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Task 1 (Open)

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

View task
ELLIOTELLIOTTOWONGKANGCKTOWONGCORRYCORRY
The optimised route — radii, leg distances and start times are on the task page.

Analysis computed

Pilots
41
Airtime
37h (13:18–16:45 AEDT)
Thermals
6920 shared by 2+ pilots
Working band
805–1554 m
Airtime split
  • searching44%
  • climbing33%
  • gliding23%

3 pilots are in the scores but not in this analysis. Which, and why

What the weather did

From the weather model

Independent of the tracklogs: modelled conditions for the task area.

Fetching the day’s weather — it will appear here in a moment.

From the pilots' tracks

What the field actually flew — wind, climb strength and leg timing measured from every pilot's tracklog.

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

How strong the day’s climbs were, hour by hour. 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. This metric describes the day, so it has no value for each pilot.

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

All charts share that one time axis. Arrows fly WITH the wind — direction figures are degrees the wind blows from.

A vertical scan compares the measured and the modelled at the same moment. Arrow length and opacity track speed and sample count.

On the per-leg chart the pale bar is when the field flew that leg, and the solid band inside it is the circling its wind was measured from — a leg the field glided is measured in a sliver of the time it was flown.

Exact numbers are in the day family’s tables under “The metrics in detail”.

The day's thermals

The 40 most-shared of 42 multi-pilot thermals, reconstructed by pooling every pilot's track through the same climb. Everything shown is measured from the tracks — no fitted lift model. Select a thermal to see it in detail.

Thermal at 14:43 AEDT — 11 pilots, 18 climbs

  • Wind 8.1 km/h from 342° (NNW), measured from 166 circle estimates in the pilots' own tracks.
  • Model wind cross-check loading…
  • Leans 20° from vertical toward 130° (SE), within 32° of downwind.
  • Strongest on the SE side of the core at +2.0 m/s against +1.5 m/s on the NW side.
  • Multiple cores in 1 of 8 bands between 800 and 900 m — separate feeders (⬧ in the rose) before they merged.
Watch this thermal in the 3D replay (opens in a new tab)
Pilots in this thermal (climb rates)
PilotMinMedianMax
Vic Hare-1.7 m/s+1.8 m/s+3.8 m/s
Jason Lannstrom-1.0 m/s+1.8 m/s+4.3 m/s
Neil Hooke-2.5 m/s+1.8 m/s+5.3 m/s
Trent Brown-3.5 m/s+1.8 m/s+5.7 m/s
Troy Horton-1.5 m/s+1.7 m/s+4.5 m/s
Olav Opsanger-15.0 m/s+1.5 m/s+7.3 m/s
Peter Garrone-1.0 m/s+1.3 m/s+2.5 m/s
Wayne Johnston-0.5 m/s+1.0 m/s+2.0 m/s
Mark Jeffree-0.8 m/s+1.0 m/s+3.0 m/s
John Harriott-1.0 m/s+0.8 m/s+3.5 m/s
Stuart Cathcart———

Each pilot's slowest, typical and best climb over their own vario samples in this thermal — a negative minimum means they touched sink inside it.

Band table (exact numbers)
BandCore offset E/N (m)Working radiusExtentMean climbBest climbSamplesPilotsCores
1400–1500 m235 / -14996 m179 m+1.4 m/s+5.3 m/s5931
1300–1400 m144 / -154123 m303 m+1.8 m/s+4.8 m/s17651
1200–1300 m21 / -39187 m318 m+2.0 m/s+4.5 m/s24961
1100–1200 m2 / -20176 m325 m+1.9 m/s+4.8 m/s27761
1000–1100 m-3 / -78101 m147 m+1.5 m/s+7.3 m/s39281
900–1000 m-16 / -6477 m120 m+1.3 m/s+4.3 m/s34161
800–900 m2 / 27133 m230 m+1.1 m/s+3.5 m/s24952
700–800 m-93 / 17486 m144 m+0.7 m/s+2.0 m/s3921
StartPilotsHeight bandMean climbStrongest side
3700–1100 m+0.8 m/sSE
2800–1400 m+1.2 m/sS
5900–1500 m+1.5 m/sSW
3500–1500 m+1.5 m/sW
5700–1200 m+1.1 m/sN
51000–1600 m+1.8 m/sE
7800–1500 m+1.6 m/sE
5900–1500 m+1.1 m/sSW
6900–1500 m+1.4 m/sS
31000–1400 m+0.9 m/sE
3700–1100 m+1.5 m/sNE
4900–1300 m+0.8 m/sE
8800–1500 m+1.5 m/sN
5900–1400 m+0.8 m/sSE
11700–1500 m+1.5 m/sSE
51000–1400 m+1.6 m/sSE
7900–1600 m+1.8 m/sNW
91000–1600 m+1.3 m/sN
4800–1500 m+1.5 m/sE
51000–1600 m+1.7 m/sNW
3700–1200 m+0.9 m/sSE
31100–1500 m+1.1 m/sN
3700–1000 m+0.9 m/sNW
41100–1600 m+2.0 m/sN
61000–1600 m+1.8 m/sW
41100–1500 m+1.4 m/sW
8800–1600 m+1.7 m/sSE
5800–1300 m+1.9 m/sN
51200–1800 m+1.8 m/sN
5700–1200 m+1.2 m/sSE
3800–1500 m+1.0 m/sE
3900–1700 m+1.4 m/sN
51100–1700 m+1.9 m/sE
7900–1700 m+1.6 m/sW
6900–1800 m+1.4 m/sSE
4800–1300 m+1.7 m/sSE
81000–1800 m+1.7 m/sS
41200–1700 m+1.6 m/sE
5700–1600 m+2.0 m/sE
8900–1800 m+1.9 m/sE

The dashed arrow is the weather model’s wind — a model run, not an observation.

