Prize Givng and Last Comments

It was a pretty good evening. Before we started with the results, there was a slide presentation of pictures taken during the competition; then we watched a beautiful video on Luís Rizo. You can open the video from  THIS  link; it will be active for a couple of months...

Then the ceremony began: we began by thanking all those involved -helpers, retrieve drivers, sponsors (Telesentinel / Bamacol / Airnomads), supporters, Township of Trujillo, Cloudbase Hotel,  pilots, organizers, etc.- then proceeded with the results and prize giving to finish with a nice Bar-B-Q with plenty of nice, juicy meat, some "arepas" and ripe plaintain (it tastes sweet & delicious) for everyone!

Sport Class winners (picture by Christian Cardona):

3rd Place: Camilo Betancur (COL) - left
2nd Place: "Coche" - José A. Marín (COL)
(his wife received the trophy - center)
1st Place: "Cochecito" - Juan C. Marín (COL) - right

Open Class Winners (picture Christian Cardona):

3rd Place: Zac Majors (USA) - left

2nd Place: Daniel Vélez (COL) - right

1st Place: Pedro L. García Morelli (ESP) - center

This edition of "Hombres Pájaro Colombia 2014" was a very special competition -for many different reasons- to all of us; I am sure we shall never forget all the things we lived during this week.
We have reached a new level and I hope we will continue to improve as a group and that we may host larger and better events year after year!

If you have the chance to come  fly with us, do not hesitate, you will not regret it!

"Hasta Siempre Luís!" and meet you in the clouds...

Thank you everyone and see you next year!

Truly yours,
Mike Glennon
Co-organizer &  Promoter
La Nube (The Little Cloud) aka "maria"
Co-organizer & MeetDirector

For more pictures and info check out the links below:

• Daniel Velez B. - BLOG & Album (Spanish)

• Hombres Pájaro FB Page (Siroco)

• Hombres Pájaro FB Page (Natalia Jaramillo)

• Christian Cardona's Flickr Album

• Videos submitted by Natalia Jaramillo

Last Day...

What an amazing day today was!

When we got to launch, the day was cold and windy: tail wind. Rain showers around take off and low cloud base. Some pilots hesitated to set up, but finally everyone opened up their gliders because, for an instant, it looked like the miracle could happen. Task Committee did their homework and had it all worked out.

Then, came the rain and the wind, tail wind, picked up. There were a lot of spectators up there and, when I looked around, I saw lots of people, unknown people, sitting under the gliders sharing the moment with the pilots.

The rain stopped and the sky cleared up a bit; nothing that suggested a 100km task, though. The wind kept blowing and it was pretty clear there was no way we'd get off the hill.
At this point you may be wondering HOW can this be "amazing", well, let me tell you it was.

This created a very special moment for us where on launch, with all the gliders set up and most pilots wearing the comp t-shirt, had the beautiful opportunity to share the moment with Luiz Rizo's mother, who came from Bogotá to be with us. It was a touching "pilot briefing", one like I have never experienced before, that brought us all closer together  in Loving Memory of our dear friend...

Task 5

What a great day we got today! Task Committee and MD where on the same page: a task where lots of pilots would get to goal and they did! 19 Open Class pilots and 3 Sport Class made it in! Speed and Leading points was the secret.

Zac was leading a lot (together with Pedro), he beat the next guys by almost 4 minutes; that gave him the solid 1000 points and created a gap of 80-something points and more with the closest guys.
Dustin crossed in second position, but Pedro took second place and Daniel third, thanks to the leading bonus (106 for Zac, 104 for Pedro, 85 for Daniel and 62 for Dustin )!

On the Sport Class, the younger brother "Cochecito" flew the task approximately 40min faster than his brother "Coche" and because there were 3 pilots in goal, the day was worth 1000 points and the speed made a huge difference.

Check out the results and stay tuned for the last day, which will be very excting!!!

Some pictures from Christian Cardona:

Dieter (GUA)      

Oskar Morales arriving at goal.

Santiago Corral (MEX) flare on goal.

     The Field.

