What is a Soaring Contest?

Sailplane racing is a very challenging and rewarding sport - very much like sailboat racing. Here in Region 8 we generally have 25 to 35 competitors flying with us each year. Region 8 is an area that includes glider pilots from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. We also often have pilots from British Columbia and Alberta as well as visiting pilots from many other states in the country that fly in our contest.

All of the competition pilots will meet in the morning around 10:00 for a pilot briefing. At that time the pilots are told about the days weather forecast, the type of conditions that they can expect on the days course and they will be given the days "task" or requirements for the flight that they are expected to complete. A days task will generally range from distances of 50 miles to as many as 300 miles depending on the type of flying conditions expected for the day and consist of the gliders flying to a series of pre-selected turnpoints.

The gliders launch each day sometime around noon, towed into the air by one of 4 towplanes. This is easily the busiest time of the day with towplanes taking off and landing, rope assistants running the tow rope to the next glider in line and someone hooking the rope to the next glider in line and signaling the towplane that the glider is ready to go. Each towplane will be taking off with a new glider in tow about every 6 minutes - that means a new glider in the air about every 90 seconds! This sort of precision means that each competition pilot must have completed all of his or her pre-flight tasks and be prepared to launch as soon as  they reach the front of the line. Each glider is positioned for takeoff on a "grid" or numbered position on our ramp in two rows to make the launch run smoothly. The glider will be towed to an altitude of 2000 feet above the airport and will then release from the towplane.

After releasing from tow, the gliders will use rising columns of air called thermals to circle and climb in. Generally after the launch has begun, you will be able to see the gliders over the ridge to the west of the airport circling in thermals as they wait for their daily task to begin. It is not unusual to see as many as 10 gliders circling in the same thermal.

After our Competition Director tells the gliders that the race has begun, the gliders set out on the days task. Generally, the gliders will begin returning to the airport between 4:00 and 5:00 pm. This is a fun time to be watching as many of the gliders carry water in the wings for ballast and they will often make a high speed pass over the airport dumping the water from vents on the glider causing a water vapor trail behind them that is quite beautiful.

All of the contests in Region 8 are what we call "GPS Only" contests. That means that each glider is equipped with a GPS flight recorder that can be replayed to see where the glider went and if the glider came close enough to the turnpoints that were selected for the task. The flight recorder will also tell us how fast the glider was flying and how long it took the pilot to complete the task. The pilot with the fastest speed around the course is the winner. Pilots are awarded points for each days distance and speed on the task and the pilot with the highest number of points at the end of the contest takes home the award for 1st place.

The above screen shot is of a flight flown on June 29, 2005 by Nelson Funston. The flight was 5:26:50 in duration.

If you have never seen a sailplane race, feel free to stop by and watch for the day. You may find that the bug for silent flight bites you!

To learn more about soaring or to find a soaring site near you, press the Northwest Clubs tab here on the Seattle Glider Council site or go to the Soaring Society of America website.

To return to the Region 8 Contests home page please click here