Mark your calendars for the Gatineau Gliding Club (GGC) Mayfly Soaring Contest from Friday May 23 to Monday May 26, 2025. 

The MayFly contest is a great opportunity for new cross-country pilots to get competition experience in a relaxed environment. The MayFly contest attract 20 to 25 pilots from Ontario and Quebec. The purposes of the MayFly contest are to :

  1. Introduce relatively new pilots to competition flying 
  2. Try out innovative competition procedures
  3. Maximize pilot enjoyment for new and experienced pilots alike

Pilots may elect to form teams with an experienced contest pilot assigned as a team leader. Team leaders will provide pre-flight strategy briefings, post-flight analysis and may oversee their team around the course. With both pilot experience and glider handicapping, anyone can win.

The minimum requirement for pilots to participate solo in the MayFly is a Bronze badge or a cross-country check-out including at least one off-field landing experience. 

A wide range of gliders are flown in this contest including Puchacz, Junior, ASW-24, Discus 2, ASW-20, SZD-55, Genesis and others. 

A BBQ dinner will be offered on Sunday May 18 to contest participants and club members.  

Schedule

View the 2024 schedule

The competition will be hosted by the Gatineau Gliding Club on the May long week-end, May 19 to 22, 2023 at the Pendleton Airport, Pendleton (NF3), Ontario.
The competition will be held over 4 days to increase chances of getting at least 2 valid competition days. The first contest day will be on Friday. However, because some pilots may not be able to arrive until Friday morning, it is intended that only a short task will be called and that take-offs will not begin before 1:30 pm. This will permit a thorough briefing on both contest and GGC procedures in the morning, followed by rigging and gridding of gliders. Mandatory Pilot Meeting: Friday May 19 (11:00 hrs GGC clubhouse)
Contest Days: May 19-22
Sausage Barbeque: Saturday May 20 (cost tbd)
Seminars: Daily topics/times “tbd”

On non-flying days, ground based tasks may be flown using the Condor soaring flight simulator. Trips to local avaition museums may also be organized. We are fortunate to have the NATIONAL AVIATION & SPACE MUSEUM as well as VINTAGE WINGS CANADAwithin a 30 minute drive of GGC.

DAILY SCHEDULE

In order to facilitate a timely launch and to maximize the available flying time in any given day, we ask that pilots and crew plan according to the following default daily schedule:

10:00 – Daily pilot meetings (rain or shine) in the clubhouse.
11:30 – Preposition along side of the grid
12:00 – On grid and ready to launch

If the weather forecast predicts a spectacular day, these times may be accelerated. The pilot briefing from the previous day will provide notice of any expected schedule changes.

Registration

View registration information

Please fill out the online registration (below) form with the requested information. By clicking the submit button of the online form you are attesting to the following:
1. You hold a license and medical that permits you to fly the registered glider in Canada.
2. Your glider is legal to fly in Canada.
3. Your parachute has been inspected and packed according to CAR’s.
4. Your glider carries a minimum $1,000,000 liability policy.
5. You will sign a legal release form before your first flight at GGC.

Register online HERE

On arrival at GGC go to the club house to pay fees, sign waiver form and pick up a contest kit. Contest kits include printed contest rules, a local map and turnpoints.
This year, there will be a bring your own food to barbeque on Saturday evening. Salad and dessert will be supplied at a nominal cost.
Since we have to order food supplies at least one week in advance, please reserve the number of salads/desserts on the online registration form now and avoid being disappointed. Don’t forget to reserve a salad/dessert for your hard-working crew!
Please let us know you are coming by registering online. 

CONTEST FEES

Registration Fee: $60 per pilot or team sharing one glider.
Tow fee (2000 ft): Standard GGC rate (see GGC fees page)
On-site Camping: No charge.

Lodging & directions

View lodging information

ONSITE CAMPING

An unlimited number of tent sites and a limited number of serviced trailer/motorhome sites are available at GGC. Please select this option on the registration form if you are planning to camp/trailer/motorhome at GGC.

