How to get a perfect start

In a few race-to-goal tasks recently, I've been surprised to see some pilots starting low and late - this puts them at an immediate disadvantage. Here are a few tips that I've collected for getting a great start: on the line, high, and well placed as the gun goes.

On the ground

A good task starts with a relaxed pilot. Develop a routine for readying your gear so that you can prepare quickly and be sure not to forget anything. When the launch time comes, good launch skills allow you to be not intimidated by the launch but instead get away quickly and cleanly and focus on the race. Nervous launchers tend to focus all their attention on launching and see no further than the act of taking off, whereas confident launchers see taking off as just one natural step in the process and are already thinking beyond.

Launch early. You don't have to take off as soon as the window opens, but giving yourself plenty of time between getting into the air and the actual start gives you time to get comfortable, explore and put yourself in the best position. It's much better to spend a few extra minutes floating around at base waiting than be stuck on the ground in the launch queue. Generally speaking, the better pilots launch earlier so if you wait then you risk getting blocked behind a pilot who takes ages to take off. As a general rule, as soon as you know that you can stay up then you should launch.

In some tasks, the start can be several kilometres away. Factor this in to your planning. You need to allow time to fly the distance *and* climb to base. During the race you'll be averaging 30km/h or so, but pre-start you'll be slower. Personally, I try to give myself at least five minutes per horizontal kilometre and ten minutes per vertical kilometre. For example, if the start is 2km away and cloudbase is 1000m above launch then I want to take off at least twenty minutes before the start as an absolute minimum.

In the air, early

Early on you have time to explore and understand the real conditions of the day. Not all the pilots are in the air so you have a lot more flexibility. It gives you time to zip up your harness and check that all your gear is functioning correctly, for example I try to do at least a few seconds of gliding on full bar before the start to check that everything is working correctly. By doing this early, you have plenty of time to fix the problem or even top land if needed, and as the sky is less crowded it's much easier to do.

Here are some of the things that I assess in the air:

Airmass: How strong are the thermals? How well formed are they? At what altitudes is the best lift? What is the wind strength at different altitudes? What features are associated with the best lift? All this helps me plan my strategy for the task. What is my speed to fly? How do I climb most efficiently in these conditions? Do I do wide circles in well-formed thermals or should I to crank it round tightly in bullets? Can I climb up from low down (and therefore arrive low after transitions) or do I need to stay high?

Start point: You'll have already looked at the task in detail on the ground. On some days there will be a clear optimum start point, on others there will be many possible options. Now that you have more information about the airmass, you can determine the actual optimum start point for the day. Typically it is on the edge of the start cylinder closest to the first turnpoint, but wind can have a big effect: starting on the upwind side of the cylinder can be a significant advantage. Even a cross-wind glide is much better than a into-wind glide. Once I have identified the optimum start point I try to fly to that point and get a visual ground reference for it, such as a terrain feature, village, or bend in the road. If the start cylinder is very large, the optimum start point can sometimes be on the other side of the valley, and in very extreme cases the best place to start can be on the opposite side of the cylinder from take off!

First leg: If the start is still some way off, you may have time to test out all or some of the first part of the task. This can provide valuable information, including what the air between the thermals is doing. Too many pilots spend all the Window Open time only circling in the thermals. If you're in the air early you have time to explore and get back to base for the start.

Evolution of conditions: Being in the air for some time before the start not only gives you information about what the conditions are like now, but also how they are evolving. Are conditions getting stronger or weaker? What's happening along the course line? You can use this to predict not only what conditions will be like at the moment of the start, but also what they are likely to be like for the first part of the race. Sometimes this can open up new start options that you had not thought of before: maybe there's a cloud forming on the other side of the valley, upwind of the first turnpoint.

At the start you can rely on there being lots of other pilots in the area marking thermals. There is a constant feed of pilots from take off who will be marking thermals even low down. All this means that much less risky to explore well before the start: you have both ample time to get back to your chosen start point and a lot of information about where the air is going up.

In the air, late

As more and more pilots launch the sky becomes more crowded. Most of them will be thermalling lazily in wide circles. This crowding reduces your options: you don't have the freedom to fly as you did when there were fewer gliders. Now is the time to fly smoothly, fly predictably, be polite and go with the flow.

