West Coast Soaring Club
together with
Okanagan Soaring Association
Current results for XC League 2024
Junior Category Pot $300 plus 1/2 donations
General Category Pot $300 plus 1/2 donations
The Mentor for the Junior Pilot will receive a $100 dinner voucher
Click the link below to donate to the BC XC League and support this initiative
(Donations can also be made by cash or cheque)
This is an informal competition for both hang- and paraglider pilots whereby pilots can submit XC flights flown in BC to the West Coast Soaring Club database.
At the end of the XC season (October 31st.), the total cumulative scores for all flights will be calculated, and the winners decided. The best feature of this contest is the handicap system which evens the playing field significantly.
Objective:
Our objective is that this competition be simple and fun. We would also like to promote HPAC and local club membership (wherever you live in BC), and see this as a way of giving another benefit to the province’s pilots. Hopefully it will also encourage more pilots to go XC!
Rules:
You need to be a OSA or WCSC member in good standing, must have HPAC, and must have fulfilled the requirements of the particular flying site (paid site access, lading fees, signed waivers, ets). All flights must take place completely within British Columbia and should not break airspace, remember, you need your HAGAR to be flying in airspace type E.
There is no entry fee and there will be 2 Categories, a Junior pilot Category and a General Category plus a Mentor recognition award.
The conditions for the Junior Pilot Category is that the pilot holds at least a P2/H2 rating for 2 years or less.
The General Category is any pilot. (Note: a Junior pilot could wind both categories)
WCSC will allocate $600 and Pilots and other organizations can also donate additional monies to the Prize Money
The total Prize money will be split in to 2 Prizes, one for each Category.
Because Mentoring is something that WCSC is very keen in promote, we would like to recognize the pilot that has mentor the Winner of the Junior Pilot Category, and for that it will allocate and Dinner Voucher of $100 Please note that the Junior pilot will need to declare who is his Mentor.
Here’s how the flying works:
Fly XC from a site in BC (any site in BC counts). An XC flight is any flight of at least 10 km (submitted flights of less than 10 km will be deleted from the database). The link to log your flights will be at the top of this page.
If you are not already in the database from previous years you’ll need to register first (free!). Fill in the fields on the submission form to submit the flight.
Upload your GPS track to XContest.
You are allowed to submit as many XC flights as you wish. Flights must be submitted within 2 weeks of the date of flight. At the end of the XC season, the scores from your 5 best flights will be counted for your overall score. Submitted flights must be verifiable.
XContest make it very easy to find your distance travelled, and also provide a great way for other pilots to view your flight and learn new ways of flying our great BC sites. All submitted flights will be monitored, and edited by the moderators if need be.
Types of Flights:
- Open Distance (OD) flights will allow up to 3 turn-points between the start and finish. This is the easiest way to get a big distance, but there is no bonus (a 1.0 multiplier) for this type of flight.
- Out and Return (OR) flights (also known as a flat or free triangle) also allows up to 3 turn-points between start and finish. There is a 20% bonus (a 1.2 multiplier) awarded for this type of flight. To be considered as an OR you must return to within 20% of the total flight distance as given by the three turn points, otherwise the entire flight will be scored as an OD flight (ie. no bonus, or a 1.0 multiplier).
Only simple OR flights will qualify for the bonus. Complicated OR flights (eg. flights with an OD and an OR component to them, or multiple OR laps) will be counted as OD flights and scored as such. It is permissible (and encouraged) for OR flights to originate from mid-way along a ridge (eg. Bridal or Pemberton), provided you return to within 20% of your start point.
- FAI Triangle (T) flights are probably the hardest to complete. These triangles must have no side less than 28% of the total distance. A 40% bonus (a 1.4 multiplier) will be awarded for an FAI triangle. For triangles to receive bonuses, you must return to within 20% of the total flight distance as given by the three turn points.
These rules may sound complicated but are the same used to score in XContest. The XC distance and type provided by this tool may be entered directly in the BC XC league.
Examples of Typical XC Flights in BC:
Click on the links below for maps and simple flight tracks illustrating how the scoring works for some of the most commonly flown sites in BC.
Other Bonuses:
Experience Bonuses will be given for less experienced pilots, based on their experience level at the time of their flights. We ask that you keep track of your total hours of airtime, and that you report which category you are in for every flight that you record, as it may change during the year. The 4 categories are:
Category | Total Airtime (hours) | Bonus | Multiplier |
Student / Novice | 0 – 50 | 100% | 2.00 |
Beginner | 50 – 200 | 50% | 1.50 |
Intermediate | 200 – 400 | 25% | 1.25 |
Advanced | 400 + | 0% | 1.00 |
Glider Bonuses will be given, based on the class of glider flown. All gliders are given a bonus (or deficit) based on their typical XC performance relative to a topless hang glider, as follows:
Glider Class | Bonus | Multiplier |
Rigid | -20% | 0.80 |
Topless HG | 0% | 1.00 |
Performance Kingpost HG | 20% | 1.20 |
Leisure Kingpost HG | 50% | 1.50 |
Single Surface HG | 100% | 2.00 |
Open or Unrated PG | 20% | 1.20 |
| DHV 2-3 or EN D PG | 45% | 1.45 |
| DHV 2 or EN C PG | 60% | 1.60 |
DHV 1-2 or EN B PG | 80% | 1.80 |
DHV 1 or EN A PG | 100% | 2.00 |
Scoring Example:
Each flight’s score will be calculated as follows:
(XC Distance) x (Flight Type Multiplier) x (Experience Multiplier) x (Glider Multiplier)
Examples:
a) An open-distance XC flight of 25 km, flown by a pilot with 80 hours airtime, flying a EN B paraglider, would get a score of:(25 km) x (1.00) x (1.50) x (1.80) = 67.5 points
b) An out-and-return flight of 48 km, flown by a pilot with 230 hours airtime, flying a performance kingpost hang glider, would get a score of:
(48 km) x (1.20) x (1.25) x (1.20) = 86.4 points