Metric details

Every pilot's reading on every behaviour, family by family.

Analysis computed

best: some pattern (0.44)

#	Pilot	NonSink%
1	Olav Opsanger	49
2	Rohan Holtkamp	50
3	Jon Durand	52
4	Gordon Rigg	53
5	Craig Taylor	55
6	Steven Crosby	52
7	Rory Duncan	57
8	Rich Reinauer	57
9	Glen Mcfarlane	56
10	Neale Halsall	50
11	Vic Hare	55
12	Harrison Rowntree	55
13	Steve Blenkinsop	58
14	Trent Brown	52
15	Paul Bissett-Amess	56
16	Todd Wisewould	54
17	Daniel Rhodes	59
18	Peter Burkitt	52
19	Nils Vesk	58
20	Gary Herman	51
21	John Muldoon	50
22	David Drabble	54
23	Hossain Tefaili	55
24	Troy Horton	52
25	Neil Hooke	55
26	Michael Free	53
27	Stuart McElroy	56
28	Diego Mendonca	60
29	Mitch Butler	60
30	Rennick Kerr	59
31	Andrew Sutton	60
32	Ward Gunn	61
33	Ivo van der Leeden	59
34	Bruce Atkinson	57
35	Brett Davis	55
36	John Harriott	46
37	Airie Merlin	58

The day’s wind, hour by hour and leg by leg

Measured in kilometres per hour · no expected direction

What the air did, read from the field itself. We estimate the wind from the circling of every pilot. The first method is the drift of the circle centre, and the second method, used when the first is not available, is the modulation of the ground speed. We then combine the estimates two ways. The table by hour of day shows how the wind increased and changed direction through the day. The table by speed-section leg shows the wind on each part of the course. This metric describes the day, so it has no value for each pilot.

Wind by hour

Period	Speed (km/h)	Dir (°)	n
Whole task	9.3	226	5682
13:00 AEDT	8.1	273	159
14:00 AEDT	9.7	215	717
15:00 AEDT	8.9	200	1987
16:00 AEDT	9.9	232	2018
17:00 AEDT	8.8	226	789
18:00 AEDT	10.1	4	12

Each circle gives one wind estimate. GlideComp uses centre drift where it can, and ground-speed modulation where it cannot. The direction is the vector mean of the estimates, in degrees the wind blows FROM (0° = north). The speed is the median of their magnitudes, because the length of a vector mean falls toward zero when the directions scatter.

Hours are shown in the competition’s time zone.

Wind by leg

Leg	Flown	Pilots	Circling	Speed (km/h)	Dir (°)	n	From pilots
ELLIOT (SSS)→HALFWY	14:45–16:46 AEDT	32	14:46–16:41 AEDT	9.4	359	369	29
HALFWY→BIGARA	15:05–16:53 AEDT	31	15:08–16:37 AEDT	9.7	259	531	28
BIGARA→GRGGRG	15:22–17:19 AEDT	31	15:24–17:08 AEDT	10.3	224	1024	31
GRGGRG→DWYERS	15:47–17:58 AEDT	29	15:47–17:54 AEDT	9.1	215	1084	29
DWYERS→KHANCO (ESS)	16:28–18:12 AEDT	28	16:30–17:56 AEDT	9.6	221	172	14
KHANCO (ESS)→KHANCO (GOAL)	16:38–18:12 AEDT	28	—	—	—	0	0

“Flown” is when the field was ON the leg — the first pilot entering to the last leaving — over the “Pilots” who started and flew the whole leg.

“Circling” is the narrower window the wind was actually measured in: first to last circle estimate any pilot logged while on the leg, from “From pilots” pilots. Glides produce no estimate, so a leg the field mostly glided shows a sliver of its flown window (or “—” where no one circled at all) — and a late leg the leaders glided can be measured EARLIER than the leg before it without either being wrong.

How strong the day’s climbs were, hour by hour

Measured in metres per second · no expected direction

When the day started, reached its peak, and ended. We group the thermal climbs of all pilots by the hour in which each climb started, labelled in the time zone of the competition. The median and the 90th-percentile average climb rate for each hour show how the lift developed. The first row is the whole task, measured over every climb of the day in one set, and not as an average of the hourly rows. This metric describes the day, so it has no value for each pilot.

Climb by hour

Period	Median (m/s)	p90 (m/s)	n
Whole task	1.3	2.5	1354
13:00 AEDT	1.2	2.1	52
14:00 AEDT	1.3	2.4	160
15:00 AEDT	1.4	2.5	462
16:00 AEDT	1.3	2.6	497
17:00 AEDT	1.2	2.5	183

The average climb rate of every thermal use across the field, grouped by the start of the climb. The hours are in the time zone of the competition. The whole-task row is measured over all of those climbs together, not averaged from the hours.

Share of the flight spent in air that wasn’t sinking

Measured in percent · no expected direction

How much of the flight was in air worth being in. The value is the share of the airborne time of a pilot, on the shared grid, with a 30 s-smoothed vario at or above −0.5 m/s. The time they flew, the line they steered and the way the flight ended all feed this value. It is therefore a reading of the day as much as of the pilot. There is no expected direction, and the sign of the correlation is the finding. The timing table compares the window of the day’s best climbs against the time when the field launched.