Each thermal pools every pilot’s fixes through the same climb into 100 m altitude bands. A band’s core is the lift-weighted centre of its fixes, so the rose and the sector readings are already normalised for the thermal’s lean and drift.

Wedge length is relative climb by side of the core; the dashed ring is the measured working radius and the dotted ring the widest the field ranged. The solid arrow is the wind measured from the pilots’ circles.

Which behaviours went with better ranks

Each row is one behaviour, compared against the published ranks. Select a row to plot it against rank.

Glide speed between climbs

Each dot is a pilot. ρ = -0.78 (clear pattern, n = 32). More is expected to be better here, and it was: top ranks gather to the right. The curve is a trend fitted through the dots: left to right it runs from about rank 28 to about rank 1. 9 pilots have no value and are not plotted.
  • Field glide speed: median 53.0 km/h · p90 64.1 km/h (32 pilots)
BehaviourStrengthWhat it meansPilots measured
Glide speed between climbs
clear pattern
Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb
clear pattern
Final glide committed to when leaving the last climb
clear pattern
Climbing faster than the pilots sharing the thermal
clear pattern
Time spent flying with a gaggle
some pattern
How much of the thermal the pilot climbed before leaving it
some pattern
Share of the height gain made outside thermals
some pattern
How round and consistent the circles were
some pattern
Climbs joined on another pilot's marker
some pattern
Share of lift turned in that was kept as a climb
some pattern
Gliding wide of the optimal course line
some pattern
Share of the flight spent in air that wasn’t sinking
some pattern
Glide L/D against the field median
could be chance
Low saves dug out from the bottom of the band
some pattern
Distance covered between climbs
could be chance
Climb rate at thermal exit
could be chance
How low the pilot gets between climbs
could be chance
Arriving at ESS with height to spare
could be chance
Time to core thermals
could be chance
How often leaving the gaggle paid off
could be chance
Gliding faster when the next climb is stronger
could be chance

Outcome checks

These measure the result, not a behaviour, so they always follow the ranks.

OutcomeStrengthWhat it meansPilots measured
Race time behind the leader at ESS
clear pattern
Race time lost against the fastest pilots, leg by leg
could be chance

The whole field at a glance

1. Trent Brown
2. Neale Halsall
3. Mitch Butler
4. Peter Burkitt
5. Vic Hare
6. Hughbert Alexander
7. Peter Adriaans
8. Bruce Wynne
9. Steven Crosby
10. John Harriott
11. Olav Opsanger
12. Neil Hooke
13. Bruce Atkinson
14. Steve Docherty
15. Troy Horton
16. Cedric Joyce
17. Richard Martin
18. Mark Jeffree
20. Enda Carrigan
21. Andrew Taylor
22. Dustan Hansen
23. Neill Hollingsworth
24. Stuart Cathcart
25. Damian Hamilton
26. Steve Blenkinsop
27. Peter Garrone
28. Jason Lannstrom
29. James McGinty
30. Wayne Johnston
31. Jon Durand
32. Michael Free
33. James Atkinson
34. Andrew Berenyi
35. Mario Chapa
36. Brett Davis
37. Marty Hearne
38. Jay Kubeil
39. Tushar Pokle
40. Hossain Tefaili
41. Peter Tolhurst
42. Todd Wisewould
The pilots in rank order against every behaviour. A darker cell is a better percentile in this field, and an empty cell is a behaviour that does not apply.

Pilot style clusters

The groups are flying style, and not score. The spread of ranks in each group shows where that style paid and where it did not.

Group A — Committed racers

15 pilots · ranks 1–22 · median 8 · middle half 4.5–16.5

  • Low — Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb group median P21 in this field (31 percent) · usually a strength
  • High — How much of the thermal the pilot climbed before leaving it group median P77 in this field (81 percent)
  • Low — Final glide committed to when leaving the last climb group median P23 in this field (6.48 ratio)
  • Low — Share of the height gain made outside thermals group median P23 in this field (10 percent)
  • 1. Trent Brown
  • 2. Neale Halsall
  • 3. Mitch Butler (most typical of this group)
  • 4. Peter Burkitt
  • 5. Vic Hare
  • 6. Hughbert Alexander
  • 7. Peter Adriaans
  • 8. Bruce Wynne
  • 10. John Harriott
  • 13. Bruce Atkinson
  • 16. Cedric Joyce
  • 17. Richard Martin
  • 20. Enda Carrigan
  • 21. Andrew Taylor
  • 22. Dustan Hansen