Moving about the sky to explore takes time. If you glide somewhere before the start, you also need to factor in the time that it takes to regain the altitude that you have lost. On a typical competition wing, if there are 2m/s thermals about then you will spend about as much time climbing back up as you did gliding. This means that in five minutes you can fly about 2km and climb back to your previous altitude (assuming there's a 2m/s thermal waiting for you at the end of your glide, of course). Realistically, you have to be much more conservative and generally I try to be close to my optimum start point five to ten minutes before the actual start time. Here, the visual ground reference point that you identified earlier really helps: you can keep a look out instead of staring at your instruments.

Thermals are cyclic, and it's not unusual to find yourself optimally placed several minutes before the start, and then have the cloud that you were waiting under dissipate into nothing. It's another good reason to try to be high ten minutes before the start. At minimum sink you lose about 50 metres per minute - this is not too bad and often means that it's worth staying where you are rather than risking losing a lot of altitude at the last moment by flying somewhere else.

The start

As the start approaches, you should concentrate on getting as high as possible where you are. Generally speaking, you will have more information if you are further back than higher, than if you are out front and low. Of course, it goes without saying that you should try to be out front and higher. That all said, don't sweat it! All the competitors will be flying now and the sky will be crowded. Chill out: a few metres height difference will be quickly wiped out on the first glide.

Judging crossing the line at the right moment is a learned skill. It's better to be a few seconds late than half a second early - crossing the line ahead of the start will typically score you zero for the day, unless you turn round and go back for it which can be hard as the rest of the field are flying at you fast in the opposite direction! Modern instruments help a lot, and have different ways of telling you whether you're going to be early or late. However, there are some simple rules of thumb that can help you get a perfect start even with a simple GPS.

At trim speed, you fly at about 36km/h, which is 10m/s. So, in one minute you will fly 600m. So, when you look at the countdown, if the distance to the edge of the cylinder is ten times the number of seconds to the start then you should fly at trim speed (or just a bit slower) to be at the start at the perfect time. For example, with 30s to go you should be at 300m, at 10s to go you should be at 100m, and so on. If needed, you can always slow down to avoid being early. Full bar is less than twice your trim speed, so if you are at 200m with 10s to go then you can fly full bar and be sure not to cross the line early.

Ideally you'll get the timing perfect, but if there are a lot of pilots in your start gaggle then you may have to wait your turn as the gaggle "unwinds" to head to the start line. Once again fly cool: this may make you a few seconds late, but you'll have the advantage of being higher.

The first glide

Immediately after the start is a critical period. It is at this time that you have the most information: there will be 100+ pilots showing you what that air is doing around you! The gaggles are already starting to form: the lead gaggle will be made up of those who push full bar on the first glide, and a few who where very, very high at the start who glide in to join them. Later gaggles will be made up of those who pushed less bar. Thermal cycles tend to accentuate this effect: if the lead gaggle gets a cycle that the rest miss then you will not see them again until goal. If the cycle is large enough that slower pilots also catch it then it will take longer for the faster pilots to get away. Since there are 100+ pilots, there will inevitably be pilots above you, below you, in front of you and behind you. With so much information now is the ideal time to push full bar.

If your competition is using GAP lead-out points then it's worth knowing that these are mainly won early in the race (people who are ahead at the end are compensated with time or speed points instead). So, getting a good start and pushing on early can win you points - and you get the satisfaction of stealing them from whoever crosses the line first (sorry Wagga!). PWC scorer Ulric Jessop explained that, if you want lead-out points, then it's much better to push hard and then glide slowly than to glide slowly and then push hard.

Interesting starts

There are a few pilots who I've seen who really master starts. Here's what they do, if only I could tell you how they do it!

Russ Ogden and Mads Syndergaard are amazing climbers. They're able to climb to the top of the gaggle and stay there, even as the thermals weaken and conditions change. Now I'm getting the hang of being the right place at the start, but they always seem to be above me. This puts them in a position of immediate control from the first glide.

Bruce Goldsmith and Mark Graham are brilliant at spotting the optimal start points. You see them launching early and then only at the start do you spot them 5km away on the upwind side of the cylinder. They're usually the first to arrive at the first turnpoint.

At the PWC Turkey I saw Luc Armant do something very strange. Conditions were getting weaker, we'd climbed together in one gaggle, and were gliding towards another which was closer to the optimum start point. Suddenly, Luc turned left ninety degrees, away from both gaggles! I didn't understand why - had he seen something? - but I couldn't see what it could be so I glided on to the gaggle I'd chosen. Our thermal died shortly afterwards and me and that entire gaggle lost several minutes. Later I quizzed Luc about it decision. He explained that he'd been unsure which gaggle would do better. So, by choosing to fly between them at min sink he had kept his options open and been able to pick and choose later once the answer was clear. Of course, he wouldn't be the best placed in the gaggle he chose, but he did guarantee that he'd be in the best one for the start. Luc demonstrated just how much it is possible to exploit the information available at the start.