Day timing

	Time
Best conditions	15:00–16:00 AEDT
Earliest takeoff	13:15 AEDT
Median takeoff	15:06 AEDT
Latest takeoff	15:41 AEDT

Best conditions is the one-hour window with the strongest median climb (1.4 m/s), among hours with enough climbs to be representative (≥20% of the busiest hour).

best: clear pattern (0.70)

#	Pilot	Out-climb	Core s	LeaveRate	Kept%	TopOut%	Round
1	Olav Opsanger	78 (20 shared climbs)	51 (11 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.6 (10 climbs ≥ 90 s)	89 (8/9 circling bouts led to climbs)	97 (mean on-course altitude 64% of band)	0.14 (141 circles, 6% left)
2	Rohan Holtkamp	79 (22 shared climbs)	38 (12 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (9 climbs ≥ 90 s)	90 (9/10 circling bouts led to climbs)	52 (mean on-course altitude 49% of band)	0.14 (122 circles, 34% left)
3	Jon Durand	76 (29 shared climbs)	37 (11 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (10 climbs ≥ 90 s)	85 (11/13 circling bouts led to climbs)	78 (mean on-course altitude 57% of band)	0.15 (126 circles, 36% left)
4	Gordon Rigg	69 (23 shared climbs)	71 (15 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	89 (8/9 circling bouts led to climbs)	90 (mean on-course altitude 58% of band)	0.16 (149 circles, 21% left)
5	Craig Taylor	69 (29 shared climbs)	40 (14 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.6 (8 climbs ≥ 90 s)	62 (8/13 circling bouts led to climbs)	70 (mean on-course altitude 54% of band)	0.14 (154 circles, 8% left)
6	Steven Crosby	67 (24 shared climbs)	80 (13 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (9 climbs ≥ 90 s)	87 (13/15 circling bouts led to climbs)	69 (mean on-course altitude 56% of band)	0.17 (126 circles, 37% left)
7	Rory Duncan	74 (35 shared climbs)	46 (17 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.7 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	87 (13/15 circling bouts led to climbs)	56 (mean on-course altitude 40% of band)	0.21 (133 circles, 32% left)
8	Rich Reinauer	69 (44 shared climbs)	32 (19 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.7 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	92 (11/12 circling bouts led to climbs)	63 (mean on-course altitude 48% of band)	0.18 (138 circles, 49% left)
9	Glen Mcfarlane	65 (30 shared climbs)	42 (14 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (6 climbs ≥ 90 s)	86 (12/14 circling bouts led to climbs)	34 (mean on-course altitude 33% of band)	0.12 (140 circles, 34% left)
10	Neale Halsall	74 (28 shared climbs)	38 (13 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (10 climbs ≥ 90 s)	69 (11/16 circling bouts led to climbs)	52 (mean on-course altitude 49% of band)	0.16 (120 circles, 33% left)
11	Vic Hare	75 (38 shared climbs)	22 (14 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.7 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	87 (13/15 circling bouts led to climbs)	44 (mean on-course altitude 45% of band)	0.21 (156 circles, 49% left)
12	Harrison Rowntree	85 (20 shared climbs)	68 (15 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.6 (11 climbs ≥ 90 s)	85 (11/13 circling bouts led to climbs)	49 (mean on-course altitude 38% of band)	0.17 (217 circles, 6% left)
13	Steve Blenkinsop	55 (26 shared climbs)	51 (16 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.1 (9 climbs ≥ 90 s)	67 (8/12 circling bouts led to climbs)	90 (mean on-course altitude 67% of band)	0.18 (179 circles, 5% left)
14	Trent Brown	81 (17 shared climbs)	90 (14 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.7 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	58 (7/12 circling bouts led to climbs)	26 (mean on-course altitude 23% of band)	0.17 (142 circles, 93% left)
15	Paul Bissett-Amess	67 (33 shared climbs)	38 (18 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (12 climbs ≥ 90 s)	82 (14/17 circling bouts led to climbs)	68 (mean on-course altitude 57% of band)	0.15 (126 circles, 23% left)
16	Todd Wisewould	65 (44 shared climbs)	35 (18 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (9 climbs ≥ 90 s)	61 (11/18 circling bouts led to climbs)	76 (mean on-course altitude 60% of band)	0.18 (165 circles, 38% left)
17	Daniel Rhodes	67 (78 shared climbs)	38 (26 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (15 climbs ≥ 90 s)	73 (11/15 circling bouts led to climbs)	62 (mean on-course altitude 57% of band)	0.17 (277 circles, 48% left)
