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Task 2 (Open)

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

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Analysis computed

Pilots analysed
53
Sampling
every 10s
Shared thermals
116 of 418multi-pilot
Working band
942–2525 m
Phase coverage
100%

What separated the field

Each metric's Spearman correlation against the published rank. Rank 1 is best, so a metric where more is better shows a negative ρ. Bigger bars mean the metric separated the field more sharply on this task. Select a row to see that metric plotted against rank.

MetricρStrengthnVerdictFamily
Search fraction of the speed section0.80
51strongDecision-making
Glide speed (post-start)-0.77
50strongGliding
Start delay (gate to crossing)0.69
51strongRace craft
Climbs per 100 km flown0.69
49strongDecision-making
Glide L/D vs field (per leg)-0.68
48strongGliding
Track efficiency (actual ÷ optimized leg distance)0.62
48strongGliding
Gaggle affinity (post-start time in a gaggle)-0.61
51strongGaggle
Altitude margin over final glide at ESS0.61
29strongRace craft
Dolphin climb fraction0.59
49strongGliding
Share of circling encounters accepted as climbs-0.52
50strongClimbing
Gaggle departure win rate-0.45
35moderateGaggle
Marker usage (climbs entered on another pilot's climb)-0.36
50moderateGaggle
Climb rate vs field in shared thermals-0.35
52moderateClimbing
Circle fit error relative to circle radius0.28
53weakClimbing
Thermal departure altitude as % of the working band-0.26
50within noiseClimbing
Time in non-sinking air0.18
53within noiseDay profile & wind
Altitude floor (band % at climb decisions)-0.17
49within noiseDecision-making
Climb rate over the last 30 s of each thermal-0.16
52within noiseClimbing
Low saves (climbs from the bottom of the band)-0.07
51within noiseDecision-making
Time to core a thermal0.03
53within noiseClimbing
Speed-to-fly proxy0.02
49within noiseGliding

Verdicts: strong |ρ| ≥ 0.5, moderate ≥ 0.3, weak below — but only after clearing the noise floor for that metric's n. within noise means shuffled ranks produce a coefficient that size more than 5% of the time, so it is indistinguishable from luck whatever its magnitude.

With 21 metrics ranked on this one task, the top rows are partly selection luck — trust the metrics that repeat across tasks in the competition-level analysis.

Search fraction of the speed section

Measured in percent · lower is better

Share of speed-section time (start to ESS, or landing) spent searching — neither climbing in a thermal nor gliding with real net speed. Lower means less time leaks away between climbs.

Each dot is a pilot: across is the metric's value, up is a better rank. ρ = 0.80 (strong, n = 51). Less is expected to be better here, and it was: top ranks gather to the left. 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%

Outcome checks

These metrics are derived from the race outcome itself, so they correlate with rank by construction — a low |ρ| here questions the eval, not the flying. Their per-pilot diagnostics stay in the Race craft section below.

MetricρStrengthnVerdict
Time behind the leader at ESS0.99
29strong
Time lost on speed-section legs0.40
48moderate

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
Pilots in rank order against every metric: darker = a better percentile in this field (empty = not applicable). Column order follows the family sections below, which carry the exact values. † No good/bad direction — shade is position in the field, not quality.

Pilot style clusters

Groups are flying style, not score — the rank spread on each shows where that style did and did not pay. Each group is named after its strongest signature; ★ marks the pilot most typical of their group.

Group A — Bold leavers

19 pilots · ranks 1–31 · median 11 · middle half 5.5–17.5

  • High — Gaggle departure win rate group median P84 in this field (100 percent)
  • High — Glide speed (post-start) group median P80 in this field (65.5 kilometres per hour) · usually a strength
  • Low — Low saves (climbs from the bottom of the band) group median P21 in this field (0.0 count)
  • Low — Climbs per 100 km flown group median P22 in this field (38.4 count) · usually a strength
  • 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

Group B — Lift keepers

30 pilots · ranks 10–49 · median 34.5 · middle half 25.3–41.8

  • High — Time in non-sinking air group median P72 in this field (60 percent)
  • High — Climbs per 100 km flown group median P70 in this field (71.6 count) · usually costly
  • High — Dolphin climb fraction group median P70 in this field (14 percent)
  • Low — Glide L/D vs field (per leg) group median P32 in this field (0.94 ratio) · 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
  • 44. Gavin Nicholls
  • 45. Jason Lannstrom
  • 46. Adrian Connor
  • 47. Diego Mendonca
  • 48. Neill Hollingsworth
  • 49. Peter Garrone

Not clustered: 50. Ryan Brown — only 12 of 21 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%); 51. Brett Davis — only 10 of 21 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%); 52. Marty Hearne — only 3 of 21 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%); 53. Wayne Johnston — only 5 of 21 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%).

Pilots are grouped by flying style, not by score: every behavioural metric is rank-transformed to a within-field percentile, pilots are compared by the mean percentile gap over the metrics both have (missing values are never imputed), and Ward-linkage agglomeration forms the groups, with the number of groups chosen by the best mean silhouette. Each group is annotated with the GAP-rank spread of its members — where a style did and did not pay. Here: 49 pilots on 21 behavioural metrics formed 2 groups (k searched 2–6); mean silhouette 0.21 — near 0 means soft group boundaries, near 1 tight well-separated groups.

