Goodbye Killarney Hello Corryong

The Killarney Paragliding Classic ended three days ago. The morning after the comp ended we began the 15 hour drive south into the state of Victoria with our eyes set on an amazing flying site Corryong.

The last day of the Killarney competition graced us with an amazing day of flying. The task was set to take us 85k out into the flatlands. I had a really good start of the race flying with a few friends. After 15k of flying I left the few pilots I was flying with and pushed on alone. The flying was perfect, there was strong lift and friendly clouds to mark it. I flew 45k or so by myself which was great fun. I stayed close to the base of the clouds for this entire stretch of the flight, the day was a classic. Eventually I was caught by friend Brian Webb and a few others. Brian is an extremely experienced and knowledgeable pilot so I was glad t have him flying by my side for the final stretch of the day. We left on our final glide 20k's away from the finish line and as fate would have it we landed just short of goal. Landing 3k's short on a 85k flight was a bit of a heartbreaker, but I really couldn't complain, I had an amazing day. I finished in 6th pace for the day and in 8th overall for the competition out of 50 pilots!!! This marks my second top ten finish in a big national paragliding comp, as well as my second in a row. Results can be viewed here, http://fly-killarney.com.au/comps/results2009/index.html.

Yesterday morning we arrived in Corryong and headed directly to launch. The day had light winds and good lift predicted so we planned on flying a 65k triangle. The flight went super well I was pushing out front alone for most of the flight. Its so nice to plan a flight which brings you back to the same location you took off from, it really shows the potential of good pilots flying good gliders in god conditions. This flight was honestly easy and could have been a lot bigger.

I managed to take a few pictures of the area while flying, as well as a face shot of a little mid flight snack. Speaking of faces, I trimmed my mustache for the second time last night!! What a rewarding experience!!!