BED & BREAKFAST

Local B&Bs (within 1/2 hour) are listed below:
O Genet Bed & Breakfast
Gite Le Boise
Au Bois Dormant
Gite La Galerie d’en Avant Bed & Breakfast

LOCAL INNS

Local Inns (within 1/2 hour) are listed below:
River Rock Inn

Contest rules

View rules

All competitors must officially REGISTER and sign the provided waiver forms.

All competitors will be required to have a GPS receiver and logger that will be used exclusively for flight evaluation. You must also have a working aviation radio and be wearing a parachute with up-to-date packing certification.

We will be using Modified Assigned Task (MAT) rules. All scoring is based on distance achieved during the allotted task time. A typical task will be three hours in duration. If overtime, your distance is pro-rated by the time limit. i.e. if you do 250 km in 2.5 hours but the time limit was 2:00, you get credit for 250 * 2 / 2.5 = 200 km -> 200 points at 1 point per km. You still get a 10% bonus is you don’t land-out.

Three specific courses are allowed to be flown during the allocated task time. Once you start a particular course, you must complete that course before starting the next or repeating the current course. You can elect to return to Pendleton and finish from any turnpoint. Multiple courses can be flown within the allocated task time.

  • Course #1 (46.4 km): Pendleton – Plantagenet – Fournier – Lemieux – Pendleton
  • Course #2 (82.7 km) – Pendleton – Windover – Maxville – Pendleton
  • Course #3 (112.6 km) – Pendleton – Hawkesbury(MSC) – Alexandria – Pendleton

Each turnpoint will use a 2km radius cylinder. The best fix in the 2km radius turnpoint zone will be used to score. Distances quoted below are to the centre of each turn point. A 10% distance bonus is awarded to pilots that return to Pendleton. All raw distance scores are multiplied by glider handicap and pilot skill handicap. Don’t worry, this will all be explained in the morning briefings with pictures. These rules may change during the contest at the discretion of the contest director, otherwise known as “Le Grand Fromage”.

All competitors will be handicapped according to experience level and by sailplane type. The most recently published SAC handicap list will be used for sailplane handicaps and can be found HERE.

For experience handicaps, experience hours refer to P1 pilot time, excluding time spent instructing. An experience handicap will apply to the calculated score as follows:

  • 0 to 200 hours — 100%
  • 201 to 500 hours — 80%
  • 501 to 1000 hours — 60%
  • over 1000 hours — 50%

Water ballast will not be permitted.

The initial pilots’ briefing will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, at the Pendleton Clubhouse and will include brief lectures on flying safety (thermalling, gaggling, lookouts) and off-airport landings in the local area. Subsequent pilots briefings will be held at 10:00 a.m. in the clubhouse.

To identify cars for retrieve purposes all competitors should tape their call signs on the rear or side window of their retrieve cars with white tape.

Within 5 km of the Pendleton airfield all circling must be to the left.

STARTING THE TASK

A pilot may start the task at any time after the start gate has been declared open by the start gate official on radio frequency 123.3. The start will be opened 15 minutes after the last competitor (not relights) has been launched.The start gate official will give warnings at appropriate intervals before the start is opened.

For scoring, a pilot’s task starts when his GNSS logger shows the last time he crosses an 5K radius centered on the Start W. turn point. The task may be started at any height above Pendleton.

The pilot must radio back his approximate start time to Pendleton Ground within 10 minutes of starting.

FINISHING THE TASK

A pilot finishes a task either when:

(1)The logger shows the first fix within the 1.0km finishing circle centered on the airport and he has at least 1,000’ agl of height at

that point; or,

(2) in the case of a rolling finish at the airport, the glider stops rolling.

Pilots must call Pendleton Ground on 123.3 when 5 km out, giving the contest number and arrival direction. The pilots must also advise ground of any rolling finishes. In all cases, special care must be taken to ensure that finishing gliders be extremely careful look for other glider traffic in the finish area.