18	Peter Burkitt	75 (28 shared climbs)	70 (12 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (12 climbs ≥ 90 s)	82 (9/11 circling bouts led to climbs)	43 (mean on-course altitude 44% of band)	0.16 (146 circles, 53% left)
19	Nils Vesk	58 (9 shared climbs)	135 (14 climbs ≥ 60 s)	-0.1 (14 climbs ≥ 90 s)	61 (11/18 circling bouts led to climbs)	56 (mean on-course altitude 35% of band)	0.36 (18 circles, 67% left)
20	Gary Herman	70 (36 shared climbs)	47 (17 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.9 (12 climbs ≥ 90 s)	85 (11/13 circling bouts led to climbs)	59 (mean on-course altitude 52% of band)	0.22 (120 circles, 11% left)
21	John Muldoon	75 (26 shared climbs)	36 (13 climbs ≥ 60 s)	0.9 (11 climbs ≥ 90 s)	70 (7/10 circling bouts led to climbs)	75 (mean on-course altitude 50% of band)	0.20 (147 circles, 68% left)
22	David Drabble	72 (31 shared climbs)	36 (13 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (12 climbs ≥ 90 s)	71 (10/14 circling bouts led to climbs)	75 (mean on-course altitude 60% of band)	0.13 (214 circles, 85% left)
23	Hossain Tefaili	70 (46 shared climbs)	46 (18 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	64 (9/14 circling bouts led to climbs)	52 (mean on-course altitude 49% of band)	0.15 (158 circles, 24% left)
24	Troy Horton	71 (41 shared climbs)	54 (16 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.6 (12 climbs ≥ 90 s)	78 (14/18 circling bouts led to climbs)	71 (mean on-course altitude 59% of band)	0.18 (137 circles, 58% left)
25	Neil Hooke	70 (31 shared climbs)	59 (21 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (17 climbs ≥ 90 s)	67 (14/21 circling bouts led to climbs)	55 (mean on-course altitude 40% of band)	0.13 (194 circles, 49% left)
26	Michael Free	66 (33 shared climbs)	49 (19 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (12 climbs ≥ 90 s)	64 (9/14 circling bouts led to climbs)	73 (mean on-course altitude 52% of band)	0.13 (180 circles, 13% left)
27	Stuart McElroy	67 (61 shared climbs)	34 (23 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.7 (14 climbs ≥ 90 s)	73 (16/22 circling bouts led to climbs)	59 (mean on-course altitude 53% of band)	0.17 (234 circles, 12% left)
28	Diego Mendonca	62 (51 shared climbs)	46 (28 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (18 climbs ≥ 90 s)	82 (23/28 circling bouts led to climbs)	58 (mean on-course altitude 46% of band)	0.16 (255 circles, 77% left)
29	Mitch Butler	62 (31 shared climbs)	54 (22 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.0 (14 climbs ≥ 90 s)	57 (12/21 circling bouts led to climbs)	32 (mean on-course altitude 31% of band)	0.15 (288 circles, 32% left)
30	Rennick Kerr	63 (69 shared climbs)	44 (18 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.7 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	80 (12/15 circling bouts led to climbs)	26 (mean on-course altitude 31% of band)	0.17 (239 circles, 28% left)
31	Andrew Sutton	76 (40 shared climbs)	36 (17 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (14 climbs ≥ 90 s)	64 (9/14 circling bouts led to climbs)	55 (mean on-course altitude 52% of band)	0.17 (162 circles, 27% left)
32	Ward Gunn	71 (17 shared climbs)	32 (11 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (6 climbs ≥ 90 s)	46 (6/13 circling bouts led to climbs)	13 (mean on-course altitude 20% of band)	0.19 (125 circles, 62% left)
33	Ivo van der Leeden	65 (8 shared climbs)	60 (10 climbs ≥ 60 s)	0.2 (8 climbs ≥ 90 s)	50 (4/8 circling bouts led to climbs)	44 (mean on-course altitude 11% of band)	0.23 (33 circles, 18% left)
34	Bruce Atkinson	50 (8 shared climbs)	93 (12 climbs ≥ 60 s)	0.3 (11 climbs ≥ 90 s)	40 (2/5 circling bouts led to climbs)	-22 (mean on-course altitude 7% of band)	0.31 (20 circles, 50% left)
35	Brett Davis	67 (12 shared climbs)	54 (8 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.7 (5 climbs ≥ 90 s)	—	—	0.18 (66 circles, 0% left)
36	John Harriott	18 (2 shared climbs)	—	—	—	—	0.15 (21 circles, 0% left)
37	Airie Merlin	63 (23 shared climbs)	39 (36 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (24 climbs ≥ 90 s)	40 (2/5 circling bouts led to climbs)	87 (mean on-course altitude 41% of band)	0.16 (314 circles, 34% left)

