Lone Woman Takes on World's Top Men in NZ Grand Prix

[Victoria Murray-Orr]

Current women's world gliding champion Mette Pedersen
of Denmark, will take on the might of the world's top
male pilots as the sole female contestant in the New
Zealand Gliding Grand Prix in Omarama from 21-27 January.
This is the first time a female has competed directly
against men at this high level of international competition.

At age just 28, Ms Pedersen will not only be the only
female pilot but also the youngest competitor. She
will compete against the current men's world champion,
John Coutts (NZE) and the number one ranked pilot in
the world, Sebastian Kawa from Poland as well as national
and former world champions from France, Italy, Germany,
UK, USA and Australia.

Ms Pedersen said being the only woman invited to the
Grand Prix was a great honour and the event promised
to be very challenging.

'Flying this competition will be a huge challenge,
primarily because of the level and experience of the
other competitors,' she said. 'I've never been able
to turn down a challenge, no matter how bad the odds
are! The only way to improve is to compete against
pilots better than you. Being a girl in a man's world
is always special and you very rarely see girls at
these high level competitions; sometimes you're welcomed
and sometimes not so much! Physically there is nothing
limiting me to performing as well as the men but my
primary goal for the event is to learn from the other
pilots and my own mistakes, thereby improving day by
day.'

Ms Pedersen has been a glider pilot for 15 years, flying
out of her home-town of Billund in Denmark. Her drive
and determination to succeed is demonstrated by her
approach to the sport. Lack of professional coaching
in gliding means she draws on other sports for guidance
and is the only competitor to work with a sports psychologist
to analyse her strategies and harness the power of
the mind. With a BSc in chemical engineering, she has
left the laboratory and spends her time flight training,
competing or instructing young pilots at her flying
club.

The New Zealand Gliding Grand Prix takes place in Omarama,
North Otago from 21-27 January with the final three
days of the event open to the public. As well as the
high speed racing, spectators will enjoy aerobatic
displays and a host of on-ground entertainment. For
more information and tickets, visit www.g06.com or
www.ticketek.co.nz.

[stephanevdv]

Please check your sources!

"This is the first time a female has competed directly against men at
this high level of international competition."

Hanna Reitsch represented Germany at the World Championships at
Madrid-Cuatro Vientos in 1952. She finished third in the two-seater
category (Kranich III) with Lisbeth Häfner as passenger. At Saint-Yan
in 1956, she finished 8th in the single-seater class (Zugvogel II). She
was also selected for the 1958 championships at Leszno, but Poland
refused her a visa.

[Mal]

More like check the URL

ROFL

> more information and tickets, visit www.g06.com or

[Bruce Hoult]

In article . com>,
"stephanevdv" > wrote:

> Please check your sources!
>
> "This is the first time a female has competed directly against men at
> this high level of international competition."
>
> Hanna Reitsch represented Germany at the World Championships at
> Madrid-Cuatro Vientos in 1952. She finished third in the two-seater
> category (Kranich III) with Lisbeth Häfner as passenger. At Saint-Yan
> in 1956, she finished 8th in the single-seater class (Zugvogel II). She
> was also selected for the 1958 championships at Leszno, but Poland
> refused her a visa.

What makes this misinformation more shocking is that I well recall Janet
Hider Smith competing in the Worlds at the very same airfield in 1995.
Look at place #36 in standard class, as Janet Janowitsch.

See my newsgroup scoring posts at the time, e.g.:

http://www.aerobatics.ws/WORLD_95/results_sum.html

Bruce

--
Bruce | 41.1670S | \ spoken | -+-
Hoult | 174.8263E | /\ here. | ----------O----------

[W.J. \(Bill\) Dean \(U.K.\).]

John Coutts is not THE world champion, he is ONE OF THE current world
champions. Have you ever heard of Andy Davis for instance?

W.J. (Bill) Dean (U.K.).
Remove "ic" to reply.