Group B — Deep diggers

16 pilots · ranks 9–32 · median 24.5 · middle half 14.8–28.3

  • Low — How low the pilot gets between climbs group median P23 in this field (23 percent)
  • Low — How much of the thermal the pilot climbed before leaving it group median P27 in this field (45 percent)
  • High — Share of the height gain made outside thermals group median P72 in this field (19 percent)
  • Low — Glide L/D against the field median group median P28 in this field (0.90 ratio) · usually costly
  • 9. Steven Crosby
  • 11. Olav Opsanger (most typical of this group)
  • 12. Neil Hooke
  • 14. Steve Docherty
  • 15. Troy Horton
  • 18. Mark Jeffree
  • 23. Neill Hollingsworth
  • 24. Stuart Cathcart
  • 25. Damian Hamilton
  • 26. Steve Blenkinsop
  • 27. Peter Garrone
  • 28. Jason Lannstrom
  • 29. James McGinty
  • 30. Wayne Johnston
  • 31. Jon Durand
  • 32. Michael Free

Not clustered: 33. James Atkinson — only 1 of 21 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%); 34. Andrew Berenyi — only 10 of 21 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%); 35. Mario Chapa — only 4 of 21 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%); 36. Brett Davis — only 2 of 21 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%); 37. Marty Hearne — only 5 of 21 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%); 38. Jay Kubeil — only 6 of 21 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%); 39. Tushar Pokle — only 4 of 21 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%); 40. Hossain Tefaili — only 5 of 21 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%); 41. Peter Tolhurst — only 6 of 21 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%); 42. Todd Wisewould — only 4 of 21 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%).

31 pilots on 21 behavioural metrics formed 2 groups.

GlideComp groups the pilots by flying style, and not by score. It transforms the rank of every behavioural metric to a percentile inside the field. It then compares two pilots by the mean percentile gap over the metrics that both pilots have, and never fills in a missing value. Ward-linkage agglomeration forms the groups, and the best mean silhouette selects the number of groups. Each group carries the spread of the GAP ranks of its members, which shows where a style paid and where it did not.

k was searched from 2 to 6. The mean silhouette is 0.18 — a value near 0 means soft group boundaries, and a value near 1 means tight, well-separated groups.

The metrics in detail

best: some pattern (0.35)

best: clear pattern (0.52)

best: clear pattern (0.78)

