NZ Central District Regionals Feb 2022

Papawai, New Zealand,   18 February 2022 – 26 February 2022

Contest Update

10 days ago Papawai airfield was flooded by 150ml of rain in 48 hours. The airfield dried out rapidly. However practice day on Friday the 18th was cancelled due to a number of soft spots on the runways. Saturday morning saw the pilots at the first briefing and a grid was set on the northwest runway. Weather conditions were forecast to be scrathy and proved to be so with mid-level cloud continuously thickening so much so that the day was cancelled on the grid. Sunday it was wet (again) with 70mls of rain and the day was cancelled on Saturday evening. So on to Monday the 21st and promising thermals with some low level wave conditions never really developed. The Open Class launched first and struggled to get above launch height of 2000ft. After a break to allow conditions to improve, which they did (slightly) and the handicapped Racing Class were launched. Again they struggled to remain airborne and there were a number of land backs. There was one finisher in the Open Class and two in the Racing class. The Sports Class were not launched. Today (Monday 22nd) a low level westerly flow shut down the lift under an inversion at 2000ft. Blue wave to the west was an option but required a high tow. Regretfully the day was cancelled and some pilots are now exploring the blue wave. Tomorrow (Wednesday 23) looks a little wet with low cloud!

Written by: Bob Henderson on 22 February 2022 at 00:24.
Edited by: Bob Henderson on 23 February 2022 at 02:00.

Latest winner

1. Tim Bromhead 104.81 km/h
2. Patrick Driessen 102.03 km/h
3. Grae Harrison 89.60 km/h
Updated: 26/02/2022, 19:37
1. Graham Player 50.49 km/h
2. Bruno Tagliapietra 56.15 km/h
3. Murray Wardell 49.26 km/h
Updated: 26/02/2022, 19:35
1. Tony van Dyk 80.60 km/h
2. James Austin 67.51 km/h
3. Bob Gray 66.14 km/h
Updated: 26/02/2022, 19:36

Latest task

Task 5, 26 Feb 2022
Task distance: 97.73 km  /  337.29 km  (217.46 km)
Task duration: 2:30:00
Updated: 26/02/2022, 09:23
Task 5, 26 Feb 2022
Task distance: 60.54 km  /  172.31 km  (116.39 km)
Task duration: 1:45:00
Updated: 26/02/2022, 09:25
Task 3, 26 Feb 2022
Task distance: 97.73 km  /  337.29 km  (217.46 km)
Task duration: 2:00:00
Updated: 26/02/2022, 17:41