Awhitu Adventurer (PG)
Task type: Coastal soaring
Difficulty: Intermediate
Launch site: Karioitahi - High Site
Site rating for launch: PG2 / HG Novice
Task distance: 71 km
Description: Launch at the High Site at Karioitahi. Fly south to Maioro, then north to tag a circle with a 2000 m radius centred on the Manukau Heads lighthouse. After reaching this turnpoint fly back south to goal, a 200 m circle centred on the Surf Club, to complete a return flight along the full length of the Awhitu Peninsula.
Skills required: Good judgement of weather conditions and wind direction to enable the return journey to be made safely. Confident in using speed bar and judgement to successfully cross Hamilton’s and Cochrane’s Gaps in both directions.
Note that the radius of the third turnpoint at the Manukau Heads lighthouse has been set at 2000 m to discourage pilots from pushing too far north to where the coast starts to curve to the east near the mouth of the Manukau Harbour. Flying past this point runs the risk of having pilots ‘pinned’ due to the venturi effect and decreased ridge lift at the harbour entrance.
QR code for Awhitu Adventurer (PG) task
If using FlySkyHy:1) Scan the QR code using your phone's camera and tap 'Open in Flyskyhy'. 2) On the 'Import waypoints' screen tap 'Replace route'. This task is now set as the active route and can be viewed on the Map screen, with the details available on the Waypoints screen.
If using XCTrack:1) Open XCTrack2) Pull down on screen to open menu, and choose 'Navigation'3) Choose 'Competition Task'4) Don't enter any info but click on 'three-dot menu button' in top right corner5) Choose 'Scan task from QR code'6) The free version of XCTrack will only work with the front-facing camera, so use that camera to scan the QR code (the Pro version may allow the camera on the back to be used). It's a bit tricky to line up with the front-facing camera as you can't see the phone screen, but it will beep when it reads it successfully.
Task details
Join the Awhitu Adventurer WhatsApp group to discuss flying this task with other pilots:
A clip of Oliver Pullein flying the Awhitu Adventurer task on 23 October 2022