2019 NZ Paragliding Cross-Country Championships Report

April 1st 2018 to March 31st 2019
Paragliding Competitions and Records > 2019 NZ Paragliding Cross-Country Championships Report

Updated by the data entry person of the NZ PG flights database, Tim Percival.
Last updated 18 August 2019.


Here’s the confirmed standings and wrap up of the 2019 competition!  Weather-wise, the season was a bit of a mixed bag, and I think some who thought they’d wait until after Christmas before taking their holidays for flying, found out that they had left it a bit too late for getting the best days.  Eight out of the ten best scoring flights were flown before Christmas, and of those flights, six were flown on two just days in December!

One pilot who was all prepared and geared up earlier in the season was this year’s XC Champion, Louis Tapper.  By December 23 Louis already had the rewards of a trio of long flights that comfortably placed him at the top the table, and he was never overtaken.  Well done, Louis!

Louis says: “Nice to have won finally. The process of progression is still however the most fun part for me, not the trophy or winning… The new wings/online contests are making flights more accessible and visible than ever, however planning and preparation are key for those aspiring to fly big or deep in NZ”.

Here are some highlights from the season:

  • A 150+km FAI triangle flight, NZ’s fourth longest (Tapper, 156km, Treble Cone)
  • A 125+km out-and-back flight, NZ’s third longest (Dave Watson, 127km, Mt Alfred)
  • NZ’s longest FAI triangle flown outside of Otago (Fraser Monteith, 89km, Cheeseman)
  • Three NZ100km open distance flights
  • Three North Island 75km open distance flights
  • Twelve flights over 100km, when measured with up to three turn points
  • A new regional open distance record for Auckland (Leighton Joll, 77.0km, Dills Hill)
  • A new regional open distance record for Northland (Mike Ferguson, 50.2km, Tiwakawaka)
  • A new regional out-and-back record for Canterbury (Monteith, 64.7km, Cheeseman)
  • The long standing (Nov 2000) open distance record for Roys Peak, Otago bettered (Benjamin Kellet, 91.6km).

For details of other site records flown during the season, look for asterisks in the right hand column of the Season Site Best Flights tables.

2019 NZ XC Champions and Category Winners
XC Champs Table – Final Standings
North Island Table
2019 Season Site Best Flights
Seasons 2018 and 2019 Milestone Flights

2019 NZ XC Champions and Category Winners

Title/Category

Pilot

Notes

1st place and 2019 NZ XC Champion

Louis Tapper

After consistently placing in the top four of the Champs in the last five seasons, Louis this year wins the competition with flights that included the longest ‘free flight’ category (3 turn point) flight (168 km); and a superb 156 km FAI triangle flight, 30% further and higher scoring than the next best of the competition!

1st Runner Up

Dave Watson

Dave’s 120 km triangle flight on December 23 was the second highest scoring flight of the season and really puts take off Mt Alfred on the paragliding map (if it wasn’t on it already). When measured as an out-and-back, the flight ranks as NZ’s third best ever!

2nd Runner Up

Fraser Monteith

In his second season of the Champs, Fraser really demonstrated how to navigate through the mountains of the Arthurs Pass area with time to get back again – just commit and go deep and direct! And proving that you can fly big triangles away from Central Otago. Fraser’s flights broke the Canterbury Regional records for both FAI Triangle and Out-and-Back task types!

2019 Women’s XC Champion

Sanae Noguchi

Sanae’s flying included an open distance best of 44 km, and XCs in three South Island regions – Otago, Canterbury and Nelson!

Best Rookie (first-time PG2 competitor)

Nicholas Sand

Nicholas’s flights included an open distance best of 82 km, which was mountainous back country flying from Pakituhi Spur, Otago, all the way through to the edge of the MBZ (mandatory broadcast zone) of Mt Cook!

North Island Champion

Mark MacDonald

One of Mark’s flights was the season’s best open distance from Kamai (69 km). (Also notable was a great late season triangle attempt, from Kaimai again, that was so close to doubling the distance of the North Island FAI triangle record!)

North Island Best Open Distance

Barry Sayer

82.8 km from Te Mata Peak, Hawkes Bay.

South Island Best Open Distance

Rory Devine

124.4 km from Brewster Hut, Otago.

Well done all of the above! (Especially Louis)  :)   Thank you to all who submitted flights so we could see where there was good flying to be had.

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2018/2019 NZ PG XC Champs Final Standings (top 40 places)

For detailed flight information and relative rankings of all NZ resident pilots, see the

2019 PG XC Champs Table at XContest (XContest season name: “2018/19”)
.

(Note that for the NZ PG XC Champs, the XContest table is an approximate table only: some ineligible coastal soaring flights may be incorrectly included).

