The flight instrument records the position, in three dimensions (ie position and altitude), of the pilot throughout

the race as a
series of track points and the scoring is done at the end by extracting this recording (or track) into a computer and
comparing it to the tracks of all the other pilots. For the pilot to start the race correctly he must have one track point outside
the cylinder (or inside for an exit cylinder) after the start time has passed and he may then cross the line.
The pilots then race around the course to the 'goal'. They can take any path they like as long as they enter each of the
turnpoint cylinders in order and it is common to see them flying a long way from the ideal course line to take advantage of
lifting air around hills or other thermal sources - the tricky part of the flying is actually getting to the turnpoints since these
force the pilot to fly to a specified position rather than using the air around him to keep climbing.
The goal can be one of two formats. The Paragliding World Cup will normally use a 'goal line' which is a 200m long line
centred on the goal co-ordinates perpendicular to the optimum arrival line and physically marked on the ground by a white
line (this is not normally 200m long but is a visible reference to pilots coming into the goal). To achieve 'goal' the pilot has to
cross this line while still flying. Alternatively the goal can be a final 'cylinder' - normally 400m radius - and goal is achieved by
entering this cylinder while still flying.
Some years ago it was decided that having the pilots race all the way to the goal line was compromising safety - all aircraft,
including paragliders, are affected by speed and flying fast near to the ground is not a good idea - to combat this problem
the 'speed section' was introduced. The speed section will normally begin at the start line (though this is not mandatory) and
ends before the goal is reached - in most, but not all, cases it will be a large cylinder around the goal with a 1 or 2 km radius
but in places where this may not be a safe approach the end of the speed section can be at an earlier turnpoint. The pilot's
time from start of speed section (SSS) to end of speed section (ESS) defines his time for the race. To validate his race,
however, he must make goal by crossing the line or entering the cylinder but there is no time limit on this and it makes no
difference if another, slower, pilot makes the goal ahead of him. Completing the speed section but then landing short of the
goal will reduce the pilots score quite considerably.
Once the task has been decided for the day there is a briefing given to all the pilots on the takeoff area - this will cover the
details of the task along with any special considerations (these can be restrictions - airspace, no go areas etc, general
advice on the local area and any special instructions to pilots). When the briefing is finished and the pilots have had a
chance to enter the task into their flight instruments the window times will be decided and announced.
The launch 'window' is a period of time during which a pilot may takeoff. This will normally be in the region of two hours and
is specified by the Window Open and Window Close times. Launching is only allowed while the window is 'open' and
launching outside of these times will invalidate a pilot's score for the day. The start will normally be during the window period
although this is not a requirement. In most competitions only a single launch is allowed and if the pilot ends up sinking and
landing that is the end of his race for the day - in some situations, however, multiple launches can be approved.
It is normal that not all of the pilots will get as far as the goal - in fact it is a sign of a badly set task if everyone makes it.
Pilots who do not reach the goal are said to have 'landed out'. Pilots who reach goal are scored on the time to end of speed
section discussed above and their result is expressed as a time - pilots who land out are scored on the total distance along
the optimum task line that they reached and this is expressed as a distance. The majority of competitions run a 'retrieval'
organisation to collect the pilots who land out and return them to the headquarters (though some smaller comps will expect
them to make their own way).
Scoring is normally done at the headquarters (though we have done this in a field and some other, more wacky, locations in
the past) and is handled by specialised computer software. The Paragliding World Cup has its own proprietary scoring
system - CompCheck - which was built from scratch and is constantly maintained by or own scorer Ulric Jessop. The pilot's
track is downloaded from his instruments (more than one is common and, where there are minor differences in the recording
of different instruments, the track which is most in the pilot's favour is used) and analysed by the software to ensure that all
the conditions above (correct start, all turnpoints validated, crossing of goal line etc) have been met - if any have been
missed (eg a missed turnpoint or, worse, starting too early) the score is adjusted accordingly.
The actual points scored are calculated using a very complex formula which takes into account how long the task took, how
many made goal, the spread of pilots landing out and a lot of other factors. A good task with the expected percentage of
pilots in goal and with the task taking around the expected time will award 1000 points to the winner with the other pilots
being awarded various scores below this according to how long they took to get to goal or how far they flew before landing
out. However, if the task is not so good (nobody in goal or everybody in goal, too quick or the task is stopped - see below)
then the points available will be lower than 1000 and, on a bad day, it is not uncommon to see the winner only get 200 or
300 points. Such tasks are said to 'lower quality' and the points reduction is designed to reflect this. The scores for each day
are then summed to give the overall result and the pilot with the most points wins the event.
Paragliding takes place on days where there is a lot of weather activity - this is necessary for the gliders to be able to climb
but it does mean we are always on the verge of potentially bad weather. Paragliders cannot fly in rain and if a day develops
too much activity it can lead to thunderstorms (which are very bad news for an aircraft). Consequently the weather is
constantly monitored by both the pilots and the organisation to ensure that the conditions are safe to continue. If it is decided
that things are becoming potentially dangerous the task can be stopped and the pilots can land safely. Under these
circumstances (and subject to how long the task has been running and a few other rules) the score will be reduced but it is
still possible to score the race. In the Paragliding World Cup the pilot is awarded a bonus for how high he was when the task
was stopped but this is not necessarily so in all competitions.
The scenario above is the most common and applies to, probably, 90% of paragliding races but there are a number of
options which can be exercised to allow for weather conditions or simply to make a task more interesting. There are several
options for the start :-
RACE TO GOAL - as described above, all the pilots start at the same time and it is a race to the end of speed section and
then cross the goal line to validate.
ELAPSED TIME RACE - normally (though not always) a first start time and a last start time will be given. Pilots may take the
start at any moment between these times and their time to ESS will be calculated from the moment they took the start. This
tends to be an unpopular option for a number of reasons and also makes the race very difficult to follow since there is no
indicator as to who started when.
CLOCK START - similar to elapsed time but a number of distinct start times are given (usually 15 mins apart) - the pilots
time is calculated from the start time immediately before he crossed the start line. If a pilot decides he got a bad start and
could do better he can normally go back and take the next available start time.
GROUND START - very rare and generally considered as quite unsafe. The start time and the window open are the same -
pilots then race to get off the launch and on the course (the safety implications of this when 150 people all try to take off at
the same time in a, usually, fairly small space should be clear).
We are also not confined to the 'take the turnpoints in this order - in fact there are an unlimited number of options because of
the 'virtual' nature of the course. Some that have been used in the past are 'fly 50km from the takeoff in any direction and
come back and then go to goal' or 'fly to the goal then away in any direction fo 20km and back to goal'. Other things being
considered are take all the turnpoints in any order you like, take 6 of 10 available points and the list goes on...
In the last three years we have adopted Live Tracking which is probably one of the most significant changes to Paragliding
since it began. In the past 150 pilots would take off and we would only know anything about them when they either landed in
goal or reported a landing out position. With Live Tracking it is possible for people all around the world to watch the race live,
in real time, on Google Earth. Along with this we run a live scoring system which allows the viewer to see how the positions
are changing during the race so Paragliding races are now a spectator sport.
Hopefully you now know a bit more about how our sport works - feel free to have a look around the website and try out the
Live Tracking during a World Cup Event.