2022 NZ Paragliding Cross-Country Championships Report

April 1st 2021 to March 31st 2022
Paragliding Competitions and Records > 2022 NZ Paragliding Cross-Country Championships Report

Updated by the data entry person of the NZ PG flights database, Tim Percival.
Last updated 1 October 2022.


Again, weather-wise the season was a mixed bag.  For most of December the the weather was quite poor, then during January it got quite epic (at least in the S. Island), and then it got a little bit disappointing again (February).  In the top half of the North Island, spring cross-country flying activity got subdued or curtailed by regional COVID-19 lockdowns.

However, when it was on, the quality of the flights flown, especially by Southern club pilots in Otago, was exceptional, and relative to other seasons it was a superlative year for the number of flights over 100 km in distance.  Here’s a list of some of the highlights:

  • NZ’s FAI Out and Back record broken by 30% (183.8 km, Louis Tapper, Long Gully, Otago)
  • NZ’s Female Open Distance record broken twice, the mark is now 141.9 km (Kinga Masztalerz, Moke Spurs-Speed Peak, Otago)
  • NZ’s 6th and 8th best open distances (Chris Connolly, 174.5 km and Stevens, 170.5 km respectively)
  • Two FAI Triangles over 140 km, and a further 12 more FAI or Flat Triangles over 100 km
  • The prestigious Coronet Peak open distance record broken (Connolly, 174.5 km)
  • A new regional open distance record for Nelson (Stew Karstens, 127 km) bettering a mark that had stood for 19 years
  • A two day out-and-back from Breast Hill Hawea to Mt Cook Village, then back to Hawea/Wanaka, over 100 km open distance each way, by three pilots (Leo Chelle, Jesse Dhue and Dan Pugsley)
  • In total, 54 NZ 100 km flights of various course types.

2022 NZ XC Champions and Category Winners
XC Champs Table – Final Standings
North Island Table
Open Distance Table
North Island Open Distance Table
2022 Season Site Best Flights
Season 2022 Milestone Flights

2022 NZ XC Champions and Category Winners

Title/Category

Pilot

Notes

1st place and 2022 NZ XC Champion

Louis Tapper

For his 4th consecutive Champs title; Louis showed what can be done with a paraglider from the more established Otago take off sites; i.e. ones that you can drive up (Long Gully; Treble Cone; Grandview and Coronet Peak); when you have very good and ambitious flight plans: very long triangles and out and return courses!  Louis’s total score of 796 points is the highest yet achieved under the NZ XContest Champs scoring regime (and it needed to be high to keep ahead of Kellett in second place).

1st Runner Up

Ben Kellett

90 points ahead of third place; Ben’s bivvy flying trips saw him fly from over 25 mountain take offs in Otago and Southland. Ben’s 144 km FAI triangle flight on November 11 from Mt Prospect nudged out Tapper for the the best FAI triangle course of the season and the 9th best NZ FAI triangle ever!

2nd Runner Up

Glen Stevens

Glen’s hike and fly visits to take offs in the Ahuriri and Hawea Conservation Parks reaped rewards including a 97 km FAI triangle from Dingle-Ahuriri Pass.  Earlier; a Christmas Eve Coronet Peak flight of 170 km was the season’s second best open distance; helping Glen top the open distance table with a 131 km average!

2022 Women’s XC Champion

Kinga Masztalerz

Kinga’s mid summer visit to Otago reaped dividends; headlined by a seven hour; 141.9 km open distance flight from Moke Spurs-Speed Peak; a new national Female Open Distance record; and the 3rd best open distance of the season!

Best Rookie (first-time PG2 competitor)

James Gibson

Placed 44th overall; James’s spring and summer hike and flys included a 42 km FAI Triangle from Cheeseman and the season’s best open distance from Bealey Spur; 22.9 km.

North Island Champion

Mark Macdonald

One of Mark’s flights was the season’s best open distance from Kamai; 83 km; but not in the normal northerly direction; instead it was heading south to very near Lake Taupo!