Pos

Pilot

Club

F1

F2

F3

Total

1

Louis Tapper

Southern

312.5

168.1

141.5

622.1

2

Dave Watson

Southern

241.5

190.5

105.8

537.8

3

Fraser Monteith

Canterbury

179.6

173.3

129.8

482.7

4

Bryan Moore

Southern

220.2

146.8

113.4

480.4

5

Matthew Thom

Northland

209.4

109.7

99.7

418.8

6

Glen Stevens

Canterbury

159.4

107.2

92.4

359.0

7

Aaron Ford

Southern

141.0

100.3

88.6

329.9

8

Rob Hughes-Games

Canterbury

177.1

76.9

55.3

309.3

9

Nick Neynens

Southern

135.7

87.4

82.0

305.1

10

Nick Taber

Tasman

103.3

94.8

94.7

292.8

11

Benjamin Kellett

Southern

114.5

88.8

88.7

292.0

12

Jan Zimmermann

Canterbury

121.7

78.2

77.9

277.8

13

Nicolas Sand

Southern

102.8

89.3

78.0

270.1

14

Mark Hardman

Southern

112.7

89.0

64.0

265.7

15

Henry Dumbleton

Waikato

91.7

88.5

77.5

257.7

16

Mark MacDonald

Waikato

87.7

86.7

83.1

257.5

17

Doug Patterson

Southern

88.8

83.9

78.1

250.8

18

Michal Karnik

Southern

90.5

70.7

70.2

231.4

19

Jan Necas

Canterbury

76.5

72.2

70.8

219.5

20

Barry Sayer

Hawkes Bay

103.5

62.8

52.8

219.1

21

Stew Karstens

Tasman

77.4

70.6

60.3

208.3

22

Tim Brown

Southern

78.0

67.4

59.7

205.1

23

Tim Notman

Canterbury

67.4

66.2

64.1

197.7

24

Eden Radonich

Hawkes Bay

96.8

54.3

46.4

197.5

25

Shaun Gilbert

Hawkes Bay

73.7

70.3

47.3

191.3

26

Leo Chelle

Southern

77.0

59.4

54.4

190.8

27

Evan Lamberton

Auckland

77.9

66.9

45.9

190.7

28

Elliot Revell-Nash

Auckland

67.4

67.1

55.9

190.4

29

Aaron Chesterman

Hawkes Bay

79.2

55.9

47.7

182.8

30

Ross Gallagher

Bay of Plenty

64.9

63.7

53.9

182.5

31

Bruce Vickerman

Waikato

74.5

60.3

47.3

182.1

32

Peter Jones

Waikato

68.4

55.1

54.6

178.1

33

Claus Petry

Tasman

67.7

61.6

46.9

176.2

34

Blake Round

Southern

91.8

46.0

31.2

169.0

35

Vincent Willcock

Canterbury

78.2

53.8

31.6

163.6

36

Jean Brossard

Canterbury

67.9

49.4

45.3

162.6

37

Rory Devine

Southern

155.4

0.0

0.0

155.4

38

Bradley Franks

Southern

55.9

53.6

41.8

151.3

39

Simon Craddock

Auckland

73.1

45.4

30.8

149.3

40

Dave Washer

Bay of Plenty

55.3

49.9

43.1

148.3

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North Island Table (top 20 places)

(Top scoring from North Island flights).

Pos

Pilot

Club

F1

F2

F3

Total

1

Mark MacDonald

Waikato

87.7

86.7

83.1

257.5

2

Henry Dumbleton

Waikato

88.5

77.5

64.0

230.0

3

Barry Sayer

Hawkes Bay

103.5

62.8

52.8

219.1

4

Eden Radonich

Hawkes Bay

96.8

54.3

46.4

197.5

5

Shaun Gilbert

Hawkes Bay

73.7

70.3

47.3

191.3

6

Ross Gallagher

Bay of Plenty

64.9

63.7

53.9

182.5

7

Bruce Vickerman

Waikato

74.5

60.3

47.3

182.1

8

Peter Jones

Waikato

68.4

55.1

54.6

178.1

9

Evan Lamberton

Auckland

77.9

45.9

37.7

161.5

10

Dave Washer

Bay of Plenty

55.3

49.9

43.1

148.3

11

Elliot Revell-Nash

Auckland

67.4

55.9

24.9

148.2

12

Adam Forbes

Hawkes Bay

82.8

31.9

30.2

144.9

13

Leighton Joll

Auckland

96.3

45.3

0.0

141.6

14

Aaron Chesterman

Hawkes Bay

55.9

47.5

36.6

140.0

15

Jeff Ripley

Auckland

63.0

33.0

32.4

128.4

16

Rhys Akers

Bay of Plenty

77.0

24.6

22.4

124.0

17

Ken Beach

Hawkes Bay

51.3

38.7

29.0

119.0

18

Samuel Leathwick

Waikato

43.2

35.7

31.9

110.8

19

Rob Gillard

Waikato

56.9

32.6

19.2

108.7

20

Emlyn Revell-Nash

Auckland

34.8

32.7

32.2

99.7

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2019 Season Site Best Flights (from entries)

