THE COMPETITIVE SIDE
Racing the skies
CLUB ENTERPRISE
So what is Competition Enterprise?
New to Competition Enterprise? Not sure what it is? Here are the ten things you need to know!
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It's a gliding competition, with daily tasks, met briefings and daily scores. You'll see a line of gliders ready to launch in the morning and a queue of glider pilots in the bar in the evening. Just like any other gliding competition.
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It's not like any other gliding competition! Rather than focusing on the traditional 'speed round a course' tasks, Enterprise tries to set more adventurous tasks, focusing on maximising your day's flying, rather than just speed. You will definitely see more of the countryside flying in Enterprise!
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It's not a new competition - it's been run every year since 1974 - apart from 2001 when Foot and Mouth stopped play!
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It's open to anyone with a Silver C and the spirit of adventure. Because it's not about speed, the handicapping system means that a K6 is as likely to do well as a JS1 - lower performance gliders are warmly welcome and there is even the Blunt Nails trophy to compete for!
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Turbo or self launching gliders are welcome, but by no means necessary. There will always be people around to help get you home if you land out - for the normal (beer related) price of course!
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As well as points for distance, there are usually bonus points for getting back, reaching turn points and even flying over the sea or visiting another country! Bring your passport....
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It's not all about thermal flying - tasks will be set to take advantage of wave and ridge lift too!
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Junior pilot's are able to apply for a John Fielden Junior Scholarship Award, significantly reducing your costs.
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There are also some Enterprise weekend meetings that take place from time to time - an excellent way to dip your toe in the Enterprise water.
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It's just a whole lot of fun. Every day brings a new type of task and every flight is different. You will fly further than you ever thought possible!
As an example, here is what the host club wrote in summary about the 2014 Enterprise;
"We had six days flying, covering 27,892kms from Nympsfield to the Welsh hills and coastline, to Ely in the east, Dover on the Channel and places south west of Devizes. Some climbed to over 9000ft, explored the clouds and wave, found convergence and good thermals. Some found fields, others gliding clubs or small airfields, but most found their way home. The longest aero tow was 360kms and the latest retrieve, after rounding Dover, was Steve Eyles and Mike Oakley in the club DG500, with Justin getting home at 01.30hrs. We think that we have a record breaking flight, with the longest competition O/R ever set and completed in the UK, by Trevor Stuart at 572kms."
Just talk to anyone who has experienced Enterprise and let their enthusiasm convince you. Come along and give it a go!
INTER CLUB
About The Inter Club League
The Inter-Club League (ICL) is intended to encourage competitive cross-country flying on a less formal basis than National and Regional competitions, involving pilots at all levels of cross-country competence. In particular, it is an opportunity for novice pilots to experience competition flying before they are eligible to fly a regional competition.
ICL is designed as a two-phase set of events: a local event managed by a group of local clubs and Team Captains, and then a Final towards the end of the flying season. Winners of local events can compete in the Final, which will generally be held at a Host club in central England and the Host club will be offered a place to enter a team in the Final. It is not a competition and is, in particular, an opportunity for novice pilots with very limited competition experience to gain further experience in a less stressful competition environment.
Summer events tend to be created as regional groups of clubs, who hold a series of competition weekends between the clubs in each group throughout the summer. Each competition weekend is hosted by a club from within the region. The host club is responsible for providing the organisation and launching for the competition. In regions where X/C pilots are prevalent, some events allow up to three pilots per class. In other regions where pilots/time is limited, only one annual event takes place over a weekend to determine a winner for the Final.
The ICL competition races are held in three categories – novice, intermediate and pundit with points awarded to the top finishers in each category. These points are aggregated throughout the season. The winning club in each region go forward to the ICL Final. In the Final sometimes we can accept a number of pilots from one region that want to represent that region (this is where they are small clubs without the depth of pilots to have a full team.
Opportunity!
The ICL is more than just a competition. It’s a great way to build experience and learn new skills among friends and colleagues in a friendly environment, including;
– Experience flying from new sites
– Improve cross-country flying ability
– Learn about glider racing which includes use of loggers, map reading, setting up flight directors, etc.
– Gain experience in contest direction, task setting, start and finish line control, scoring and other competition-related duties
– Special emphasis is put on the performance of newer pilots – the ICL has a trophy specifically for the best novice pilot!
How To Get Involved
Find out who has volunteered to be your club’s ICL rep and ask her or him if you can join in. If there is no one you might want to try to get the ICL started at your club. It generally just takes one enthusiastic driver and to get your CFI involved. It’s as easy as that!
The ICL Rules
These are updated each year. The Inter Club League rules can be read here.
More Information
Although the intention is to provide detail of ICL events on this webpage, the Inter Club League currently communicates through its Facebook page.
It also meets at the BGA Conference each year and from 2020 onwards there will be a stand. So come along and ask questions
REGIONAL & NATIONAL COMPETITIONS
COMPETITIONS & AWARDS
Competition flying is an important part of gliding. Although competitions usually involve racing sailplanes around pre-planned cross-country tasks, pilots also take part in aerobatic competitions where they are scored for accuracy of flying. Competitions can be great social occasions too, and following the cross country racing action from the ground is getting easier thanks to online tracking.
Organised on-site competitions range from a one day single race event through to nine-day or two-week championships involving multiple races and classes of gliders. Some pilots compete in online competitions, for example the BGA Ladder or the OLC, where pilots upload logger traces of their cross-country flights to compare performances. Each glider type has a performance handicap. Details are in the Competition Rules.
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