As the Australian spring - summer soaring season draws to a close, it's a good time to look at the pilot rankings in the Ingo Renner Cup, This competition was set up as a decentralised contest by Gliding Australia on the WeGlide platrorm.
Now in its third year, the Ingo Renner Cup runs from 1 October – 30 September each year and is divided into two seasons. The Spring - Summer season, 1 October – 31 March, has just concluded.
To be included in the contest, all that pilots need to do is upload a flight to WeGlide and the flight will be automatically included in the rankings. The points from the three highest scoring flights flown by each pilot will be added together. The pilot with the highest total score will be ranked in 1st place, and so on.
There were approximately 442 Australian pilots who uploaded flights to WeGlide from October through March. Rankings are given for overall best score and also divided into the various classes - Open, 18m, 15m, Standard, Club, 2 Seat, Juniors and Women. Depending on the glider you are flying, your flight will automatically be scored in the appropriate class. For 15m gliders, there is a handicap number cutoff. All gliders less than 1.06 are in Club Class, and those ranked 1.07 and higher are in 15m Class. However, some overlap exists, with some pilots scored in both classes.
Many formal competition pilots find the experience of flying in all weather conditions, competing against top class pilots, deeply satisfying. But decentralised contests offer an interesting challenge, testing your skills against your personal best and other pilots who have flown from the same site, or even just the same state or country and day. There is the added challenge of reading the weather and being at the right airfield on the best day. It is a great way to improve your performance without having to fly on low, blue, windy days - unless you choose to.
The normal WeGlide scoring system is based on a combination of distance flown, speed with extra points given for the size and shape of the triangle flown and number of turning points, with six being the maximum.
The Ingo Renner Cup rules score four legs and there are other differences as well. You can see the scores for the IRC by clicking the Rank icon on the left of the WeGlide page, then the National tab, and finally the IRC tab.
The winners of the IRC won’t be known until 30 September this year. So for those pilots who are able to, there is still time to beat your best result from the summer season and move up the table.
See the top results in each class below.
Full results at weglide.org/ranking/au
Ingo Renner Cup Overall Results
1 October 2023 - 31 March 2024
1 Norm Bloch Beverley SC 3,237.62
2 Lumpy Paterson Tocumwal SC 2,920.93
3 Karsten Bojesen Beverley SC 2,558.62
4 Ryan Driscoll GCV Benalla 2,372.88
5 Tobias Geiger GCV Benalla 2,326.29
6 Robert Nicholls GCV Benalla 2,295.21
7 Grant Heaney Tocumwal SC 2,291.32
8 Jorgen Thomsen Tocumwal SC 2,242.15
9 Allan Gartland Beverley SC 2,220.05
10 Makoto Ichikawa Temora GC 2,185.96
442 Competitors
Norm Bloch JS3 TJ 15m - Best Flight - 775 km 135 kph 1110.02 pts 2 Feb 24 Beverley
Lumpy Patterson JS3 18m - Best Flight - 902 km 118 kph 1091 pts 21 Dec 23 Tocumwal
Ingo Renner Cup 18m Class
1 Norm Bloch Beverley SC 3,176.03
2 Lumpy Paterson Tocumwal SC 2,920.93
3 Karsten Bojesen Beverley SC 2,558.62
4 Robert Nicholls GCV Benalla 2,295.21
5 Chris Runeckles Beverley SC 2,175.89
6 Richard Traill Melbourne GC 2,156.53
7 Ian de Ferranti Bathurst SC 2,104.16
8 Bruce Cowan GCV Benalla 1975.54
9 Allan Barnes Lake Keepit SC 1,913.83
10 John Grant Narrogin GC 1,904.98
115 Competitors
Karsten Bojesen Perenjori SCNW2 750 - Best Flight - 773 km 103 kph 1048.6 pts 12 Dec 23 Beverley
Robert Nicholls ASG29 E - Best Flight - 658 km 101 kph 892.73 pts 22 Dec 23 Benalla