Conclusions

Launch early and explore then chose your start point and get high. Cross the line at the right moment, push hard and go for it!

Five things I learned the hard way about competitions

This isn't your usual collection of competition tips. Here are five things I had to learn by repeatedly getting them wrong. You'll get them wrong as well, and then you'll finally learn, and then I'll be able to say "I told you so".

1. Somebody always gets to goal. It's remarkable. When you throw 100+ pilots at a task and, even when it seems impossible, somebody always makes it further than you ever believed possible. They push 10km into a strong headwind, get the turnpoint, and cruise into goal. They fly 50km in complete shade. They top out at 2500m when nobody else can get above 1500m. It's so easy to believe that it's not going to happen, so easy to justify giving up and landing. But it's wrong. Know that somebody will get to goal, and make that person you.
   
   
2. Competition will change your perspective on XC flying. The skills required to do well in competition - to maintain a high average speed around a route that you defined before you took off, whatever obstacles Mother Nature throws into your path - are very different to those required for flying XC. It's so much easier to say "I'll go a different way now" than to push on and do what you said you were going to do. Yet competition pilots never take the easy option. To a fault they will bang their heads against a headwind trying to make a turnpoint, while the XC pilots have long since turned back. You'll fly XC and get impatient when your friends stick with a weak climb when you know you don't need the altitude. They'll glide on trim or a bit of bar, and you, you'll fly on full bar. They will turn around while you push on. This will test your patience and your friendship.
   
   
3. The best way to get good at competitions is to do lots of competitions. On a typical flight you and your group of friends will try a few different things. Some will land early, others will fly far. You'll never be sure whether it was skill or luck. In a competition you'll watch 100 different pilots try to achieve the same flight. Instead of learning from the experiences of five pilots, you'll learn from the experience of a hundred. When one out of ten gets away you'll know it was luck. When nine out of ten climb out you'll know that they made the right decision. You'll learn quickly - twenty times faster than your XC friends. You'll make mistakes too. You'll get mixed up about the task, or you'll have a problem with your equipment, or you will fly into airspace, or you'll wait when you should have pushed on, or you'll push on when you should have waited. Making mistakes - and learning from them, and learning not to repeat them - is just part of the process. Beginners to competitions might get lucky, but they are rarely consistent. There is no substitute for flying lots of tasks.
   
   
4. You'll win when you're good enough. The best pilots are really, really amazingly good. There is no simple trick that you know and they don't. Being the biggest fish in a small pond might earn you a local fan club but when you step up to the big league you'll have to deal with being merely an average fish in the big pond. Many, many talented pilots fall at this stage. They're the kings of their local hills and then, when they step up a level they find themselves to be merely average. Ego comes into play, and those with more ego than skill stop competing (of course, they appease their local fan club with stories that start "I was there but..."). Such a shame, but they were probably not cut out for the big stuff anyway. Be patient, learn as much as you can from each task, and let the results come when it's time.
   
   Of course, different pilots play different games, but rest assured that the top pilots can play them all. Neil "Slapper" Roberts doesn't just strategically play the field, he can also push when needed. Not only can Mark "Wagga" Watts push the bar hard on stupidly optimistic final glides, he can also scratch out in zeros when that's what it takes. You don't win by doing something different, you win by having the required skill when it's the right time to do something different.
   
   
5. It's your responsibility to manage your own progression. You might grumble about how "they had an advantage..." or "nobody ever told me that...". Grow up and take some responsibility. Every year there are ten new wannabes. Every year nine fall by the wayside. The top pilots might seem aloof, but it's only because they see a lot of pilots passing through and they're trying hard to work out how to spend their limited time. Make people care about you. Don't try to invent a private world in which you could be king, but instead look to challenge the best on their own terms. Set realistic goals: this year you'll finish top two in Sports Class, next year you'll be top three in Serial Class, and the year after that you'll be in the top ten of the Championships. Ask for help when you need it and play the long game.
   

Competition will fundamentally change the way you fly. When everybody else says "maybe we'll go that way" you will program exact turnpoint coordinates into your GPS. Competitions will test your comfort zone: you'll experience the sublime satisfaction of getting to goal on a hard day and you will also experience the frustration of landing short and knowing that more was possible. Ultimately - if you can stick with it - it will make you a better pilot.

A task setting philosophy (part 2)

Read part 1 first!