Share of lift turned in that was kept as a climb

Measured in percent · no expected direction

How selective the pilot is about the lift they stop for. Each period of circling of 30 s or more after the start counts as lift that the pilot sampled. If the period overlaps a detected thermal, the pilot kept that lift. If it does not, they turned a few circles and left it. The value is the percentage kept. A low value means they are selective. A high value means they keep almost every climb they turn in. There is no expected direction: selection wins on a strong day and wastes time on a weak one.

Acceptance by hour

Hour	Median accepted (%)	pilots
14:00 AEDT	75	4
15:00 AEDT	100	32
16:00 AEDT	80	33
17:00 AEDT	33	29
18:00 AEDT	0	4

Median per-pilot acceptance %, bucketed by the hour (competition time zone).

How round and consistent the circles were

Measured in ratio · no expected direction

Whether the pilot flies clean, repeatable circles, or moves around the thermal. We fit each detected circle by least squares. The RMS fit error divided by the fitted radius measures how round the turn was. The value is the median over all of the circles of the pilot. A lower value means smoother and more consistent turns. There is no expected direction: a rough trace can be a pilot chasing a drifting or broken core rather than a pilot circling badly.

Turn direction across the field: 37% left (5682 circles).

best: clear pattern (0.81)

#	Pilot	GlideSpd	GlideL/D	Wide%	Dolphin%
1	Olav Opsanger	75.7 (10 glides, 49 min gliding)	1.27 (5 legs compared)	7 (5 legs completed)	5 (210 of 4349 m gained outside thermals)
2	Rohan Holtkamp	73.3 (11 glides, 48 min gliding)	1.04 (5 legs compared)	8 (5 legs completed)	7 (320 of 4445 m gained outside thermals)
3	Jon Durand	77.5 (13 glides, 44 min gliding)	0.98 (5 legs compared)	10 (5 legs completed)	5 (221 of 4767 m gained outside thermals)
4	Gordon Rigg	72.4 (9 glides, 52 min gliding)	1.06 (5 legs compared)	8 (5 legs completed)	2 (104 of 4645 m gained outside thermals)
5	Craig Taylor	68.9 (12 glides, 48 min gliding)	1.21 (5 legs compared)	7 (5 legs completed)	11 (432 of 4007 m gained outside thermals)
6	Steven Crosby	71.8 (12 glides, 53 min gliding)	1.19 (5 legs compared)	10 (5 legs completed)	8 (304 of 4046 m gained outside thermals)
7	Rory Duncan	72.6 (17 glides, 52 min gliding)	0.94 (5 legs compared)	13 (5 legs completed)	6 (312 of 5207 m gained outside thermals)
8	Rich Reinauer	73.6 (15 glides, 50 min gliding)	0.92 (5 legs compared)	9 (5 legs completed)	7 (367 of 5136 m gained outside thermals)
9	Glen Mcfarlane	67.4 (20 glides, 53 min gliding)	0.99 (5 legs compared)	13 (5 legs completed)	7 (324 of 4628 m gained outside thermals)
10	Neale Halsall	67.9 (15 glides, 57 min gliding)	1.08 (5 legs compared)	12 (5 legs completed)	8 (421 of 4998 m gained outside thermals)
11	Vic Hare	74.3 (15 glides, 54 min gliding)	0.89 (5 legs compared)	19 (5 legs completed)	9 (490 of 5697 m gained outside thermals)
12	Harrison Rowntree	77.8 (17 glides, 55 min gliding)	0.98 (5 legs compared)	17 (5 legs completed)	4 (225 of 5863 m gained outside thermals)
13	Steve Blenkinsop	61.6 (14 glides, 66 min gliding)	1.16 (5 legs compared)	6 (5 legs completed)	6 (230 of 3808 m gained outside thermals)
14	Trent Brown	62.5 (12 glides, 62 min gliding)	0.98 (5 legs compared)	11 (5 legs completed)	5 (296 of 5580 m gained outside thermals)
15	Paul Bissett-Amess	64.8 (20 glides, 61 min gliding)	1.09 (5 legs compared)	13 (5 legs completed)	11 (496 of 4698 m gained outside thermals)
16	Todd Wisewould	66.6 (15 glides, 65 min gliding)	1.06 (5 legs compared)	12 (5 legs completed)	12 (550 of 4628 m gained outside thermals)
17	Daniel Rhodes	74.0 (18 glides, 61 min gliding)	1.06 (5 legs compared)	24 (5 legs completed)	13 (758 of 5679 m gained outside thermals)
18	Peter Burkitt	66.0 (17 glides, 70 min gliding)	1.04 (5 legs compared)	19 (5 legs completed)	9 (501 of 5892 m gained outside thermals)
19	Nils Vesk	64.4 (7 glides, 56 min gliding)	0.97 (5 legs compared)	8 (5 legs completed)	3 (157 of 6236 m gained outside thermals)
20	Gary Herman	59.4 (19 glides, 73 min gliding)	0.97 (5 legs compared)	23 (5 legs completed)	11 (637 of 5669 m gained outside thermals)
21	John Muldoon	53.5 (13 glides, 82 min gliding)	1.17 (5 legs compared)	13 (5 legs completed)	10 (520 of 5250 m gained outside thermals)
22	David Drabble	67.7 (18 glides, 78 min gliding)	1.04 (5 legs compared)	30 (5 legs completed)	12 (791 of 6420 m gained outside thermals)
23	Hossain Tefaili	66.3 (16 glides, 78 min gliding)	1.02 (5 legs compared)	37 (5 legs completed)	14 (968 of 6720 m gained outside thermals)
24	Troy Horton	57.5 (24 glides, 85 min gliding)	0.85 (5 legs compared)	26 (5 legs completed)	6 (481 of 7465 m gained outside thermals)
25	Neil Hooke	58.6 (18 glides, 78 min gliding)	0.91 (5 legs compared)	19 (5 legs completed)	9 (623 of 7149 m gained outside thermals)
26	Michael Free	55.0 (13 glides, 78 min gliding)	1.04 (5 legs compared)	26 (5 legs completed)	9 (540 of 6107 m gained outside thermals)
27	Stuart McElroy	59.4 (27 glides, 92 min gliding)	0.91 (5 legs compared)	41 (5 legs completed)	10 (843 of 8747 m gained outside thermals)
28	Diego Mendonca	61.7 (25 glides, 83 min gliding)	0.88 (5 legs compared)	34 (5 legs completed)	12 (942 of 7746 m gained outside thermals)
29	Mitch Butler	65.8 (15 glides, 76 min gliding)	1.07 (4 legs compared)	17 (4 legs completed)	7 (411 of 5483 m gained outside thermals)
30	Rennick Kerr	49.0 (24 glides, 76 min gliding)	0.73 (3 legs compared)	38 (3 legs completed)	23 (1232 of 5304 m gained outside thermals)
31	Andrew Sutton	61.2 (20 glides, 54 min gliding)	0.85 (3 legs compared)	33 (3 legs completed)	14 (637 of 4611 m gained outside thermals)
32	Ward Gunn	65.2 (19 glides, 56 min gliding)	0.94 (1 leg compared)	26 (1 leg completed)	25 (777 of 3088 m gained outside thermals)
33	Ivo van der Leeden	43.1 (5 glides, 23 min gliding)	—	—	9 (88 of 950 m gained outside thermals)
34	Bruce Atkinson	37.3 (1 glides, 3 min gliding)	—	—	—
35	Brett Davis	—	—	—	—
36	John Harriott	—	—	—	—
37	Airie Merlin	50.0 (3 glides, 23 min gliding)	—	—	5 (81 of 1672 m gained outside thermals)

Glide speed between climbs

Measured in kilometres per hour · higher is better

How fast the pilot moves down the course when they are on a glide. The value is the duration-weighted mean ground speed over every glide after the start, which is the glide distance divided by the glide time. A higher value means more ground covered in each minute between climbs.

Field glide speed: median 65.8 km/h · p90 74.2 km/h (35 pilots)

best: clear pattern (0.73)

