At the 2025 Parowan Soaring Camp, organized by the Auxiliary Powered Sailplane Association (ASA), I succeeded in defending last year’s win of the Pete Williams Trophy. In this article, I will examine the rules of this contest and take an analytical look at the flights that helped me secure this second win. In particular, I want to see what can be learned from these and other competitors’ flights and how pilots can “best play” at this particular contest. The lessons learned can also be used for improved task setting in 2026.
The Pete Williams Trophy
- Triangle Distance (based on the OLC triangle score)
- Distance Away from home (based on the OLC distance score)
- 2-Hour OLC Speed (based on the OLC Speed score over four legs), and
- Overall OLC Plus Score (based on 6 legs with bonus points for embedded triangle and distance)
2-Hour Speed Category
We’ll start with the 2-hour speed score which is taken straight from OLC. It is the only one of the four flight categories that never involves any time-based pro-rating irrespective of the duration of the flight. OLC automatically analyzes each flight and identifies the greatest 4-leg distance flown in exactly 2 flight hours without a loss in altitude. OLC reports the raw flying speed over these two flight hours, and it applies the glider handicap to calculate the 2-hour “Speed/League” score.
- Days with a strong tail wind (not uncommon in Parowan) provide excellent opportunities for achieving a good 2-hour speed score.
- To make effective use of the tail wind for the 2-hour speed score, one must fly for at least the full 2 hours with the wind at the tail.
- Of course it is important that the day also provides good soaring conditions (and not just a favorable tail wind). This was clearly the case.
- Russ: https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=10218804&f_map=.
- Clemens: https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=10218606&f_map=.
Congrats to Russ for showing how an outstanding speed score can be achieved by making full use of the available tail wind.
Triangle Category

- Use the available time of 6 hours (at least) to make the greatest possible triangle. As a rule of thumb it is a good idea to spend at least six full hours on the triangle.
- If six hours have lapsed since takeoff, land quickly after completing the triangle to avoid that the triangle distance gets pro-rated down. Both Anders and I successfully avoided penalization because we did not add empty miles beyond the 6 hours. Jim flew less than 6 hours, was not penalized, but did not make full use of the available time.
- Flying longer than 6 hours to make a bigger triangle does not hurt one’s score, provided that the average triangle speed does not suffer as a result. In fact, flying longer than 6 hours may be helpful because the “unproductive” time at the beginning (taking off and climbing out) and at the end (to descend and land) is on average the same for everyone, irrespective of the length of the flight overall. Longer flights (more than six hours) may actually be advantageous because as a percentage of overall flight time, more of the time can be used “productively” (e.g. to make a bigger triangle).
- Clemens: https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=10226389&f_map=
- Anders: https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=10227240&f_map=
- Jim: https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=10216164&f_map=
Distance Away from Home Category
On Day 10 of the meet, I succeeded in setting several new Utah State records with a declared 1001 km Out and Return flight from Parowan to Wyoming and Idaho and back to to Parowan. (The furthest point from home was 510.9 km away and the six-leg OLC distance was 1090 km.) Although this was a very long flight with a duration of 8:40 hours (and therefore heavily pro-rated), it still earned me the greatest distance score of the meet. My average O&R Speed was 117.9 kph calculated over the entire duration of the flight from takeoff to landing (510.9 * 2 / 8.667 hours).
My 511 distance kms were pro-rated to an Adjusted Distance score of 354 points (511 * 6/8.66). As Distance Category Winner, this translated of course to 1000 Williams Trophy Points.
In second place was the duo of Bill Feiges and Michael Stieber (flying Bill’s Arcus M) who used the same day to fly 374km away from home. Their flight duration was 6:39 hours, which means the 374 km were adjusted to 337 points (374 * 6/6.65), which was good for 950 Williams Trophy Points. Their average O&R Speed was 112.5 kph (using the same calculation methodology: from takeoff to landing).
It’s important to note that making a much longer flight than anyone else that day was not the reason as to why I was able to win the Distance Category. Once the flight was 6 hours long, the only thing that mattered for the Williams Trophy was the greater average speed.
In third place that day was Chris Esselstyn with a 7:01 hour flight at an average O&R speed of 107.13 kph that took him 383 km from home. Pro-rated, this was good for 329 points (383 * 6/7.01) and translated to 928 Williams Trophy Points. This means, Bill & Michael scored more Williams Trophy Points that Chris despite flying a slightly shorter distance. Why? They did so at a higher average speed.
- For flights that last six hours or less, the winner is simply determined by who flies the greatest distance away from home.
- However, as is also the case when flying triangles, once a flight is 6 hours long (or longer), flying a greater distance ceases to be an advantage.
- One can still win the Distance Category (or the Triangle Category) with flights that are much longer than 6 hours, but to do so one must achieve a greater average speed (over the course of the entire flight from takeoff to landing), not a greater distance!