North Island Best Open Distance

Shaun Gilbert

111.7 km from Te Mata Peak; Hawkes Bay.

South Island Best Open Distance

Chris Connolly

174.5 km from Coronet Peak; 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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2021/2022 NZ PG XC Champs Final Standings (top 40 places)

For detailed flight information and relative rankings of all NZ resident pilots, see the 2022 PG XC Champs Table at XContest (XContest season name: “2021/22”).

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

Pos

Pilot

Club

F1

F2

F3

Total

1

Louis Tapper

Southern

289.9

284.4

222.2

796.5

2

Ben Kellett

Southern

288.4

200.6

188.6

677.6

3

Glen Stevens

Canterbury

213.1

195.1

177.0

585.2

4

Tomas Balik

Southern

228.4

202.1

147.5

578.0

5

Thomas Rold

Southern

212.4

149.8

134.7

496.9

6

Jan Zimmermann

Canterbury

217.0

147.2

109.2

473.4

7

Warrick Boustred

Southern

200.5

130.1

128.9

459.5

8

Aaron Ford

Southern

189.3

134.7

131.3

455.3

9

Bradley Franks

Southern

174.8

140.9

78.2

393.9

10

Stew Karstens

Tasman

158.9

135.3

94.7

388.9

11

Peter Groves

Southern

154.6

133.0

96.5

384.1

12

Chris Connolly

Southern

218.2

127.2

25.0

370.4

13

Dan Pugsley

Southern

145.8

137.4

86.7

369.9

14

Leo Chelle

Southern

163.2

137.2

57.1

357.5

15

Jesse Dhue

Southern

163.2

137.3

53.8

354.3

16

Petr Poboril

Canterbury

122.8

121.0

106.5

350.3

17

Kinga Masztalerz (F)

Auckland

177.4

89.3

77.0

343.7

18

Clemence Cadario (F)

Southern

134.0

109.4

94.7

338.1

19

Mark Hardman

Southern

125.5

109.4

98.9

333.8

20

Matt Jeffery

Southern

200.2

71.3

58.9

330.4

21

Doug Patterson

Southern

134.2

109.1

80.4

323.7

22

Nicolas Sand

Southern

165.3

80.5

65.5

311.3

23

Mark Macdonald

Waikato

111.8

104.6

91.8

308.2

24

Ondrej Wieden

Canterbury

136.1

91.9

77.9

305.9

25

Nick Taber

Tasman

113.5

100.8

90.3

304.6

26

Laetitia Bottollier Curtet (F)

Southern

117.2

107.5

77.0

301.7

27

Timothy Shoultz

Southern

145.8

78.0

74.6

298.4

28

Tim Percival

Tasman

105.0

101.7

90.2

296.9

29

Barry Sayer

Hawkes Bay

106.2

94.2

79.7

280.1

30

Blake Round

Southern

134.8

81.9

57.3

274.0

31

Dave Watson

Southern

156.8

69.8

41.0

267.6

32

Shaun Gilbert

Hawkes Bay

139.6

72.8

51.0

263.4

33

Aaron Chesterman

Hawkes Bay

91.6

82.1

80.9

254.6

34

Sanae Noguchi (F)

Southern

127.1

60.3

56.1

243.5

35

Tim Brown

Southern

115.1

69.2

38.5

222.8

36

Joshua Short

Southern

85.5

68.1

64.8

218.4

37

Greg Allum

Tasman

84.5

69.9

61.4

215.8

38

Ross Gallagher

Bay of Plenty

78.1

73.8

58.0

209.9

39

Irwin Imhoff

Wellington

77.5

59.9

56.6

194.0

40

Mal Haskins

Southern

78.0

59.4

55.1

192.5

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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