And Oscar "Guache" celebrating his goal landing with the children!

Task 4

In the air again! The day was quite good, but still quite demanding. The task set for the Open Class was a 113.6km route and 52.9km for the Sport Class.
A single start gate for everyone; both classes shared the first part of the flight and had the same goal field: another HUGE paddock, this time grassy.

No Sport Class pilot made it to goal, however, Juan Camilo Marín "Cochecito" won the day flying 48.83km. In the overall results, Juan Camilo is again in front of his brother; these two are really putting up a good fight! We'll see what happens in the next 2 days...

Ten Open Class pilots made it in. They all agreed it was not an easy 113km to fly! They  came in little groups making us jump up after we thought nobody else would make it. Many of the other pilots not in goal, still got to fly around 4 hours, not bad eh?
Pedro Garcia on his T2C flew in first again today; he seems to be on fire! Daniel Vélez is second and Zac third...

Our new launch with lots of space for set up!

Waiting on line...

Alexander Bastidas (VEN) on take off 

Daniel Vélez

Happy Mike Glennon

Day 5

We were ready: gliders were set up, task was set, the instruments were ready and pilots were starting to gear up. The window was opened at 10:50am and the wind sneaked behind our backs and the seabreeze (tail wind) kicked in at 10:55am and never stopped...

The clouds looked great and the day must have been an awesome flying day, but we had to pass...

In the meantime, the township of Trujillo (where the new take off is located) prepared a special lunch for us with lots of tropical fruit for starters, beer and local "finger" food for us to munch as we danced. Just minutes before the food was brought out, the boys set up a slackline at the main square and had a lot of fun. There was plenty of food, drinks and music so, being in Colombia, there was lots of dancing as well!

What a fun afternoon it was and the best part was that, since it all started at 3 o'clock, we partied hard for about 5 hours and it was just 8 o'clock when we drove back to our hotel with plenty of time for a good rest!

Lots of pictures were taken, I will post some of them another day or at the end of the comp.

So, we've flown 4 days, had 2 tasks and a fantastic "afternoon party"; people have flown and had lots of fun, not bad! Let's see what the rest of the week has to offer!

Task 3

It was raining on the way to launch, the cloudbase was very low and the morning was cold, very cold; however, we Colombian pilots know very well that none of these signs should discourage us from driving up to launch and so we did.

Pilots set up and the Task Committee decided for a 70km task for the Open Class and a 43km one for the Sport Class. It did not really look promising, but it looked flyable and knowing this magical place, we knew anything was possible.

The main concern was wind on take off. During set up, the wind kept blowing from the back with small windows where we'd get -simultaneously- tail wind at the back and some front wind on the ramp. Critical launch conditions.

Being a new site, we were not exactly sure what would happen. The window opened, but the wind didn't really improve. The Start Gate was moved back by 30 minutes, but the wind did not really improve. The conditions still were not promising. 

The situation got to the point where it was not really enough to offer all pilots a safe and fair take off and conditions out there, but if we waited longer it could mean nobody would get to fly. In order to enhance safety, reduce the luck factor and still allow pilots to enjoy a flyable, but maybe not raceable day, the task was stopped and automatically invalidated (according to S7A rules).

As a big joke, a couple of minutes after it was stopped, the wind started blowing from the front and, as the minutes went by, the wind increased and the conditions for launch improved; however, the soaring conditions became weaker as the launch conditions improved. Most of the pilots, except 7 pilots were still able to go for a free flight and enjoyed the day.

We've had 4 flying days and 2 Tasks, not bad, still accomplishing what we came here to do: HANG GLIDE!

Tomorrow will be another day....

Christian Castro sent us some pictures:

Our new take off seen from the back.
Lots of space for setting up on this side and there is an area just as big a couple of feet away!

First pilots taking off...

"Coche" Sport Class pilot leading the comp flies above launch as he gets ready to do a low pass...

Task 2

The day was much more promising than yesterday, no cloud on take off and the sun was shy, but visible alright!
Cloud formations on both mountain ranges were visible as well as some clouds out in the valley; looking good!