Ingo Renner Cup Open Class
1 Ryan Driscoll GCV Benalla 2,372.88
2 Ojars Balodis GCV Benalla 1,779.84
3 Ashley Boyle Narrogin GC 1,751.28
4 Gerrit Kurstjens Darling Downs SC 1,596.04
5 Glenn Hawser Beverley SC 1,507.52
6 Christopher Thorpe Beaufort GC 1,461.98
7 Rolf Buelter Bendigo GC 1,439.65
8 Brink van Schalkwyk Balaklava GC 1,407.44
9 Michael Durrant Bendigo GC 1,238.30
10 Philip Ritchie Adelaide SC 1,183.94
32 Competitors
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Ryan Driscoll Nimbus 3T 25.5m - Best Flight - 861 km 105 kph 938.48 pts 22 Dec 23 Benalla
Ingo Renner Cup 15m Class
1 Tobias Geiger GCV Benalla 2,326.29
2 Daniel Summers GCV Benalla 2,104.86
3 Yunhai Wang Tocumwal SC 2,011.80
4 Chris Hostettler Tocumwal SC 1,958.68
5 Lumpy Paterson Tocumwal SC 1,911.54
6 Norm Bloch Beverley SC 1,908.46
7 Steve Trone Tocumwal SC 1,864.69
8 John Jurotte Bathurst SC 1,665.31
9 Sidney Dewey Beverley SC 1,654.97
10 Adam Woolley Kingaroy SC 1,637.45
91 Competitors
Tobias Geiger Ventus 2ax - Best Flight - 764 km 101 kph 893.82 pts 1 Jan 24 Benalla
Ingo Renner Cup Standard Class
1 Grant Heaney Tocumwal SC 2,291.32
2 Allan Gartland Beverley SC 2,220.05
3 Makoto Ichikawa Temora GC 2,163.81
4 Akemi Ichikawa Temora GC 1,906.83
5 Tim Causer Temora GC 1,737.49
6 Sophie Curio Kingaroy SC 1,737.13
7 Kengo Matsumoto GCV Benalla 1,681.95
8 John Hutcherson Beverley SC 1,656.21
9 Scott Lennon Temora GC 1,652.88
10 Geoff Overheu Beverley SC 1,553.19
117 Competitors
Grant Heaney Discus a - Best Flight - 707 km 109 kph 847.94 pts12 Feb 24 Tocumwal
Allan Gartland Discus a - Best Flight - 681 km 119 kph 859.82 pts 2 Feb 24 Beverley
Ingo Renner Cup Club Class
1 Ross McLernon Beverley SC 2,131.59
2 Bernie Sizer Tocumwal SC 1,969.17
3 Nathan Johnson Temora GC 1,855.38
4 Les Kinsley Temora GC 1,792.59
5 Tommy Kalsbeek Adelaide SC 1,651.80
6 Simon Marko Beverley SC 1,607.23
7 Juan Minan Beverley SSC 1,588.18
8 Stewart Mcvey Beverley SC 1,586.32
9 David Booth Bendigo GC 1,562.51
10 Geoff Wood Adelaide SC 1,544.36
139 Competitors
Ross McLernon Jantar Std 523 - Best Flight - km 85 kph 870.17 pts 17 Dec 23 Beverley
Ingo Renner Cup 2 Seat Class
1 Jorgen Thomsen Tocumwal SC 2,242.15
2 Lumpy Paterson Tocumwal SC 2,001.95
3 Leo Davies Lake Keepit SC 1,958.91
4 Yannick Bourdeau 1,620.40
5 David Jansen Kingaroy SC 1,600.12
6 Brian Rau Adelaide SC 1,590.23
7 Allan Barnes Lake Keepit SC 1,476.26
8 Mathias Kopp Lake Keepit SC 1,457.82
9 Keith Gateley Bathurst SC 1,436.44
10 Justin Smith Lake Keepit SC 1,399.53
141 Competitors
Jorgen Thomsen Arcus M - Best Flight - 749 km 111 kph 848.28 pts 12 Feb 24 Tocumwal
Ingo Renner Cup Women
1 Akemi Ichikawa Temora GC 1,906.83
2 Jenny Ganderton NT Soaring 1,772.04
3 Sophie Curio Kingaroy SC 1,755.02
4 Jo Davis Darling Downs SC 1,385.53
5 Lisa Trotter Kingaroy SC 1,375.39
6 Pam Kurstjens-Hawkins Darling Downs SC 1,302.76
7 Kerrie Claffey Bathurst SC 1,222.98
8 Ailsa McMillan GCV Benalla 1,213.02
9 Dominique Brassier Bathurst SC 1,170.89
10 Leonie Furze Temora GC 1,083.71
23 Competitors
Akemi Ichikawa LS8T Neo - Best Flight - 811km 99kph 729.77 pts 28 Dec 23 Temora
Jenny Ganderton ASK21- Best Flight - Mi 562 km 91 kph 832.95 pts 25 Feb 24 Bond Springs
Ingo Renner Cup Juniors
1 Kengo Matsumoto GCV Benalla 1,681.95
2 Ethan Blunt GCV Benalla 1,487.09
3 Peter Brunton Darling Downs SC 1,099.62
4 Noah Tanzen GCV Benalla 1,097.88
5 Ghazi Satriando Humaid Junior Lake Keepit SC 1,056.97
6 Kento Kojima 991.94
7 Aidan Curtis Kingaroy SC 924.60
8 Inaba Hiroto Adelaide University GC 666.21
9 Ryan Bell Southern Cross GC 597.61
10Tadhg Fitzpatrick Darling Downs SC 435.99
20 Competitors
Kengo Matsumoto LS7 wl - Best Flight - 603 km 83 kph 826.68 pts 1 Jan 24 Benalla
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