Task 4 (Open)

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

The optimised route. Pilots fly it in the direction of the arrows. The radii, the leg distances and the start times are on the task page.

Analysis computed

Pilots: 48
Airtime: 115h (11:12–15:26 AEDT)
Thermals: 20370 shared by 2+ pilots
Working band: 912–2266 m
Airtime split: 39%climbing
25%gliding
36%searching

1 pilot is in the standings 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 average the vectors 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 — measured and modelled alike — share one time axis (AEDT), so a vertical scan compares the two at the same moment. Arrows fly WITH the wind — direction figures are degrees the wind blows from; 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”.

Which behaviours went with better results

Every row is one behaviour, measured for each pilot and then compared against the published placings (Spearman's rank correlation, ρ). Rank 1 is best, so a behaviour where more is better shows a negative ρ. A bigger bar means the behaviour tracked the placings more closely on this task, and pilots measured is how much of the analysed field the behaviour applied to — a reading drawn from half the field is thinner than one drawn from all of it. Select a row to see that behaviour plotted against rank — the chart stays in view while you work down the table.

Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb

Label every pilot

Each dot is a pilot: across is what was measured, up is a better rank. ρ = 0.73 (clear pattern, n = 45). Less is expected to be better here, and it was: top ranks gather to the left. The curve is a trend fitted through the dots: left to right it runs from about rank 12 to about rank 47. 3 pilots have no value and are not plotted.

Speed-section phase shares, field p25/median/p75: climb 34/37/39% · glide 31/36/41% · search 19/27/33%

Behaviour	Strength	What it means	Pilots measured
Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb		clear pattern
Distance covered between climbs		clear pattern
Gliding wide of the optimal course line		clear pattern
Glide speed between climbs		clear pattern
Arriving at ESS with height to spare		clear pattern
How often leaving the gaggle paid off		clear pattern
Glide L/D against the field median		clear pattern
Time spent flying with a gaggle		clear pattern
How long after the gate opened the pilot started		clear pattern
Share of the height gain made outside thermals		clear pattern
Share of lift turned in that was kept as a climb		some pattern
How much of the thermal the pilot climbed before leaving it		some pattern
Climbs joined on another pilot's marker		some pattern
How low the pilot gets between climbs		some pattern
Climbing faster than the pilots sharing the thermal		could be chance
Share of the flight spent in air that wasn’t sinking		could be chance
Climb rate at thermal exit		could be chance
Low saves dug out from the bottom of the band		could be chance
How round and consistent the circles were		could be chance
Time to core thermals		could be chance
Gliding faster when the next climb is stronger		could be chance

clear pattern is |ρ| ≥ 0.5, some pattern ≥ 0.3 and faint pattern below — each only once the coefficient is bigger than chance alone produces at that many pilots (its noise floor). could be chance (in the statistics: within noise) means shuffling the placings produces a coefficient that size more than 5% of the time, so it cannot be told apart from luck however big it looks. too few pilots is fewer than 8 pilots with a value — not enough to tell either way.

Rank 21 behaviours against one day's results and a few will look strong on luck alone — the ones worth believing are those that repeat across tasks in the competition-level analysis.

Metrics with a clear pattern, plotted against rank

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 34/37/39% · glide 31/36/41% · search 19/27/33%

Distance covered between climbs

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.

Each dot is a pilot: across is what was measured, up is a better rank. ρ = -0.73 (clear pattern, n = 43). 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 41 to about rank 13. 5 pilots have no value and are not plotted.

Gliding wide of the optimal course line

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.

Each dot is a pilot: across is what was measured, up is a better rank. ρ = 0.73 (clear pattern, n = 44). Less is expected to be better here, and it was: top ranks gather to the left. The curve is a trend fitted through the dots: left to right it runs from about rank 2 to about rank 42. 4 pilots have no value and are not plotted.

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.

Each dot is a pilot: across is what was measured, up is a better rank. ρ = -0.69 (clear pattern, n = 44). 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 40 to about rank 2. 4 pilots have no value and are not plotted.

Field glide speed: median 64.6 km/h · p90 74.9 km/h (44 pilots)

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 §12.3.6). 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.

Each dot is a pilot: across is what was measured, up is a better rank. ρ = 0.66 (clear pattern, n = 35). Less is expected to be better here, and it was: top ranks gather to the left. The curve is a trend fitted through the dots: left to right it runs from about rank 2 to about rank 34. 13 pilots have no value and are not plotted.

ESS altitude margin over final glide: top-10 median -35 m (n=10) vs rest median 234 m (n=25).

How often leaving the gaggle paid off

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.

Each dot is a pilot: across is what was measured, up is a better rank. ρ = -0.57 (clear pattern, n = 37). No expected direction — the sign is the finding: larger values went with better ranks here. The curve is a trend fitted through the dots: left to right it runs from about rank 34 to about rank 7. 11 pilots have no value and are not plotted.

Glide L/D against the field median

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.

Each dot is a pilot: across is what was measured, up is a better rank. ρ = -0.56 (clear pattern, n = 44). 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 45 to about rank 17. 4 pilots have no value and are not plotted.

Time spent flying with a gaggle

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.

Each dot is a pilot: across is what was measured, up is a better rank. ρ = -0.54 (clear pattern, n = 45). No expected direction — the sign is the finding: larger values went with better ranks here. The curve is a trend fitted through the dots: left to right it runs from about rank 35 to about rank 11. 3 pilots have no value and are not plotted.

83 gaggle episodes detected (peak size 16 pilots).

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.

Each dot is a pilot: across is what was measured, up is a better rank. ρ = 0.54 (clear pattern, n = 45). Less is expected to be better here, and it was: top ranks gather to the left. The curve is a trend fitted through the dots: left to right it runs from about rank 9 to about rank 43. 3 pilots have no value and are not plotted.

Share of the height gain made outside thermals

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.

Each dot is a pilot: across is what was measured, up is a better rank. ρ = 0.50 (clear pattern, n = 43). No expected direction — the sign is the finding: larger values went with worse ranks here. The curve is a trend fitted through the dots: left to right it runs from about rank 16 to about rank 20. 5 pilots have no value and are not plotted.

Outcome checks

These are not behaviours. They measure the result itself, for example the time behind the leader and the race time lost, so they always follow the places. They are here as a check on the analysis. A weak pattern in this table means that something is wrong in the numbers, and not in the flying of any pilot. Their per-pilot tables stay in the Race craft section below.

Outcome	Strength	What it means	Pilots measured
Race time behind the leader at ESS		clear pattern
Race time lost against the fastest pilots, leg by leg		clear pattern

The whole field at a glance

1. Scott Barrett

2. Rory Duncan

3. Jochen Zeischka

4. Jon Durand

5. Olav Opsanger

6. Guy Hubbard

7. Gordon Rigg

8. Rich Reinauer

9. Steve Docherty

10. Steve Blenkinsop

11. Rohan Holtkamp

12. Tony Cross

13. Peter Adriaans

14. Ken Millard

15. Dustan Hansen

16. Mitch Butler

17. Vic Hare

18. Trent Brown

19. Pawel Cedro

20. Neil Hooke

21. Nils Vesk

22. Bruce Atkinson

23. Grant Tatham

24. Paul Bissett-Amess

25. Troy Horton

26. Neale Halsall

27. Enda Carrigan

28. Peter Burkitt

29. Ian Miller

30. Todd Wisewould

31. David Drabble

32. Andrew Sutton

33. Gavin Nicholls

34. Adrian Connor

35. Ward Gunn

36. Michael Free

37. Ben Torrance

38. Gary Herman

39. Diego Mendonca

40. Neill Hollingsworth

41. Bobby Gillham

42. Mark Jeffree

43. Cedric Joyce

44. Brett Davis

45. Ryan Brown

46. Stuart Cathcart

47. Peter Garrone

48. Tushar Pokle

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. The columns start with the behaviours whose better end went with better places, continue through the behaviours that separated nobody, and end with the behaviours that ran the other way. A field that one behaviour separated therefore shades dark in the top-left corner, and a field where each pilot won differently does not. The band above rates how much pattern each group of columns holds: a clear, some or faint pattern, noise (could be chance), or too few pilots to tell. The family sections below carry the exact values. † This behaviour has no good or bad direction. The shade is the position in the field, and not the quality.

