Bryan Moore broke the New Zealand paragliding cross country record on 7 December with a flight of 152.1km
Bryan flew from Treble Cone with fellow pilot Pete Groves, the pair on matching Nova Mentor 3 Lights and identical Sup’Air harnesses, even the same flying weight. Although their flights were pretty similar, as you can see on their Leonardo records, only Bryan broke Grant Middendorf’s existing record of 142.1km.
Tim Percival of the New Zealand Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association (NZHGPA) explains:
What the NZHGPA counts as our NZ open distance record is the maximum straight line distance of the flight.
The best three straight line distances (which we count as ‘open distance’) achieved by a paraglider in NZ are now:
1. Bryan Moore, Treble Cone, 7-Dec-2014, 152.1 km
2. Peter Groves, Treble Cone, 7-Dec-2014, 143.6 km
3. Grant Middendorf, Waiorau, 17-Oct-2005, 142.4 km
From the flying of Sunday, 7 December, only Bryan Moore achieved a NZ PG record. Peter Groves did better the old distance (142.4km), but Peter was flying slightly behind Bryan, so no, Peter couldn’t claim a “temporary” five minute record or anything like that. But he did better the old distance, so now has the claim to the second best NZ open distance PG flight.
An interesting comparison is that the NZ Hang Gliding record set by John Smith last December is 177.7km.
You can study Bryan’s flight on Leonardo, and relive some of what the day had to offer on Doarama, thanks to sailplane pilot Louis Tapper who was flying with the pair that day, and who also took the photograph above.
Bryan’s flight on Leonardo
Pete’s flight on Leonardo
New Zealand paragliding national records
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