BGD Weightless 2020 finished on 10th January 2020, with Bruce Goldsmith winning overall on the new Cure 2. The week-long competition took place in Roldanillo, Colombia, and was “fantastic”, with good flying conditions and six tasks of 45.8km to 59.8km distance.
“It’s thirteen years since I won a competition!” laughed Bruce, although as an organiser neither he nor second-placed Stan Radzikowski were eligible for prizes. The Super Class (overall) podium was topped by Serghei Nebesnii of Moldova.
INTRODUCING MRT
The idea behind the Weigthless competitions, of which this was the third, is to develop a scoring system that takes all-up weight into account – it’s well documented that lighter pilots have a disadvantage when it comes to paragliding competitions.
This event used Multiple Radius Turnpoints as a means of weight compensation. Ten weight classes were defined, and the lightest pilots had bigger radii on the turnpoint cyclinders, so effectively had less far to fly in total around the course than their heavier counterparts.
While the scoring system is still a work in progress, the consensus was that it worked very well. Lighter pilots said it had helped them, and heavier pilots did not feel as if they were being unfairly disadvantaged. In addition the scoring was fast and efficient, with the results available shortly after the tasks had finished.
Prizes were awarded in Women, Leisure, Sports, Serial and Super (overall) classes.
Felipe Uribe from Colombia was the lucky winner of the wing that was raffled – he chose a brand new CURE 2.
Female Class
1. Daria Krasnova (RUS), UP Kangri, 2833 points
2. Magdalena Pawlak (POL), Niviuk Artik, 2555 points
3. Mariaalejandra Mejia (COL), BGD Cure, 2140 points
Leisure Class (EN B and below)
1. Kay Kuehne (GER), Ozone Swift 5, 3036 points
2. Daria Krasnova (RUS), UP Kangri, 2833 points
3. Edward Browne (GBR), Gin Carrera, 2814 points
Sports Class (EN C and below)
1. Bruce Goldsmith (GBR), BGD Cure 2, 4676 points
2. Stan Radzikowski (GBR), Gin Bonanza 2, 4290 points
3. Pavel Titov (RUS), 777 Queen 2, 3772 points
4. Schuyler Heath (USA), Flow Fusion, 3296 points
5. Andy Smart (GBR), BGD Cure 2, 3082 points
Serial Class (EN D and below)
1. Bruce Goldsmith (GBR), BGD Cure 2, 4676 points
2. Stan Radzikowski (GBR), Gin Bonanza 2, 4290 points
3. Surzmyshyn Taras (UKR), Ozone Mantra M7, 4014 points
4. Pavel Titov (RUS), 777 Queen 2, 3772 points
5. Frode Graff (NOR), Ozone Mantra M7, 3693 points
Super (Overall) Class
1. Bruce Goldsmith (GBR), BGD Cure 2, 4676 points
2. Stan Radzikowski (GBR), Gin Bonanza 2, 4290 points
3. Serghei Nebesnii (MDA), Ozone Zeno, 4054 points
4. Surzmyshyn Taras (UKR), Ozone Mantra M7, 4014 points
5. Didier Desaintetienne (FRA), Ozone Zeno, 3988 points
All results on airtribune.com.