One lane per behaviour, one dot per pilot, placed by percentile within the pilots that behaviour could be measured on — so a dot's position says where a pilot sat, never how spread the field was. Hover a pilot to light them up in every lane at once.
#PilotGlideSpdGlideL/DSpeedToFlyWide%Dolphin%
1Trent Brown63.8 (5 glides, 24 min gliding)1.11 (3 legs compared)-1.2 (4 glide→climb pairs)5 (4 legs completed)6 (74 of 1274 m gained outside thermals)
2Neale Halsall66.6 (6 glides, 25 min gliding)1.24 (3 legs compared)-2.4 (5 glide→climb pairs)14 (4 legs completed)18 (227 of 1292 m gained outside thermals)
3Mitch Butler68.5 (7 glides, 27 min gliding)0.96 (3 legs compared)0.6 (6 glide→climb pairs)10 (4 legs completed)7 (102 of 1499 m gained outside thermals)
4Peter Burkitt62.8 (8 glides, 27 min gliding)1.15 (3 legs compared)-2.8 (7 glide→climb pairs)7 (4 legs completed)11 (173 of 1548 m gained outside thermals)
5Vic Hare67.5 (5 glides, 25 min gliding)1.15 (3 legs compared)4.9 (4 glide→climb pairs)22 (4 legs completed)15 (244 of 1653 m gained outside thermals)
6Hughbert Alexander61.7 (10 glides, 25 min gliding)0.96 (4 legs compared)6.3 (10 glide→climb pairs)15 (4 legs completed)18 (405 of 2248 m gained outside thermals)
7Peter Adriaans59.0 (7 glides, 32 min gliding)1.14 (4 legs compared)0.6 (6 glide→climb pairs)20 (4 legs completed)9 (159 of 1760 m gained outside thermals)
8Bruce Wynne64.1 (3 glides, 23 min gliding)1.20 (3 legs compared)—19 (4 legs completed)7 (111 of 1694 m gained outside thermals)
9Steven Crosby63.2 (12 glides, 43 min gliding)1.28 (4 legs compared)-0.9 (11 glide→climb pairs)38 (4 legs completed)25 (444 of 1757 m gained outside thermals)
10John Harriott52.1 (11 glides, 40 min gliding)1.04 (4 legs compared)1.5 (10 glide→climb pairs)20 (4 legs completed)23 (412 of 1776 m gained outside thermals)
11Olav Opsanger59.9 (11 glides, 37 min gliding)0.88 (3 legs compared)3.0 (10 glide→climb pairs)27 (4 legs completed)35 (785 of 2243 m gained outside thermals)
12Neil Hooke55.6 (9 glides, 38 min gliding)0.99 (3 legs compared)5.8 (8 glide→climb pairs)19 (4 legs completed)13 (267 of 2085 m gained outside thermals)
13Bruce Atkinson47.7 (7 glides, 31 min gliding)1.10 (4 legs compared)-1.1 (6 glide→climb pairs)19 (4 legs completed)5 (94 of 2055 m gained outside thermals)
14Steve Docherty54.5 (11 glides, 44 min gliding)0.96 (4 legs compared)5.0 (10 glide→climb pairs)19 (4 legs completed)19 (406 of 2089 m gained outside thermals)
15Troy Horton51.4 (9 glides, 44 min gliding)0.90 (3 legs compared)4.1 (8 glide→climb pairs)32 (4 legs completed)19 (477 of 2536 m gained outside thermals)
16Cedric Joyce46.2 (13 glides, 48 min gliding)0.85 (4 legs compared)-1.6 (12 glide→climb pairs)36 (4 legs completed)6 (170 of 2819 m gained outside thermals)
17Richard Martin58.3 (5 glides, 34 min gliding)1.58 (2 legs compared)-2.4 (4 glide→climb pairs)8 (3 legs completed)10 (140 of 1430 m gained outside thermals)
18Mark Jeffree46.2 (16 glides, 55 min gliding)0.90 (2 legs compared)-2.0 (15 glide→climb pairs)40 (3 legs completed)19 (503 of 2675 m gained outside thermals)
20Enda Carrigan58.2 (4 glides, 27 min gliding)1.40 (2 legs compared)—13 (3 legs completed)3 (38 of 1360 m gained outside thermals)
21Andrew Taylor46.1 (6 glides, 42 min gliding)1.04 (3 legs compared)0.9 (5 glide→climb pairs)24 (3 legs completed)11 (166 of 1498 m gained outside thermals)
22Dustan Hansen58.4 (9 glides, 30 min gliding)1.44 (2 legs compared)2.3 (8 glide→climb pairs)27 (3 legs completed)18 (234 of 1303 m gained outside thermals)
23Neill Hollingsworth42.0 (10 glides, 24 min gliding)0.73 (1 leg compared)1.9 (8 glide→climb pairs)15 (2 legs completed)10 (237 of 2308 m gained outside thermals)
24Stuart Cathcart50.8 (5 glides, 24 min gliding)0.95 (1 leg compared)3.4 (4 glide→climb pairs)8 (2 legs completed)10 (67 of 674 m gained outside thermals)
25Damian Hamilton45.2 (5 glides, 23 min gliding)0.90 (2 legs compared)3.8 (4 glide→climb pairs)10 (2 legs completed)20 (166 of 842 m gained outside thermals)
26Steve Blenkinsop49.2 (5 glides, 25 min gliding)1.17 (2 legs compared)-5.3 (4 glide→climb pairs)31 (2 legs completed)17 (91 of 534 m gained outside thermals)
27Peter Garrone50.1 (10 glides, 24 min gliding)0.74 (2 legs compared)-0.5 (9 glide→climb pairs)43 (2 legs completed)17 (155 of 936 m gained outside thermals)
28Jason Lannstrom46.4 (10 glides, 28 min gliding)0.84 (1 leg compared)-1.2 (9 glide→climb pairs)26 (2 legs completed)25 (253 of 1004 m gained outside thermals)
29James McGinty48.2 (9 glides, 28 min gliding)1.38 (1 leg compared)1.1 (8 glide→climb pairs)68 (2 legs completed)18 (186 of 1026 m gained outside thermals)
30Wayne Johnston40.4 (6 glides, 18 min gliding)0.72 (1 leg compared)0.3 (5 glide→climb pairs)20 (2 legs completed)28 (122 of 434 m gained outside thermals)
31Jon Durand53.8 (2 glides, 24 min gliding)1.03 (2 legs compared)—11 (2 legs completed)33 (196 of 591 m gained outside thermals)
32Michael Free50.5 (8 glides, 27 min gliding)0.88 (1 leg compared)1.3 (7 glide→climb pairs)36 (2 legs completed)43 (375 of 865 m gained outside thermals)
33James Atkinson—————
34Andrew Berenyi42.4 (3 glides, 7 min gliding)————
35Mario Chapa—————
36Brett Davis—————
37Marty Hearne—————
38Jay Kubeil—————
39Tushar Pokle—————
40Hossain Tefaili—————
41Peter Tolhurst—————
42Todd Wisewould—————

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 53.0 km/h · p90 64.1 km/h (32 pilots)

best: clear pattern (0.73)