111.8

104.6

91.8

308.2

2

Barry Sayer

Hawkes Bay

106.2

94.2

79.7

280.1

3

Shaun Gilbert

Hawkes Bay

139.6

72.8

51.0

263.4

4

Aaron Chesterman

Hawkes Bay

91.6

82.1

80.9

254.6

5

Ross Gallagher

Bay of Plenty

78.1

73.8

58.0

209.9

6

Rob Gillard

Waikato

112.0

55.9

0.0

167.9

7

Elliot Revell-Nash

Auckland

60.6

51.0

37.2

148.8

8

Anand Srinivasan

Auckland

61.7

51.1

31.1

143.9

9

Ken Beach

Hawkes Bay

57.1

53.1

25.7

135.9

10

Peter Jones

Waikato

61.2

40.7

28.9

130.8

11

Craig Miller

Hawkes Bay

59.6

36.6

34.0

130.2

12

Rebecca Rae

Hawkes Bay

51.3

38.4

31.9

121.6

13

Eden Radonich

Hawkes Bay

58.9

31.7

26.7

117.3

14

Pete Martin

Waikato

44.1

39.5

33.4

117.0

15

Andy Owen

Hawkes Bay

43.8

37.3

25.2

106.3

16

Bruce Vickerman

Waikato

72.5

18.1

14.0

104.6

17

Emlyn Revell-Nash

Auckland

52.4

27.2

23.8

103.4

18

Nick Buhaets

Auckland

40.0

36.6

25.1

101.7

19

Scott Arrell

Auckland

52.6

28.3

0.0

80.9

20

Dawid Wisniewski

Auckland

51.3

15.8

0.0

67.1

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Open Distance Table (top 20 places)

(Ranking based on the maximum distance of a pilot’s flights).

Pos

Pilot

Club

F1

F2

F3

Total

1

Glen Stevens

Canterbury

170.5

130.1

94.3

394.9

2

Ben Kellett

Southern

125.0

122.9

104.5

352.4

3

Stew Karstens

Tasman

127.2

107.7

75.8

310.7

4

Louis Tapper

Southern

109.6

95.9

91.5

297.0

5

Tomas Balik

Southern

118.0

92.6

77.2

287.8

6

Dan Pugsley

Southern

116.7

109.9

57.3

283.9

7

Jesse Dhue

Southern

130.6

109.8

43.0

283.4

8

Petr Poboril

Canterbury

98.3

90.6

85.2

274.1

9

Peter Groves

Southern

123.7

77.2

67.4

268.3

10

Leo Chelle

Southern

130.6

109.7

23.4

263.7

11

Jan Zimmermann

Canterbury

117.8

76.2

51.4

245.4

12

Mark Hardman

Southern

100.4

86.9

57.4

244.7

13

Nick Taber

Tasman

90.8

80.7

72.2

243.7

13

Chris Connolly

Southern

174.5

49.2

20.0

243.7

15

Tim Percival

Tasman

84.0

81.4

72.1

237.5

16

Kinga Masztalerz (F)

Auckland

141.9

48.4

43.1

233.4

17

Barry Sayer

Hawkes Bay

84.9

75.4

63.8

224.1

18

Warrick Boustred

Southern

103.2

74.5

43.8

221.5

19

Shaun Gilbert

Hawkes Bay

111.7

58.2

40.8

210.7

20

Bradley Franks

Southern

112.7

49.5

40.0

202.2

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North Island Open Distance Table (top 3 places)

(Ranking based on the maximum distance of a pilot’s North Island flights).

Pos

Pilot

Club

F1

F2

F3

Total

1

Barry Sayer

Hawkes Bay

84.9

75.4

63.8

224.1

2

Shaun Gilbert

Hawkes Bay

111.7

58.2

40.8

210.7

3

Mark Macdonald

Waikato

83.7

59.5

50.7

193.9

Back to Top

Season 2022 Site Best Flights (from entries)

Open Distance

Region

Site/Site Group

Distance

Pilot

Date

Take Off

SR

Northland

Kamo

15.8

Ernst Pfister

12/01/2022

Auckland

Moirs Hill

29.1

Nick Buhaets

11/01/2022

Waikato

Alans Hill

17.9

Mark Macdonald

11/01/2022

Waikato

Kaimai Range

83.7

Mark Macdonald

19/11/2021

(Kaimai)