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. Each group carries the name of its strongest signature. A ★ marks the pilot most typical of their group.

Group A — Unfussy climbers

19 pilots · ranks 1–30 · median 10 · middle half 5.5–15.5

High — Share of lift turned in that was kept as a climb group median P78 in this field (86 percent)
High — Glide speed between climbs group median P74 in this field (70.6 kilometres per hour) · usually a strength
Low — Low saves dug out from the bottom of the band group median P27 in this field (0.0 count)
Low — Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb group median P27 in this field (20 percent) · usually a strength

1. Scott Barrett
2. Rory Duncan
3. Jochen Zeischka
4. Jon Durand
5. Olav Opsanger
6. Guy Hubbard
7. Gordon Rigg
8. Rich Reinauer
9. Steve Docherty
10. Steve Blenkinsop
11. Rohan Holtkamp
12. Tony Cross (most typical of this group)
14. Ken Millard
15. Dustan Hansen
16. Mitch Butler
17. Vic Hare
26. Neale Halsall
27. Enda Carrigan
30. Todd Wisewould

Group B — Punished leavers

25 pilots · ranks 13–44 · median 32 · middle half 23–38

Low — How often leaving the gaggle paid off group median P26 in this field (20 percent)
Low — How low the pilot gets between climbs group median P27 in this field (24 percent)
Low — Glide L/D against the field median group median P28 in this field (0.95 ratio) · usually costly
Low — Glide speed between climbs group median P28 in this field (56.9 kilometres per hour) · usually costly

13. Peter Adriaans
18. Trent Brown
19. Pawel Cedro
20. Neil Hooke
21. Nils Vesk
22. Bruce Atkinson
23. Grant Tatham
24. Paul Bissett-Amess
25. Troy Horton
28. Peter Burkitt
29. Ian Miller (most typical of this group)
31. David Drabble
32. Andrew Sutton
33. Gavin Nicholls
34. Adrian Connor
35. Ward Gunn
36. Michael Free
37. Ben Torrance
38. Gary Herman
39. Diego Mendonca
40. Neill Hollingsworth
41. Bobby Gillham
42. Mark Jeffree
43. Cedric Joyce
44. Brett Davis

Not clustered: 45. Ryan Brown — only 9 of 21 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%); 46. Stuart Cathcart — only 5 of 21 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%); 47. Peter Garrone — only 5 of 21 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%); 48. Tushar Pokle — only 5 of 21 metrics available (needs ≥ 60%).

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. On this task, 44 pilots on 21 behavioural metrics formed 2 groups, with k 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: could be chance (0.25)

#	Pilot	NonSink%
1	Scott Barrett	58
2	Rory Duncan	55
3	Jochen Zeischka	57
4	Jon Durand	54
5	Olav Opsanger	59
6	Guy Hubbard	54
7	Gordon Rigg	58
8	Rich Reinauer	55
9	Steve Docherty	56
10	Steve Blenkinsop	54
11	Rohan Holtkamp	54
12	Tony Cross	61
13	Peter Adriaans	58
14	Ken Millard	56
15	Dustan Hansen	51
16	Mitch Butler	58
17	Vic Hare	62
18	Trent Brown	58
19	Pawel Cedro	58
20	Neil Hooke	59
21	Nils Vesk	59
22	Bruce Atkinson	56
23	Grant Tatham	55
24	Paul Bissett-Amess	54
25	Troy Horton	57
26	Neale Halsall	60
27	Enda Carrigan	60
28	Peter Burkitt	54
29	Ian Miller	60
30	Todd Wisewould	61
31	David Drabble	64
32	Andrew Sutton	56
33	Gavin Nicholls	57
34	Adrian Connor	54
35	Ward Gunn	59
36	Michael Free	58
37	Ben Torrance	57
38	Gary Herman	51
39	Diego Mendonca	60
40	Neill Hollingsworth	58
41	Bobby Gillham	62
42	Mark Jeffree	61
43	Cedric Joyce	60
44	Brett Davis	58
45	Ryan Brown	58
46	Stuart Cathcart	53
47	Peter Garrone	59
48	Tushar Pokle	57

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

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 average the vectors 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.

Wind by hour

Period	Speed (km/h)	Dir (°)	n
Whole task	3.0	331	7473
11:00 AEDT	5.9	343	976
12:00 AEDT	4.6	349	2991
13:00 AEDT	1.9	270	2469
14:00 AEDT	1.4	296	961
15:00 AEDT	5.2	261	76

The vector mean of the wind estimate of each circle. GlideComp uses centre drift where it can, and ground-speed modulation where it cannot. The direction is the degrees the wind blows FROM (0° = north).

Hours are shown in the competition’s time zone.

Wind by leg

Leg	Flown	Pilots	Circling	Speed (km/h)	Dir (°)	n	From pilots
ELLIOT (SSS)→THOWGL	12:15–14:50 AEDT	44	12:18–14:48 AEDT	4.5	7	1071	44
THOWGL→CUDGNO	12:35–14:38 AEDT	41	12:38–14:34 AEDT	2.5	247	2169	41
CUDGNO→CUDG	13:27–14:58 AEDT	36	13:29–14:53 AEDT	2.4	355	635	33
CUDG→CORRY (ESS)	13:46–15:18 AEDT	35	13:50–15:09 AEDT	3.9	276	247	20
CORRY (ESS)→CORRY (GOAL)	13:54–15:18 AEDT	35	—	—	—	0	0

“Flown” is when the field was ON the leg — the first pilot entering to the last leaving — over the “Pilots” who started and flew the whole leg.

“Circling” is the narrower window the wind was actually measured in: first to last circle estimate any pilot logged while on the leg, from “From pilots” pilots. Glides produce no estimate, so a leg the field mostly glided shows a sliver of its flown window (or “—” where no one circled at all) — and a late leg the leaders glided can be measured EARLIER than the leg before it without either being wrong.

How strong the day’s climbs were, hour by hour

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.

Climb by hour

Hour	Median (m/s)	p90 (m/s)	n
11:00 AEDT	1.0	1.8	264
12:00 AEDT	1.2	2.2	810
13:00 AEDT	1.3	2.6	630
14:00 AEDT	1.3	2.3	284
15:00 AEDT	1.0	1.5	19

The average climb rate of every thermal use across the field, grouped by the start of the climb. The hours are in the time zone of the competition.

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

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.