The metrics in detail

strongest |ρ| 0.18

strongest |ρ| 0.52

strongest |ρ| 0.77

#PilotGlideSpdL/D vs fSTFproxyTrackEffDolphin%
1Olav Opsanger72.0 (19 glides, 61 min gliding)1.13 (4 legs compared)-3.1 (18 glide→climb pairs)1.13 (4 legs completed)5 (301 of 5623 m gained outside thermals)
2Rory Duncan64.7 (18 glides, 65 min gliding)1.14 (4 legs compared)-3.9 (17 glide→climb pairs)1.11 (4 legs completed)5 (288 of 5248 m gained outside thermals)
3Jochen Zeischka75.2 (16 glides, 69 min gliding)1.03 (4 legs compared)4.8 (15 glide→climb pairs)1.24 (4 legs completed)6 (381 of 6918 m gained outside thermals)
4Mitch Butler68.8 (21 glides, 71 min gliding)1.14 (4 legs compared)4.2 (20 glide→climb pairs)1.24 (4 legs completed)8 (455 of 5788 m gained outside thermals)
5Jon Durand68.9 (21 glides, 69 min gliding)1.12 (4 legs compared)2.5 (20 glide→climb pairs)1.19 (4 legs completed)9 (522 of 5642 m gained outside thermals)
6Scott Barrett70.9 (20 glides, 76 min gliding)1.14 (4 legs compared)1.4 (19 glide→climb pairs)1.27 (4 legs completed)13 (860 of 6777 m gained outside thermals)
7Gordon Rigg74.0 (18 glides, 67 min gliding)1.03 (4 legs compared)-0.5 (17 glide→climb pairs)1.25 (4 legs completed)10 (741 of 7076 m gained outside thermals)
8Pawel Cedro70.8 (22 glides, 67 min gliding)1.03 (4 legs compared)-1.0 (21 glide→climb pairs)1.27 (4 legs completed)8 (520 of 6506 m gained outside thermals)
9Steve Docherty65.8 (23 glides, 79 min gliding)1.07 (4 legs compared)-0.4 (22 glide→climb pairs)1.26 (4 legs completed)9 (634 of 6899 m gained outside thermals)
10Trent Brown61.9 (24 glides, 81 min gliding)1.01 (4 legs compared)1.7 (23 glide→climb pairs)1.29 (4 legs completed)10 (770 of 7592 m gained outside thermals)
11Paul Bissett-Amess63.9 (17 glides, 86 min gliding)1.16 (4 legs compared)0.8 (16 glide→climb pairs)1.29 (4 legs completed)7 (438 of 6081 m gained outside thermals)
12Rohan Holtkamp65.2 (24 glides, 83 min gliding)1.01 (4 legs compared)0.2 (23 glide→climb pairs)1.35 (4 legs completed)11 (753 of 6595 m gained outside thermals)
13Neale Halsall65.1 (22 glides, 84 min gliding)0.95 (4 legs compared)-1.4 (21 glide→climb pairs)1.32 (4 legs completed)11 (796 of 7240 m gained outside thermals)
14Vic Hare71.5 (23 glides, 82 min gliding)1.06 (4 legs compared)5.6 (22 glide→climb pairs)1.46 (4 legs completed)10 (755 of 7376 m gained outside thermals)
15Rich Reinauer64.1 (31 glides, 88 min gliding)1.02 (4 legs compared)5.0 (30 glide→climb pairs)1.47 (4 legs completed)12 (868 of 7229 m gained outside thermals)
16Tony Cross63.0 (31 glides, 87 min gliding)0.90 (4 legs compared)-2.2 (30 glide→climb pairs)1.42 (4 legs completed)13 (1013 of 8073 m gained outside thermals)
17Gary Herman62.9 (26 glides, 90 min gliding)0.90 (4 legs compared)4.3 (25 glide→climb pairs)1.34 (4 legs completed)10 (804 of 8406 m gained outside thermals)
18Peter Adriaans58.6 (22 glides, 96 min gliding)1.04 (4 legs compared)2.9 (21 glide→climb pairs)1.40 (4 legs completed)8 (585 of 7765 m gained outside thermals)
19Neil Hooke58.9 (22 glides, 97 min gliding)0.95 (4 legs compared)0.4 (21 glide→climb pairs)1.43 (4 legs completed)14 (1024 of 7402 m gained outside thermals)
20Nils Vesk61.7 (11 glides, 69 min gliding)0.94 (4 legs compared)-9.8 (10 glide→climb pairs)1.20 (4 legs completed)3 (289 of 8289 m gained outside thermals)
21Bruce Atkinson47.9 (8 glides, 70 min gliding)0.99 (4 legs compared)-10.5 (7 glide→climb pairs)1.10 (4 legs completed)4 (296 of 7460 m gained outside thermals)
22Todd Wisewould63.8 (31 glides, 103 min gliding)1.03 (4 legs compared)-2.6 (30 glide→climb pairs)1.62 (4 legs completed)11 (924 of 8131 m gained outside thermals)
23Guy Hubbard64.6 (34 glides, 101 min gliding)0.97 (4 legs compared)4.0 (33 glide→climb pairs)1.60 (4 legs completed)13 (1070 of 7939 m gained outside thermals)
24Dustan Hansen64.5 (41 glides, 109 min gliding)0.98 (4 legs compared)4.1 (40 glide→climb pairs)1.78 (4 legs completed)22 (1787 of 8064 m gained outside thermals)
