Duncan claims his third Forbes Flatlands championship

Newcastle’s Rory Duncan has claimed his third Forbes Flatlands hang gliding championship over five tasks. Thirty three pilots – from 10 nations including Australia – gathered in Forbes for eight days, with five days' flying. The winning pilot has been coming to Forbes for hang gliding since before he can remember - along with his dad who was flying the ultra-lights that tow pilots to the start for the Flatlands competition. But Duncan began competing himself at age 15 and has now flown Forbes about times and claimed the title three times. "The best thing about is Forbes is usually we have quite a lot of flyable days and good weather conditions for soaring," Duncan said. "Because it’s so flat and we’re using the ultralights to tow up it means that we can fly when it’s stronger wind and it doesn’t matter which way the wind’s blowing really ... When we fly from a mountain launch usually the wind would have to be certain way and certain strength." This year's windy conditions did provide some very variable competition conditions, but Duncan had more than 21 hours in the sky and covered about 1000km. Two other past champions of the competition, Hungarian Attila Bertok and another Australian Jon Durand, took out second and third with just 40 points between the top two. Both were daily winners of individual tasks, but Duncan’s consistency amassed points through the week - and while it looks relaxing up there he explains pilots are actually constantly assessing their surrounds during competition. "During a competition if you’re trying to have a good result you’re concentrating pretty hard – looking for that next thermal, trying to make sure you’re in the best part of the air to get along the course the fastest," he said. There are plenty of indicators of thermals so pilots are studying cumulus clouds, scanning the sky for wedge-tailed eagles or any sort of bird soaring, and the landscape for rising dust, dark paddocks or different terrain. "You’ve got a GPS that’s telling you where to go, you try and pick thermals that are in the right direction," Duncan explained. While there were three days where windy conditions kept the gliders grounded, the rest of the 2026 Forbes Flatlands week enabled a real mix of tasks over Forbes, Weddin, Hilltops and as far north as Tooraweenah. Task one saw the gliders attempting a more than 200 km triangular task tracking South towards Young, then West toward Barmedman, North towards Marsden and finally East towards goal near Glenelg, Bertok the winner of the day with 1000 points. Curt Warren led the way in Task 2, a 140 km task tracking South towards Stockinbingal, then North towards goal at Bribbaree. Durand led Task 3, a 240 km task tracking North towards Trangie, then North-East towards goal at Tooraweenah. Bertok was back in the lead for Task 4, a 180 km task tracking East towards Ungarie, then South towards goal at Ardlethan. The final day finished early with southerly winds stronger than anticipated but Bertok again topping the points. There were three days where windy conditions kept them grounded. The sports class was won by Stuart McElroy from Canberra, and the Emma Martin encouragement award presented to Daniel Rhodes from Western Australia who made his debut in the Forbes Flatlands and placed 12th overall. Competition organiser Vicki Cain, Moyes Delta Gliders, said it had been another really good competition with visiting pilots happy with a real mix of tasks. Vicky has again extended her thanks to Forbes Shire Council for their support as well as local businesses Bernardi’s, the Vandenberg Hotel, and Isabel’s Place. In exciting news, she’s also announced they would be returning to Forbes for another competition in March this year, this one more for “local” glider pilots. “The next comp is aimed at the beginner and intermediate pilots, to give them an introduction to Forbes,” Vicki said. “The conditions will be a bit milder – shouldn’t be as hot and shouldn’t be as thermic.” With entries capped at 30 pilots, with plans for three days of flying from Friday 13 to Sunday 16 March. It’s described as a fun and friendly cross-country competition for floater pilots, and a great introduction to XC flying for those entering their first competition. Duncan said it's a great opportunity for beginner to intermediate pilots interested in competing - a chance to develop those competition skills with the support of experienced pilots. Entries are open now on https://www.forbesflatlands.com/