Open Distance

Region

Site/Site Group

Distance

Pilot

Date

Take Off

SR

Northland

Tiwakawaka

50.2

Mike Ferguson

03/03/2019

**

Auckland

Dills Hill

77.0

Leighton Joll

06/03/2019

**

Auckland

Moirs Hill

62.3

Evan Lamberton

19/02/2019

Waikato

Kaimai Range

69.4

Mark MacDonald

11/02/2019

(Kaimai)

Waikato

Waihi

40.8

Mark MacDonald

28/12/2018

(Hospital Hill)

Bay of Plenty

Paeroa

34.6

Samuel Leathwick

11/03/2019

Hawkes Bay

Burma Road

13.1

Adam Forbes

02/11/2018

Hawkes Bay

Te Mata Peak

82.8

Barry Sayer

03/02/2019

Nelson

Barnicoat Range

35.5

Nick Taber

09/01/2019

(Barnicoat)

Nelson

Inwoods Lookout

35.6

Stew Karstens

19/09/2018

Nelson

Mt Murchison

87.8

Matthew Thom

02/02/2019

Nelson

Sherry River

27.1

Graham Surrey

02/02/2019

Nelson

St Arnaud

113.2

Louis Tapper

14/11/2018

(Mt Robert)

Canterbury

Black Range

55.3

Fraser Monteith

22/09/2018

(Bealey Spur)

*

Canterbury

Buscot Hill

30.2

Benjamin Kellett

23/02/2019

Canterbury

Craigieburn Range

97.4

Jan Zimmermann

02/02/2019

(Cheeseman)

*

Canterbury

Mt Hutt

33.3

Nick Neynens

07/12/2018

*

Otago

Cardrona

64.9

Matthew Thom

16/12/2018

Otago

Coronet Peak

112.8

Aaron Ford

15/12/2018

Otago

Glenorchy Eastern Ranges

56.6

Benjamin Kellett

13/11/2018

(Mt Judah)

Otago

Brewster Hut

124.4

Rory Devine

07/02/2019

*

Otago

Hawea Eastern Ranges

82.3

Nicolas Sand

15/12/2018

(Pakituhi Spur)

Otago

Matukituki

69.9

Nick Neynens

13/11/2018

(Shotover Saddle)

Otago

McKerrow Range

34.7

Bryan Moore

06/02/2019

(Sawyer Burn)

Otago

Mt Alfred

66.5

Dave Watson

23/12/2018

Otago

Mt Ida

31.5

Mark Hardman

28/12/2018

Otago

Mt Maude

45.6

Bryan Moore

13/11/2018

Otago

Pisa Range

71.4

Glen Stevens

23/12/2018

(Pukekowhai)

Otago

Richardson Mountains

30.0

Nick Neynens

10/11/2018

(Moke Lake)

Otago

Routeburn

65.6

Nick Neynens

23/11/2018

(Sugarloaf Pass)

Otago

Roys Peak

91.6

Benjamin Kellett

23/11/2018

*

Otago

St Bathans Range

38.2

Aaron Chesterman

16/02/2019

*

Otago

Treble Cone

85.7

Glen Stevens

23/02/2019

* Site Record
** Site and Regional Record

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FAI Out-and-Back

Region

Site/Site Group

Distance

Pilot

Date

Take Off

SR

Waikato

Kaimai Range

57.0

Henry Dumbleton

19/02/2019

(Kaimai)

Nelson

Inwoods Lookout

50.1

Stew Karstens

09/09/2018

*

Canterbury

Craigieburn Range

64.7

Fraser Monteith

02/03/2019

(Cheeseman)

**

Otago

Isthmus Peak

95.4

Bryan Moore

25/02/2019

*

Otago

Mt Alfred

127.7

Dave Watson

23/12/2018

*

Otago

Mt Maude

85.1

Bryan Moore

13/11/2018

Otago

Pisa Range

33.1

Kat West

15/12/2018

(Pukekowhai)