25Steve Blenkinsop60.3 (38 glides, 128 min gliding)1.06 (4 legs compared)3.2 (37 glide→climb pairs)1.93 (4 legs completed)11 (947 of 8677 m gained outside thermals)
26Stuart Cathcart56.2 (25 glides, 102 min gliding)0.97 (4 legs compared)-1.3 (24 glide→climb pairs)1.41 (4 legs completed)5 (504 of 9394 m gained outside thermals)
27Steven Crosby64.5 (32 glides, 97 min gliding)1.01 (4 legs compared)0.9 (31 glide→climb pairs)1.57 (4 legs completed)12 (973 of 7960 m gained outside thermals)
28David Drabble63.1 (41 glides, 124 min gliding)0.94 (4 legs compared)-1.7 (40 glide→climb pairs)1.92 (4 legs completed)12 (1192 of 9734 m gained outside thermals)
29Ken Millard62.0 (54 glides, 121 min gliding)0.88 (4 legs compared)-3.4 (53 glide→climb pairs)1.80 (4 legs completed)49 (7815 of 15936 m gained outside thermals)
30Peter Burkitt65.5 (21 glides, 75 min gliding)1.06 (2 legs compared)-0.0 (20 glide→climb pairs)1.20 (2 legs completed)14 (792 of 5855 m gained outside thermals)
31Ian Miller56.2 (20 glides, 78 min gliding)1.01 (2 legs compared)2.4 (19 glide→climb pairs)1.30 (2 legs completed)11 (620 of 5672 m gained outside thermals)
32John Harriott55.9 (36 glides, 129 min gliding)1.03 (2 legs compared)2.5 (35 glide→climb pairs)1.92 (2 legs completed)26 (1873 of 7139 m gained outside thermals)
33Michael Free50.5 (22 glides, 93 min gliding)0.78 (2 legs compared)2.2 (21 glide→climb pairs)1.51 (2 legs completed)9 (672 of 7423 m gained outside thermals)
34Ben Torrance50.9 (20 glides, 95 min gliding)0.86 (2 legs compared)-1.4 (19 glide→climb pairs)1.67 (2 legs completed)14 (849 of 6172 m gained outside thermals)
35Cedric Joyce50.8 (26 glides, 91 min gliding)0.76 (2 legs compared)-1.4 (25 glide→climb pairs)1.71 (2 legs completed)14 (1072 of 7823 m gained outside thermals)
36Grant Tatham52.7 (32 glides, 115 min gliding)0.85 (2 legs compared)-2.2 (31 glide→climb pairs)2.21 (2 legs completed)12 (1120 of 9377 m gained outside thermals)
37Ward Gunn68.0 (23 glides, 71 min gliding)0.88 (2 legs compared)-0.3 (22 glide→climb pairs)1.81 (2 legs completed)22 (1170 of 5252 m gained outside thermals)
38Tushar Pokle47.0 (31 glides, 101 min gliding)0.94 (2 legs compared)-2.2 (30 glide→climb pairs)1.92 (2 legs completed)19 (1118 of 5813 m gained outside thermals)
39Enda Carrigan59.3 (46 glides, 122 min gliding)1.06 (1 leg compared)-1.3 (45 glide→climb pairs)1.56 (1 leg completed)18 (1597 of 8816 m gained outside thermals)
40Troy Horton55.8 (24 glides, 73 min gliding)0.93 (1 leg compared)4.8 (23 glide→climb pairs)1.14 (1 leg completed)11 (537 of 4961 m gained outside thermals)
41Andrew Sutton54.8 (18 glides, 68 min gliding)1.03 (1 leg compared)0.1 (17 glide→climb pairs)1.54 (1 leg completed)16 (635 of 3939 m gained outside thermals)
42Mark Jeffree48.9 (18 glides, 83 min gliding)0.89 (1 leg compared)1.0 (17 glide→climb pairs)1.80 (1 leg completed)8 (518 of 6262 m gained outside thermals)
43Bobby Gillham56.1 (6 glides, 55 min gliding)0.73 (1 leg compared)-11.9 (5 glide→climb pairs)1.75 (1 leg completed)3 (167 of 6303 m gained outside thermals)
44Gavin Nicholls62.8 (14 glides, 51 min gliding)0.96 (1 leg compared)0.7 (13 glide→climb pairs)1.52 (1 leg completed)18 (663 of 3607 m gained outside thermals)
45Jason Lannstrom54.0 (24 glides, 57 min gliding)0.91 (1 leg compared)3.6 (23 glide→climb pairs)1.84 (1 leg completed)24 (828 of 3513 m gained outside thermals)
46Adrian Connor47.5 (7 glides, 46 min gliding)0.83 (1 leg compared)3.8 (6 glide→climb pairs)1.35 (1 leg completed)24 (619 of 2546 m gained outside thermals)
47Diego Mendonca57.6 (32 glides, 75 min gliding)0.72 (1 leg compared)9.8 (31 glide→climb pairs)1.50 (1 leg completed)16 (1070 of 6540 m gained outside thermals)
48Neill Hollingsworth53.7 (17 glides, 34 min gliding)0.77 (1 leg compared)-0.9 (16 glide→climb pairs)1.58 (1 leg completed)22 (731 of 3344 m gained outside thermals)
49Peter Garrone55.2 (13 glides, 32 min gliding)—2.6 (12 glide→climb pairs)—28 (419 of 1517 m gained outside thermals)
50Ryan Brown48.0 (3 glides, 11 min gliding)————
51Brett Davis—————
52Marty Hearne—————
53Wayne Johnston—————