Task Committees and Meet Director decided to send the Class I pilots on a 114km task with an initial leg of 8km to the "Bolivar Antenna", then crossing the valley southeast to San Pedro (north of Buga); from there they flew up north to Obando and back a little ways south to the HUGE goal field!

The Sport Class went to the same initial turnpoint, then back to take off and then one long leg to the same HUGE goal field. It totaled 50.9km.

1 Sport Class pilot in goal, Jose Alfredo Marin AKA "Coche"; his brother Juan Camilo AKA "Cochecito" (the pilot who flew the whole distance the day before) came in 2nd landing 5km short of goal, followed by Camilo Betancur, landing 7km short.

Open Class had lucky 7 pilots in goal lead by Pedro Garcia (ESP), closely followed by our very own Daniel Vélez; then a gap of 13-17 minutes where Rudy Gotes (MEX), Dustin, Zac and Wolfi flew in. Another 15min later, Raul Guerra (ECU) crossed the line.

No pictures for now, but I will try to get some published tomorrow.

Don't forget to check out the scores on the right hand side menu!

Task 1

Check out the results on the Results Page!


When we looked out the door this morning, the sky was grey and a high layer of clouds didn't make it look  promising... However, let's not forget this is Roldanillo! After the cloud finally raised over launch, subtle thermalling conditions started to be visible and the hint of a fine day was perceptible.

This new take off is definitely offering lots of new experiences. Today, for instace, we had the largest crowd I have ever witnessed at a hang gliding competition!  Look behind Salvador Bongiorno (VEN) as he runs off the mountain: (picture Christian Cardona)

For Class I a 94.6km task was set with a 30km leg north to the Higueroncito Antennas, then further NE to Zaragoza and a final leg to the Roldanillo airstrip.
5 in goal with Pedro Garcia (ESP) finishing first and taking the perfect 1000 points this task was worth! Zac Majors (USA) came in 2nd and Daniel Vélez (3rd).
Nice surprise was to see Alejo Trujillo make it to goal as we were leaving the field; he managed to stay in the air 4 hours 10 minutes needed to get there!

The Sport Class flew about 43kms sharing the first leg of the task with Class I. Afterwards, they crossed the valley earlier -at a somewhat easier spot-  towards La Victoria and finished up at the Roldanillo airstrip as well.
One pilot made it in, a young local pilot who is flying really well. Unfortunately, he miscalculated and jumped the gun by mistake, I guess you could say it is part of the learning process and the drawback of not flying a 6030! Still, he had a great flight.

Not bad for a first competition day at this Hombres Pájaro Colombia 2014 edition; let's see what the rest of the week has to offer!

Pedro starting his final leg (photo: Christian Cardona)

Here we go!

Yesterday was the official practice day and it went great!

Most of the pilots wisely decided to go see the new take off we will be using during this comp and they loved it. Well, it is as perfect as it can be:
- Large, flat set up areas
- Nice wind
- Thermals as soon as you glide out a little bit
- A small "tienda" (store) with drinks and snacks

This is Carlo Olarte (VEN) trying out his glider (picture: Natalia Jaramillo)

We have a total of 30 Open Class and 9 Sport Class pilots including pilots from Austria (Wolfi), Colombia, Ecuador (Raul & Jelko), Guatemala (Dieter), Spain (Pedro), USA (Dustin & Zac) and Venezuela (Alexander, Carlo, Marcos, Salvador and Wilmer).

We are looking forward to having a great comp and hope you want to come back or, if you didn't make it this year, make it next year!

The pilots flew north from take off towards Roldanillo, a flight back to our HQ town. Some landed in the "official" Roldanillo LZ "La Pista" and other, well as usual, scattered around. Zac started off with one of his cool stunts and decided to land in the beautiful and grassy Municipal Stadium and, with the help of a bunch of kids, walked his glider through town back to the hotel!

Natalia sent this picture from "La Pista", Wolfi coming in (notice how those two on the right side are jumping out of his way!)

Let's see what this week has to offer. Stay tuned!