Preamble: risk in competitions

A competition pilot's understanding of risk is very different from a normal pilot's understanding of risk. Normal pilots talk in terms of physical risk that might result in an them having an accident. For the purposes of this article, I will call this "safety risk", for example being blown back into a turbulent, partial lee-side. When competition pilots talk of risk it is in the context of either losing time or not getting to goal. I will call this "task risk", for example saving time by choosing not climb in a thermal and so taking the risk of more wasting time by taking more time to climb in the next thermal. Safety risk should be avoided, task risk is what makes interesting tasks.

Creating interesting tasks

Interesting tasks are tasks which are clearly achievable but have no obviously best route. They give pilots many opportunities to take task risks. New XC pilots and racers tend to prefer tasks with obvious routes: it allows them to focus on getting to goal (newbies) or climbing faster and pushing the bar harder than other pilots (racers). For this reason, it is a good idea to set an obvious route for the first part of the task and a less obvious section for the second part.

Imagine that you have the following waypoints on two long ridges (B1-B4-B7 and B3-B6-B9) with valley (B2-B5-B8) in between.

Ridge   Valley  Ridge 
        1               2 

        B1      B2      B3 
        |               | 
        |               | 
        |               | 
        B4      B5      B6 
        |               | 
        |               | 
        |               | 
        B7      B8      B9

Here the ridges can be physical ridges, or, equally, lines of reliable lift sources such as convergence lines. Classic XC routes tend to follow them. For example, the St André les Alpes to Dorimillouse out-and-return is B7 - B1 - B7. The classic XC routes from St Marcel in France are B4 - B7 - B1 - B4.

Examples of boring tasks:
B1 - B7 - B1: this follows an obvious ridge line, there are no options.
B4 - B6: this is slightly better in that it includes a transition, but there is only one place that pilots will cross.

Examples of interesting tasks:
B1 - B9: here the choice of route is not obvious: pilots can chose when to cross from ridge A to ridge B.
B2 - B8: this is a very interesting task: not only do pilots have to chose where to leave the ridges, but they also have the option of following either ridge 1 or ridge 2, or even flying along the valley.

Example areas

Ronaldino, Colombia: this area corresponds almost exactly to the geometry above with take off is at B4. The World Cup set some interesting tasks here, for example:
B4 - B7 - B6 - B2 (Task 1 at the 2011 World Cup)
B4 - B8 - B6 - B2 (Task 2 at the 2011 World Cup)

St Jean de Montclar (FR): this is basically a single ridge site. Take off is at one end of a ridge (B3). Example good tasks are:
B3 - B5 - B8 - B3
B3 - B8 - B2 - B6 - B2

St André les Alpes (FR) is possibly the best paragliding competition destination on the planet, thanks to its complex terrain and reliable weather, and has multiple ridge lines. Take off is halfway along a line of reliable lift, i.e. B6. Good tasks set at the British open include:
B6 - B2 - B8 - B2 - B6
B6 - B3 - B7 - B6

When setting tasks, don't follow ridges. Instead, set diagional transitions across ridges, or use valley turnpoints.

Elapsed time tasks

Elapsed time tasks are disliked by the majority of competition pilots, and it is difficult to set an elapsed time task that is truly fair, and as a result these should only be set as a last resort. Generally speaking, elapsed time tasks should only be set when either the launch site is so small that it is not possible for all pilots to launch within a reasonable time and when the weather conditions are forecast to be consistently weak for the entire day.

When not to set an elapsed-time task

Improving conditions: If conditions are forecast to improve then later pilots will have a significant advantage. Such a task is not fair. It is fairer to set a race-to-goal later in the day.

Worsening conditions: If conditions are expected to worsen, pilots launching early will have an advantage. This is not necessarily a problem as long as the take off is large enough that all pilots are free to chose when they launch, but normally it is better to set a short race-to-goal task with an early land-by time.

Small Launch: What makes elapsed time races fair is that each pilot individually choses when to start. Small launches stop that happening: it can happen that pilots are forced to launch earlier than they would like (and risk going down), more often it happens that pilots are stuck in the launch queue when they would individually chose to launch.

Elapsed time tasks are rarely fair. Remembering the philosophy that tasks should be safe, fair and fun, if it is not possible to set a fair task then it is better to not set a task (as long as there are other tasks in the competition!).