Glide speed (post-start)

Measured in kilometres per hour · higher is better

Duration-weighted mean ground speed over post-start glide segments (glide distance ÷ glide time). Higher means the pilot covers ground faster between climbs.

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

strongest |ρ| 0.80

#PilotFloor%LowSavesClm/100kmSearch%
1Olav Opsanger57 (9 dips, lowest 24% of band)0.027.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 54%)12
2Rory Duncan67 (9 dips, lowest 3% of band)1.0 (deepest save from 4% of band)30.5 (mean shared-climb pctile 53%)19
3Jochen Zeischka43 (8 dips, lowest 5% of band)0.027.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 57%)17
4Mitch Butler64 (10 dips, lowest -11% of band)0.033.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 50%)23
5Jon Durand26 (7 dips, lowest -2% of band)0.038.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 57%)14
6Scott Barrett38 (11 dips, lowest -26% of band)1.0 (deepest save from -15% of band)29.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 47%)23
7Gordon Rigg39 (9 dips, lowest -9% of band)1.0 (deepest save from 4% of band)38.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 55%)23
8Pawel Cedro52 (11 dips, lowest 17% of band)0.041.8 (mean shared-climb pctile 45%)20
9Steve Docherty48 (11 dips, lowest -10% of band)1.0 (deepest save from 4% of band)36.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 58%)24
10Trent Brown12 (12 dips, lowest -25% of band)3.0 (deepest save from 11% of band)53.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 49%)19
11Paul Bissett-Amess50 (9 dips, lowest -6% of band)1.0 (deepest save from -6% of band)32.8 (mean shared-climb pctile 41%)25
12Rohan Holtkamp20 (8 dips, lowest 5% of band)1.0 (deepest save from 15% of band)45.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 62%)22
13Neale Halsall24 (9 dips, lowest 6% of band)0.041.8 (mean shared-climb pctile 51%)27
14Vic Hare34 (10 dips, lowest 3% of band)0.044.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 49%)28
15Rich Reinauer28 (10 dips, lowest -7% of band)1.0 (deepest save from -8% of band)57.7 (mean shared-climb pctile 53%)27
16Tony Cross15 (12 dips, lowest -10% of band)4.0 (deepest save from -7% of band)61.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 52%)21
17Gary Herman33 (9 dips, lowest -24% of band)2.0 (deepest save from -16% of band)41.8 (mean shared-climb pctile 62%)20
18Peter Adriaans47 (12 dips, lowest -5% of band)1.0 (deepest save from 15% of band)41.8 (mean shared-climb pctile 56%)22
19Neil Hooke15 (10 dips, lowest -12% of band)2.0 (deepest save from -9% of band)52.0 (mean shared-climb pctile 47%)30
20Nils Vesk11 (13 dips, lowest -17% of band)5.0 (deepest save from -15% of band)18.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 35%)17
21Bruce Atkinson70 (14 dips, lowest -3% of band)1.0 (deepest save from 0% of band)21.5 (mean shared-climb pctile 22%)9
22Todd Wisewould52 (16 dips, lowest -16% of band)0.052.0 (mean shared-climb pctile 54%)33
23Guy Hubbard31 (12 dips, lowest -11% of band)1.0 (deepest save from 1% of band)62.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 53%)28
24Dustan Hansen26 (11 dips, lowest -6% of band)1.0 (deepest save from -1% of band)82.6 (mean shared-climb pctile 52%)36
25Steve Blenkinsop35 (14 dips, lowest -23% of band)0.074.6 (mean shared-climb pctile 39%)33
26Stuart Cathcart15 (9 dips, lowest -23% of band)5.0 (deepest save from -23% of band)48.6 (mean shared-climb pctile 41%)25
27Steven Crosby11 (11 dips, lowest -15% of band)2.0 (deepest save from -9% of band)72.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 46%)33
28David Drabble33 (13 dips, lowest -21% of band)3.0 (deepest save from -21% of band)72.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 51%)33
29Ken Millard10 (11 dips, lowest -3% of band)1.0 (deepest save from 8% of band)105.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 64%)44
30Peter Burkitt24 (5 dips, lowest 5% of band)0.046.5 (mean shared-climb pctile 44%)28
31Ian Miller50 (12 dips, lowest -26% of band)0.042.0 (mean shared-climb pctile 55%)23
32John Harriott39 (10 dips, lowest -9% of band)2.0 (deepest save from -2% of band)83.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 48%)51
33Michael Free16 (11 dips, lowest -27% of band)4.0 (deepest save from -27% of band)48.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 43%)27
34Ben Torrance57 (9 dips, lowest -6% of band)2.0 (deepest save from 2% of band)57.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 54%)39
35Cedric Joyce39 (12 dips, lowest 0% of band)2.0 (deepest save from 10% of band)80.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 47%)32
36Grant Tatham22 (10 dips, lowest -32% of band)3.0 (deepest save from -32% of band)87.8 (mean shared-climb pctile 54%)30
37Ward Gunn42 (7 dips, lowest -9% of band)0.079.0 (mean shared-climb pctile 48%)46
38Tushar Pokle70 (10 dips, lowest 12% of band)0.092.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 54%)43
39Enda Carrigan46 (14 dips, lowest 14% of band)0.0139.3 (mean shared-climb pctile 43%)41
40Troy Horton37 (10 dips, lowest -28% of band)1.0 (deepest save from -26% of band)70.8 (mean shared-climb pctile 47%)43
41Andrew Sutton38 (7 dips, lowest 32% of band)0.069.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 43%)45
42Mark Jeffree21 (8 dips, lowest -31% of band)3.0 (deepest save from -28% of band)61.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 42%)32
43Bobby Gillham-4 (6 dips, lowest -16% of band)3.0 (deepest save from -16% of band)21.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 65%)24
44Gavin Nicholls36 (5 dips, lowest 33% of band)0.067.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 54%)36
45Jason Lannstrom66 (7 dips, lowest 42% of band)0.0114.3 (mean shared-climb pctile 54%)43
46Adrian Connor18 (3 dips, lowest 9% of band)0.048.6 (mean shared-climb pctile 50%)36
47Diego Mendonca34 (9 dips, lowest -32% of band)2.0 (deepest save from -17% of band)136.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 53%)48
48Neill Hollingsworth40 (5 dips, lowest -23% of band)0.085.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 50%)39
49Peter Garrone15 (3 dips, lowest 12% of band)0.074.0 (mean shared-climb pctile 41%)42
50Ryan Brown—0.0—78
51Brett Davis—0.0—100
52Marty Hearne————
53Wayne Johnston————