One lane per behaviour, one dot per pilot, placed by percentile within the pilots that behaviour could be measured on — so a dot's position says where a pilot sat, never how spread the field was. Hover a pilot to light them up in every lane at once.
#PilotFloor%LowSaveskm/climbSearch%
1Trent Brown33 (4 descents, lowest 28% of band)0.04.3 (mean shared-climb pctile 60%)23
2Neale Halsall66 (4 descents, lowest 62% of band)0.02.5 (mean shared-climb pctile 65%)32
3Mitch Butler54 (4 descents, lowest 52% of band)0.03.8 (mean shared-climb pctile 55%)24
4Peter Burkitt26 (4 descents, lowest 6% of band)1.0 (deepest save from 8% of band)3.0 (mean shared-climb pctile 58%)37
5Vic Hare47 (2 descents, lowest 43% of band)0.03.0 (mean shared-climb pctile 64%)33
6Hughbert Alexander74 (5 descents, lowest -50% of band)0.01.8 (mean shared-climb pctile 74%)31
7Peter Adriaans37 (3 descents, lowest -10% of band)1.0 (deepest save from -10% of band)3.0 (mean shared-climb pctile 50%)31
8Bruce Wynne42 (2 descents, lowest 32% of band)1.0 (deepest save from 8% of band)4.3 (mean shared-climb pctile 60%)15
9Steven Crosby26 (5 descents, lowest 1% of band)0.01.8 (mean shared-climb pctile 46%)43
10John Harriott66 (4 descents, lowest 48% of band)0.01.7 (mean shared-climb pctile 50%)37
11Olav Opsanger18 (6 descents, lowest 3% of band)0.01.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 55%)46
12Neil Hooke11 (3 descents, lowest -9% of band)1.0 (deepest save from 9% of band)2.5 (mean shared-climb pctile 42%)35
13Bruce Atkinson53 (4 descents, lowest -22% of band)0.02.3 (mean shared-climb pctile 32%)26
14Steve Docherty-2 (5 descents, lowest -40% of band)0.01.7 (mean shared-climb pctile 49%)49
15Troy Horton8 (6 descents, lowest -14% of band)1.0 (deepest save from 3% of band)1.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 51%)38
16Cedric Joyce58 (10 descents, lowest 35% of band)0.01.8 (mean shared-climb pctile 34%)29
17Richard Martin25 (4 descents, lowest 8% of band)1.0 (deepest save from 9% of band)4.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 42%)45
18Mark Jeffree40 (6 descents, lowest -1% of band)0.01.0 (mean shared-climb pctile 39%)45
20Enda Carrigan30 (2 descents, lowest 7% of band)1.0 (deepest save from 7% of band)7.0 (mean shared-climb pctile 64%)28
21Andrew Taylor32 (5 descents, lowest 6% of band)0.02.3 (mean shared-climb pctile 15%)35
22Dustan Hansen54 (5 descents, lowest -50% of band)0.01.8 (mean shared-climb pctile 54%)33
23Neill Hollingsworth21 (11 descents, lowest -50% of band)0.0—45
24Stuart Cathcart63 (3 descents, lowest 41% of band)0.0—53
25Damian Hamilton—0.0—48
26Steve Blenkinsop23 (2 descents, lowest 8% of band)0.0—55
27Peter Garrone33 (3 descents, lowest 2% of band)0.0—48
28Jason Lannstrom40 (5 descents, lowest -39% of band)0.0—60
29James McGinty24 (3 descents, lowest 7% of band)0.0—46
30Wayne Johnston27 (2 descents, lowest 5% of band)0.0—46
31Jon Durand—0.0—63
32Michael Free19 (2 descents, lowest 7% of band)0.0—63
33James Atkinson————
34Andrew Berenyi—0.0—76
35Mario Chapa—0.0—100
36Brett Davis—0.0——
37Marty Hearne—0.0—100
38Jay Kubeil—0.0—100
39Tushar Pokle—0.0—0
40Hossain Tefaili—0.0—100
41Peter Tolhurst—0.0—100
42Todd Wisewould—0.0—100

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 20/27/31% · glide 20/28/36% · search 32/45/58%

best: some pattern (0.44)

best: clear pattern (0.64)

One lane per behaviour, one dot per pilot, placed by percentile within the pilots that behaviour could be measured on — so a dot's position says where a pilot sat, never how spread the field was. Hover a pilot to light them up in every lane at once.
#PilotStartDlyTimeLostBehindSpare mFinalGl
1Trent Brown000.0-836.56 (left last climb 8.4 km out at 1570 m)
2Neale Halsall003.2-616.21 (left last climb 8.4 km out at 1637 m)
3Mitch Butler005.8-596.83 (left last climb 8.7 km out at 1558 m)
4Peter Burkitt006.2-105.97 (left last climb 8.1 km out at 1644 m)
5Vic Hare01109.0-1146.48 (left last climb 8.2 km out at 1559 m)
6Hughbert Alexander011911.6555.67 (left last climb 8.2 km out at 1730 m)
7Peter Adriaans022515.81817.64 (left last climb 6.7 km out at 1167 m)
8Bruce Wynne056920.2-856.00 (left last climb 7.9 km out at 1603 m)
9Steven Crosby0110524.21008.50 (left last climb 7.8 km out at 1208 m)
10John Harriott090024.6155.88 (left last climb 8.1 km out at 1663 m)
11Olav Opsanger0108325.1-1358.84 (left last climb 9.3 km out at 1342 m)
12Neil Hooke0106929.9518.38 (left last climb 9.7 km out at 1443 m)
13Bruce Atkinson0131634.0454.99 (left last climb 2.3 km out at 751 m)
14Steve Docherty0135734.7-1079.48 (left last climb 2.7 km out at 578 m)
15Troy Horton0158238.4137.61 (left last climb 9.5 km out at 1539 m)
16Cedric Joyce0289360.31306.10 (left last climb 5.8 km out at 1241 m)
17Richard Martin0198——6.57 (left last climb 7.5 km out at 1439 m)
18Mark Jeffree02361——7.70 (left last climb 8.9 km out at 1448 m)
20Enda Carrigan0424——8.20 (left last climb 8.7 km out at 1355 m)
21Andrew Taylor01107——14.47 (left last climb 9.4 km out at 940 m)
22Dustan Hansen03——48.93 (left last climb 6.2 km out at 417 m)
23Neill Hollingsworth0452——36.78 (left last climb 6.4 km out at 466 m)
24Stuart Cathcart011——7.33 (left last climb 7.8 km out at 1357 m)
25Damian Hamilton0414——6.48 (left last climb 7.8 km out at 1492 m)
26Steve Blenkinsop0186——13.81 (left last climb 8.7 km out at 924 m)
27Peter Garrone01008——14.16 (left last climb 7.7 km out at 833 m)
28Jason Lannstrom0350——31.64 (left last climb 5.9 km out at 478 m)
29James McGinty0762——9.49 (left last climb 8.1 km out at 1146 m)
30Wayne Johnston073——12.47 (left last climb 7.5 km out at 894 m)
31Jon Durand00——8.60 (left last climb 8.5 km out at 1278 m)
32Michael Free0905——7.49 (left last climb 7.8 km out at 1337 m)
33James Atkinson—————
34Andrew Berenyi0———42.89 (left last climb 6.6 km out at 446 m)
35Mario Chapa0————
36Brett Davis0————
37Marty Hearne0————
38Jay Kubeil0————
39Tushar Pokle0————
40Hossain Tefaili0————
41Peter Tolhurst0————
42Todd Wisewould0————