>
> "Victoria Murray-Orr" > wrote in
> message ...
>
> Current women's world gliding champion Mette Pedersen
> of Denmark, will take on the might of the world's top
> male pilots as the sole female contestant in the New
> Zealand Gliding Grand Prix in Omarama from 21-27 January.
> This is the first time a female has competed directly
> against men at this high level of international competition.
>
> At age just 28, Ms Pedersen will not only be the only
> female pilot but also the youngest competitor. She
> will compete against the current men's world champion,
> John Coutts (NZE) and the number one ranked pilot in
> the world, Sebastian Kawa from Poland as well as national
> and former world champions from France, Italy, Germany,
> UK, USA and Australia.
>
> <snip>
>

[Mal]

Looks like we are being spammed by a PR company that can get the facts
straight or post the proper URL

dropletmedia.co.nz

Dont suppose they could lend me that ASW 28 for the Nationals then get it
back over in time for the GP ?

[Mal]

should read can not

"Mal" > wrote in message
...
> Looks like we are being spammed by a PR company that can get the facts
> straight or post the proper URL
>
> dropletmedia.co.nz
>
> Dont suppose they could lend me that ASW 28 for the Nationals then get it
> back over in time for the GP ?
>

[2cernauta2]

The current and only Grand Prix World Champion is Sebastian Kawa.
It's his title, that is being challenged in NZ.
If I were him, I would be a little upset.

But, as a glider pilot, I am happy to see that a gliding competition
has hired a professional, aggressive PR agency. For this, I am ready
to accept some inaccuracies. Hope some paybacks will come for all of
us.

Aldo Cernezzi

[[email protected]]

Victoria Murray-Orr wrote:
> Current women's world gliding champion Mette Pedersen
> of Denmark, will take on the might of the world's top
> male pilots as the sole female contestant in the New
> Zealand Gliding Grand Prix in Omarama from 21-27 January.
> This is the first time a female has competed directly
> against men at this high level of international competition.
>
> At age just 28, Ms Pedersen will not only be the only
> female pilot but also the youngest competitor. She
> will compete against the current men's world champion,
> John Coutts (NZE) and the number one ranked pilot in
> the world, Sebastian Kawa from Poland as well as national
> and former world champions from France, Italy, Germany,
> UK, USA and Australia.
>
> Ms Pedersen said being the only woman invited to the
> Grand Prix was a great honour and the event promised
> to be very challenging.
>
> 'Flying this competition will be a huge challenge,
> primarily because of the level and experience of the
> other competitors,' she said. 'I've never been able
> to turn down a challenge, no matter how bad the odds
> are! The only way to improve is to compete against
> pilots better than you. Being a girl in a man's world
> is always special and you very rarely see girls at
> these high level competitions; sometimes you're welcomed
> and sometimes not so much! Physically there is nothing
> limiting me to performing as well as the men but my
> primary goal for the event is to learn from the other
> pilots and my own mistakes, thereby improving day by
> day.'
>
> Ms Pedersen has been a glider pilot for 15 years, flying
> out of her home-town of Billund in Denmark. Her drive
> and determination to succeed is demonstrated by her
> approach to the sport. Lack of professional coaching
> in gliding means she draws on other sports for guidance
> and is the only competitor to work with a sports psychologist
> to analyse her strategies and harness the power of
> the mind. With a BSc in chemical engineering, she has
> left the laboratory and spends her time flight training,
> competing or instructing young pilots at her flying
> club.
>
> The New Zealand Gliding Grand Prix takes place in Omarama,
> North Otago from 21-27 January with the final three
> days of the event open to the public. As well as the
> high speed racing, spectators will enjoy aerobatic
> displays and a host of on-ground entertainment. For
> more information and tickets, visit www.g06.com or
> www.ticketek.co.nz.

[[email protected]]

I'm at a loss to understand why the soaring community still makes the
destinction between men and, (not girls as noted above), but women
pilots. As Ms Pedersen points out, she is not physically limited from
doing as well as male pilots which suggests that the sailplane does not
know the gender of the pilot flying it. Clearly thermals, mountain
wave and other forms of lift don't know the difference. The only
qualification to fly at this level of compition should be having won
previous competitions. I don't understand why women don't see making a
gender distinction as condensending although I'm sure I'm about to be
so informed. Well, flame away folks!