Day timing

	Time
Best conditions	13:00–14:00 AEDT
Earliest takeoff	11:12 AEDT
Median takeoff	11:54 AEDT
Latest takeoff	13:54 AEDT

Best conditions is the one-hour window with the strongest median climb (1.3 m/s), among hours with enough climbs to be representative (≥20% of the busiest hour).

best: some pattern (0.47)

#	Pilot	Out-climb	Core s	LeaveRate	Kept%	TopOut%	Round
1	Scott Barrett	74 (46 shared climbs)	35 (18 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.6 (9 climbs ≥ 90 s)	100 (7/7 circling bouts led to climbs)	69 (mean on-course altitude 63% of band)	0.16 (172 circles, 83% left)
2	Rory Duncan	75 (50 shared climbs)	35 (16 climbs ≥ 60 s)	2.0 (7 climbs ≥ 90 s)	78 (7/9 circling bouts led to climbs)	89 (mean on-course altitude 69% of band)	0.16 (119 circles, 67% left)
3	Jochen Zeischka	69 (52 shared climbs)	46 (16 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.6 (10 climbs ≥ 90 s)	71 (5/7 circling bouts led to climbs)	63 (mean on-course altitude 60% of band)	0.17 (106 circles, 51% left)
4	Jon Durand	74 (34 shared climbs)	46 (12 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.6 (10 climbs ≥ 90 s)	89 (8/9 circling bouts led to climbs)	82 (mean on-course altitude 74% of band)	0.15 (161 circles, 73% left)
5	Olav Opsanger	63 (49 shared climbs)	31 (11 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (9 climbs ≥ 90 s)	75 (6/8 circling bouts led to climbs)	74 (mean on-course altitude 66% of band)	0.13 (163 circles, 64% left)
6	Guy Hubbard	77 (26 shared climbs)	41 (15 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	89 (8/9 circling bouts led to climbs)	95 (mean on-course altitude 66% of band)	0.12 (172 circles, 85% left)
7	Gordon Rigg	76 (34 shared climbs)	42 (20 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.6 (12 climbs ≥ 90 s)	70 (7/10 circling bouts led to climbs)	90 (mean on-course altitude 67% of band)	0.15 (167 circles, 74% left)
8	Rich Reinauer	77 (36 shared climbs)	39 (17 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	100 (11/11 circling bouts led to climbs)	62 (mean on-course altitude 48% of band)	0.15 (127 circles, 93% left)
9	Steve Docherty	68 (37 shared climbs)	43 (17 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (10 climbs ≥ 90 s)	86 (12/14 circling bouts led to climbs)	65 (mean on-course altitude 59% of band)	0.14 (156 circles, 55% left)
10	Steve Blenkinsop	63 (21 shared climbs)	53 (17 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.0 (14 climbs ≥ 90 s)	78 (7/9 circling bouts led to climbs)	64 (mean on-course altitude 52% of band)	0.19 (209 circles, 67% left)
11	Rohan Holtkamp	66 (38 shared climbs)	36 (17 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.6 (7 climbs ≥ 90 s)	75 (9/12 circling bouts led to climbs)	70 (mean on-course altitude 52% of band)	0.19 (138 circles, 59% left)
12	Tony Cross	69 (40 shared climbs)	35 (17 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (12 climbs ≥ 90 s)	86 (12/14 circling bouts led to climbs)	67 (mean on-course altitude 55% of band)	0.13 (167 circles, 88% left)
13	Peter Adriaans	66 (52 shared climbs)	37 (17 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.6 (9 climbs ≥ 90 s)	76 (13/17 circling bouts led to climbs)	42 (mean on-course altitude 56% of band)	0.16 (148 circles, 21% left)
14	Ken Millard	78 (56 shared climbs)	32 (17 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	79 (11/14 circling bouts led to climbs)	56 (mean on-course altitude 53% of band)	0.14 (194 circles, 57% left)
15	Dustan Hansen	73 (24 shared climbs)	38 (12 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.6 (7 climbs ≥ 90 s)	80 (8/10 circling bouts led to climbs)	78 (mean on-course altitude 65% of band)	0.15 (92 circles, 82% left)
16	Mitch Butler	67 (39 shared climbs)	34 (21 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.2 (12 climbs ≥ 90 s)	100 (14/14 circling bouts led to climbs)	72 (mean on-course altitude 59% of band)	0.16 (201 circles, 75% left)
17	Vic Hare	66 (55 shared climbs)	34 (13 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.8 (4 climbs ≥ 90 s)	92 (12/13 circling bouts led to climbs)	52 (mean on-course altitude 55% of band)	0.16 (212 circles, 66% left)
18	Trent Brown	79 (21 shared climbs)	43 (22 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.6 (15 climbs ≥ 90 s)	80 (8/10 circling bouts led to climbs)	23 (mean on-course altitude 39% of band)	0.16 (203 circles, 100% left)
19	Pawel Cedro	73 (38 shared climbs)	36 (15 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.8 (11 climbs ≥ 90 s)	78 (18/23 circling bouts led to climbs)	50 (mean on-course altitude 47% of band)	0.17 (158 circles, 16% left)
20	Neil Hooke	54 (44 shared climbs)	47 (20 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.1 (12 climbs ≥ 90 s)	79 (11/14 circling bouts led to climbs)	63 (mean on-course altitude 47% of band)	0.13 (163 circles, 48% left)
21	Nils Vesk	41 (10 shared climbs)	120 (19 climbs ≥ 60 s)	-0.2 (19 climbs ≥ 90 s)	71 (10/14 circling bouts led to climbs)	68 (mean on-course altitude 44% of band)	0.40 (16 circles, 88% left)
22	Bruce Atkinson	48 (27 shared climbs)	65 (25 climbs ≥ 60 s)	0.3 (20 climbs ≥ 90 s)	84 (16/19 circling bouts led to climbs)	57 (mean on-course altitude 44% of band)	0.23 (47 circles, 68% left)
23	Grant Tatham	64 (49 shared climbs)	45 (24 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.1 (14 climbs ≥ 90 s)	91 (10/11 circling bouts led to climbs)	54 (mean on-course altitude 53% of band)	0.18 (212 circles, 61% left)