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

PilotDelayAlt mBand %Behind km
Trent Brown0:001355732.4
Neale Halsall0:001542980.7
Mitch Butler0:001532970.5
Peter Burkitt0:001319690.0
Vic Hare0:001337711.3
Hughbert Alexander0:0015521001.9
Peter Adriaans0:001459871.5
Bruce Wynne0:001151460.8
Steven Crosby0:001370751.4
John Harriott0:001398792.7
Olav Opsanger0:001400791.8
Neil Hooke0:001320691.1
Bruce Atkinson0:001315680.5
Steve Docherty0:001403800.0
Troy Horton0:001306671.6
Cedric Joyce0:001301661.4
Richard Martin0:001195520.5
Mark Jeffree0:001171491.3
Enda Carrigan0:001339711.3
Andrew Taylor0:001480900.5
Dustan Hansen0:0015661021.4
Neill Hollingsworth0:001289652.0
Stuart Cathcart0:001411811.7
Damian Hamilton0:001468881.1
Steve Blenkinsop0:001432841.7
Peter Garrone0:001314681.7
Jason Lannstrom0:001325690.6
James McGinty0:001060341.1
Wayne Johnston0:001377761.2
Jon Durand0:001319690.0
Michael Free0:001340710.0
Andrew Berenyi0:00431-501.2
Mario Chapa0:00404-502.3
Brett Davis0:00323-50—
Marty Hearne0:00385-500.1
Jay Kubeil0:00362-503.1
Tushar Pokle0:00384-502.1
Hossain Tefaili0:00380-500.0
Peter Tolhurst0:00438-492.7
Todd Wisewould0:00355-503.0

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.

+0:11SSS→TOWONG+2:01TOWONG→KANGCK-0:12KANGCK→TOWONG+1:10TOWONG→ESS
Neale Halsall, over 4 compared legs: +3:10 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→TOWONGTOWONG→KANGCKKANGCK→TOWONGTOWONG→ESSTotal
Trent Brown+0:00+0:00+0:00+0:00+0:00
Neale Halsall+0:11+2:01-0:12+1:10+3:10
Mitch Butler+0:01+4:09+0:49+0:49+5:49
Peter Burkitt+0:06+3:24+1:46+0:56+6:11
Vic Hare-0:04+8:17+0:16+0:30+8:59
Hughbert Alexander+0:42+8:01+2:22+0:34+11:38
Peter Adriaans+0:14+8:05+3:07+4:20+15:46
Bruce Wynne+0:37+10:23+7:40+1:31+20:11
Steven Crosby-0:03+0:29+8:51+14:54+24:11
John Harriott+1:02+19:39+0:01+3:54+24:36
Olav Opsanger+0:09+2:23+20:31+2:06+25:09
Neil Hooke+0:28+8:05+14:36+6:43+29:52
Bruce Atkinson+0:27+19:17+8:48+5:28+33:59
Steve Docherty+0:19+11:27+19:25+3:29+34:41
Troy Horton+0:30+14:54+14:30+8:31+38:25
Cedric Joyce+3:34+19:52+18:50+18:00+60:16
Richard Martin+1:03+4:32+4:59—+10:34
Mark Jeffree+5:35+14:09+28:49—+48:32
Enda Carrigan+0:53+5:03+8:56—+14:52
Andrew Taylor+0:40+10:04+16:55—+27:39
Dustan Hansen+0:15+3:38+2:31—+6:23
Neill Hollingsworth+0:24+13:51——+14:15
Stuart Cathcart+0:28+2:51——+3:19
Damian Hamilton+0:26+13:12——+13:38
Steve Blenkinsop+0:13+9:33——+9:46
Peter Garrone+1:12+22:19——+23:31
Jason Lannstrom+0:23+12:11——+12:33
James McGinty+3:41+15:44——+19:25
Wayne Johnston+1:29+6:10——+7:39
Jon Durand+0:14+5:55——+6:09
Michael Free+0:40+21:08——+21:48