Bay of Plenty

Paeroa

62.5

Ross Gallagher

20/11/2021

Hawkes Bay

Burma Road

53.9

Aaron Chesterman

23/01/2022

Hawkes Bay

Te Mata Peak

111.7

Shaun Gilbert

17/02/2022

Hawkes Bay

Turiri

37.1

Aaron Chesterman

15/02/2022

Wairarapa

Kourarau

17.8

Irwin Imhoff

22/01/2022

Nelson

Barnicoat Range

127.2

Stew Karstens

17/02/2022

(Barnicoat)

**

Nelson

Beebys Ridge

17.6

Cody Pickles

09/03/2022

(Beebys Corner)

Nelson

Birds Clearing

21.2

Greg Allum

29/12/2021

Nelson

Inwoods Lookout

84.0

Tim Percival

09/03/2022

Nelson

Mt Murchison

98.3

Petr Poboril

02/01/2022

Nelson

St Arnaud

90.8

Nick Taber

04/01/2022

(Mt Robert)

Nelson

Takaka – Riwaka

29.0

Nick Taber

15/10/2021

(Takaka Hill)

Marlborough

Blowhard

34.0

Nick Taber

21/02/2022

Marlborough

Mt Tarndale

20.0

Chris Connolly

08/02/2022

Canterbury

Avalanche Peak

27.1

Tomas Balik

14/03/2022

Canterbury

Black Range

22.9

James Gibson

15/09/2021

(Bealey Spur)

Canterbury

Craigieburn Range

52.1

Petr Poboril

17/01/2022

(Long Spur)

Canterbury

Dingle Burn-Ahuriri Divide

94.3

Glen Stevens

17/01/2022

(Dingle-Ahuriri Pass)

Canterbury

Organ Range

85.2

Petr Poboril

03/01/2022

(Shale Peak)

Canterbury

Sealy Range

130.6

Jesse Dhue

15/01/2022

(Sebastopol)

Canterbury

Tekapo

35.5

Kinga Masztalerz

18/01/2022

Otago

Cairnmuir

57.6

Ben Kellett

09/11/2021

Otago

Cardrona area

28.0

Jan Zimmermann

22/10/2021

(Motutapu 1594)

Otago

Coronet Peak

174.5

Chris Connolly

14/01/2022

*

Otago

Glenorchy Eastern Ranges

33.6

Ben Kellett

11/02/2022

(Mt McIntosh)

Otago

Haast Pass

67.4

Peter Groves

14/01/2022

(Brewster Hut)

Otago

Hawea Eastern Ranges

112.7

Bradley Franks

14/01/2022

(Breast Hill)

Otago

Hawkdun Range

71.2

Louis Tapper

18/11/2021

(Saddle Ridge)

Otago

Humboldt Mountains South

107.2

Clemence Cadario

30/11/2021

(Mill Creek)

Otago

Lindis Pass

103.2

Warrick Boustred

31/01/2022

Otago

Long Gully

130.1

Glen Stevens

16/02/2022

Otago

Lowburn Tow Launch

33.9

Pete Helliwell

09/11/2021

Otago

Matukituki

38.2

Bryan Moore

08/02/2022

(Shotover Saddle)

Otago

McKerrow Range

51.4

Ben Kellett

21/10/2021

(Mt White)

Otago

Mt Ida

54.8

Glen Stevens

23/01/2022

Otago

Mt Maude

51.2

Peter Groves

30/11/2021

Otago

Pisa Range

52.0

Ben Kellett

03/11/2021

(Mt Pisa)

Otago

Richardson Mountains

141.9

Kinga Masztalerz

14/01/2022

(Moke Spurs-Speed Peak)

Otago

Rock And Pillar Range

10.7

Doug Patterson

28/11/2021

(Summit Rock)

Otago

Roys Peak

63.3

Aaron Ford

11/02/2022

Otago

Shotover Ranges

77.2

Peter Groves

06/11/2021

(Mt Siberia)