Important Note: based on the current rules, the best distance score can easily be achieved by flying a straight out flight and landing far away from home (instead of returning back to Parowan). Anyone who is willing to do this will not only score the greatest distance score but has a very good chance of winning the Williams Trophy outright! The advantage obtained from the distance score alone could easily be 500 Williams Trophy Points (if flying at the same average speed as the best Out and Return Flight). It would be nearly impossible to make this up in the three other categories combined! I will get back to this oddity in my critique of the current rules.
- Clemens: https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=10228268&f_map=
- Bill/Micheal: https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=10228147&f_map=
- Chris: https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=10228162&f_map=
OLC Plus Category
- The best tasks for an optimum OLC Plus score are in most cases the same as those for best FAI triangles. Ideally, the triangle should be configured in a way to have a point that is particularly far away from home. (I.e., it is best if the start/finish point is at one of the triangle’s corners and not along one of the legs.)
- As with all other tasks, average speed becomes really important once the flight lasts longer than 6 hours.
- Spending at least six hours on a good size triangle that can be flown fast will provide a great score. Adding extra miles after closing the triangle pays off only if these extra miles are flown at a significantly greater speed than the earlier part of the flight (because they normally won’t earn extra triangle bonus points or extra distance away from home bonus points).
- Out and Return tasks might also provide good overall OLC Plus scores but only if they make use of powerful energy lines that allow for especially fast flights. Jim successfully pursued a strategy of flying along the best energy lines to achieve such speeds, while still being able to generate a reasonably sized triangle.
- Jim: https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=10228177&f_map=
- Clemens: https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=10227235&f_map=
- Bob: https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=10228110&f_map=
Overall Results
Overall Lessons
Pilots who follow the following recommendations will improve their chances of scoring well in competing for the Williams Trophy:
- Fly on the best days of the contest. (You can take multiple rest days during the two weeks but don’t do so on days when conditions are particularly favorable to score highly in any of the 4 Categories).
- Each flight should be at least six hours long. In fact, it is best if you spend the full six hours “on task” – either flying a long Out&Return Flight, or a long Triangle Flight.
- Out and Returns are best suited to score well in the Distance Category and in the 2-hour Speed Category. Use days with a substantial tail wind along the best energy lines to obtain a good speed score. To do so, fly at least two full hours with the wind at your tail.
- Big triangles are best suited to score well in the Triangle and in the OLC+ Category.
- Land immediately after completing your task (i.e. your Out and Return Flight, or your Triangle) provided that you have been flying for at least 6 hours. Adding extra miles after completing your task will rarely help and could even be very disadvantageous. The only score it could possibly improve is the OLC Plus score, and only if these extra miles are flown substantially faster than the prior part of the flight (because they won’t receive additional bonus points for triangle or distance). Any Triangle score or Distance score will suffer because the longer you’re up flying the more they will get pro-rated.
- There is no inherent disadvantage in flying Out and Returns or Triangles that last longer than six hours provided that your average speed will not suffer.
- Do not launch so early that “getting up and out” will take a long time. This is because the six hour flight time begins at takeoff and ends with the landing. If you spend an hour climbing out this will hurt your score substantially. Another way to put this is that the performance of every climb counts, even that of the very first climb after launch and before you are leaving on task.
Daily Task Setting
In 2025 we introduced an optional daily task intended to help pilots achieve good results for the Williams Trophy Contest. Tasks used the AAT (assigned turn area) format and were usually either Out and Return or Triangle tasks, making use of the best weather of the day as forecast by Skysight. Task minimum time was typically 5 hours. The minimum task distance was usually just under 500km so that lower performance gliders could make it around, and the maximum distance was typically in the range of 700-900 km so that high performance gliders would be able to spend 6 hours on task and not run out of space. To support these tasks we used the Local Competition feature on WeGlide which automatically scored the flights.
Pilots reported that this was a fun addition to the contest. Tasks were strictly optional. I.e. pilots were able to design their own flight route without limitation if they thought that would help them do better than the suggested task. Most pilots made use of the task on at least some of the days.
Based on the analysis in this article, the task format for 2026 can be slightly adjusted based on the following guidelines:
- Weather permitting, increase the minimum task distance to 5:30 hours and/or slightly increase the required task distance. This will help prevent early finishes and help pilots use the available time to achieve optimum Williams Trophy results. Pilots should be encouraged to spend at least 5:30 hours on task to minimize the need for “empty miles” at the end to fill up the 6 hours.
- Use only use Out and Return and Triangle tasks unless the weather dictates otherwise.
- The best weather days should be used to declare triangle tasks. Weather permitting, there should be more triangle tasks than O&R tasks.