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

PilotELLIOTTOWONGKANGCKTOWONGCORRYCORRY
Trent Brown0.00.10.00.00.00.0
Neale Halsall0.00.32.22.03.23.2
Mitch Butler0.00.14.25.05.85.8
Peter Burkitt0.00.23.55.36.26.2
Vic Hare0.00.08.28.59.09.0
Hughbert Alexander0.00.88.711.111.611.6
Peter Adriaans0.00.38.311.415.815.8
Bruce Wynne0.00.711.018.720.220.2
Steven Crosby0.00.00.49.324.224.2
John Harriott0.01.120.720.724.624.6
Olav Opsanger0.00.22.523.125.125.1
Neil Hooke0.00.58.523.129.929.9
Bruce Atkinson0.00.519.728.534.034.0
Steve Docherty0.00.411.831.234.734.7
Troy Horton0.00.615.429.938.438.4
Cedric Joyce0.03.623.442.360.360.3
Richard Martin0.01.15.610.6——
Mark Jeffree0.05.619.748.5——
Enda Carrigan0.01.05.914.9——
Andrew Taylor0.00.710.727.6——
Dustan Hansen0.00.33.96.4——
Neill Hollingsworth0.00.514.3———
Stuart Cathcart0.00.53.3———
Damian Hamilton0.00.513.6———
Steve Blenkinsop0.00.39.8———
Peter Garrone0.01.323.5———
Jason Lannstrom0.00.512.6———
James McGinty0.03.819.4———
Wayne Johnston0.01.67.6———
Jon Durand0.00.36.1———
Michael Free0.00.721.8———
Andrew Berenyi0.0—————
Mario Chapa0.0—————
Brett Davis0.0—————
Marty Hearne0.0—————
Jay Kubeil0.0—————
Tushar Pokle0.0—————
Hossain Tefaili0.0—————
Peter Tolhurst0.0—————
Todd Wisewould0.0—————

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 -35 m (n=10) vs rest median 29 m (n=6).

Footnotes

3 pilots in the scores but not in this analysis

  • Randall Clotworthy — scored from a manual flight report — no tracklog to analyse
  • Adrian Connor — scored from a manual flight report — no tracklog to analyse
  • Gary Herman — scored from a manual flight report — no tracklog to analyse

The correlations are measured against the published ranks, and those ranks include these pilots. Their behaviour cannot be measured without a tracklog.

How the field is compared

Everything that compares pilots to each other uses one shared clock. That includes gaggles, shared thermals, and the position of each pilot at the same moment. GlideComp resamples every track onto a common 10-second grid. Two pilots are therefore always compared at the same instant, whatever rate their instruments logged at.

Metric glossary

How GlideComp measures every metric on this page. On screen, the ⓘ beside a metric opens the same description in place. On paper, this section is the reference for all of them.

Day profile & wind

The day’s wind, hour by hour and leg by leg(“Wind” in tables)
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.

How strong the day’s climbs were, hour by hour(“Climb/hr” in tables)
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. This metric describes the day, so it has no value for each pilot.

Share of the flight spent in air that wasn’t sinking(“NonSink%” in tables)
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.

Climbing

Climbing faster than the pilots sharing the thermal(“Out-climb” in tables)
Measured in percent · higher is better

When this pilot and other pilots were in the SAME thermal, who climbed faster? In every thermal that two pilots or more used, we rank each use by its average climb rate. The percentile of a use is the share of uses that were strictly slower. The value is the duration-weighted mean percentile over the shared climbs of the pilot. 50% is exactly average. 80% means they climbed faster than four in five of the pilots they shared lift with. The shared thermal is what separates centring skill from thermal selection: a pilot who only found better air gets no higher value here.

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

How long the pilot takes to get into the best lift after they arrive in a thermal. For each thermal of 60 s or more, we measure the seconds from the entry until the 30 s rolling climb rate first reaches 90% of its peak in that thermal. The value is the median across the thermals of the pilot. Every second here is a second spent climbing slower than the thermal can carry them.

Climb rate at thermal exit(“LeaveRate” in tables)
Measured in metres per second · no expected direction

The median climb rate that the pilot left thermals at. For each thermal of 90 s or more, we take the climb rate over its final 30 s. A high value means they leave lift that still works. A low value means they stay in a climb until nothing is left. This is an absolute rate, so read it against the day: compare it with the median climb in "How strong the day’s climbs were". A pilot who leaves at 1.5 m/s leaves a good climb on a 1 m/s day, and takes the worst lift available on a 4 m/s day. There is no expected direction. The sign of the correlation says which behaviour paid on this task.

Share of lift turned in that was kept as a climb(“Kept%” in tables)
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.

How much of the thermal the pilot climbed before leaving it(“TopOut%” in tables)
Measured in percent · no expected direction

Does the pilot climb to the top of every thermal, or leave with lift still above them? We take the altitude where they left each thermal after the start, as a percentage of the day’s working band. 0% is the floor of the field and 100% is its ceiling. The value is the median. There is no expected direction: a climb to the top buys height in reserve, and an early departure buys time.

How round and consistent the circles were(“Round” in tables)
Measured in ratio · lower is better

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.

Gliding

Glide speed between climbs(“GlideSpd” in tables)
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.

