no expected direction: a marginal glide wins if it connects, and loses if it does not.

Task 2 (Open)

Top 3 winning behaviours

What the weather did

From the weather model

From the pilots' tracks

The day's thermals

Thermal at 14:00 AEDT — 22 pilots, 44 climbs

Which behaviours went with better ranks

Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb

Metrics with a clear pattern, plotted against rank

Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb

Glide speed between climbs

How long after the gate opened the pilot started

Distance covered between climbs

Glide L/D against the field median

Time spent flying with a gaggle

Arriving at ESS with height to spare

Share of the height gain made outside thermals

Share of lift turned in that was kept as a climb

Outcome checks

The whole field at a glance

Pilot style clusters

The metrics in detail

Day profile & windbest: could be chance (0.18)

Climbingbest: clear pattern (0.52)

Glidingbest: clear pattern (0.77)

Glide speed between climbs

Decision-makingbest: clear pattern (0.80)

Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb

Gagglebest: clear pattern (0.61)

Race craftbest: clear pattern (0.69)

How long after the gate opened the pilot started

Start execution

Race time lost against the fastest pilots, leg by leg

Leg waterfall — leg time vs the task winner

Race time behind the leader at ESS

Horserace — minutes behind the leader at each turnpoint

Arriving at ESS with height to spare

Footnotes

How to read the table

How the field is compared

Metric glossary

Day profile & wind

Climbing

Gliding

Decision-making

Gaggle

Race craft

best: could be chance (0.18)

best: clear pattern (0.52)

best: clear pattern (0.77)

best: clear pattern (0.80)

best: clear pattern (0.61)

best: clear pattern (0.69)