After flying finishes, pilots must make a standard left hand circuit for landing on the active runway (or, with permission, on another clear runway).Please ensure adequate spacing between all landing aircraft.

As soon as possible after landing, fill out a landing card with the appropriate information and hand it and your flight recorder to the scorer or other person designated for accepting the information and downloading the data. Pilots who land out must telephone landing co-ordinates and turn points made as quickly possible to the organizers.

SCORING

In an effort to simplify the scoring as much as possible, we have set up the following system. Handicaps will be applied after the raw scores have been calculated.

1 point will be awarded for each kilometer flown.

Scores will be listed on an individual basis and on a team basis. To take into account the possibility of variations in team size, total team scores will be divided by the number of pilots in each team.

All awards will be based on handicapped scores. Awards will be given as follows:

  • Daily prize to the top pilot.
  • Overall prizes awarded to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners.
  • Overall prizes to the members of the top team.

Safety & flight operations

View safety and operations information

The Gatineau Gliding Club prides itself on maintaining an active, open, non-retaliatory safety culture.
Visiting pilots are encouraged to review our Safety Management Manual.

COMPETITION SAFETY

Competing pilots are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to fly with an ELT/PLB/SPOT and FLARM. The task area north of the Ottawa river is not heavily populated and transitions to large areas of boreal forest 10 km north of the river.
All competing pilots must attend the MANDATORY daily pilot/safety meetings at 10:00 AM in the GGC clubhouse. Safety briefings/reviews will also form part of this daily meeting.
Competing pilots that have never flown in a contest will be assigned a “mentor” pilot. Mentor pilot(s) will help their respective “mentee” establish safe contest airmanship/behaviors. 

GRIDDING & LAUNCHING

The initial launch position will be determined by lot.There will be a rotation of positions after day 1.

We will announce a Marshalling time and a Grid time at the briefing.The Marshalling time is the time by which we expect all gliders to be assembled along each side of the grid. The Grid time is when we want all gliders to be actually staged on the grid on the runway. Gliders which arrive at the start point after the announced marshalling time will be put at the back of the grid.

All gliders will be launched to 2,000’, generally upwind of the airport.The tow pilots will attempt to find thermals for competitors, but not go out of their way to do so.Pilots can release from tow at any time. Relights will be moved to the back of the grid and get new tows in the order of their landing.

PENDLETON FLIGHT & RUNWAY OPERATIONS

A wealth of information regarding daily Operational Flight Procedures at GGC is available to visiting pilot HERE.

Procedures specific to daily contest gridding/lanching/landing will be briefed at the daily pilots meeting.

Turnpoints & airspace

View the Pendleton contest area

The Pendleton contest area contains a number of airspace restrictions that will require the competitor to be constantly aware of his/her location with respect to class C, D, Restricted and US sovereign airspace. The three MayFly tasks have been designed to keep pilots in the class E airspace between Ottawa & Montreal. Severe penalties will be assessed to competitors that enter class C, D, Restricted or US sovereign airspace. Competitors are encouraged to help GGC maintain a professional relationship with the appropriate airspace controlling authorities.

CONDOR SIMULATOR SCENERY

Scenery files (formatted for use in the CONDOR soaring flight simulator) have been created to help visiting pilots become familiar with the Eastern Ontario flying area.
These sceneries can be accessed HERE.

TURNPOINTS & AIRSPACE

The official set of MayFly Turnpoints and Airspace (Pendleton, ON) are located at John Leibacher’s World Wide Soaring Turnpoint Exchange website. The latest release is dated 09 April 2013 and can be accessed HERE.

Please read the warnings and caveats that accompany these data files.