Glide L/D against the field median(“GlideL/D” in tables)
Measured in ratio · higher is better

Whether the pilot found better air on glide than the other pilots on the same leg. For each completed speed-section leg, we take the pilot's glide-phase L/D. That is the path distance divided by the net altitude lost during the glides, and we skip a leg that loses less than 100 m. We divide it by the median L/D of the field on that same leg, and then average over the legs. 1.10 means the pilot glided 10% further for each metre lost than the usual pilot on those legs.

Gliding faster when the next climb is stronger(“SpeedToFly” in tables)
Measured in kilometres per hour · higher is better

Speed to fly: the pilot flies faster when a good climb is in front of them, and slower when it is not. We pair each glide after the start with the climb rate of the next thermal that starts within 5 minutes. The value is the mean glide speed before climbs stronger than the median, minus the mean glide speed before weaker climbs. +8 km/h means the pilot flew 8 km/h faster into the good climbs. This is a PROXY, and not true speed to fly, because there is no glider polar data.

Gliding wide of the optimal course line(“Wide%” in tables)
Measured in percent · lower is better

How much further the pilot flew on glide than the optimised course line needed. 0% is a flight exactly along the line, and 12% is a glide 12% further than necessary. On each completed speed-section leg, we compare the pilot's route with the optimised distance of the leg, weighted by that optimised distance. Only the glides are measured at their full path length. Circling and searching contribute their entry-to-exit displacement instead. A climb or a search for lift therefore never reads as a wide line, because a pilot chooses a line only on glide. 0% is a real value that a pilot can reach: a pilot who flies the line of the optimiser scores exactly zero.

Share of the height gain made outside thermals(“Dolphin%” in tables)
Measured in percent · no expected direction

Dolphin flying: how much of the height that the pilot gained came outside of circling. The value is the share of the altitude gain after the start, smoothed over 10 s, that the pilot made outside a detected thermal. There is no expected direction. The sign of the correlation shows whether dolphin flying paid on this day.

Decision-making

How low the pilot gets between climbs(“Floor%” in tables)
Measured in percent · no expected direction

How low the pilot goes before the next climb. A high value is a race with height in reserve, and a low value is a flight that goes down near the ground. We take each pair of climbs that the pilot made after the start, and we find the lowest point between them. We keep only the gaps that go down 100 m or more, because a top-up between two climbs is not a descent. We do not count a sled run or the glide to goal, because the pilot made no climb after them. The value is the median of those low points, as a percentage of the day's working band. 0% is where the lowest tenth of the field's climbs started, and 100% is where the highest tenth stopped. Thus a negative value shows that the pilot went lower than almost all of the field. The pilot must have two or more of these descents. There is no expected direction. The sign of the correlation says whether height in reserve pays.

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

How many times the pilot got low and climbed out again. We count the climbs after the start that the pilot entered below 15% of the working band, and that then gained 300 m or more. Those are true low saves. Zero is a real value, and not a missing one: it means the pilot never got that low. There is no expected direction. The sign of the correlation says whether a climb-out or a flight that stays high pays.

Distance covered between climbs(“km/climb” in tables)
Measured in kilometres · higher is better

How far the pilot gets down the course before they must stop and circle again. This is the direct reading of how often they stop. The value is the scored flown distance divided by the number of thermals taken after the start, so 3 km means three kilometres of course for each climb. The pilot must fly 20 km or more. The note of each pilot adds their mean climb percentile inside shared thermals, so you can read the number of stops together with the climb strength. Long legs between weak climbs is a different day from long legs between strong ones.

Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb(“Search%” in tables)
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.

Gaggle

Time spent flying with a gaggle(“InGaggle%” in tables)
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.

Climbs joined on another pilot's marker(“Marked%” in tables)
Measured in percent · no expected direction

How much of the lift of the pilot another pilot found first. The value is the share of their climbs after the start where another pilot was already established in the same thermal when they arrived. Established means 30 s or more into the climb, and still climbing. A high value means they mostly climb on the markers of other pilots. A low value means they find their own air. There is no expected direction. A marker is free information, but it puts a pilot where the last climb was, and not where the next one is.

How often leaving the gaggle paid off(“LeaveWin%” in tables)
Measured in percent · no expected direction

When a pilot leaves a gaggle that continues to fly, did the departure pay off? We compare the arrival of the pilot who left at the next turnpoint against the median arrival of the pilots who stayed. A win rate of more than 50% means their departures beat the gaggle. A pilot counts as a pilot who stayed only if they were still in the gaggle after the split, and reached that turnpoint after it.

Race craft

How long after the gate opened the pilot started(“StartDly” in tables)
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.

Race time lost against the fastest pilots, leg by leg(“TimeLost” in tables)
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.

Race time behind the leader at ESS(“Behind” in tables)
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.

Arriving at ESS with height to spare(“Spare m” in tables)
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.

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

How optimistic the pilot was about their final glide. A pilot wins or loses a task by the height at which they leave the last climb. At the last climb of the pilot before ESS, or before the landing, we divide the distance to goal by their height above goal. That is the glide ratio they committed to. 8 means they left and needed 8:1 to make goal. The value counts only when that climb ended within 1.5 times the length of the last course leg longer than 1 km from goal — when ESS and goal share a waypoint, the zero-length hop between them is not that leg. There is no expected direction: a marginal glide wins if it connects, and loses if it does not.