Sendero XC Paragliding Comps

Informal get together for XC flying and maybe some shit talkin.

Sendero
Cross Country Paragliding Competition
CANCELLED DUE TO COVID19.

Things for this year will change based on feedback from last year. The final rules will be solidified by the end of March. Please get hold of me for changes you'd like to see implemented, and I'll consolildate suggestions by the 31st.
Sign up with the form at the bottom of this page, after reading the whole description.

Sections:

When

Where

Scoring

Ante-ins/Categories***

Details

Communicating

Signing Up

WHEN:
March 21st - Sept 27th. This is a 6 month long informal Paragliding XC Contest. We Foot-launch and Fly XC throughout Spring, Summer, and Indian Summer, and then have a gathering with friends the last weekend in Sept. We each fly on our own, or with friends, doing flights individually just as we normally do, with no event held until the end of the contest period. The difference is that you ensure you immediately upload your flights to XContest to be scored. You fly as many times as you like during the Sendero dates, and then we will all try to fly once together in an open task style (Open distance, Flat, FAI) on the final weekend, flying in task groups or individually, whichever you prefer. (In order words, we can develop a task for those interested).

CLOSING FLY-IN:

Sept. 26 - 27 is the wrap up, which is the beginning of the Red Rocks Fly-in, so we will likely hold the wrap up there... No 'contest' flying will be done on Sunday the 27th, but hopefully there will be flying that day. We will have the awards ceremony at a convenient time for pilots that day.

On Thursday Sept 22^nd the task committee will look at the weather and decide the best place for everyone to get together the weekend of Sept. 26 -27th, so we can fly Sat. Sept 26th, and have the Awards ceremony Sept 27th(and maybe fly too). This will be held north of Albuquerque. Again, the last day to upload a flight is Sept 26^th. Ceremony will be the morning of Sept 29^th.

WHERE: Launch/Flying Area:
The area for the Sendero will be ALL of the possible foot-launches contained within New Mexico, Southwest Colorado, and Southeastern Utah (see mapped area below)

Then we each must choose 4 foot-launch flights from 3 different launches within those dates. Launches must be a minimum of 1 mile apart to count as different launches (Crest and Peak in the Sandias are considered 1 launch).

We will have the option to footlaunch anywhere within the Sendero area. Only our launch sites need to be within the area of the contest. Launches must be on legal launch areas, launches must either be on public land, or if private land, must be available to all Sendero pilots. Sites that have restrictions on USHPA ratings such as "P4 or higher" are still permitted. You can organize individually or in groups to fly the possible sites.

Comp Closing Location: To be announced, but somewhere north of Albuquerque, likely Red Rocks Fly In. Flights from the closing location are not required.

Sendero Launch Area Map (view southward): All of NM, CO from I-25 west and Hwy5o south, and UT,over to the Red Rocks Fly in Launches (I'll up date the map in a bit).

SCORING:
Our scoring is via XContest.org. We signup for and upload our flights to XContest, and they are automatically scored for us. (Ensure you sign up for the American/USA contest and the category of wing you will participate with). Our scored flights will be 4 of our own choosing within the time period and launch area of the Sendero that are in XContest.org (make sure you understand how XContest works.
XContest gives Point Multipiers for certain types of flights (see below) within the national USA XContest competition. Additionally declared flights receive a point-multipier, and should be declared on the Sendero Groupme prior to your flight.
See the Links below to help you plan your flight. XCPlanner has a built in point multiplier for flat triangles and FAI/Yassen triangles, and UK XC league pages will help you understand how these different flights and point multipliers work, although their point-multipiers are not the ones used in XContest.
XCPlanner
USA XContest
UK XC League Flights

USA XContest Point Multipiers are as follows:
Three types of flights are possible, with different multipliers. Free flight, flat triangle, and FAI triangle. Any flight that doesn’t qualify as a triangle will be scored as free flight, where the distance is optimized through three waypoints. Free flight tracks score 1 point per kilometer. Any triangle that does not conform to the FAI specification will earn 1.2 points per kilometer if closed within 20% of the total distance and 1.4 points per kilometer if closed within 5% of the total distance. Triangles where no leg is shorter than 28% of the total distance count as FAI triangles and earn 1.4 points per kilometer if closed within 20% of the total distance and 1.6 points per kilometer if closed within 5% of the total distance. The XContest software will automatically optimize your tracklog and choose the flight type that results in the highest score.

Recap: 3 sites, 4 flights, 6 months

Ante-ins & Categories:

Ante-in $40 (all of it goes to prizes, or the event, not to organizer). Ante-ins are unofficial gifts to the organizer for the fun of it. You may not see the money again, and this may be a waste of your time and money. But maybe you'll win. These ante-ins will be done via Gofundme, so we can all see what's going on and what the total ante-ins are.
Ante-in must be received prior to June 1st to be considered for a prize.

What your ante-in gets you:
A spot in the unofficial contest, and a possibility of winning one of the categories. Most of the cash will be returned to the pilots in the form of prize money. (some of the remainder may go toward a porta john, depending on the location of the closing weekend)

Note that A, B, and C wings get more cash winnings!

Categories:
(redistributed to other categories if no one entered a particular class).