#	Pilot	Floor%	LowSaves	km/climb	Search%
1	Olav Opsanger	59 (7 descents, lowest 20% of band)	0.0	5.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 62%)	14
2	Rohan Holtkamp	37 (9 descents, lowest 20% of band)	0.0	4.0 (mean shared-climb pctile 55%)	19
3	Jon Durand	39 (10 descents, lowest 18% of band)	0.0	3.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 56%)	17
4	Gordon Rigg	57 (8 descents, lowest 9% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from 9% of band)	6.8 (mean shared-climb pctile 52%)	16
5	Craig Taylor	34 (7 descents, lowest -29% of band)	0.0	2.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 49%)	25
6	Steven Crosby	48 (9 descents, lowest 27% of band)	0.0	3.8 (mean shared-climb pctile 47%)	22
7	Rory Duncan	36 (8 descents, lowest 0% of band)	2.0 (deepest save from 13% of band)	2.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 57%)	19
8	Rich Reinauer	54 (10 descents, lowest -11% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from -6% of band)	2.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 54%)	21
9	Glen Mcfarlane	11 (9 descents, lowest -14% of band)	3.0 (deepest save from 2% of band)	2.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 42%)	24
10	Neale Halsall	34 (10 descents, lowest 13% of band)	0.0	2.8 (mean shared-climb pctile 52%)	25
11	Vic Hare	25 (9 descents, lowest 6% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from 3% of band)	2.3 (mean shared-climb pctile 60%)	25
12	Harrison Rowntree	19 (12 descents, lowest -12% of band)	2.0 (deepest save from -10% of band)	3.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 62%)	22
13	Steve Blenkinsop	62 (8 descents, lowest -24% of band)	0.0	3.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 38%)	17
14	Trent Brown	4 (8 descents, lowest -22% of band)	5.0 (deepest save from -22% of band)	4.5 (mean shared-climb pctile 64%)	21
15	Paul Bissett-Amess	50 (12 descents, lowest -10% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from 9% of band)	2.3 (mean shared-climb pctile 49%)	23
16	Todd Wisewould	49 (7 descents, lowest 13% of band)	0.0	2.3 (mean shared-climb pctile 45%)	24
17	Daniel Rhodes	49 (12 descents, lowest 14% of band)	0.0	1.8 (mean shared-climb pctile 52%)	30
18	Peter Burkitt	25 (9 descents, lowest -4% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from 12% of band)	2.7 (mean shared-climb pctile 49%)	27
19	Nils Vesk	21 (6 descents, lowest -7% of band)	4.0 (deepest save from -7% of band)	8.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 48%)	8
20	Gary Herman	38 (10 descents, lowest -1% of band)	0.0	1.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 50%)	23
21	John Muldoon	27 (7 descents, lowest -6% of band)	0.0	2.5 (mean shared-climb pctile 53%)	21
22	David Drabble	36 (9 descents, lowest 22% of band)	0.0	1.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 42%)	29
23	Hossain Tefaili	25 (6 descents, lowest -7% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from 5% of band)	1.6 (mean shared-climb pctile 52%)	26
24	Troy Horton	49 (13 descents, lowest 18% of band)	0.0	2.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 52%)	24
25	Neil Hooke	22 (7 descents, lowest -16% of band)	3.0 (deepest save from -2% of band)	2.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 48%)	23
26	Michael Free	20 (4 descents, lowest 6% of band)	0.0	2.3 (mean shared-climb pctile 47%)	17
27	Stuart McElroy	48 (18 descents, lowest -3% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from 4% of band)	1.5 (mean shared-climb pctile 46%)	34
28	Diego Mendonca	33 (14 descents, lowest -15% of band)	2.0 (deepest save from 3% of band)	1.5 (mean shared-climb pctile 45%)	32
29	Mitch Butler	5 (6 descents, lowest -11% of band)	3.0 (deepest save from -5% of band)	3.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 42%)	35
30	Rennick Kerr	49 (9 descents, lowest -34% of band)	0.0	0.8 (mean shared-climb pctile 45%)	46
31	Andrew Sutton	48 (8 descents, lowest 20% of band)	0.0	1.3 (mean shared-climb pctile 56%)	40
32	Ward Gunn	-15 (2 descents, lowest -27% of band)	0.0	—	53
33	Ivo van der Leeden	-23 (2 descents, lowest -27% of band)	0.0	—	49
34	Bruce Atkinson	—	0.0	—	49
35	Brett Davis	—	0.0	—	100
36	John Harriott	—	—	—	—
37	Airie Merlin	—	0.0	—	27

Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb

Measured in percent · lower is better

Time that goes into neither a climb nor progress down the course. This is the time spent to find lift, to stay up, and to decide what to do next. The value is the share of the speed-section time, from the start to ESS or to the landing, in which the pilot neither climbed in a thermal nor glided with real net speed. A lower value means less time lost between climbs.

Speed-section phase shares, field p25/median/p75: climb 35/37/39% · glide 34/39/41% · search 21/24/31%

best: clear pattern (0.62)

