Another successful British Winter Open wraps up with a win for Dylan Mansley
Task 4
Keen to race after the previous cancellation, the skies early morning looked great. But all was not as it seemed as the pilots launched under thick cloud for the 79km race starting at 13:15.
The route took the field across the valley to Zarzal, south past La Paila, north towards Obando and return to the Zarzal goal field.
Richard Meek low near Zarzal
Much of the field was put on the ground at Zarzal. The predominant theory being that an inversion layer caused the thermals to turn into a brisk southerly wind.
Those who survived the wind had to battle. under shade to the southern turn point, but as they passed Zarzal for the second time, the sky opened up, and they got high. The leaders took the northern turn point and were. able to scrape their way in. The following groups, despite their best effort,s were put on the ground between Obando and La Victoria.
Jerome Kagi (CHE) won the task, Jenny O’Neil was the first female, and Seb Ospina top Brit.
Day Seven, Task Five
With showers forecast for the mountains to the west and in the valley to the south, the tssk committee set a 67.5km zigzag task heading north.
The optimum start position was near the bridge on the Zazal – Roldanillo road. From there, they headed east and worked their way north to the goal at Obando airstrip.
Going into the day the top of the leaderboard had thirteen pilots vying for the top spot.
The racing was fast and furious, with many pilots pushing hard to try to take the task and the competition win. Ross Desmond (USA) crossed the line first in 1:28:20 and took the task win with 43 pilots within 2 minutes. Fellow American Jenny O’Neil was the first female. In the British category, Dylan Mansley and Seb Ospina crossed the line in a dead heat at 1:28:38, but Dylan took it on lead-out points.
Dylan Mansley, Seb Ospina and Richard Meek
Simon Steiner and the Swiss Team’s perspective on the final task of the British Winter Open
British Winter Open Roldanillo 2026 – Task 5: A Conciliatory End to a Marathon
With rain forecast for the finale, we flew a short 63km sprint. After a laborious start, I fought my way back and finished the intense Colombian season with a satisfied smile – just 35 seconds behind the winner.
The final day of the British Winter Open was dominated by the weather forecast. With rain predicted for the late afternoon, the task committee set a comparatively short task of 63 km. To allow the pilots to give a wide berth to potential rain cells, a huge start cylinder extending out to Zarzal was chosen.
Conditions at the beginning were tough. The thermals were wind-blown and broken, and it took a long time to really get positioned high. Accordingly, my start was not optimal; I crossed the line about 150 meters below cloud base, significantly lower than the lead gaggle.
A triple zigzag through the valley towards the north followed. In the first phase, I just couldn’t find a good rhythm. I often had to glide on low, and the hoped-for strong climb kept me waiting. But patience pays off: at the last turnpoint in the east, I finally caught the strong thermal I had been waiting for and was able to climb up to 2200 meters.
With this comfortable altitude, I was able to catch up with the leaders again. Tactically, things went perfectly from there: while the two lead groups deviated left and right from the ideal line, I was able to fly the optimised route and make up my deficit. The last few kilometres were relatively relaxed thanks to the group, as there were enough pilots below us marking the airmass. Into “End of Speed” (ESS), I took one or two safety turns and flew into Goal, satisfied.
Just how incredibly tight the level is here was shown by the clock: 43 pilots thundered across the line within just two minutes. I myself arrived just 35 seconds behind the winner. The livetracking initially lacked the lead-out points, which is why the final ranking washed me back from 13th to 32nd place – the laborious start had cost me valuable leading points. Nevertheless, I am super happy with today’s run, because finishing only 22 points behind the day’s winner was a top performance.
Season Conclusion
It was a conciliatory end here in Colombia. With 30 flying days in 40 days, the weather yield remained slightly below the high expectations for Roldanillo, but there were still some absolutely top days. The somewhat quieter weather phases also had their upside: they enabled me to fly five competitions in a row without being completely exhausted at the end.
Task 5 Results – Swiss Team
- Kevin PHILIPP (Enzo 3/Submarine) – 01:28:47 (980.4 pts)
- Simon STEINER (Enzo 3/Genie Race 5) – 01:28:55 (965.8 pts)
- Jérôme KÄGI (Icepeak X-One/Submarine) – 01:46:16 (816.9 pts)
- Lukas GAFNER (Sage/Strike 2) – 02:41:45 (388.5 pts)
Comp Overall – Swiss Team
- Kevin PHILIPP
- Simon STEINER
- Jérôme KÄGI
- Lukas GAFNER
Checkout the results at https://airtribune.com/bwo2026/results
Follow the racing at https://api.airtribune.com/
With thanks to British Competitions sponsors: FlySpain, Ozone, Flyeo, Aerofix, Cross Country Magazine