Search fraction of the speed section

Measured in percent · lower is better

Share of speed-section time (start to ESS, or landing) spent searching — neither climbing in a thermal nor gliding with real net speed. Lower means less time leaks away between climbs.

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

strongest |ρ| 0.61

strongest |ρ| 0.69

#PilotStartDlyLegLostBehindESSMargin
1Olav Opsanger4800.0-42
2Rory Duncan38154.0-128
3Jochen Zeischka144812.4-81
4Mitch Butler2720615.5-9
5Jon Durand2773117.6-101
6Scott Barrett4386918.2-105
7Gordon Rigg2953419.1-189
8Pawel Cedro30247924.2138
9Steve Docherty158109128.6-37
10Trent Brown34123036.648
11Paul Bissett-Amess166115637.5104
12Rohan Holtkamp303122340.3-6
13Neale Halsall126148541.182
14Vic Hare177160842.4-57
15Rich Reinauer83215152.0-111
16Tony Cross127253059.2-33
17Gary Herman738185659.794
18Peter Adriaans87259761.2-49
19Neil Hooke117281665.266
20Nils Vesk271266465.4-13
21Bruce Atkinson707243868.994
22Todd Wisewould67328672.329
23Guy Hubbard176334174.2-61
24Dustan Hansen103357777.4252
25Steve Blenkinsop3726761135.0380
26Stuart Cathcart1825313107.3102
27Steven Crosby153389583.16
28David Drabble2785718115.6388
29Ken Millard87379880.5365
30Peter Burkitt5296——
31Ian Miller18971365——
32John Harriott2973886——
33Michael Free11524176——
34Ben Torrance424075——
35Cedric Joyce9754739——
36Grant Tatham3427802——
37Ward Gunn10282694——
38Tushar Pokle3335037——
39Enda Carrigan3141198——
40Troy Horton101416——
41Andrew Sutton3381422——
42Mark Jeffree10042799——
43Bobby Gillham5322628——
44Gavin Nicholls536963——
45Jason Lannstrom16302088——
46Adrian Connor1121340——
47Diego Mendonca5651098——
48Neill Hollingsworth13261412——
49Peter Garrone623———
50Ryan Brown1647———
51Brett Davis1243———
52Marty Hearne————
53Wayne Johnston————

Start delay (gate to crossing)

Measured in seconds · lower is better

Seconds from the start gate taken (or the pilot’s own crossing on elapsed-time tasks, where the delay is 0 by definition) to the scored SSS crossing. The start table adds crossing altitude and how far behind the leading already-started pilot each start was.