24	Paul Bissett-Amess	61 (29 shared climbs)	49 (13 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.2 (11 climbs ≥ 90 s)	61 (11/18 circling bouts led to climbs)	39 (mean on-course altitude 42% of band)	0.15 (141 circles, 67% left)
25	Troy Horton	63 (43 shared climbs)	40 (22 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (17 climbs ≥ 90 s)	78 (14/18 circling bouts led to climbs)	57 (mean on-course altitude 47% of band)	0.16 (183 circles, 64% left)
26	Neale Halsall	62 (51 shared climbs)	35 (19 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.7 (11 climbs ≥ 90 s)	79 (11/14 circling bouts led to climbs)	47 (mean on-course altitude 51% of band)	0.13 (146 circles, 68% left)
27	Enda Carrigan	61 (53 shared climbs)	35 (17 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (12 climbs ≥ 90 s)	88 (15/17 circling bouts led to climbs)	75 (mean on-course altitude 65% of band)	0.13 (169 circles, 79% left)
28	Peter Burkitt	68 (33 shared climbs)	33 (20 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	69 (9/13 circling bouts led to climbs)	33 (mean on-course altitude 51% of band)	0.15 (199 circles, 98% left)
29	Ian Miller	65 (46 shared climbs)	51 (24 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (17 climbs ≥ 90 s)	74 (14/19 circling bouts led to climbs)	44 (mean on-course altitude 40% of band)	0.19 (234 circles, 65% left)
30	Todd Wisewould	66 (56 shared climbs)	33 (21 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.2 (8 climbs ≥ 90 s)	87 (13/15 circling bouts led to climbs)	58 (mean on-course altitude 58% of band)	0.14 (263 circles, 88% left)
31	David Drabble	63 (67 shared climbs)	34 (24 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (15 climbs ≥ 90 s)	75 (9/12 circling bouts led to climbs)	56 (mean on-course altitude 55% of band)	0.13 (289 circles, 98% left)
32	Andrew Sutton	66 (43 shared climbs)	48 (19 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (11 climbs ≥ 90 s)	70 (7/10 circling bouts led to climbs)	60 (mean on-course altitude 50% of band)	0.15 (153 circles, 61% left)
33	Gavin Nicholls	66 (42 shared climbs)	35 (21 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (15 climbs ≥ 90 s)	75 (15/20 circling bouts led to climbs)	72 (mean on-course altitude 55% of band)	0.17 (186 circles, 67% left)
34	Adrian Connor	59 (35 shared climbs)	47 (22 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (15 climbs ≥ 90 s)	72 (13/18 circling bouts led to climbs)	78 (mean on-course altitude 72% of band)	0.14 (156 circles, 26% left)
35	Ward Gunn	68 (58 shared climbs)	39 (25 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.6 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	75 (9/12 circling bouts led to climbs)	39 (mean on-course altitude 45% of band)	0.15 (178 circles, 53% left)
36	Michael Free	64 (53 shared climbs)	52 (22 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.3 (14 climbs ≥ 90 s)	61 (11/18 circling bouts led to climbs)	25 (mean on-course altitude 29% of band)	0.17 (307 circles, 35% left)
37	Ben Torrance	65 (46 shared climbs)	41 (29 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.6 (15 climbs ≥ 90 s)	81 (17/21 circling bouts led to climbs)	78 (mean on-course altitude 61% of band)	0.19 (268 circles, 85% left)
38	Gary Herman	79 (14 shared climbs)	32 (11 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (9 climbs ≥ 90 s)	69 (9/13 circling bouts led to climbs)	55 (mean on-course altitude 43% of band)	0.15 (83 circles, 19% left)
39	Diego Mendonca	72 (39 shared climbs)	35 (23 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (16 climbs ≥ 90 s)	59 (10/17 circling bouts led to climbs)	52 (mean on-course altitude 50% of band)	0.17 (248 circles, 92% left)
40	Neill Hollingsworth	71 (27 shared climbs)	6 (17 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (12 climbs ≥ 90 s)	79 (15/19 circling bouts led to climbs)	16 (mean on-course altitude 24% of band)	0.19 (188 circles, 69% left)
41	Bobby Gillham	47 (31 shared climbs)	60 (32 climbs ≥ 60 s)	0.2 (27 climbs ≥ 90 s)	63 (15/24 circling bouts led to climbs)	58 (mean on-course altitude 39% of band)	0.21 (51 circles, 80% left)
42	Mark Jeffree	43 (8 shared climbs)	37 (6 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (3 climbs ≥ 90 s)	75 (9/12 circling bouts led to climbs)	83 (mean on-course altitude 72% of band)	0.17 (89 circles, 99% left)
43	Cedric Joyce	96 (2 shared climbs)	48 (14 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (13 climbs ≥ 90 s)	75 (9/12 circling bouts led to climbs)	41 (mean on-course altitude 36% of band)	0.17 (117 circles, 84% left)
44	Brett Davis	72 (17 shared climbs)	3 (5 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (5 climbs ≥ 90 s)	67 (2/3 circling bouts led to climbs)	-6 (mean on-course altitude 11% of band)	0.17 (43 circles, 74% left)
45	Ryan Brown	72 (10 shared climbs)	62 (6 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (4 climbs ≥ 90 s)	—	—	0.14 (165 circles, 96% left)
46	Stuart Cathcart	65 (5 shared climbs)	45 (5 climbs ≥ 60 s)	0.6 (3 climbs ≥ 90 s)	—	—	0.19 (15 circles, 100% left)
47	Peter Garrone	64 (13 shared climbs)	69 (4 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.5 (3 climbs ≥ 90 s)	—	—	0.16 (47 circles, 94% left)
48	Tushar Pokle	65 (11 shared climbs)	1 (3 climbs ≥ 60 s)	1.4 (2 climbs ≥ 90 s)	—	—	0.15 (53 circles, 96% left)