Otago

Treble Cone

100.4

Mark Hardman

18/01/2022

Otago

Waikerikeri

55.2

Ben Kellett

15/01/2022

(Leaning Rock Spur)

Otago

Young Range

60.8

Peter Groves

07/11/2021

(Makarora Knoll)

Southland

Eyre Mountains

38.5

Ben Kellett

22/09/2021

(Hummock Peak)

* Ratified Site Record
** Ratified Site and Regional Record

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Ratified FAI Out-and-Back Site Records

Region

Site/Site Group

Distance

Pilot

Date

Take Off

SR

Hawkes Bay

Burma Road

45.7

Aaron Chesterman

15/01/2022

*

Nelson

Takaka – Riwaka

30.8

Greg Allum

29/01/2022

(Takaka Hill)

*

Otago

Long Gully

183.8

Louis Tapper

31/01/2022

* Ratified Site Record
† Ratified National Record

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Flat Triangle

Region

Site/Site Group

Distance

Pilot

Date

Take Off

Waikato

Kaimai Range

74.6

Rob Gillard

08/01/2022

(Kaimai)

Hawkes Bay

Burma Road

53.1

Aaron Chesterman

15/01/2022

Wairarapa

Kourarau

39.9

Irwin Imhoff

22/01/2022

Nelson

Barnicoat Range

34.0

Sam Hamill

23/01/2022

(Barnicoat)

Nelson

Takaka – Riwaka

32.1

Greg Allum

29/01/2022

(Takaka Hill)

Canterbury

Craigieburn Range

62.4

Richard Castro

20/02/2022

(Long Spur)

Canterbury

Dingle Burn-Ahuriri Divide

133.8

Ben Kellett

14/01/2022

(Dingle-Ahuriri Pass)

Canterbury

St James Range North

39.9

Jakub Krauz

25/02/2022

(St James 1781)

Otago

Cairnmuir

100.1

Ben Kellett

09/11/2021

Otago

Coronet Peak

89.8

Thomas Rold

25/02/2022

Otago

Hawea Eastern Ranges

118.0

Glen Stevens

30/11/2021

(Mt Prospect)

Otago

Long Gully

193.2

Louis Tapper

31/01/2022

Otago

Mt Maude

88.7

Peter Groves

30/11/2021

Otago

Roys Peak

39.2

Matt Jeffery

05/01/2022

(Hill End)

Otago

Treble Cone

52.9

Doug Patterson

06/11/2021

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FAI Triangle

Region

Site/Site Group

Distance

Pilot

Date

Take Off

SR

Waikato

Kaimai Range

36.9

Ross Gallagher

29/01/2022

(Kaimai)

Hawkes Bay

Burma Road

45.8

Aaron Chesterman

21/01/2022

**

Canterbury

Avalanche Peak

58.8

Tomas Balik

14/03/2022

Canterbury

Craigieburn Range

68.0

Ondrej Wieden

08/11/2021

(Long Spur)

Canterbury

Dingle Burn-Ahuriri Divide

97.6

Glen Stevens

11/02/2022

(Dingle-Ahuriri Pass)

Otago

Cairnmuir

49.1

Tomas Balik

14/09/2021

(Clyde)

Otago

Coronet Peak

114.2

Tomas Balik

15/01/2022

Otago

Hawea Eastern Ranges

144.2

Ben Kellett

30/11/2021

(Mt Prospect)

Otago

Lindis Pass

101.0

Tomas Balik

31/01/2022

Otago

Treble Cone

142.2

Louis Tapper

05/11/2021

* Ratified Site Record
** Ratified Site and Regional Record

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Season 2022 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.  The next table lists the pilots who achieved milestone paraglider flights during the 2022 season.

In the North Island, three pilots surpassed NZ25km for the first time; and three acheived an often hard-to-get North Island 50km: Robbie Kerr flying from Te Mata, and Simon Craddock and Mark Curtis flying from Kaimai.

