Craig Collings wins Australian Paragliding Open 2001
Six years later in 2007 Manilla hosted the Paragliding World Championships
Godfrey Wenness reports from the 2001 Australian Paragliding Open
The 2001 Australian Paragliding Open was held in Manilla in the first week of February. In anticipation of great Manilla XC flying and full FAI Cat 2 validity, the entries reached the 120 pilot maximum four weeks before the start of the comp and the waiting list grew rapidly.
A small contingent of top level PWC pilots entered too. In the weeks leading up to the comp the 2 months of dry conditions were providing the highest cloud bases ever seen in the region – daily around 4000m + ! The hot dry bubble burst on the Tuesday prior, just as pilots from the rained out Bright Open and blown out NZ Nats started arriving in townÂ…..
Despite the 4 days of rainy weather in the week before the competition, there were still 7 successful tasks giving PG competitions in Manilla a 71% day validity rate over the last 6 years ! This years Open was blitzed by the Kiwi invasion who took home the bulk of the A$6500 in Prizes and Trophies.
Both top male and female places and the Teams event were taken out by Kiwi pilots and the hotly contested Trans-Tasman Cup was prised off the Aussies as well !
Craig Collings the New Zealand Champion and the overall leader going into the last day held on to his handy margin and continued his ultra consistent form by once again making goal. He totaled 5906 points for the week. In 2nd place was Japanese Champion Tadano Syoichirou on 5335 pts.
Norwegian pilot Rolf Dale was pipped at the post for 2nd by only 2 points after landing just 5 m short of the line on the last day having made every goal day during the comp !
Best placed Aussie was new National Champion, Enda Murphy. He finished the week in form again after a slow start and clawed his way into 4th place overall. The Aussie’s generally were down in the overall results – a reflection of the high standard of pilots that entered this years comp.
The Women’s section was won by 22yr old Kiwi Jasmin Hill who lead from start to finish and was ranked as high as 3rd overall mid week ! She finished the competition in 11th place and surprised many of the experienced pilots with her determination and skills. Best Aussie Female was Manilla local apprentice
instructor Suzi Smith.
The tasks ranged from 60 – 121kms and a total of 35,725 kms XC were flown, during the 7 days of competition by the 127 pilots, many of whom flew personal best XC distances. The low by Manilla standards (2000m) cloud bases and slowish conditions most of the week meant that patience and careful
racing was neccessary. The straight line Goals by an average of 20 -30 pilots were made on all but 1 day with speeds averaging 30km/h for the winners.
Given the success of the FAI Cat 2 Manilla PG Comps the 2002 Manilla International PG Open should again see a full entry field and pilots are advised to register early !
Results
Final Overall Scores (7 tasks)
1. Craig Collings, (Argon), NZ
2. Syoichirou Tadano, (Boomerang 2), JAP
3. Rolf Dale, (Simba C), NOR
= 4. Enda Murphy (Omega 4R), AUS
= 4. Stein Tore-Erdal (Bagheera C) NOR
Women
1. Jasmin Hill (11) (Avax) NZ
2. Britta Steude (36) (Bagheera) NZ
3. Anette Gardhagan (52) (Bagheera) SWE
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