Start execution

PilotDelayAlt mBand %Behind km
Olav Opsanger0:4820497017.3
Rory Duncan0:3824839727.5
Jochen Zeischka0:0121977917.1
Mitch Butler0:27254510127.3
Jon Durand0:2721477617.2
Scott Barrett0:4320356917.3
Gordon Rigg0:2920386917.2
Pawel Cedro5:0220096712.8
Steve Docherty2:381979669.7
Trent Brown0:3419536417.3
Paul Bissett-Amess2:461988669.8
Rohan Holtkamp5:0321087426.9
Neale Halsall2:0617044817.5
Vic Hare2:5720206810.0
Rich Reinauer1:2320426917.6
Tony Cross2:0721637717.6
Gary Herman12:1817064827.5
Peter Adriaans1:2718795917.4
Neil Hooke1:5717935417.6
Nils Vesk4:3112782118.5
Bruce Atkinson11:4719256216.3
Todd Wisewould1:0720977317.5
Guy Hubbard2:5619486410.0
Dustan Hansen1:4322488327.0
Steve Blenkinsop6:122210803.8
Stuart Cathcart3:0219236210.1
Steven Crosby2:331944639.7
David Drabble4:3820286912.2
Ken Millard1:271839570.0
Peter Burkitt0:5217925417.3
Ian Miller31:3720877225.0
John Harriott4:5719196218.7
Michael Free19:1216254317.1
Ben Torrance0:4223478927.6
Cedric Joyce16:151741506.3
Grant Tatham5:421985663.4
Ward Gunn17:081920626.8
Tushar Pokle5:3319136127.3
Enda Carrigan5:141893603.5
Troy Horton1:4117945417.5
Andrew Sutton5:3817935413.5
Mark Jeffree16:441632446.5
Bobby Gillham8:5221027320.7
Gavin Nicholls8:5619316215.5
Jason Lannstrom27:1020477026.2
Adrian Connor1:521722490.5
Diego Mendonca9:2517395015.9
Neill Hollingsworth22:0618605826.6
Peter Garrone10:2320066726.8
Ryan Brown27:2715724027.9
Brett Davis20:43661-1828.6

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).

Time lost on speed-section legs

Measured in seconds · lower is better

For each completed speed-section leg, the pilot’s leg time is compared with the mean of the top-10 (by rank) pilots who completed that leg; only losses count, and the losses are summed. Summed leg times are race time and the reference is defined by rank, so this tracks the outcome by construction — read the waterfall table (every leg against the task winner) for the diagnostic, not the correlation for a finding.

-1:58SSS→WALWA+3:17WALWA→CUDGWE+2:20CUDGWE→ELLITP+0:31ELLITP→ESS
Rory Duncan against the winner, leg by leg: bars hanging below the line are time lost, bars above are time gained; over the 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

PilotSSS→WALWAWALWA→CUDGWECUDGWE→ELLITPELLITP→ESSTotal
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

Cells: this pilot’s leg time minus the winner’s (+ = slower than the winner, − = faster); — = leg not completed by pilot or winner.

The scalar metric instead sums losses vs the mean of the top 10 pilots who completed each leg (legs flown faster than that reference contribute 0).

Time behind the leader at ESS

Measured in minutes · lower is better

At each speed-section turnpoint, elapsed race time (reaching minus own start) is compared with the fastest pilot to that turnpoint; the scalar is minutes behind at ESS. Expected to track final rank almost perfectly — this metric is the eval’s sanity check.

Minutes behind the fastest pilot at each turnpoint — the leader runs along the top at zero, and a line that stops early is a pilot who landed. The top 5 are coloured; every pilot's exact numbers are in the table below.

Horserace — minutes behind the leader at each turnpoint

PilotELLIOTWALWACUDGWEELLITPCORRYCORRY
Olav Opsanger0.82.13.80.00.00.0
Rory Duncan0.60.04.93.54.04.0
Jochen Zeischka0.02.117.513.712.412.4
Mitch Butler0.43.514.915.815.515.5
Jon Durand0.42.021.817.017.617.6
Scott Barrett0.70.80.018.318.218.2
Gordon Rigg0.50.613.514.919.119.1
Pawel Cedro5.017.524.424.724.224.2
Steve Docherty2.620.920.328.428.628.6
Trent Brown0.66.714.637.236.636.6
Paul Bissett-Amess2.720.932.738.237.537.5
Rohan Holtkamp5.08.118.940.240.340.3
Neale Halsall2.15.529.842.041.141.1
Vic Hare2.919.641.941.942.442.4
Rich Reinauer1.44.630.552.252.052.0
Tony Cross2.15.035.948.859.259.2
Gary Herman12.332.046.056.659.759.7
Peter Adriaans1.412.735.150.861.261.2
Neil Hooke1.914.343.365.165.265.2
Nils Vesk4.528.342.264.965.465.4
Bruce Atkinson11.833.957.865.268.968.9
Todd Wisewould1.112.528.062.772.372.3
Guy Hubbard2.921.855.674.874.274.2
Dustan Hansen1.76.769.077.577.477.4
Steve Blenkinsop6.233.9107.0135.1135.0135.0
Stuart Cathcart3.020.588.8107.8107.3107.3
Steven Crosby2.543.261.683.683.183.1
David Drabble4.622.448.7116.1115.6115.6
Ken Millard1.423.564.280.980.580.5
Peter Burkitt0.86.913.7———
Ian Miller31.640.566.8———
John Harriott4.934.782.1———
Michael Free19.260.7101.2———
Ben Torrance0.729.681.0———
Cedric Joyce16.244.9107.6———
Grant Tatham5.729.2148.1———
Ward Gunn17.146.674.4———
Tushar Pokle5.569.6101.9———
Enda Carrigan5.229.6————
Troy Horton1.713.1————
Andrew Sutton5.633.8————
Mark Jeffree16.767.8————
Bobby Gillham8.857.1————
Gavin Nicholls8.929.4————
Jason Lannstrom27.166.4————
Adrian Connor1.928.6————
Diego Mendonca9.432.1————
Neill Hollingsworth22.150.1————
Peter Garrone10.4—————
Ryan Brown27.4—————
Brett Davis20.7—————