Otago

Roys Peak

68.4

Dave Watson

15/12/2018

Otago

Treble Cone

85.2

Louis Tapper

15/12/2018

* Site Record
** Site and Regional Record

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Flat Triangle

Region

Site/Site Group

Distance

Pilot

Date

Take Off

Otago

Hawea Eastern Ranges

53.4

Glen Stevens

27/12/2018

(Grandview)

Otago

Mt Alfred

150.5

Dave Watson

23/12/2018

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FAI Triangle

Region

Site/Site Group

Distance

Pilot

Date

Take Off

SR

Nelson

Mt Murchison

50.1

Aaron Ford

03/02/2019

*

Canterbury

Craigieburn Range

89.8

Fraser Monteith

21/10/2018

(Cheeseman)

**

Otago

Hawea Eastern Ranges

46.0

Glen Stevens

18/10/2018

(Pakituhi Spur)

Otago

Mt Alfred

120.8

Dave Watson

23/12/2018

*

Otago

Mt Maude

110.1

Bryan Moore

13/11/2018

*

Otago

Richardson Mountains

34.8

Nicolas Sand

23/02/2019

(Moke Spurs-Ben More)

*

Otago

Roys Peak

95.3

Dave Watson

15/12/2018

Otago

Treble Cone

156.2

Louis Tapper

15/12/2018

* Site Record
** Site and Regional Record

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Seasons 2018 and 2019 Milestone Flights

NZHGPA Cross-Country Milestone Achievement stickers are awarded the first time a pilot surpasses the ‘milestone’ distances of 25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150 or 200km (open distance) on a hang glider or paraglider in New Zealand.  This table lists the pilots who achieved milestone paraglider flights during the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

In the South Island, 38 pilots achieved NZ25km for the first time, with Dean Orton and Fraser Monteith going on to bag 50km milestones in their flights.  Others to achieve 50km flights included Barry Baxter, Chris Streat, Helen Jeffery, Hamish Dicker, Petr Poboril and Andrew Cavaney; and achieving NZ75km for the first time were seven pilots: Rob Hughes-Games, Aaron Ford, Jan Zimmermann, Rob Gillard, Benjamin Kellett, Nicolas Sand and Matthew Thom.

The longest S. Island milestones over the period were flown by Mark Hardman, Michal Talavasek and Aaron Ford who have joined the paragliding NZ100km “club”!  Its membership is now 22!  But how about Mark’s flight in December 2017 – he was flying tandem!!  It was flying southeast from Treble Cone, Otago, with Melanie Heather as passenger/co-pilot; and finished with the pair landing backwards in strong wind on remote, rough, high country between Alexandra and Middlemarch, only five kilometres short of the NZ tandem record!

Meanwhile in the North Island, 12 pilots surpassed NZ25km for the first time, with Leighton Joll, Stepan Kubecek and Adam Forbes going on to bag 50km milestones too in their flights from Kaimai, Dalefield Road and Te Mata Peak respectively.  Others to achieve an often hard-to-get North Island 50km were Ken Beach, Ross Gallagher and Peter Jones flying from Kaimai; and Mike Ferguson from Tiwakawaka, Northland. Topping the North Island milestone list were Eden Radonich and Joll who joined and even more exclusive group – the paragliding North Island 75km “club”!  It has just seven members!  They were late 2019 season flights, Eden flying from Te Mata Peak, Hawkes Bay, and Leighton from Dills Hill, Auckland, for the regional record and its first 75 km flight.

Pilot

Milestone Achieved (km)