Share of lift turned in that was kept as a climb

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.

Acceptance by hour

Hour	Median accepted (%)	pilots
12:00 AEDT	75	31
13:00 AEDT	86	41
14:00 AEDT	67	37
15:00 AEDT	33	5

Median per-pilot acceptance %, bucketed by the hour (competition time zone).

How round and consistent the circles were

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.

Turn direction across the field: 70% left (7474 circles).

best: clear pattern (0.73)

#	Pilot	GlideSpd	GlideL/D	SpeedToFly	Wide%	Dolphin%
1	Scott Barrett	78.0 (11 glides, 34 min gliding)	1.04 (4 legs compared)	1.1 (10 glide→climb pairs)	10 (4 legs completed)	4 (130 of 3510 m gained outside thermals)
2	Rory Duncan	73.8 (9 glides, 37 min gliding)	0.98 (4 legs compared)	-4.1 (8 glide→climb pairs)	7 (4 legs completed)	6 (209 of 3770 m gained outside thermals)
3	Jochen Zeischka	75.7 (10 glides, 36 min gliding)	1.13 (4 legs compared)	6.4 (9 glide→climb pairs)	11 (4 legs completed)	6 (184 of 3189 m gained outside thermals)
4	Jon Durand	72.2 (12 glides, 46 min gliding)	1.21 (4 legs compared)	-4.1 (11 glide→climb pairs)	12 (4 legs completed)	5 (142 of 3009 m gained outside thermals)
5	Olav Opsanger	75.0 (14 glides, 45 min gliding)	1.06 (4 legs compared)	13.2 (13 glide→climb pairs)	13 (4 legs completed)	9 (314 of 3497 m gained outside thermals)
6	Guy Hubbard	73.5 (8 glides, 38 min gliding)	1.08 (4 legs compared)	-0.8 (7 glide→climb pairs)	8 (4 legs completed)	3 (125 of 3738 m gained outside thermals)
7	Gordon Rigg	77.6 (10 glides, 42 min gliding)	0.99 (4 legs compared)	1.4 (9 glide→climb pairs)	13 (4 legs completed)	6 (247 of 4169 m gained outside thermals)
8	Rich Reinauer	72.9 (11 glides, 47 min gliding)	1.11 (4 legs compared)	-1.3 (10 glide→climb pairs)	17 (4 legs completed)	6 (275 of 4430 m gained outside thermals)
9	Steve Docherty	62.8 (13 glides, 51 min gliding)	1.13 (4 legs compared)	-2.5 (12 glide→climb pairs)	23 (4 legs completed)	8 (356 of 4300 m gained outside thermals)
10	Steve Blenkinsop	62.1 (8 glides, 52 min gliding)	1.12 (4 legs compared)	9.1 (7 glide→climb pairs)	18 (4 legs completed)	10 (430 of 4451 m gained outside thermals)
11	Rohan Holtkamp	69.2 (16 glides, 49 min gliding)	0.98 (4 legs compared)	4.1 (15 glide→climb pairs)	19 (4 legs completed)	19 (814 of 4258 m gained outside thermals)
12	Tony Cross	69.1 (17 glides, 46 min gliding)	0.96 (4 legs compared)	0.5 (16 glide→climb pairs)	15 (4 legs completed)	7 (318 of 4868 m gained outside thermals)
13	Peter Adriaans	60.5 (13 glides, 57 min gliding)	0.94 (4 legs compared)	-5.1 (12 glide→climb pairs)	16 (4 legs completed)	10 (490 of 5051 m gained outside thermals)
14	Ken Millard	65.1 (17 glides, 61 min gliding)	1.10 (4 legs compared)	-0.9 (16 glide→climb pairs)	29 (4 legs completed)	35 (2372 of 6822 m gained outside thermals)
15	Dustan Hansen	68.4 (13 glides, 57 min gliding)	1.09 (4 legs compared)	0.9 (12 glide→climb pairs)	23 (4 legs completed)	9 (403 of 4409 m gained outside thermals)
16	Mitch Butler	70.6 (17 glides, 54 min gliding)	1.04 (4 legs compared)	-0.3 (16 glide→climb pairs)	20 (4 legs completed)	8 (382 of 5006 m gained outside thermals)
17	Vic Hare	75.5 (17 glides, 50 min gliding)	1.05 (4 legs compared)	-1.0 (16 glide→climb pairs)	31 (4 legs completed)	14 (691 of 4846 m gained outside thermals)
18	Trent Brown	64.4 (13 glides, 50 min gliding)	1.01 (4 legs compared)	5.6 (12 glide→climb pairs)	18 (4 legs completed)	6 (286 of 4845 m gained outside thermals)
19	Pawel Cedro	71.6 (23 glides, 59 min gliding)	0.95 (4 legs compared)	3.5 (22 glide→climb pairs)	46 (4 legs completed)	10 (627 of 6380 m gained outside thermals)
20	Neil Hooke	53.2 (14 glides, 64 min gliding)	0.96 (4 legs compared)	-1.8 (13 glide→climb pairs)	17 (4 legs completed)	11 (544 of 4927 m gained outside thermals)
21	Nils Vesk	63.5 (7 glides, 43 min gliding)	1.02 (4 legs compared)	4.6 (6 glide→climb pairs)	13 (4 legs completed)	2 (78 of 4270 m gained outside thermals)
22	Bruce Atkinson	48.6 (16 glides, 65 min gliding)	0.88 (4 legs compared)	0.8 (15 glide→climb pairs)	14 (4 legs completed)	2 (125 of 5293 m gained outside thermals)
23	Grant Tatham	53.0 (14 glides, 70 min gliding)	0.96 (4 legs compared)	-1.8 (13 glide→climb pairs)	24 (4 legs completed)	10 (544 of 5534 m gained outside thermals)
24	Paul Bissett-Amess	59.9 (15 glides, 76 min gliding)	1.27 (4 legs compared)	-1.5 (14 glide→climb pairs)	40 (4 legs completed)	8 (373 of 4749 m gained outside thermals)
25	Troy Horton	56.9 (14 glides, 68 min gliding)	0.91 (4 legs compared)	0.4 (13 glide→climb pairs)	22 (4 legs completed)	10 (593 of 6224 m gained outside thermals)
26	Neale Halsall	65.9 (16 glides, 57 min gliding)	1.02 (4 legs compared)	0.6 (15 glide→climb pairs)	25 (4 legs completed)	17 (758 of 4527 m gained outside thermals)
27	Enda Carrigan	66.2 (22 glides, 60 min gliding)	1.08 (4 legs compared)	9.1 (21 glide→climb pairs)	26 (4 legs completed)	15 (667 of 4592 m gained outside thermals)
28	Peter Burkitt	64.8 (16 glides, 63 min gliding)	1.09 (4 legs compared)	-4.8 (15 glide→climb pairs)	29 (4 legs completed)	10 (578 of 5580 m gained outside thermals)
29	Ian Miller	55.7 (23 glides, 75 min gliding)	1.01 (4 legs compared)	0.2 (22 glide→climb pairs)	27 (4 legs completed)	14 (745 of 5503 m gained outside thermals)
30	Todd Wisewould	68.5 (19 glides, 63 min gliding)	1.01 (4 legs compared)	-0.6 (18 glide→climb pairs)	25 (4 legs completed)	12 (673 of 5436 m gained outside thermals)
31	David Drabble	67.5 (20 glides, 68 min gliding)	0.95 (4 legs compared)	-2.5 (19 glide→climb pairs)	32 (4 legs completed)	12 (643 of 5448 m gained outside thermals)
32	Andrew Sutton	57.3 (12 glides, 52 min gliding)	0.92 (3 legs compared)	5.1 (11 glide→climb pairs)	30 (3 legs completed)	12 (521 of 4484 m gained outside thermals)
33	Gavin Nicholls	62.4 (22 glides, 71 min gliding)	1.10 (2 legs compared)	-1.4 (21 glide→climb pairs)	44 (2 legs completed)	13 (801 of 6103 m gained outside thermals)
34	Adrian Connor	50.3 (15 glides, 75 min gliding)	1.16 (4 legs compared)	-1.0 (14 glide→climb pairs)	20 (4 legs completed)	6 (300 of 4787 m gained outside thermals)
35	Ward Gunn	74.8 (20 glides, 63 min gliding)	1.03 (4 legs compared)	-5.6 (19 glide→climb pairs)	41 (4 legs completed)	10 (657 of 6797 m gained outside thermals)
36	Michael Free	54.2 (17 glides, 75 min gliding)	0.96 (4 legs compared)	-3.3 (16 glide→climb pairs)	29 (4 legs completed)	19 (1276 of 6575 m gained outside thermals)
37	Ben Torrance	53.8 (27 glides, 95 min gliding)	0.84 (4 legs compared)	4.2 (26 glide→climb pairs)	51 (4 legs completed)	11 (870 of 7771 m gained outside thermals)
38	Gary Herman	61.6 (10 glides, 45 min gliding)	0.90 (2 legs compared)	2.1 (9 glide→climb pairs)	23 (2 legs completed)	9 (325 of 3649 m gained outside thermals)
39	Diego Mendonca	64.9 (18 glides, 62 min gliding)	0.81 (2 legs compared)	8.5 (17 glide→climb pairs)	62 (2 legs completed)	11 (845 of 7604 m gained outside thermals)
40	Neill Hollingsworth	52.1 (23 glides, 78 min gliding)	0.71 (2 legs compared)	1.5 (22 glide→climb pairs)	35 (2 legs completed)	20 (1133 of 5583 m gained outside thermals)
41	Bobby Gillham	55.8 (13 glides, 59 min gliding)	0.81 (2 legs compared)	-5.5 (12 glide→climb pairs)	87 (2 legs completed)	2 (153 of 6636 m gained outside thermals)
42	Mark Jeffree	56.4 (14 glides, 40 min gliding)	0.94 (1 leg compared)	1.1 (13 glide→climb pairs)	47 (1 leg completed)	25 (558 of 2245 m gained outside thermals)
43	Cedric Joyce	51.8 (12 glides, 39 min gliding)	0.54 (1 leg compared)	2.4 (11 glide→climb pairs)	48 (1 leg completed)	18 (602 of 3423 m gained outside thermals)
44	Brett Davis	44.5 (2 glides, 6 min gliding)	0.92 (1 leg compared)	—	12 (1 leg completed)	—
45	Ryan Brown	—	—	—	—	—
46	Stuart Cathcart	—	—	—	—	—
47	Peter Garrone	—	—	—	—	—
48	Tushar Pokle	—	—	—	—	—

Glide speed between climbs

Measured in kilometres per hour · higher is better

Field glide speed: median 64.6 km/h · p90 74.9 km/h (44 pilots)

best: clear pattern (0.73)