#	Pilot	InGaggle%	Marked%	LeaveWin%
1	Olav Opsanger	48	69 (9/13 climbs marked)	—
2	Rohan Holtkamp	53	82 (14/17 climbs marked)	0 (0W–1L (1 departure))
3	Jon Durand	64	86 (18/21 climbs marked)	0 (0W–1L (1 departure))
4	Gordon Rigg	62	80 (8/10 climbs marked)	—
5	Craig Taylor	16	57 (13/23 climbs marked)	100 (2W–0L (2 departures))
6	Steven Crosby	62	89 (16/18 climbs marked)	0 (0W–1L (1 departure))
7	Rory Duncan	57	61 (14/23 climbs marked)	100 (1W–0L (1 departure))
8	Rich Reinauer	50	78 (18/23 climbs marked)	100 (1W–0L (1 departure))
9	Glen Mcfarlane	27	79 (22/28 climbs marked)	100 (1W–0L (1 departure))
10	Neale Halsall	50	83 (20/24 climbs marked)	0 (0W–1L (1 departure))
11	Vic Hare	58	77 (23/30 climbs marked)	—
12	Harrison Rowntree	4	36 (8/22 climbs marked)	100 (1W–0L (1 departure))
13	Steve Blenkinsop	29	33 (7/21 climbs marked)	100 (1W–0L (1 departure))
14	Trent Brown	0	13 (2/15 climbs marked)	—
15	Paul Bissett-Amess	34	70 (21/30 climbs marked)	0 (0W–3L (3 departures))
16	Todd Wisewould	21	79 (23/29 climbs marked)	0 (0W–1L (1 departure))
17	Daniel Rhodes	52	78 (29/37 climbs marked)	50 (1W–1L (2 departures))
18	Peter Burkitt	29	76 (19/25 climbs marked)	50 (2W–2L (4 departures))
19	Nils Vesk	18	50 (4/8 climbs marked)	100 (2W–0L (2 departures))
20	Gary Herman	37	77 (27/35 climbs marked)	0 (0W–1L (1 departure))
21	John Muldoon	15	37 (10/27 climbs marked)	0 (0W–1L (1 departure))
22	David Drabble	22	57 (20/35 climbs marked)	50 (1W–1L (2 departures))
23	Hossain Tefaili	27	50 (21/42 climbs marked)	0 (0W–2L (2 departures))
24	Troy Horton	32	68 (21/31 climbs marked)	0 (0W–1L (1 departure))
25	Neil Hooke	26	44 (14/32 climbs marked)	—
26	Michael Free	25	30 (9/30 climbs marked)	50 (1W–1L (2 departures))
27	Stuart McElroy	30	60 (27/45 climbs marked)	50 (2W–2L (4 departures))
28	Diego Mendonca	31	54 (25/46 climbs marked)	—
29	Mitch Butler	21	48 (10/21 climbs marked)	—
30	Rennick Kerr	7	56 (28/50 climbs marked)	0 (0W–2L (2 departures))
31	Andrew Sutton	26	29 (9/31 climbs marked)	—
32	Ward Gunn	21	28 (9/32 climbs marked)	—
33	Ivo van der Leeden	26	14 (1/7 climbs marked)	—
34	Bruce Atkinson	0	—	—
35	Brett Davis	0	—	—
36	John Harriott	—	—	—
37	Airie Merlin	0	75 (3/4 climbs marked)	—

Time spent flying with a gaggle

Measured in percent · no expected direction

Whether the pilot raced with other pilots or alone. The value is the share of their flying time after the start inside a detected gaggle, that is, clustered with one other racing pilot or more on the shared time grid. There is no expected direction. A gaggle increases the power to search for lift, but it also holds a pilot to its own speed. The sign of the correlation says which of the two occurred here.

45 gaggle episodes detected (peak size 19 pilots).

best: some pattern (0.43)

#	Pilot	StartDly	TimeLost	Behind	Spare m	FinalGl
1	Olav Opsanger	105	6	0.0	634	4.84 (left last climb 12.2 km out at 2525 m)
2	Rohan Holtkamp	100	212	7.5	286	7.24 (left last climb 13.8 km out at 1899 m)
3	Jon Durand	59	275	8.1	390	6.04 (left last climb 12.8 km out at 2116 m)
4	Gordon Rigg	81	196	8.5	724	6.16 (left last climb 12.9 km out at 2089 m)
5	Craig Taylor	256	365	9.2	358	7.81 (left last climb 12.8 km out at 1634 m)
6	Steven Crosby	73	416	11.8	492	6.75 (left last climb 10.8 km out at 1594 m)
7	Rory Duncan	48	525	14.8	443	6.85 (left last climb 13.0 km out at 1891 m)
8	Rich Reinauer	81	604	15.7	474	6.52 (left last climb 12.8 km out at 1958 m)
9	Glen Mcfarlane	50	747	18.5	492	5.74 (left last climb 9.5 km out at 1650 m)
10	Neale Halsall	70	647	18.6	476	6.43 (left last climb 10.7 km out at 1660 m)
11	Vic Hare	71	819	22.1	349	5.82 (left last climb 11.9 km out at 2045 m)
12	Harrison Rowntree	262	1072	22.5	321	7.46 (left last climb 11.0 km out at 1473 m)
13	Steve Blenkinsop	223	781	22.6	809	5.40 (left last climb 10.9 km out at 2022 m)
14	Trent Brown	42	1207	26.5	131	6.91 (left last climb 13.1 km out at 1898 m)
15	Paul Bissett-Amess	102	938	27.1	617	5.43 (left last climb 10.0 km out at 1850 m)
16	Todd Wisewould	116	1139	30.6	674	5.55 (left last climb 10.8 km out at 1951 m)
17	Daniel Rhodes	100	1574	36.1	489	4.94 (left last climb 12.7 km out at 2570 m)
18	Peter Burkitt	28	1881	37.8	619	3.27 (left last climb 3.3 km out at 1016 m)
19	Nils Vesk	32	2040	41.2	552	6.40 (left last climb 10.8 km out at 1694 m)
20	Gary Herman	34	2028	44.1	500	6.32 (left last climb 10.8 km out at 1712 m)
21	John Muldoon	142	2257	48.1	1169	1.66 (left last climb 2.5 km out at 1485 m)
22	David Drabble	108	2434	52.1	483	6.05 (left last climb 12.0 km out at 1979 m)
23	Hossain Tefaili	14	3406	63.8	745	5.42 (left last climb 12.0 km out at 2214 m)
24	Troy Horton	548	2824	65.9	596	5.15 (left last climb 12.2 km out at 2368 m)
25	Neil Hooke	312	3063	66.0	682	5.34 (left last climb 12.3 km out at 2298 m)
26	Michael Free	22	3442	67.5	888	5.21 (left last climb 11.6 km out at 2217 m)
27	Stuart McElroy	517	4560	94.3	748	3.04 (left last climb 4.0 km out at 1308 m)
28	Diego Mendonca	62	4129	79.6	367	4.92 (left last climb 12.2 km out at 2474 m)
29	Mitch Butler	927	1968	—	—	8.44 (left last climb 9.9 km out at 1167 m)
30	Rennick Kerr	574	3299	—	—	29.01 (left last climb 13.9 km out at 480 m)
31	Andrew Sutton	29	2193	—	—	9.71 (left last climb 15.9 km out at 1633 m)
32	Ward Gunn	542	356	—	—	12.14 (left last climb 16.3 km out at 1342 m)
33	Ivo van der Leeden	580	—	—	—	26.94 (left last climb 17.4 km out at 645 m)
34	Bruce Atkinson	43	—	—	—	24.60 (left last climb 15.3 km out at 621 m)
35	Brett Davis	-74	—	—	—	—
36	John Harriott	—	—	—	—	—
37	Airie Merlin	1429	—	—	—	1.78 (left last climb 3.1 km out at 1741 m)

How long after the gate opened the pilot started

Measured in seconds · lower is better

Every second between the opening of the gate and the crossing of the start line is a second lost for nothing. The value is the seconds from the start gate taken to the scored SSS crossing. On an elapsed-time task, the pilot’s own crossing is the reference, so the delay is 0 by definition. The start table adds the crossing altitude, and the distance behind the leading pilot who had already started.