In the South Island there was an extraordinary run of favourable conditions for cross-country during a roughly five week period starting on Christmas Eve and continuing to the end of January.  And on a few days it seemed like the ‘stars aligned’ – groups of pilots together on the right days and at the right sites – resulting in clusters|bunches of milestone flights being recorded together on those days. The best example was January 14 when 20 milestones were achieved, including six NZ100km, three NZ125km and one NZ150km milestone flights!

Overall, relative to other seasons, it was certainly a superlative year for the number of NZ100km and NZ125km milestone flights flown!  The tally of NZ100km pilots increased by 10 to 37, a 33% increase!  The tally of NZ125km pilots increased by 6 to 19, a 45% increase!

Well done all these pilots, with special congratulations to the new members of the paragliding NZ100km ‘club’.

Pilot

Milestone Achieved (km)

Flight Date

Open Distance

Site Name

Matt Jeffery

25

23/11/2021

32.4

Roys Peak

Christopher Adams

25

29/11/2021

40.1

Treble Cone

Laetitia Bottollier Curtet

25

30/11/2021

49.6

Mt Maude

Christopher Adams

50

30/11/2021

51.3

Coronet Peak

Chris Cain

25

29/12/2021

29.7

Long Gully

Anthony Saupin

25

2/01/2022

33.5

Mt Murchison

Mark MacKenzie

25

2/01/2022

34.3

Mt Murchison

Johnny Lawry

25

4/01/2022

37.3

Te Mata Peak

Greg Allum

25

4/01/2022

38.3

Inwoods Lookout

Robbie Kerr

50

4/01/2022

57.4

Te Mata Peak

Joshua Short

50

5/01/2022

68.4

Mt Hyde

Michele Invernizzi

25

8/01/2022

27.7

Kaimai

Simon Craddock

50

8/01/2022

50.8

Kaimai

Benjamin French

25

14/01/2022

39.4

Coronet Peak

Damian Chaparro

25

14/01/2022

39.4

Coronet Peak

Sam Hamill

50

14/01/2022

58.4

Barnicoat

Nina Harrap

50

14/01/2022

61.4

Coronet Peak

Charlotte O’Leary

25

15/01/2022

31.6

Treble Cone

Jessica Green

50 & 75

15/01/2022

77.7

Treble Cone

Andrew Herbert

25

23/01/2022

34.0

Kaimai

Jan Franta

25

28/01/2022

32.5

Treble Cone

Wil Killip

25 & 50

28/01/2022

50.2

Treble Cone

Jack Cano

25 & 50

31/01/2022

54.2

Longslip Mountain

Vicki Zadrozny

50

31/01/2022

57.1

Lindis Pass

Robert Dunkerley

50

31/01/2022

58.4

Lindis Pass

Thomas Wright

25

11/02/2022

30.4

Roys Peak

Mark Curtis

50

12/03/2022

53.6

Kaimai

Clemence Cadario

100

30/11/2021

107.2

Mill Creek

Thomas Rold

100

30/11/2021

107.2

Mill Creek

Glen Stevens

125 & 150

24/12/2021

170.5

Coronet Peak

Leo Chelle

75, 100 & 125

14/01/2022

109.7

Breast Hill

Jesse Dhue

50, 75 & 100

14/01/2022

109.8

Breast Hill

Dan Pugsley

50, 75 & 100

14/01/2022

109.9

Breast Hill

Bradley Franks

100

14/01/2022

112.7

Breast Hill

Kinga Masztalerz

100 & 125

14/01/2022

141.9

Moke Spurs-Speed Peak

Chris Connolly

75, 100, 125 & 150

14/01/2022

174.5

Coronet Peak

Jesse Dhue

125

15/01/2022

130.6

Sebastopol

Warrick Boustred

75 & 100

31/01/2022

103.2

Lindis Pass

Jan Zimmermann

100

16/02/2022

117.8

Long Gully

Stew Karstens

125

17/02/2022

127.2

Barnicoat

(Stickers will be sent out in August).

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