#	Pilot	Floor%	LowSaves	km/climb	Search%
1	Scott Barrett	56 (8 descents, lowest 11% of band)	0.0	4.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 60%)	16
2	Rory Duncan	63 (8 descents, lowest -6% of band)	0.0	4.5 (mean shared-climb pctile 57%)	18
3	Jochen Zeischka	44 (8 descents, lowest -5% of band)	0.0	3.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 52%)	19
4	Jon Durand	64 (7 descents, lowest -23% of band)	0.0	3.7 (mean shared-climb pctile 55%)	18
5	Olav Opsanger	36 (9 descents, lowest -35% of band)	0.0	2.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 46%)	19
6	Guy Hubbard	73 (6 descents, lowest 26% of band)	0.0	5.3 (mean shared-climb pctile 52%)	18
7	Gordon Rigg	43 (6 descents, lowest -1% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from -1% of band)	3.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 56%)	19
8	Rich Reinauer	46 (8 descents, lowest -21% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from -16% of band)	3.7 (mean shared-climb pctile 60%)	21
9	Steve Docherty	40 (8 descents, lowest 21% of band)	0.0	2.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 51%)	24
10	Steve Blenkinsop	37 (6 descents, lowest 12% of band)	0.0	4.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 53%)	18
11	Rohan Holtkamp	49 (10 descents, lowest -23% of band)	0.0	1.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 53%)	27
12	Tony Cross	49 (13 descents, lowest -19% of band)	0.0	2.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 48%)	22
13	Peter Adriaans	25 (7 descents, lowest -21% of band)	0.0	2.3 (mean shared-climb pctile 49%)	27
14	Ken Millard	47 (14 descents, lowest -13% of band)	0.0	1.5 (mean shared-climb pctile 65%)	33
15	Dustan Hansen	53 (10 descents, lowest 24% of band)	0.0	3.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 54%)	18
16	Mitch Butler	36 (11 descents, lowest -34% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from 6% of band)	2.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 49%)	20
17	Vic Hare	41 (10 descents, lowest -14% of band)	0.0	1.7 (mean shared-climb pctile 52%)	28
18	Trent Brown	0 (8 descents, lowest -11% of band)	3.0 (deepest save from -11% of band)	3.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 55%)	20
19	Pawel Cedro	23 (15 descents, lowest -29% of band)	2.0 (deepest save from -5% of band)	1.5 (mean shared-climb pctile 56%)	33
20	Neil Hooke	18 (8 descents, lowest -6% of band)	2.0 (deepest save from 3% of band)	2.5 (mean shared-climb pctile 39%)	21
21	Nils Vesk	20 (7 descents, lowest -6% of band)	0.0	6.5 (mean shared-climb pctile 26%)	13
22	Bruce Atkinson	22 (12 descents, lowest -21% of band)	2.0 (deepest save from -19% of band)	3.4 (mean shared-climb pctile 32%)	15
23	Grant Tatham	34 (9 descents, lowest -22% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from -19% of band)	1.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 49%)	21
24	Paul Bissett-Amess	27 (10 descents, lowest -12% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from -8% of band)	2.8 (mean shared-climb pctile 43%)	29
25	Troy Horton	14 (8 descents, lowest -14% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from -14% of band)	2.0 (mean shared-climb pctile 52%)	30
26	Neale Halsall	31 (9 descents, lowest -29% of band)	0.0	1.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 47%)	28
27	Enda Carrigan	57 (11 descents, lowest -10% of band)	0.0	1.6 (mean shared-climb pctile 42%)	26
28	Peter Burkitt	16 (9 descents, lowest -21% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from 7% of band)	2.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 47%)	31
29	Ian Miller	28 (11 descents, lowest -12% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from 13% of band)	1.5 (mean shared-climb pctile 48%)	34
30	Todd Wisewould	42 (10 descents, lowest -11% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from -11% of band)	1.9 (mean shared-climb pctile 46%)	32
31	David Drabble	45 (9 descents, lowest -1% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from 2% of band)	1.7 (mean shared-climb pctile 45%)	29
32	Andrew Sutton	42 (5 descents, lowest -11% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from -11% of band)	2.0 (mean shared-climb pctile 49%)	34
33	Gavin Nicholls	36 (12 descents, lowest -9% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from -9% of band)	1.3 (mean shared-climb pctile 54%)	36
34	Adrian Connor	62 (7 descents, lowest 27% of band)	0.0	2.3 (mean shared-climb pctile 44%)	19
35	Ward Gunn	18 (11 descents, lowest -5% of band)	0.0	1.5 (mean shared-climb pctile 53%)	31
36	Michael Free	18 (10 descents, lowest -26% of band)	1.0 (deepest save from -2% of band)	1.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 48%)	36
37	Ben Torrance	51 (14 descents, lowest -16% of band)	0.0	1.2 (mean shared-climb pctile 47%)	32
38	Gary Herman	29 (7 descents, lowest -8% of band)	0.0	2.6 (mean shared-climb pctile 65%)	27
39	Diego Mendonca	34 (10 descents, lowest -15% of band)	2.0 (deepest save from -12% of band)	1.5 (mean shared-climb pctile 50%)	36
40	Neill Hollingsworth	11 (12 descents, lowest -26% of band)	3.0 (deepest save from -8% of band)	1.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 61%)	45
41	Bobby Gillham	24 (10 descents, lowest -18% of band)	4.0 (deepest save from -18% of band)	2.0 (mean shared-climb pctile 36%)	21
42	Mark Jeffree	64 (6 descents, lowest 22% of band)	0.0	1.0 (mean shared-climb pctile 40%)	48
43	Cedric Joyce	4 (7 descents, lowest -20% of band)	0.0	1.1 (mean shared-climb pctile 89%)	40
44	Brett Davis	—	0.0	—	63
45	Ryan Brown	—	0.0	—	72
46	Stuart Cathcart	—	—	—	—
47	Peter Garrone	—	—	—	—
48	Tushar Pokle	—	—	—	—

Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb

Measured in percent · lower is better

Speed-section phase shares, field p25/median/p75: climb 34/37/39% · glide 31/36/41% · search 19/27/33%

best: clear pattern (0.57)

#	Pilot	InGaggle%	Marked%	LeaveWin%
1	Scott Barrett	66	57 (8/14 climbs marked)	100 (1W–0L (1 departure))
2	Rory Duncan	64	54 (7/13 climbs marked)	50 (1W–1L (2 departures))
3	Jochen Zeischka	48	33 (5/15 climbs marked)	100 (2W–0L (2 departures))
4	Jon Durand	36	50 (8/16 climbs marked)	50 (1W–1L (2 departures))
5	Olav Opsanger	96	60 (12/20 climbs marked)	100 (1W–0L (1 departure))
6	Guy Hubbard	52	45 (5/11 climbs marked)	50 (1W–1L (2 departures))
7	Gordon Rigg	86	68 (13/19 climbs marked)	100 (3W–0L (3 departures))
8	Rich Reinauer	64	75 (12/16 climbs marked)	100 (4W–0L (4 departures))
9	Steve Docherty	90	57 (16/28 climbs marked)	100 (1W–0L (1 departure))
10	Steve Blenkinsop	86	57 (8/14 climbs marked)	100 (1W–0L (1 departure))
11	Rohan Holtkamp	90	81 (25/31 climbs marked)	100 (3W–0L (3 departures))
12	Tony Cross	73	58 (14/24 climbs marked)	75 (3W–1L (4 departures))
13	Peter Adriaans	54	80 (20/25 climbs marked)	50 (2W–2L (4 departures))
14	Ken Millard	52	53 (20/38 climbs marked)	67 (2W–1L (3 departures))
15	Dustan Hansen	15	22 (4/18 climbs marked)	—
16	Mitch Butler	90	67 (16/24 climbs marked)	75 (3W–1L (4 departures))
17	Vic Hare	73	63 (22/35 climbs marked)	67 (2W–1L (3 departures))
18	Trent Brown	4	0 (0/17 climbs marked)	—
19	Pawel Cedro	38	39 (15/38 climbs marked)	25 (1W–3L (4 departures))
20	Neil Hooke	74	39 (9/23 climbs marked)	71 (5W–2L (7 departures))
21	Nils Vesk	2	0 (0/9 climbs marked)	—
22	Bruce Atkinson	82	59 (10/17 climbs marked)	60 (3W–2L (5 departures))
23	Grant Tatham	44	47 (14/30 climbs marked)	20 (1W–4L (5 departures))
24	Paul Bissett-Amess	58	52 (11/21 climbs marked)	20 (1W–4L (5 departures))
25	Troy Horton	82	79 (23/29 climbs marked)	0 (0W–5L (5 departures))
26	Neale Halsall	63	53 (16/30 climbs marked)	80 (4W–1L (5 departures))
27	Enda Carrigan	53	65 (24/37 climbs marked)	33 (1W–2L (3 departures))
28	Peter Burkitt	14	23 (6/26 climbs marked)	—
29	Ian Miller	36	33 (13/40 climbs marked)	25 (1W–3L (4 departures))
30	Todd Wisewould	70	67 (20/30 climbs marked)	0 (0W–2L (2 departures))
31	David Drabble	32	41 (14/34 climbs marked)	0 (0W–1L (1 departure))
32	Andrew Sutton	76	64 (16/25 climbs marked)	17 (1W–5L (6 departures))
33	Gavin Nicholls	41	55 (21/38 climbs marked)	50 (1W–1L (2 departures))
34	Adrian Connor	52	52 (13/25 climbs marked)	0 (0W–4L (4 departures))
35	Ward Gunn	25	49 (19/39 climbs marked)	0 (0W–2L (2 departures))
36	Michael Free	21	36 (17/47 climbs marked)	100 (1W–0L (1 departure))
37	Ben Torrance	9	21 (10/48 climbs marked)	0 (0W–2L (2 departures))
38	Gary Herman	22	39 (7/18 climbs marked)	—
39	Diego Mendonca	61	55 (17/31 climbs marked)	50 (1W–1L (2 departures))
40	Neill Hollingsworth	35	33 (14/42 climbs marked)	0 (0W–1L (1 departure))
41	Bobby Gillham	49	38 (8/21 climbs marked)	0 (0W–2L (2 departures))
42	Mark Jeffree	3	4 (1/28 climbs marked)	—
43	Cedric Joyce	2	0 (0/24 climbs marked)	—
44	Brett Davis	38	—	100 (4W–0L (4 departures))
45	Ryan Brown	0	—	—
46	Stuart Cathcart	—	—	—
47	Peter Garrone	—	—	—
48	Tushar Pokle	—	—	—