Contest team

View the 2024 team

Contest Director: Roger Hildesheim
Safety & Weather: Dan Daly
Scoring: tbd
Sausage Dinner: Mario Cwikla
Grid Operations Director: tbd

This year’s results

View 2024 results
NameSailplaneDistanceBonusScoring
Distance
Day 4:
score
Day 4:
rank
Total
score
Total
rank
Penalty
code
Doug Remoundos1-35
DH
119.6119.612114441
Rob RussellDiscus 2
BP
126.1126.19423472
Team PuchaczPuchacz
CZ
35.635.64643463
Pierre GavilletLAK-17A
PG
65.758.42562534
Dominique NormandASW-20B
1
76.37.683.94552275
Phil StangLS-4
84
67.367.36431576F
Gord LendrumPIK-20D
OP
071187
Team M7ASW-24
M7
071078
Mike McKayASG-29
M1
071069

Penalty codes
F: Low finish

Past results

2014
Last NameFirst NameSailplane TypeLettersDistanceBonus DistanceScoring DistancePenaltyDay ScoreDay RankTotal ScoreTotal RankPenalty CodeExperience Category
LarueSylvainLS-484272.827.3287.6021914321B
ForbesTimLS-1UB232.623.3255.9020923484B
GavilletPierreLAK-17APG297.629.8327.4017133583C
WilliamsRobASW-24M7184.918.5191.5016243992A
TwardowskiJarekSZD 5555195.419.5214.9016242837B
WerneburgUlliASW-20MZ291.329.1320.4014563095D
KnoerrRemiASW-20KB134.713.5148.2010772906B
WoodRayPW-5VS59.05.964.934482138FC
LacasseMartinASW-20RM18.00.018.001391979B
DuclosDanielPuchaczCZ0.00.00.0001010810B

Penalty Codes:
F: Low finish

2015
Last NameFirst NameSailplane TypeLettersDistanceBonus DistanceHandicapScoring DistancePenaltyDay ScoreRankExperience Category
LarueSylvainLS-484254.125.40.760279.5102021B
GavilletPierreLAK-17APG339.033.90.524352.601852C
WerneburgUlliASW-20MZ334.133.40.452367.2201463D
DalyDanSZD 552D229.923.00.564252.901434D
LangelaanWillemAntares 18SOX326.70.00.423319.101355B
BoutinKarlASW-20KB273.727.40.542301.1301336B
HildesheimRogerSZD 55AT257.725.80.470280.201327C
SudeykoRickASW-24M7166.316.60.940183.0501228B
JuergensenHansASW-20J3254.125.40.542259.4201219C
LacasseMartinASW-20RM183.918.40.722202.33011610D
AsselinJacquesDG-202YW194.019.40.752213.45011011C
ColeDavidSZD 55AF1253.70.00.564230.7508012D
TwardowskiJarekSZD 5555212.721.30.470233.5506013C
DuclosDanielPuchaczCZ27.40.01.03027.428014A
2016
Last NameFirst NameGliderGlider HandicapPilot HandicapTotal HandicapTaskRaw DistanceBonus DistanceScoring DistancePenaltyDay 3 TotalDay 2 TotalDay 1 TotalContest Total
McMahonPatrickLS-40.950.80.76009-Jan37.60.028.60.028.6214.9229.3472.8
BriauMarcASW-240.940.80.7521-2-3-4-5-2-3-4-5-2-3110.711.191.60.091.6174.3197.5463.3
BoutinKarlASW-200.9030.60.5421-8-9-5-2-3-4-5150.415.089.60.089.6118.3151.2359.1
GavilletPierreLAK-170.8730.60.5241-6-7-5-6-7-5-2174.517.5100.50.0100.5199.450.0350.0
Puchacz TeamPuchacz1.210.80.9681-2-3-4-5-2-3-4-589.69.095.40.095.4115.10.0210.5
LacasseMartinASW-200.9030.80.722DNC0.00.00.00.00.00.0178.5178.5
GoyettePaulASW-240.9410.94DNC0.00.00.00.00.0161.70.0161.7
2017
DateLast NameFirst NameSailplane TypeLettersDistanceBonus DistanceScoring DistancePenaltyDay ScoreDay RankTotal ScoreTotal RankPenalty Code
2017-05-20LacasseMartinASW-20RM182.918.3173.5811752202F
2017-05-20Team KBASW-20KB32.70.032.70186916
2017-05-20CadieuxEmmanuelASW-20BLPE288.328.8268.3014222321
2017-05-20WardMarkLS-484147.214.7161.9015412123
2017-05-20GavilletPierreLAK-17APG273.627.4251.5013232034
2017-05-20Team M7ASW-24M70.00.00.008888
2017-05-20ConnollyDavidLS-44B11.61.212.80127127
2017-05-20LendrumGordPIK-20DOP122.512.2134.7013141315
2017-05-19LacasseMartinASW-20RM130.813.1142.6010311031
2017-05-19Team KBASW-20KB135.813.6135.20733733
2017-05-19CadieuxEmmanuelASW-20BLPE179.918.0169.50902902
2017-05-19WardMarkLS-48460.60.060.60585585
2017-05-19GavilletPierreLAK-17APG144.214.4150.88714714T
2017-05-19Team M7ASW-24M70.00.00.006666
2017-05-19ConnollyDavidLS-44B0.00.00.006666
2017-05-19LendrumGordPIK-20DOP0.00.00.006666

