The GCV Xmas competition was held this year as normal from 27 December 2007 to 1 January 2008. The event was successful, and this article provides a brief outline for all members.

Pilots

Our competition attracted a total of 20 pilots and pilot pairs; some flew all days while others flew on just some days determined by their interest and availability.

We had four pilots from other Clubs across Australia join us. This year we were pleased to welcome Geoff Vincent (Grampians Soaring Club), Simon Brown (Geelong Gliding Club), David Meredith (Geelong Gliding Club) and Swain Johnson (Gliding Club of WA).

David Goodley (GCV) fly with us this year. David is enjoying his 1st Cross-Country season and acquitted himself very well. Well done David!

Activity

Tasks were flown on all six days. No outlandings were necessary and no safety related incidents occurred. Well done to all competing pilots for a safe competition.

Area Assigned Tasks (AAT) were set for all six days of the competition, and pilots were free to select their launch and start times. This competition format provides maximum flexibility for pilots and minimises ground organisation and resources. Minimum task times varied from 2 to 3 hours, depending on weather.

Weather over the six days was dominated by a hot air mass. For example, the following graph shows the Melbourne sounding from New Years Eve:

2007 Trace

You don't see a temperature trace like this very often – it promises fantastic soaring at temperatures above 40 degrees but, unfortunately, such high temperatures were predicted for late the following day, if at all. Such conditions made task setting difficult and led to late starts on many days. Non-the-less, good competitive flying was possible (even though extreme heights were not achieved).

Placings

Peter Martin won this year's competition. For reference, the 1st three placings were as follows.

Placing	Pilot	Total Points
1	Peter Martin	4679.2
2	Jonathan Walker/Mike Cater	4580.8
3	Max Kirschner/Bob Fox	4495.6

Well done to Peter and all place holders!

Thanks

The success of this year's competition depended on many people. It is not practical to name them all, but a few deserve special thanks:

• Sue Kirschner: Registrations and Administration
• Max Kirschner: Task Setting
• Deniz Ture: Scoring
• Gerry Hogan: Wind-up BBQ and Bar supervision

Next year

A similar competition will be held next season from 27 December 2008 to 1 January 2009. Please enter these dates into your diary now, and make a second note to book a GCV glider (or the Duo Discus) early to secure an aircraft.

John Millott - Competition Director