- O&R tasks are best used on days with a good tail wind (normally on the outbound leg to the NNE as the prevailing winds at Parowan are from the SSW) and strong energy/convergence lines. This will also help optimize the 2-hour speed score. The turn point needs to be far enough away from home that even the highest performing gliders can fly more than 2 hours with a tail wind.
- Continue to set big turn areas, generally with the maximum possible 50km turn radius. (The 50km max size limitation for turn areas on WeGlide is a bit problematic for O&R tasks because the difference between min and max task distance is only 200km. The min distance may be somewhat long for low performance gliders and the max distance possibly too short for high performance ones. For triangle tasks it is less of an issue because there are two turn areas to use for shortening/extending the flight.)
- Keep the Start/Finish as a ring with a 10km radius around Valentine Peak. This seems to work well and allows everyone to easily get a valid start and finish.
Review of the Williams Trophy Contest Format
Safety First
- The rule according to which flights of more than 6 hours are pro-rated is an effective tool to minimize pilot fatigue. It means that pilots don’t have to fly longer than six hours to score well.
- The six hour rule also discourages flights in marginal conditions early or late in the day. This is of particular relevance in Parowan because of very poor or non-existent land-out options in some parts of the task area.
- There is no pressure to fly every day or in marginal conditions because only the best 4 flights of each pilot count. In fact, it is possible to win the event even if one flies on four days only. Keith Essex proved this in 2018 when he only attended the event for a short time, flying exactly on four days, and winning the Williams Trophy. Why go to a flying even and only fly when the weather is good? Easy: the area around Parowan also offers tremendous sights to see on the ground: Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Grand Escalante Staircase, Lake Powell, the Tushar Mountains, just to name a few.
Longer Flights Can Still Lead to Success
Some have criticized the six hour rule, arguing that it all but eliminates 1000km or other long flights. This is not necessarily the case. Here’s why:
- Flying more than six hours is not a disadvantage if the extra flight time is used wisely (e.g. to achieve a bigger triangle or a greater Out and Return distance) and provided that the pilot is able to maintain a good average speed throughout the flight. E.g., if Pilot A flies a 1000km triangle and takes 8 hours to do so (from takeoff to landing), she will receive the same score as Pilot B who flies a 750km triangle in exactly six hours (also from takeoff to landing).
- Now assume that Pilots A and B each take 25 minutes to launch and climb before heading on task, and that each take 5 minutes to descend and land after completing their task. For simplicity, assume that no scoring distance at all is flown during these 30 minutes of launching and landing (25+5). This means Pilot A had 7:30 hours to fly the 1000km triangle, while Pilot B only had 5:30 hours to fly the 750 km triangle. Now calculate the average speed required: Pilot A had to achieve an average speed of 133 kph (1000/7.5), but Pilot B had to fly slightly faster at and average speed of 136.4 kph (750/5.5). Had Pilot A flown her triangle at the same average speed as Pilot B, she would have completed it 2.5% sooner, finishing the task in 7:19 hours instead of 7:30 hours and winning the day. In other words: because launching and landing takes the same time irrespective of the time spent on task, flying longer tasks (more than 6 hours) can be a slight advantage because one can actually fly a little slower to achieve the same score.
- Of course the small advantage of flying longer tasks has its limits. Starting or ending the flight in weaker conditions would quickly cause a disadvantage because the average attainable speed would quickly diminish.
The Quirks of Daily Optimizations
One peculiar and particular oddity of the Williams Trophy scoring format is the quirkiness of daily score-reruns due to optimizations. This can be very entertaining even though there’s nothing unfair or otherwise inherently wrong with it.
But consider: your score can go down throughout the contest! This is a logical consequence of the fact that only the best 4 days count, and that the best score in one category is determined by all flights flown during the entire event, and not just those flown on a particular contest day.
A simple example will illustrate this. Say Pilot A wins on each of the first four contest days. She will then have a preliminary score of 4000 Williams Trophy Points. On Day 5 she does not fly at all and Pilot B scores 20% higher than the best score of Pilot A in one of the 4 categories. Pilot A will lose 200 of her 1000 points for that category and will now only have 3800 points.
As you may expect, this feature of the scoring format leads to endless and often humorous discussions at daily pilot meetings, dinners, and breakfasts. Consider that it’s possible that a pilot may improve in rank in the standings even on a day they did not fly, simply because the scores of some other pilots were knocked down more than his own! How and why this happens can be exceedingly difficult to understand, let alone explain. It’s not wrong, it is just a consequence of the rules.
I see this as a fun albeit peculiar feature of the contest format. However, it would be nearly impossible to apply at a more competitive event where contestants would demand a detailed explanation of what is happening to their scores, day by day.
What About Straight Out Flights?