Time spent flying with a gaggle

Measured in percent · no expected direction

83 gaggle episodes detected (peak size 16 pilots).

best: clear pattern (0.66)

#	Pilot	StartDly	TimeLost	Behind	Spare m
1	Scott Barrett	58	0	0.0	-104
2	Rory Duncan	42	0	0.6	-63
3	Jochen Zeischka	4	215	1.9	-75
4	Jon Durand	97	0	6.3	106
5	Olav Opsanger	152	67	8.0	-50
6	Guy Hubbard	22	53	5.5	-21
7	Gordon Rigg	138	65	10.2	107
8	Rich Reinauer	8	469	17.6	-51
9	Steve Docherty	16	1535	36.6	294
10	Steve Blenkinsop	24	1521	37.2	151
11	Rohan Holtkamp	25	828	23.1	-14
12	Tony Cross	18	738	24.1	166
13	Peter Adriaans	28	1598	38.6	136
14	Ken Millard	16	1881	43.1	29
15	Dustan Hansen	113	847	22.5	333
16	Mitch Butler	20	944	27.5	324
17	Vic Hare	12	1126	30.4	-51
18	Trent Brown	21	1070	29.7	306
19	Pawel Cedro	31	2240	48.0	123
20	Neil Hooke	66	2321	51.3	334
21	Nils Vesk	24	1223	32.2	145
22	Bruce Atkinson	64	2689	57.4	216
23	Grant Tatham	54	2719	57.7	431
24	Paul Bissett-Amess	29	2796	58.5	146
25	Troy Horton	42	2758	58.1	364
26	Neale Halsall	898	1276	47.7	148
27	Enda Carrigan	689	1579	48.2	436
28	Peter Burkitt	116	2055	45.8	489
29	Ian Miller	9	3875	76.2	322
30	Todd Wisewould	831	1687	53.4	607
31	David Drabble	80	2575	55.0	-142
32	Andrew Sutton	56	2017	—	—
33	Gavin Nicholls	48	2319	—	—
34	Adrian Connor	361	2778	63.8	588
35	Ward Gunn	519	2767	66.2	228
36	Michael Free	165	4261	85.2	614
37	Ben Torrance	718	4944	105.8	234
38	Gary Herman	141	636	—	—
39	Diego Mendonca	156	2519	—	—
40	Neill Hollingsworth	757	3458	—	—
41	Bobby Gillham	21	5193	—	—
42	Mark Jeffree	2956	1026	—	—
43	Cedric Joyce	1721	1741	—	—
44	Brett Davis	46	103	—	—
45	Ryan Brown	118	—	—	—
46	Stuart Cathcart	—	—	—	—
47	Peter Garrone	—	—	—	—
48	Tushar Pokle	—	—	—	—

How long after the gate opened the pilot started

Measured in seconds · lower is better

Start execution

Pilot	Delay	Alt m	Band %	Behind km
Scott Barrett	0:58	2383	109	10.5
Rory Duncan	0:42	2380	108	10.1
Jochen Zeischka	0:04	2370	108	9.7
Jon Durand	1:37	2357	107	9.1
Olav Opsanger	2:32	2343	106	10.0
Guy Hubbard	0:22	2229	97	9.5
Gordon Rigg	2:18	2404	110	9.8
Rich Reinauer	0:08	1783	64	10.9
Steve Docherty	0:16	2066	85	0.1
Steve Blenkinsop	0:24	2004	81	0.2
Rohan Holtkamp	0:25	1981	79	10.8
Tony Cross	0:18	1830	68	11.5
Peter Adriaans	0:28	1935	76	0.4
Ken Millard	0:16	1922	75	0.1
Dustan Hansen	1:53	2282	101	10.2
Mitch Butler	0:20	1779	64	11.2
Vic Hare	0:12	1775	64	11.3
Trent Brown	0:21	2372	108	10.0
Pawel Cedro	0:31	1904	73	0.3
Neil Hooke	1:06	2039	83	1.2
Nils Vesk	0:24	2391	109	10.6
Bruce Atkinson	1:04	1920	74	1.2
Grant Tatham	0:54	2089	87	0.9
Paul Bissett-Amess	0:29	1966	78	0.2
Troy Horton	0:42	2047	84	0.7
Neale Halsall	14:58	1781	64	10.5
Enda Carrigan	11:29	2014	81	10.5
Peter Burkitt	1:56	2333	105	9.7
Ian Miller	0:09	1947	76	0.0
Todd Wisewould	13:51	1874	71	10.7
David Drabble	1:20	2382	109	10.3
Andrew Sutton	0:56	2004	81	1.0
Gavin Nicholls	0:48	1927	75	0.8
Adrian Connor	6:01	1626	53	11.2
Ward Gunn	8:39	1651	55	10.2
Michael Free	2:45	1789	65	9.8
Ben Torrance	11:58	1876	71	10.5
Gary Herman	2:21	1667	56	9.8
Diego Mendonca	2:36	947	3	3.1
Neill Hollingsworth	12:37	1864	70	10.4
Bobby Gillham	0:21	1954	77	0.1
Mark Jeffree	49:16	1991	80	7.5
Cedric Joyce	28:41	1729	60	4.2
Brett Davis	0:46	1878	71	0.8
Ryan Brown	1:58	1699	58	19.2

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.

Rory Duncan against the winner, leg by leg: bars hanging below the line are time lost, bars above are time gained; over the 4 compared legs, +0:54 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