Penalty Codes:
T: Turnpoint missed by > radius but <= penalty-radius
F: Low finish

2018
Last NameFirst NameSailplane TypeLettersDistancePenalty DistanceTotal DistancePenalty ScoreRankTotal ScoreTotal RankPenalty Code
GavilletPierreLAK-17APG251.325.1266.411611161
BoutinKarlASW-20KB152.615.3167.9912912
LendrumGordPIK-20DOP84.98.593.4912912
Team Puchacz
PuchaczCZ100.610.1110.7854854
DalyDanSZD 552D108.010.8118.7675675
NorthMikePIK-20DKM106.210.6116.8576576
AsselinJacquesDG-202YW134.313.467.2517517
GreggGordJantar std-2G261.80.061.8488488
Team IAK
Twin IIAK49.90.049.9469469
LazukSteveLS-48442.34.246.544104410
HildesheimRogerSZD 55AT0.00.001101111
2019
Last NameFirst NameSailplane TypeLettersDistancePenalty DistanceTotal DistancePenalty ScoreRankTotal ScoreTotal RankPenalty Code
BrochokiJanDG-300MS32.90.032.9321321
FaskinLeeASW-24WW37.23.740.9232232
GavilletPierreLAK-17APG46.24.650.8223223
GrantIanDiscus 2IN47.00.047.0223223
GreggGordonPIK-20DG222.20.022.2175175
WardMarkPIK-20DMK16.40.016.4136136
NorthMikePIK-20DKM22.30.022.3117117
McDonaldDan1-35JS9.80.09.8108108
DalyDanSZD 552D13.81.415.29999
BoutinKarlASW-20KB15.50.015.5810810
LendrumGordPIK-20DOP0.00.0011011

2023
Last NameFirst NameSailplane TypeLettersDistancePenalty DistanceTotal DistancePenalty ScoreRankTotal ScoreTotal RankPenalty Code
MillerJesseASW-20XC112.60.0112.68121891
StangPhilLS-4
77.67.885.38121852
SekIreneuszDiscus 2DD82.70.082.77741783
LendrumGordPIK-20DOP78.80.078.86161414
RamirezMauricioDG-300JR112.60.0112.610811405
GrantIanDiscus 2IN150.315.0132.16161326
GavilletPierreLAK-17APG139.914.0148.86551247
RemoundosDoug1-35DH21.50.021.522111138
BoutinKarlASW-20KB112.60.0112.65181059
SchraederCarstenASW-24ESG104.410.495.84399910
TeamPuchaczPuchaczJCZ0.00.00138711

BanasBogdanSZD 55KS51.50.051.529104912
NormandDominiqueASW-20B
35.20.035.219124213
EN