We have seen above that the current rules provide a powerful incentive to fly a straight out flight (landing someplace else) in order to maximize the Distance score. Doing so would provide a tremendous advantage and could easily result in winning the contest outright. The reason for this is that the entire outbound flight time would be used to maximize the distance score. If the pilot flies at the same average speed as the best scoring Out and Return flight, the Outbound flight would earn 1000 Williams Trophy Points and the best Out and Return flight would only earn 500. Days with a strong tailwind component on the outbound leg would amplify this advantage even further resulting in a possible point differential in this category of well over 500 points. Such a difference would be nearly impossible to make up in all the other three categories combined.
From a contest perspective, the only disadvantage of pursuing this strategy is that the pilot would likely forego the opportunity to compete on the following day. That’s because only flights that originate at Parowan count for the contest, and presumably the pilot would need (at least) the next day to return to Parowan. However, since only the best four flights count for the overall results, it would be a small price to pay during a two week event. Of course the real prize is the inconvenience and actual costs involved in buying another hotel room etc.
In my opinion, this rule oddity could (and perhaps should) be eliminated by counting the distance score twice for successful O&R flights. If the pilot would land elsewhere or use the engine to return back home, only the outbound leg would count. I think that this would be more appropriate in the context of a social meet where pilots are encouraged to be back at home, but it is a policy decision and can be made either way. At least pilots should know that this oddity currently exists.
The Real Limitations of the Williams Trophy Contest Format
Although attendees greatly enjoy the event there are some real issues associated with the scoring format, which would also not hold up in a more competitive setting.
- A better engine leads to a better score. That’s because the 6-hour rule is measured from takeoff to landing. If Glider A takes 15 minutes to launch and climb and Glider B only takes 10 minutes, this means that the pilot of Glider B has 5 extra minutes to score. 5 minutes does not sound like much, but it still amounts to 1.4% of the 6-hour time window (or 14 points on the daily 1000 point Williams Trophy Point scale). (This advantage is irrelevant for the 2-hour speed category, so the total advantage would be 42/4000 Williams Trophy Points or about 1% for the entire contest.)
- A rapid descent and landing improves the score. It doesn’t feel quite right that after finishing fast and high one must pull the spoilers and get on the ground quickly to avoid that one’s score gets discounted. It can also be problematic when one is incentivized to land quickly while other gliders are trying to do the same. The race really should be over when the finish line is reached and not continue throughout the landing procedure. In practice I have not seen this being a major problem but that’s mainly because no one takes the contest serious enough to worry about losing what might be 0.5-1% of the daily score. However, in a more competitive setting this would be a real issue.
- While the category scores for OLC Plus and 2-hour Speed correctly account for glider handicaps, the category scores for Triangle Distance and Distance Away from Home are based on raw distance flown and therefore do not. This creates a substantial disadvantage for pilots flying lower performance gliders because only two of their four category scores benefit from glider handicaps.
While these three issues are easy to recognize, they are unfortunately difficult to fix. The data used for scoring the contest are directly taken from a spreadsheet that OLC reports for flights from from a specific location, in this case Parowan.
The OLC location spreadsheet only reports Total OLC Plus Points, km flown (based on 6 legs), FAI km flown in km, distance km flown in km, as well as start time and finish time of the flight. To solve the issues noted above, additional data would be needed. OLC has more data available (e.g. bonus points awarded for triangles and distance away from home could be used in lieu of km flown to correctly account for glider handicaps in all 4 categories). However, unless OLC could be convinced to report additional information in spreadsheet format it is complicated and time consuming to obtain.
Using WeGlide instead of OLC as a data source currently does not solve this problem either. However, if there is more interest in a time-capped contest format in general, perhaps WeGlide would be willing to make the required additional data more easily available. What’s needed would be a location-based spreadsheet that reports for each flight: date, name, total points for the flight, O&R distance, FAI triangle distance, 2-hour Sprint score, as well as glider and glider handicap.
Even better would it be for WeGlide to build on their Local Competition format and perhaps develop a new scoring format for a time-capped contest with multi-day automatic scoring that would eliminate any manual scoring requirements. Just asking for a friend 😉
Socializing
The Williams Trophy Format is great for socializing. The typical soaring day starts with a joint group breakfast at 7:30am followed by a pilot’s meeting at 9am. Then pilots ready their gliders and typically launch around 11 am and normally return by 6pm. Group dinner is normally at 7pm in the hangar and everyone has a chance to get enough sleep to go at it again the next day.
Days off are usually spent hiking or hanging out with your soaring friends.
The fact that there are far more pilots interested in joining the Parowan Camp than there is available space to accommodate them demonstrates the appeal and attractiveness of the format. Pilots are experienced XC pilots who are looking for a great soaring experience with friends, rather than for 2 weeks of hard core racing.
Parowan is not a substitute for the competitive racing circuit but an excellent complement. Many pilots I talked to wish that despite the quirks and shortcomings of the Williams Trophy there would be more events like it.