Sixteen gliders completed the record task - a 388 kilometre flight from Forbes to Manilla, a town 40km north of Tamworth.

Previously, the longest task in a hang gliding competition was a 368km journey from Forbes to Walgett, set during the 2016 Forbes Flatlands Hang Gliding Championships.

Ollie Chittty, the first pilot to complete the record-breaking task, said he beat his own personal record for distance during the flight.

Pilot Jonny Durand said that approximately 30 per cent of the pilots had their longest flight during this task, even if they did not make it to the end destination.

Mr Durand said the weather in and around Forbes is amazing and is what attracts so many international pilots to the event.

This is the biggest competition on the Australian circuit and plays host to many of the worlds best pilots who travel far to fly in what is considered one of the best competitions, Mr Durand said.

Retrieve driver Nardeen Hayden said only one day out of the whole competition had been cancelled due to bad weather which included strong winds.

Mrs Hayden said both the conditions and location have been helpful for long distance hang gliding.

We set the record and we broke it, which reflects positively on the competition, Mrs Hayden said.

Competition organiser Lizzy Nevins said apart from the bad weather on Saturday, December 30 conditions have been ideal for long distance hang gliding.

The Forbes Flatlands Hang Gliding Championships are split into two separate classes which are the open class and the sports class.

Wednesday, January 3 marked the end of the fifth task and day five of the competition.

Australian Rory Duncan was leading the open class with an overall score of 4051 points.

Leading in the sports class at the end of the fifth task was Australian Timothy Leed with 3101 points overall.

The winners of the open and sports classes may change depending on the results of the last three tasks of the competition.

The 24th Forbes Flatlands championship end on Friday.