[Soarin Again]

Maybe if she wins the FAI will eliminate future womens
world and national records. The glider has no idea
if the pilot points or sits.
Soarin

>I'm at a loss to understand why the soaring community
>still makes the
>destinction between men and, (not girls as noted above),
>but women
>pilots. As Ms Pedersen points out, she is not physically
>limited from
>doing as well as male pilots which suggests that the
>sailplane does not
>know the gender of the pilot flying it. Clearly thermals,
>mountain
>wave and other forms of lift don't know the difference.
> The only
>qualification to fly at this level of compition should
>be having won
>previous competitions. I don't understand why women
>don't see making a
>gender distinction as condensending although I'm sure
>I'm about to be
>so informed. Well, flame away folks!
>
>

[Victoria Murray-Orr]

Apologies for the typo on the url which should read
www.gp06.com.
Apologies also on the 'first woman to compete' statement.
This
information was supplied to us by a reliable source
and without having
European gliding records to hand down here in New Zealand
we were
unable to check this.

What we do hope to achieve by publicising the Grand
Prix and providing
interesting media stories, such as Mette's, surrounding
it is that gliding
will receive a higher profile, thereby attracting both
new pilots and
investment which can only be a positive result for
both the future of the
sport and its participants.


At 12:48 06 December 2005, Mal wrote:
>should read can not
>
>'Mal' wrote in message
...
>> Looks like we are being spammed by a PR company that
>>can get the
facts
>> straight or post the proper URL
>>
>> dropletmedia.co.nz
>>
>> Dont suppose they could lend me that ASW 28 for the
>>Nationals then
get it
>> back over in time for the GP ?
>>
>
>
>

[Bruce Hoult]

In article >,
Victoria Murray-Orr > wrote:

> Apologies also on the 'first woman to compete' statement. This
> information was supplied to us by a reliable source and without
> having European gliding records to hand down here in New Zealand we
> were unable to check this.

How about NZ records, from the same airfield, only ten years ago?

--
Bruce | 41.1670S | \ spoken | -+-
Hoult | 174.8263E | /\ here. | ----------O----------

[Jack]

wrote:
> I'm at a loss to understand why the soaring community still makes the
> destinction between men and...women pilots.

I agree that it is no longer appropriate. However, the current
holders of women's records may not agree.

I think the differentiation should not be made in the future.


Jack

[Tony Verhulst]

Mal wrote:
> should read can not

Yeah, we figured that out :-)

Tony V.

[Marc Ramsey]

Jack wrote:
> wrote:
>
>> I'm at a loss to understand why the soaring community still makes the
>> destinction between men and...women pilots.
>
>
> I agree that it is no longer appropriate. However, the current holders
> of women's records may not agree.
>
> I think the differentiation should not be made in the future.

I'm glad all of us *men* have decided what is appropriate for *women*.
Some things never change...

[Jack]

Marc Ramsey wrote:

> I'm glad all of us *men* have decided what is appropriate for *women*.
> Some things never change....

You're right, Marc.

Let's just ignore them.



Jack

[John Doe]

At 03:00 07 December 2005, Marc Ramsey wrote:
>I'm glad all of us *men* have decided what is appropriate
>for *women*.
>Some things never change...

Like the ever present overly PC Bridade...

JD

[Marc Ramsey]

John Doe wrote:
> At 03:00 07 December 2005, Marc Ramsey wrote:
>
>>I'm glad all of us *men* have decided what is appropriate
>>for *women*.
>>Some things never change...
>
>
> Like the ever present overly PC Bridade...

As you have so ably demonstrated...

[[email protected]]

Marc Ramsey wrote:
> John Doe wrote:
> > At 03:00 07 December 2005, Marc Ramsey wrote:
> >
> >>I'm glad all of us *men* have decided what is appropriate
> >>for *women*.
> >>Some things never change...
> >
> >
> > Like the ever present overly PC Bridade...
>
> As you have so ably demonstrated...

[[email protected]]

Geez Guys, all I did was to pose the questions. Actually I had hoped
some women would respond with their thoughts on the subject, after all,
it was really about them. My question to you fellows is, do you all
park your high horses in the same coral? Seeyou at the airport, Bill
Hill, (Zulu)