Start execution

Pilot	Delay	Alt m	Band %	Behind km
Olav Opsanger	1:45	2387	88	8.6
Rohan Holtkamp	1:40	2239	79	8.8
Jon Durand	0:59	2492	95	8.5
Gordon Rigg	1:21	2512	96	8.8
Craig Taylor	4:16	2510	96	9.0
Steven Crosby	1:13	2474	94	8.7
Rory Duncan	0:48	2549	98	8.8
Rich Reinauer	1:21	2447	92	8.8
Glen Mcfarlane	0:50	2530	97	8.9
Neale Halsall	1:10	2511	96	8.6
Vic Hare	1:11	2491	95	8.6
Harrison Rowntree	4:22	2542	98	8.9
Steve Blenkinsop	3:43	2588	101	9.0
Trent Brown	0:42	1764	49	7.2
Paul Bissett-Amess	1:42	2546	98	9.0
Todd Wisewould	1:56	2437	91	8.6
Daniel Rhodes	1:40	2464	93	8.9
Peter Burkitt	0:28	1855	55	8.9
Nils Vesk	0:32	1459	31	9.0
Gary Herman	0:34	2499	95	9.1
John Muldoon	2:22	2347	86	8.8
David Drabble	1:48	2583	100	8.3
Hossain Tefaili	0:14	1976	63	8.6
Troy Horton	9:08	2220	78	8.8
Neil Hooke	5:12	1541	36	1.9
Michael Free	0:22	2457	93	9.3
Stuart McElroy	8:37	1878	57	9.2
Diego Mendonca	1:02	2044	67	0.7
Mitch Butler	15:27	1901	58	9.9
Rennick Kerr	9:34	1764	50	9.4
Andrew Sutton	0:29	1931	60	0.0
Ward Gunn	9:02	2067	68	8.1
Ivo van der Leeden	9:40	1590	39	9.3
Bruce Atkinson	0:43	2084	69	6.6
Brett Davis	-1:14	486	-30	0.0
Airie Merlin	23:49	2094	70	0.7

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).

Race time lost against the fastest pilots, leg by leg

Measured in seconds · lower is better

For each completed speed-section leg, we compare the leg time of the pilot with the mean of the top 10 pilots by rank who completed that leg. Only the losses count, and we add them together. The sum of the leg times is the race time, and the rank defines the reference, so this metric follows the result by construction. Read the waterfall table, which shows every leg against the task winner, for the diagnosis. Do not read the correlation as a finding.

Rohan Holtkamp, over 5 compared legs: +7:34 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

Pilot	SSS→HALFWY	HALFWY→BIGARA	BIGARA→GRGGRG	GRGGRG→DWYERS	DWYERS→ESS	Total
Olav Opsanger	+0:00	+0:00	+0:00	+0:00	+0:00	+0:00
Rohan Holtkamp	-0:48	+5:12	-3:29	+5:51	+0:49	+7:34
Jon Durand	+0:37	+4:09	-3:12	+7:13	+0:04	+8:51
Gordon Rigg	+0:48	-0:24	+0:55	+7:37	-0:02	+8:54
Craig Taylor	-0:16	+5:26	-0:39	-2:14	+4:23	+6:40
Steven Crosby	+0:44	+4:10	-3:28	+6:38	+4:16	+12:19
Rory Duncan	+0:00	-0:47	+10:25	+6:05	+0:01	+15:44
Rich Reinauer	+0:13	-0:48	+12:21	+3:39	+0:44	+16:09
Glen Mcfarlane	-2:18	+5:37	+11:34	+2:55	+1:36	+19:24
Neale Halsall	-0:03	+0:07	+1:40	+14:42	+2:43	+19:10
Vic Hare	+0:44	-0:12	+8:57	+7:29	+5:41	+22:39
Harrison Rowntree	-3:06	+7:39	-3:47	+17:43	+1:23	+19:53
Steve Blenkinsop	+4:41	+4:58	-1:12	+10:46	+1:28	+20:41
Trent Brown	+4:09	-1:43	+3:45	+15:49	+5:37	+27:37
Paul Bissett-Amess	+3:04	+3:16	+8:27	+10:07	+2:12	+27:06
Todd Wisewould	+3:19	+6:07	+5:51	+9:51	+5:19	+30:27
Daniel Rhodes	+0:35	+1:30	+14:13	+19:11	+0:42	+36:10
Peter Burkitt	+4:38	-1:26	+17:09	+15:24	+3:22	+39:07
Nils Vesk	+3:24	+8:35	+16:41	+2:10	+11:34	+42:25
Gary Herman	+3:30	+11:13	+19:05	+7:44	+3:44	+45:16
John Muldoon	+5:58	+0:42	+26:08	+10:28	+4:16	+47:31
David Drabble	+2:11	+24:33	+3:32	+9:53	+11:53	+52:02
Hossain Tefaili	+2:25	+33:23	-0:19	+8:50	+20:59	+65:19
Troy Horton	+6:00	+6:55	+8:53	+23:25	+13:19	+58:32
Neil Hooke	+13:18	+16:02	+6:59	+14:06	+12:06	+62:31
Michael Free	+0:55	+18:54	+7:49	+27:28	+13:45	+68:51
Stuart McElroy	+9:53	+22:09	+8:20	+36:54	+10:12	+87:29
Diego Mendonca	+8:20	+25:54	+5:20	+14:24	+26:18	+80:17
Mitch Butler	+2:23	+12:44	+10:07	+17:35	—	+42:49
Rennick Kerr	+26:41	+16:53	+16:12	—	—	+59:46
Andrew Sutton	+10:10	+5:53	+25:16	—	—	+41:19
Ward Gunn	+5:50	—	—	—	—	+5:50

Each cell is the leg time of this pilot minus the leg time of the winner. A + value is slower than the winner, and a − value is faster. A — means that the pilot or the winner did not complete the leg.

