Queensland State Championship winners Sports Class John Buchanan, Matthew Scutter and Andrew Georgeson
By Mark Dalton
The Queensland State Comps were held this year at Kingaroy and consisted of five racing days out of six possible. It was great fun, presided over by the indefatigable Greg Schmidt, who continued as Competition Director of the Nationals, following on directly after the State event.
The weather was both interesting and challenging. Mainly blue, it delivered occasional cumulus and the best weather consistently in the Valley and on the ranges to the east. - not our usual play areas, but fun anyway. On several occasions, the pilots found themselves over the rather anxiety-making terrain to the northeast, with very few landing options.
On Task 4, both classes were sent north towards an AAT sector centred on Biggenden. As we approached the turnpoint, a gigantic black, glowering mass obliterating the whole area which, as we got closer, turned out to be a mixture of thunderstorm and smoke from the many bushfires in the area. The sun faded to a faint orange glow, and the air became turbulent and boiled with smoke and cloud.
The altimeter wound steadily down. A feeling of foreboding pervaded my senses as I willed the waypoint closer, which it stubbornly refused to do. It was like approaching the mountain of doom at Mordor in the ‘Lord of the Rings’, and so it was with great relief that I touched the circle and head south again! Unfortunately, that day ended prematurely for 4 pilots in Sports and 6 in Club, who all either physically landed out, usually at airfields, or were forced to start their engines, resulting in technical land outs.
Special mention should go to Christin Sondermann who, finding herself inexplicably low, selflessly decided to survey a previously little known 800m strip, called Lakewood Park on the east side of the Joh Bjelke-Petersen Dam. Not far south of Jason’s strip, it can easily be used for an aerotow retrieve. Thanks, Christin – I am sure this will be added to the waypoint database if it hasn’t been already. But back to the comp...
AATs in Both Classes
Gratifyingly, there weren’t many start games and we all tended to set off on task in a relatively orderly manner, although on one day, John Buchanan and one or two others cheated by getting into wave and starting at around 15,000 ft, much to the disgust of those less skilful pilots like me, looking up enviously from around 5,000 ft below.
Because of the uncertain weather on many days, three out of five tasks were Area Assigned Tasks (AATs) in both classes, which, like them or hate them, was the correct choice for the days they were used. All credit goes to the task setter Ray Stewart – with only a little interference from his friends! He even utilised the now famous ‘reverse wedge’, whereby the pilot flies into the thick end of the wedge, aiming for the turnpoint at the apex – a great technique for time soaks.
Competition throughout was fierce in both classes as well, but in the end Matt Scutter in Sports Class and Jo Davis in Club both dominated with five wins out of five for Matt and two wins and three seconds for Jo. It marked a fabulous effort by both pilots and well deserved wins.
Other notable mentions should go to Kim Houghton and Todd Edwards for their day wins and also Peter Slade and Aiden Curtis for their podium finishes on Tasks 5 and 3 respectively. Well done to all.
Like Old Times
Despite the rather low competitor numbers – 11 and 13 for Sports and Club respectively – the bar and dining areas were filled with happy people every night. It reminded me of old times, with much laughter and merriment late into the night. We needed two bar staff at times to cope with demand and everyone appeared to be enjoying themselves enormously.
All credit and thanks must go to the chefs in the kitchen for their superb meals each night (the beer can chicken was particularly good this year, I thought!), to the tuggies for their efficient launches, to Captain Schmidt for his commanding presence (‘LAND LOOOOONG!!’) and to the many other helpers without whom competitions like this would not be possible.
Special thanks are also owed to DDSC for the loan of the Pawnee and to Flight Scope Aviation for the loan of the Decathlon.
In spite of the various challenges we continue to face in the gliding movement, it is still a wonderful sport. Long may it last.
Queensland State Championships Results
Kingaroy 28 September - 3 October 2025
Sports CLASS
1 Matthew Scutter Kingaroy SC Diana 2 FES 4,442
2 John Buchanan Kingaroy SC AS 33 Es 18m 3,994
3 Andrew Georgeson Kingaroy SC Nimbus 4DM 3,931
Club Class
1 Jo Davis DDSC ASW 20c 3,965
2 Grant Heaney Tocumwal SC Discus a WL 3,644
3 Kim Houghton Kingaroy SC LS3 3,545
Full results at soaringspot.com tinyurl.com/QLDstate
Queensland State Championship winners Club Class Jo Davis with Grant Heaney
Club Class Nationals 2025
Kingaroy 5 - 11 October 2025
CLUB class
1 Sophie Curio Kingaroy SC LS4a WL 5,211
2 Grant Heaney Tocumwal SC Discus a WL 5,154
3 Bernie Sizer Tocumwal SC Pik 20B WL 5,087
Full results at soaringspot.com tinyurl.com/ClubNat25
IGC Pilot Rankings
The International Gliding Commission (IGC)IPilot Rankings have now been updated for all Australian state, national and WGC competitions for the 2024/25 season.
Australia has moved down 3 places to 10th most successful gliding nation with 968.7 point. The top scoring nation is Germany with 988 points.
Australia has four pilots in the World Top 100 and 546 ranked pilots in total.
James Nugent has climbed another 2 places since his win in Club Class at WGC Narromine to 7th in the World and Australia's top scoring pilot.
Adam Woolley has climbed a futher 10 places and now occupies 16th place.
Tobi Geiger is at 51st position down from 35th last season.
Matthew Scutter has slipped 4 places to take 52nd place.
Congratulations to all pilots.
IGC Statisitcs
Registered pilots: 13086
Championships: 2811
Competitions: 4977
All pilots who have entered an Australian State or National Championships will have an IGC ranking.
Full details can be found at igcrankings.fai.org
Congratulations to all pilots.