Pre-Start Crowding

The classic start problem is crowding. A number of techniques have been developed to diffuse pilots at the start of the task. These include:

Shot time between Window Open and Start: This effectively makes the task a ground start. The more experienced and confident pilots tend to launch earlier, the less experienced tend to hold back. Therefore, the field spreads out, reducing crowding. This is entirely appropriate for small competitions with a wide variety of skill levels, or if the launch is large enough to allow pilots to launch when they want. In the case of large competitions it is only fair if the launch is large enough to allow pilots to launch when they wish, otherwise it is unfair.

Remote starts and pre-start turnpoints: The goal of remote starts and pre-start turnpoints is to give pilots some extra distance to fly before the race starts. This spreads out the field, once again reducing crowding. As long as pilots launching up to 30 minutes after window open can get to the start line on time (see part 1 on timing) then this is reasonably fair. This approach does tend to annoy less experienced pilots who may bomb out before reaching the start line, but is a good strategy for high level competitions.

Long start lines

Often the best way to reduce crowding is to create the largest equal area for starting. Pilots will naturally spread out along the start line in accordance with their own tactics. Some examples of doing this:

Large entry cylinders: Large entry cylinders provide long, balanced start lines by giving pilots several areas in which to wait before the start opens. Ideally, pilots further from launch should have a slight advantage, for example being slightly more upwind of the first turnpoint than those starting later. This encourages pilots to spread out along the start line.

Off-ridge exit cylinders: A carefully-placed exit cylinder in front of the ridge with a first turnpoint on the ridge can provide a long, balanced start line. The exit cylinder is placed such that pilots starting closer to the first turnpoint must start further out from the ridge (and therefore further from reliable lift), and equally pilots starting nearer to the ridge must start further from the first turnpoint. This can be very effectively, particularly because the use of an exit cylinder draws pilots into the cylinder before the start and therefore away from the ridge.

Start lines on transitions: Placing a start line on a transition, i.e. where there is no reliable lift, is another effective way of reducing crowding. Some pilots will head to the start line early, others will hesitate.

Inverted days

Task setting on inverted days is tricky. There is little vertical space available to separate pilots and lift is often broken. This makes for crowded starts and stressed pilots flighting over lift. Forecasts are not always accurate; sometimes the inversion breaks early and the task - set with the expectation that the inversion would not break - becomes trivially easily. On other days the inversion is lower than anticipated, putting turnpoints out of reach and making the task impossible, ruining it.

Key factors when setting tasks on inverted days are:

• all turnpoints should be several hundred metres below the inversion
  
• avoid crowding, especially at the start
  
• consider setting an elapsed time task with a last start time
  

Tasking the week

Ideally, all days should be equal - we're comparing pilots, not days. Sometimes the weather doesn't play ball and you end up with just a couple of good days in the competition week. Make the most of them.

Pilot fatigue is a big safety factor. Well-rested and un-stressed pilots have far fewer accidents than tired and stressed ones. Beyond not setting tasks with needless safety risks, setting the correct pace for the week (while, of course, making sure that no flying opportunities are missed), is one of the key elements to running a safe competition.

A good rule of thumb is that you should limit competition activities to no more than 50 hours per week, counting from morning briefing to when they have checked in, downloaded their GPS, and are free to go. If you reasonably expect to fly every day, this works out at about three hours flying per day and about 20 flying hours total. If there is enforced rest due to bad weather then you can, of course, have some longer days.

Examples:

St André les Alpes: briefing 9am, on launch by 11am, window open 12pm, start 1pm, land 4pm, retrieved by 5pm, download by 6pm. Total: 9 hours. More than five days of this (5 * 9 = 45) will result in pilot fatigue.

Piedrahita: briefing 9am, on launch by 11am, window open 12pm, land 5pm, retrieved at 7pm, back at HQ by 9pm, download by 10pm. Total: 13 hours. More than four days on this schedule (particularly if the days are consecutive) will result in tired pilots!

St Jean de Montclar: transport 11am, window open 1pm, landed by 4pm, retrieved by 5pm, downloaded by 6pm. Total: 7 hours. With a seven hour day, it's feasible to run six or even seven tasks in a week.

Generally speaking, pilots will need eight hours sleep and four hours for food, beer, tending to their better halves and generally faffing. This leaves twelve hours for competition activities. Twelve hours per day for competition activities is the upper limit: any more than this and you will be accumulating a fatigue debt that you must repay in rest/bad weather days or short tasks later.

Summary

• Tasks should be safe, fair and fun.
  
• Each task should be obvious to start, and difficult later. Think diagonals.
  
• Limit the competition week to 50 hours - that's about 20 hours flying per week.
  
• Make tasks interesting by giving pilots a choice of routes.
  

To come in part 3: creating good waypoint sets, safety turnpoints, and future task formats.