The scalar metric instead adds the losses against the mean of the top 10 pilots who completed each leg. A leg flown faster than that reference contributes 0.

Race time behind the leader at ESS

Measured in minutes · lower is better

At each speed-section turnpoint, we compare the elapsed race time of the pilot, which is the reaching time minus their own start, with the fastest pilot to that turnpoint. The value is the minutes behind at ESS. It follows the final rank almost exactly, because this metric is the sanity check of the evaluation.

A line that stops early is a pilot who landed. The top 5 are coloured; the table below has every pilot.

Horserace — minutes behind the leader at each turnpoint

Pilot	ELLIOT	HALFWY	BIGARA	GRGGRG	DWYERS	KHANCO	KHANCO
Olav Opsanger	3.0	3.2	1.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Rohan Holtkamp	2.9	2.3	6.0	0.8	6.7	7.5	7.5
Jon Durand	2.2	3.1	5.7	0.8	8.0	8.1	8.1
Gordon Rigg	2.6	3.6	1.7	0.9	8.5	8.5	8.5
Craig Taylor	5.5	5.4	9.4	7.0	4.8	9.2	9.2
Steven Crosby	2.5	3.4	6.1	0.9	7.5	11.8	11.8
Rory Duncan	2.0	2.3	0.0	8.7	14.8	14.8	14.8
Rich Reinauer	2.6	3.0	0.8	11.4	15.0	15.7	15.7
Glen Mcfarlane	2.1	0.0	4.1	14.0	16.9	18.5	18.5
Neale Halsall	2.4	2.6	1.2	1.1	15.8	18.6	18.6
Vic Hare	2.4	3.4	1.7	8.9	16.4	22.1	22.1
Harrison Rowntree	5.6	2.7	8.9	3.4	21.1	22.5	22.5
Steve Blenkinsop	4.9	9.9	13.4	10.4	21.2	22.6	22.6
Trent Brown	1.9	6.3	3.1	5.1	20.9	26.5	26.5
Paul Bissett-Amess	2.9	6.2	8.0	14.7	24.9	27.1	27.1
Todd Wisewould	3.2	6.7	11.4	15.5	25.3	30.6	30.6
Daniel Rhodes	2.9	3.7	3.7	16.2	35.4	36.1	36.1
Peter Burkitt	1.7	6.6	3.6	19.1	34.5	37.8	37.8
Nils Vesk	1.8	5.4	12.5	27.4	29.6	41.2	41.2
Gary Herman	1.8	5.5	15.3	32.6	40.3	44.1	44.1
John Muldoon	3.6	9.8	9.0	33.4	43.9	48.1	48.1
David Drabble	3.0	5.4	28.5	30.3	40.2	52.1	52.1
Hossain Tefaili	1.5	4.1	36.0	34.0	42.8	63.8	63.8
Troy Horton	10.4	16.6	22.1	29.2	52.6	65.9	65.9
Neil Hooke	6.4	20.0	34.5	39.7	53.9	66.0	66.0
Michael Free	1.6	2.7	20.2	26.2	53.7	67.5	67.5
Stuart McElroy	9.8	20.0	40.6	47.2	84.1	94.3	94.3
Diego Mendonca	2.3	10.8	35.3	38.9	53.3	79.6	79.6
Mitch Butler	16.7	19.3	30.6	38.9	56.5	—	—
Rennick Kerr	10.8	37.7	53.1	67.6	—	—	—
Andrew Sutton	1.7	12.1	16.5	40.0	—	—	—
Ward Gunn	10.3	16.3	—	—	—	—	—
Ivo van der Leeden	10.9	—	—	—	—	—	—
Bruce Atkinson	1.9	—	—	—	—	—	—
Brett Davis	0.0	—	—	—	—	—	—
Airie Merlin	25.1	—	—	—	—	—	—

The elapsed race time, from the pilot’s own start, minus the fastest elapsed time to that turnpoint. A — means that the pilot did not reach the turnpoint.

Arriving at ESS with height to spare

Measured in metres · lower is better

Height still available at ESS that the pilot no longer needed. That altitude was available for more speed, and the pilot did not use it. The value is the altitude at ESS minus the altitude needed to glide to goal at the standard glide ratio of the sport, which is 5.0 for HG and 4.0 for PG (S7F §13.4.6). A large positive margin means the pilot arrived too high. A margin near zero means they flew the final glide with little height to spare.

ESS altitude margin over final glide: top-10 median 475 m (n=10) vs rest median 607 m (n=18).

Metric details

Day profile & windbest: some pattern (0.44)

Climbingbest: clear pattern (0.70)

Glidingbest: clear pattern (0.81)

Glide speed between climbs

Decision-makingbest: clear pattern (0.73)

Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb

Gagglebest: clear pattern (0.62)

Race craftbest: some pattern (0.43)

best: some pattern (0.44)

best: clear pattern (0.70)

best: clear pattern (0.81)

best: clear pattern (0.73)

best: clear pattern (0.62)

best: some pattern (0.43)