Pilot	SSS→THOWGL	THOWGL→CUDGNO	CUDGNO→CUDG	CUDG→ESS	Total
Scott Barrett	+0:00	+0:00	+0:00	+0:00	+0:00
Rory Duncan	-0:06	+1:39	-0:05	-0:34	+0:54
Jochen Zeischka	+0:16	+0:35	-2:30	+4:25	+2:46
Jon Durand	+1:18	+6:50	-1:53	-0:38	+5:37
Olav Opsanger	-2:39	+9:41	+0:32	-1:05	+6:28
Guy Hubbard	+0:15	+4:12	+2:14	-0:32	+6:08
Gordon Rigg	-2:24	+9:30	+0:49	+0:59	+8:54
Rich Reinauer	+5:10	+8:55	-0:27	+4:49	+18:27
Steve Docherty	+7:45	+22:04	+7:22	+0:06	+37:17
Steve Blenkinsop	+7:17	+22:09	+7:29	+0:53	+37:47
Rohan Holtkamp	+4:52	+12:19	-1:15	+7:42	+23:38
Tony Cross	+6:54	+13:24	+3:35	+0:50	+24:44
Peter Adriaans	+19:22	+9:58	+8:18	+1:26	+39:04
Ken Millard	+8:00	+22:31	+11:06	+2:09	+43:46
Dustan Hansen	-0:01	+5:18	+14:37	+1:42	+21:36
Mitch Butler	+7:59	+16:06	+2:28	+1:37	+28:10
Vic Hare	+7:32	+16:43	+2:13	+4:44	+31:11
Trent Brown	+3:58	+15:31	+4:09	+6:38	+30:16
Pawel Cedro	+9:51	+22:15	+16:50	-0:30	+48:26
Neil Hooke	+7:05	+24:43	+6:08	+13:10	+51:07
Nils Vesk	+2:00	+9:27	+9:59	+11:23	+32:49
Bruce Atkinson	+12:49	+19:04	+11:59	+13:23	+57:15
Grant Tatham	+12:47	+24:29	+16:06	+4:23	+57:45
Paul Bissett-Amess	+13:46	+30:12	+13:04	+1:59	+59:02
Troy Horton	+16:35	+19:01	+10:14	+12:34	+58:24
Neale Halsall	+6:42	+15:07	+5:47	+6:05	+33:42
Enda Carrigan	+9:39	+21:42	+6:33	-0:12	+37:42
Peter Burkitt	+1:02	+35:35	+8:35	-0:23	+44:49
Ian Miller	+11:11	+26:55	+37:02	+1:52	+77:00
Todd Wisewould	+10:38	+15:57	+9:12	+4:46	+40:33
David Drabble	+0:59	+37:02	+7:44	+8:54	+54:40
Andrew Sutton	+16:07	+16:45	+12:21	—	+45:13
Gavin Nicholls	+17:33	+31:21	—	—	+48:54
Adrian Connor	+17:58	+28:07	+9:57	+2:42	+58:44
Ward Gunn	+31:56	+14:28	+7:58	+4:11	+58:33
Michael Free	+8:14	+61:02	+13:05	+1:06	+83:27
Ben Torrance	+26:31	+47:09	+8:29	+12:42	+94:50
Gary Herman	+10:49	+10:02	—	—	+20:51
Diego Mendonca	+17:43	+34:31	—	—	+52:14
Neill Hollingsworth	+21:53	+46:00	—	—	+67:53
Bobby Gillham	+27:41	+69:07	—	—	+96:48
Mark Jeffree	+18:48	—	—	—	+18:48
Cedric Joyce	+30:42	—	—	—	+30:42
Brett Davis	+3:24	—	—	—	+3:24

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.

Minutes behind the fastest pilot at each turnpoint — the leader runs along the top at zero, and a line that stops early is a pilot who landed. The top 5 are coloured; every pilot's exact numbers are in the table below.

Horserace — minutes behind the leader at each turnpoint

Pilot	ELLIOT	THOWGL	CUDGNO	CUDG	CORRY	CORRY
Scott Barrett	0.9	1.1	0.1	2.6	0.0	0.0
Rory Duncan	0.6	0.7	1.3	3.8	0.6	0.6
Jochen Zeischka	0.0	0.4	0.0	0.0	1.9	1.9
Jon Durand	1.5	3.0	8.8	9.5	6.3	6.3
Olav Opsanger	2.5	0.0	8.7	11.7	8.0	8.0
Guy Hubbard	0.3	0.7	3.9	8.6	5.5	5.5
Gordon Rigg	2.2	0.0	8.5	11.8	10.2	10.2
Rich Reinauer	0.1	5.4	13.3	15.4	17.6	17.6
Steve Docherty	0.2	8.1	29.2	39.0	36.6	36.6
Steve Blenkinsop	0.3	7.8	28.9	38.9	37.2	37.2
Rohan Holtkamp	0.3	5.4	16.7	17.9	23.1	23.1
Tony Cross	0.2	7.3	19.7	25.8	24.1	24.1
Peter Adriaans	0.4	19.9	28.9	39.7	38.6	38.6
Ken Millard	0.2	8.4	29.9	43.5	43.1	43.1
Dustan Hansen	1.8	2.0	6.3	23.4	22.5	22.5
Mitch Butler	0.3	8.4	23.5	28.5	27.5	27.5
Vic Hare	0.1	7.8	23.5	28.2	30.4	30.4
Trent Brown	0.3	4.4	18.9	25.6	29.7	29.7
Pawel Cedro	0.4	10.5	31.7	51.0	48.0	48.0
Neil Hooke	1.0	8.3	32.0	40.6	51.3	51.3
Nils Vesk	0.3	2.5	10.9	23.4	32.2	32.2
Bruce Atkinson	1.0	14.0	32.0	46.5	57.4	57.4
Grant Tatham	0.8	13.8	37.3	55.9	57.7	57.7
Paul Bissett-Amess	0.4	14.4	43.5	59.1	58.5	58.5
Troy Horton	0.6	17.4	35.4	48.1	58.1	58.1
Neale Halsall	14.9	21.8	35.9	44.2	47.7	47.7
Enda Carrigan	11.4	21.2	41.9	51.0	48.2	48.2
Peter Burkitt	1.9	3.1	37.6	48.7	45.8	45.8
Ian Miller	0.1	11.5	37.4	76.9	76.2	76.2
Todd Wisewould	13.8	24.6	39.5	51.2	53.4	53.4
David Drabble	1.3	2.4	38.4	48.7	55.0	55.0
Andrew Sutton	0.9	17.2	32.9	47.7	—	—
Gavin Nicholls	0.7	18.4	48.8	—	—	—
Adrian Connor	5.9	24.1	51.2	63.6	63.8	63.8
Ward Gunn	8.6	40.7	54.1	64.6	66.2	66.2
Michael Free	2.7	11.1	71.1	86.7	85.2	85.2
Ben Torrance	11.9	38.6	84.7	95.7	105.8	105.8
Gary Herman	2.3	13.3	22.3	—	—	—
Diego Mendonca	2.5	20.4	53.9	—	—	—
Neill Hollingsworth	12.6	34.6	79.6	—	—	—
Bobby Gillham	0.3	28.1	96.2	—	—	—
Mark Jeffree	49.2	68.2	—	—	—	—
Cedric Joyce	28.6	59.5	—	—	—	—
Brett Davis	0.7	4.3	—	—	—	—
Ryan Brown	1.9	—	—	—	—	—

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

ESS altitude margin over final glide: top-10 median -35 m (n=10) vs rest median 234 m (n=25).

Footnotes

1 pilot in the standings but not in this analysis

James McKirdy — track failed a data-quality check: Track is from a different day; Track is not at the task location

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 average the vectors 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 §12.3.6). 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 distance of the final leg from goal. There is no expected direction: a marginal glide wins if it connects, and loses if it does not.

Task 4 (Open)

What the weather did

From the weather model

From the pilots' tracks

Which behaviours went with better results

Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb

Metrics with a clear pattern, plotted against rank

Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb

Distance covered between climbs

Gliding wide of the optimal course line

Glide speed between climbs

Arriving at ESS with height to spare

How often leaving the gaggle paid off

Glide L/D against the field median

Time spent flying with a gaggle

How long after the gate opened the pilot started

Share of the height gain made outside thermals

Outcome checks

The whole field at a glance

Pilot style clusters

The metrics in detail

Day profile & windbest: could be chance (0.25)

Climbingbest: some pattern (0.47)

Glidingbest: clear pattern (0.73)

Glide speed between climbs

Decision-makingbest: clear pattern (0.73)

Share of race time spent hunting for the next climb

Gagglebest: clear pattern (0.57)

Race craftbest: clear pattern (0.66)

Footnotes

1 pilot in the standings but not in this analysis

How the field is compared

Metric glossary

Day profile & wind

Climbing

Gliding

Decision-making

Gaggle

Race craft

best: could be chance (0.25)

best: some pattern (0.47)

best: clear pattern (0.73)

best: clear pattern (0.73)

best: clear pattern (0.57)

best: clear pattern (0.66)