Elapsed race time (from each pilot’s own start) minus the fastest elapsed time to that turnpoint; — = turnpoint not reached.

Altitude margin over final glide at ESS

Measured in metres · lower is better

Altitude at ESS minus the altitude needed to glide to goal at the sport’s standard glide ratio (S7F §12.3.6: 5.0 HG / 4.0 PG). A big positive margin is altitude — i.e. time — left unspent.

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

Metric glossary

How every metric on this page is measured. On screen, the ⓘ next to a metric opens the same description in place; in print, this section is the reference for all of them.

Day profile & wind

Wind (by hour and by leg)(“Wind” in tables)
Measured in kilometres per hour · no expected direction

Wind estimated from every pilot’s circling (centre drift preferred, ground-speed modulation as fallback), vector-averaged two ways: by hour of day (how the wind built and shifted through the day) and by speed-section leg (the wind each part of the course saw). Field-level only — no per-pilot value.

Climb by hour(“Climb/hr” in tables)
Measured in metres per second · no expected direction

All pilots’ thermal climbs bucketed by the hour the climb started (labelled in the competition’s time zone): median and 90th-percentile average climb rate per hour show how the day’s lift developed. Field-level only — no per-pilot value.

Time in non-sinking air(“NonSink%” in tables)
Measured in percent · no expected direction

Share of a pilot’s airborne time (on the shared grid) spent in non-sinking air — 30 s-smoothed vario at or above −0.5 m/s. Reflects how much of the flight met usable air: when flown, where the pilot steered, and how the flight ended all feed it, so the correlation sign is the finding. The timing table relates the day’s best climbs window to when the field actually launched.

Climbing

Climb rate vs field in shared thermals(“SharedPct” in tables)
Measured in percent · higher is better

In every thermal two or more pilots used, each use is ranked by average climb rate; a use’s percentile is the share of strictly slower uses. The value is the duration-weighted mean percentile over the pilot’s shared climbs — centering skill isolated from thermal selection.

Time to core a thermal(“Core s” in tables)
Measured in seconds · lower is better

For each thermal of at least 60 s, the seconds from entering until the 30 s rolling climb rate first reaches 90% of its peak in that thermal. The value is the median across the pilot’s thermals — how fast they centre the best lift after arriving.

Climb rate over the last 30 s of each thermal(“ExitDecay” in tables)
Measured in metres per second · no expected direction

For each thermal of at least 90 s, the climb rate over its final 30 s — the "give-up rate". The value is the median: low means the pilot abandons weakening lift early, high means they ride climbs to the end; the correlation sign says which behaviour paid on this task.

Share of circling encounters accepted as climbs(“Accept%” in tables)
Measured in percent · no expected direction

Post-start circling bouts of at least 30 s are lift encounters; one that overlaps a detected thermal was accepted, otherwise the pilot circled and rejected the lift. The value is the percentage accepted — low means picky, high means they take almost everything they turn in.

Thermal departure altitude as % of the working band(“ExitBand%” in tables)
Measured in percent · no expected direction

The altitude at which the pilot left each post-start thermal, as a percentage of the day’s working band (0% = field floor, 100% = field ceiling); the value is the median. High means topping out every climb, low means leaving early with climb still available.

Circle fit error relative to circle radius(“Smooth” in tables)
Measured in ratio · lower is better

Each detected circle is least-squares fitted; its RMS fit error divided by the fitted radius measures how round the turn really was. The value is the median over all the pilot’s circles — lower means smoother, more consistent turning.

Gliding

Glide speed (post-start)(“GlideSpd” in tables)
Measured in kilometres per hour · higher is better

Duration-weighted mean ground speed over post-start glide segments (glide distance ÷ glide time). Higher means the pilot covers ground faster between climbs.