Banditos EN D/CCC/Open

1st place Banditos 10% of Ante-ups

Pistoleros EN C

1st place Pistoleros class 10% of Ante-ups

2nd place Pistoleros class 5% of Ante-ups

Pistolitos EN AB (includes high B)

1^st place Pistolitos 10% of Ante-ups

2^nd place Pistolitos 5% of Ante-ups

3^rd place Pistolitos class 5% of Ante-ups

Highest scoring Flight:

1^st El Jefe: Highest score of the Sendero (ie; biggest flight) 10% of Ante-ups

Duo Teams:

Duo Team members only need to launch once together to enter the team class. Duo Teams just add together the individual member scores of that team's flights (same 4 flights chosen for the individual contest: member1 flights + member2 flights = Duo Team Score). Teams must be declared before the beginning of the Sendero dates to qualify.
1st Place Duo Team Winners: 10% Ante-ups

(These percentages should leave about 20% for other unforeseen costs, but will be put into prizes or future event organization if there is no other costs.)

Other Details:

Retrieve is not provided, but on the Groupme, we have a driver that has volunteered to discuss possible retrieves with Sendero Pilots. Otherwise, you are on your own. That is part of the fun/skill of xc flying.
Ante-in will begin April 1^st, 2019 and ends April 26^th, an email will be sent out with the Gofundme page info to send ante-ins to.

The final weekend will be basic. Nothing will really be provided except location directions, task committee oversight, and the cash prizes. Since the event is an informal gathering you need to bring what you need/want There may be possible portapotties, we’ll see.

Camping, shelter, lodging, food, water, transport, first aid, toilets, etc, for the final weekend gathering are your responsibility.
The final location may be a hike and fly location, although an attempt will be made to make it vehicle accessible.

The Sendero Open is non-sponsored and not official in any way. You need to show up to the final gathering to receive braggin rights/ante-ins, ante-ins will be transferred to next highest winner present. The exception to this is Xalps participants can fly the Sendero area during the dates, and not be present at the closing event and still win...

COMMUNICATION:
Discussion, Flight Declarations, Scheduling, and the closing weekend information will be done through a smart phone app called Groupme. The Google play store or Apple store should have it. Download it onto your smart phone, and I will send you an activation email with the groupme forum link in it.

Event Etiquette (just so it doesn't go unsaid):

use common sense, and ask questions when things are unclear.
Throughout the month, use low impact methods for camping. Clean up after yourself. Bring trash bags and don't burn garbage in fire pits. Pack out what you pack in. Don't create extra firepits, or chop green trees. Don't litter, or leave trash behind.
bury your poop at least 6" deep, dig group latrine holes if appropriate, and pack out or burn toilet paper-don't bury it like you're on a solo backpacking trip, there's too many people to use that method). Do not leave human waste or papers out in the open. Clean up your pet's poop and/or poop them away from the event.
be quiet after 10pm and before 8am.
keep pets under control, and leave barking dogs at home, or camp away from the main group area.
use respectful language and behavior. Sexism or other aggressive behavior can be subtle and should be confronted if noticed.
be responsible with drinking, smoking, etc.

The hope is this first year will set a healthy tone for the following years. Thanks!

SIGNING UP:

You can reserve a spot in the Sendero Spring Open at any time now. Read the rest of this, then find the link to the sign-up form at the bottom of this initial blog post to sign up... Include your name, team name if applicable, Contest class, email, and hometown. Hometowns will be considered as part of our determination for a final weekend flying location.

T-SHIRTS: if we can get 10 or more people to go in on shirts I will get them sized and ordered for us.

If you have questions, email Dan: southwestbackcountry at g mail dot com

Let's create a great event and have some fun flying our asses off.
Look for more posts here or on the Groupme app.

Send it!! --Dan

Sign Up Link is Here: https://forms.gle/Kd7LbcZG9bzLtSkE7

... JUST CONTACT DAN AT southwestbackcountry@gmail.com

1^st Annual Sendero Spring Open Results

The First Annual Sendero Spring Open is done, and, considering what we worked with, it went well. No one got hurt, some flying was done, some big flighs were done, and some exploration of launches was done. Even the small, local flights show up in the results. Keep that in mind as you plan for the Fall Comp right?

Things to keep in mind are that wing type, date, and launch site are considered for the 4 considered flights. Competitors’ highest scoring flight from each launch site within the dates was put into their 4 flights, but, flights from 2 other launches were required before having a second flight from the same launch considered. (E.G. A second flight from Sandia would only be added to the 4 required flights if I found flights from other launches). This 3-launch-site factor nixed a few good flights from the comp, and is mentioned here because I wanted that to be clear for the Fall how my search for flights rotates through your XContest list. In fact no one had 3 launches entered, so no one had 4 flights entered.

A red dot next to the competitors’ flights show which ones ended up being in the final Sendero flight list for each competitor. The 3 launch site rule, and the separation of the Primer and the main Sendero also got a few (mine included). If you have questions, comments or thoughts on this topic please post up on the Groupme.

Thanks again for participating, and I look forward to seeing you at the 1^st Annual Fall Sendero. Stay tuned for the Dates.

Pilots:

Please notify me if anything is incorrect and I will change the results on this blog post, and notify everyone via the Groupme. Also, the prize money will be discussed on the Groupme chat only. Thanks,
Dan

Results:

El Jefe: Biggest Flight of Primer and Sendero

1. Ben Abruzzo 121.64 (or his non-pimer score of 71.86, either way he wins)