Flight Date

Open Distance

Site Name

Hamish Dicker

25

21/11/2017

36.6

Moirs Hill

Ken Beach

25

16/12/2017

46.0

Te Mata Peak

Rebecca Rae

25

16/12/2017

29.8

Te Mata Peak

Tipene Wairepo

25

16/12/2017

28.2

Kaimai

Mark Gilbert

25

17/12/2017

40.8

Te Mata Peak

Ken Beach

50

30/12/2017

55.1

Kaimai

Leighton Joll

25, 50

30/12/2017

70.2

Kaimai

Lukas Krkavec

25

21/01/2018

26.1

Te Mata Peak

Stepan Kubecek

25, 50

4/02/2018

52.1

Dalefield Road

Adam Forbes

25, 50

1/04/2018

66.2

Te Mata Peak

Ross Gallagher

25

22/10/2018

26.8

Paeroa

Samuel Leathwick

25

17/11/2018

25.4

Kaimai

Eden Radonich

75

10/02/2019

77.5

Te Mata Peak

Mike Ferguson

50

3/03/2019

50.2

Tiwakawaka

Ross Gallagher

50

3/03/2019

51.9

Kaimai

Lukas Walton-Keim

50

6/03/2019

70.3

Dills Hill

Leighton Joll

75

6/03/2019

77.0

Dills Hill

Peter Jones

50

6/03/2019

54.7

Kaimai

Jan Zimmermann

25

28/10/2017

33.2

Cheeseman

Petr Poboril

25

28/10/2017

30.2

Cheeseman

Rob Hughes-Games

75

28/10/2017

83.6

Cheeseman

Chris Streat

25

31/10/2017

25.9

Coronet Peak

Brian Erasmus

25

31/10/2017

36.0

Mt Murchison

Barry Baxter

50

31/10/2017

72.3

Mt Murchison

Chris Streat

50

11/11/2017

53.1

Coronet Peak

Jan Zimmermann

50

14/11/2017

61.4

Cheeseman

Vincent Audebert

25

25/11/2017

33.6

Treble Cone

David Cleary

25

1/12/2017

27.0

Treble Cone

Helen Jeffery

50

18/12/2017

54.9

Coronet Peak

Aaron Ford

75

22/12/2017

77.0

Coronet Peak

Mark Hardman

100

23/12/2017

104.8

Treble Cone

Brooke Whatnall

25

28/12/2017

39.1

Treble Cone

Jan Zimmermann

75

28/12/2017

78.5

Coronet Peak

Dean Orton

25, 50

26/01/2018

52.4

Treble Cone

Hamish Dicker

50

26/01/2018

52.1

Treble Cone

Benjamin Kellett

50

27/01/2018

56.9

Treble Cone

Rob Gillard

75

27/01/2018

89.5

Treble Cone

Cathal McLoughlin

25

28/01/2018

37.7

Treble Cone

Clancy Pamment

25

28/01/2018

38.0

Treble Cone

Pepijn Wyffels

25

28/01/2018

39.0

Treble Cone

Petr Poboril

50

8/02/2018

51.7

Tainui Peak

Michal Talavasek

100

8/02/2018

100.2

Woolshed Ridge

Andrew Cavaney

50

23/02/2018

51.8

Treble Cone

Tim Notman

25

8/09/2018

25.0

Bealey Spur

Fraser Monteith

25, 50

22/09/2018

55.3

Bealey Spur

Jan Necas

25

21/10/2018

32.2

Cheeseman

Bradley Franks

25

10/11/2018

27.4

Mt Mcintosh

Nicolas Sand

25

13/11/2018

47.1

Mt Judah

Richard Sidey

25

13/11/2018

30.4

Treble Cone

Daniel Francis

25

22/11/2018

40.0

Mt Murchison

Benjamin Kellett

75

23/11/2018

91.6

Roys Peak

Aaron Ford

100

15/12/2018

112.8

Coronet Peak

Nicolas Sand

50, 75

15/12/2018

82.3

Pakituhi Spur

Sanae Noguchi

25

15/12/2018

44.0

Pakituhi Spur

Matthew Thom

25

15/12/2018

46.6

Treble Cone

Matthew Thom

50

16/12/2018

64.9

Cardrona

Thomas Serri

25

23/12/2018

27.0

Treble Cone

Carl Horne

25

24/12/2018

33.7

Cardrona

Tomas Kristufek

25

27/12/2018

26.6

Grandview

Sam Hamill

25

9/01/2019

31.9

Barnicoat

Malachi Templeton

25

12/01/2019

27.6

Treble Cone

Andrew Mclauchlan

25

2/02/2019

33.2

Mt Murchison

Matthew Thom

75

2/02/2019

87.8

Mt Murchison

Aaron Chesterman

25

3/02/2019

33.6

Mt Murchison

Daniel Diaz Rizo

25

3/02/2019

34.7

Mt Murchison

Marije Jansen

25

3/02/2019

30.6

Mt Murchison

Simon Craddock

25

3/02/2019

33.4

Mt Murchison

Leo Chelle

25

16/02/2019

25.2

St Bathans Range South

Ben Veasey

25

2/03/2019

26.8

Cheeseman

Benjamin Porte

25

2/03/2019

29.7

Cheeseman

David Chen

25

2/03/2019

28.9

Cheeseman

Jakub Krauz

25

2/03/2019

28.8

Cheeseman

Janik Schultner

25

2/03/2019

29.3

Cheeseman

Tomas Balik

25

2/03/2019

29.9

Cheeseman

Vincent Willcock

25

2/03/2019

29.6

Cheeseman

(Stickers will be sent out in September).

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