Glide L/D vs field (per leg)(“L/D vs f” in tables)
Measured in ratio · higher is better

For each completed speed-section leg, the pilot's glide-phase L/D (path distance ÷ net altitude lost while gliding; legs losing under 100 m skipped) is divided by the field's median L/D on that same leg, then averaged over legs. Above 1.0 means the pilot found better glide lines than the field on the same legs.

Speed-to-fly proxy(“STFproxy” in tables)
Measured in kilometres per hour · higher is better

A speed-to-fly PROXY — no glider polar data exists. Each post-start glide is paired with the climb rate of the next thermal starting within 5 minutes; the value is the mean glide speed flown before stronger-than-median climbs minus the mean before weaker ones. Positive means the pilot speeds up when the next climb justifies it.

Track efficiency (actual ÷ optimized leg distance)(“TrackEff” in tables)
Measured in ratio · lower is better

Route distance flown on each completed speed-section leg — full path outside climbs, each climb counted as its net drift — ÷ the leg's optimized distance, averaged with optimized-distance weights. Closer to 1.0 means less deviation from the optimal course line; circling path is excluded, so stopping to climb does not read as bad line choice.

Dolphin climb fraction(“Dolphin%” in tables)
Measured in percent · no expected direction

Share of post-start altitude gain (10 s-smoothed) made outside detected thermals — climbing on the run instead of stopping to circle. Neutral: the correlation sign shows whether dolphin climbing paid on this day.

Decision-making

Altitude floor (band % at climb decisions)(“Floor%” in tables)
Measured in percent · higher is better

Finds each pilot's post-start altitude minima (30 s-smoothed, at least 100 m below the surrounding maxima) — the points where they stopped descending and committed to a climb — and reports the median as a percentage of the day's working band. Higher means the pilot keeps more margin in hand before taking a climb.

Low saves (climbs from the bottom of the band)(“LowSaves” in tables)
Measured in count · no expected direction

Counts post-start climbs entered below 15% of the working band that went on to gain at least 300 m — genuine low saves. Zero is a real score for a started pilot; the correlation sign says whether digging out or never getting low is what pays.

Climbs per 100 km flown(“Clm/100km” in tables)
Measured in count · lower is better

Post-start thermal count per 100 km of scored flown distance — how often the pilot stops to circle. Each pilot's note adds their mean climb percentile within shared thermals, so few stops can be read together with climb strength.

Search fraction of the speed section(“Search%” in tables)
Measured in percent · lower is better

Share of speed-section time (start to ESS, or landing) spent searching — neither climbing in a thermal nor gliding with real net speed. Lower means less time leaks away between climbs.

Gaggle

Gaggle affinity (post-start time in a gaggle)(“Affinity” in tables)
Measured in percent · no expected direction

Share of a pilot's post-start flying time spent inside a detected gaggle (clustered with at least one other racing pilot on the shared time grid). Neutral: the correlation sign says whether sticking with company paid on the day.

Marker usage (climbs entered on another pilot's climb)(“Marked%” in tables)
Measured in percent · no expected direction

Share of a pilot's post-start climbs where another pilot was already established (at least 30 s) and still climbing in the same thermal when they joined. High = climbs on others' markers; low = finds their own lift.

Gaggle departure win rate(“DepartWin” in tables)
Measured in percent · no expected direction

When a pilot leaves a gaggle that keeps flying, did leaving pay off? We compare the leaver's arrival at the next turnpoint against the median arrival of the pilots who stayed. Win rate > 50% means their departures beat the gaggle. Only pilots still in the gaggle after the split who reached that turnpoint after it count as stayers.

Race craft

Start delay (gate to crossing)(“StartDly” in tables)
Measured in seconds · lower is better

Seconds from the start gate taken (or the pilot’s own crossing on elapsed-time tasks, where the delay is 0 by definition) to the scored SSS crossing. The start table adds crossing altitude and how far behind the leading already-started pilot each start was.

Time lost on speed-section legs(“LegLost” in tables)
Measured in seconds · lower is better

For each completed speed-section leg, the pilot’s leg time is compared with the mean of the top-10 (by rank) pilots who completed that leg; only losses count, and the losses are summed. Summed leg times are race time and the reference is defined by rank, so this tracks the outcome by construction — read the waterfall table (every leg against the task winner) for the diagnostic, not the correlation for a finding.

Time behind the leader at ESS(“Behind” in tables)
Measured in minutes · lower is better

At each speed-section turnpoint, elapsed race time (reaching minus own start) is compared with the fastest pilot to that turnpoint; the scalar is minutes behind at ESS. Expected to track final rank almost perfectly — this metric is the eval’s sanity check.

Altitude margin over final glide at ESS(“ESSMargin” in tables)
Measured in metres · lower is better

Altitude at ESS minus the altitude needed to glide to goal at the sport’s standard glide ratio (S7F §12.3.6: 5.0 HG / 4.0 PG). A big positive margin is altitude — i.e. time — left unspent.

Required glide ratio when leaving the last climb(“FinalGl” in tables)
Measured in ratio · no expected direction

At the pilot’s last climb before ESS (or landing): distance to goal divided by height above goal — the glide ratio they committed to. Only counted when that climb ended within 1.5× the final leg’s distance of goal.