Kāeo’s Tom Kellner takes out national hang gliding title

The country’s top Open Class hang glider Tom Kellner from Kāeo, in the Far North.

‘‘Bouncing from cloud to cloud is just a sensational feeling - it’s the closest to flying like a bird that you can get.”

That’s what keeps Kāeo man Tom Kellner in the air hang gliding, a sport he loves and has brought him some success - winning the Open Class in the NZ Hang Gliding Championship in Murchison.

Running from January 16 to 25, the championships brought together the best hang gliders from New Zealand and Australia, with Kellner taking out the top position and trophy for the Open Class. This qualifies him to attend the Hang Gliding Worlds be held in in Ager, Spain, this June, as part of the NZ team.

Bernie Massey from Whangārei took the top spot for Rigid Class 5 event at the national champs. Sport class was won by Matthew Kerr from Wellington, and the Hang Gliding Club trophy was also won by Wellington.

Kāeo’s Tom Kellner and Bernie Massey from Whangārei who won the Open Class and Rigid Class 5 events respectively at the national champs in the South Island.

Kellner and Massey are both members of the Northland Hang Gliding and Paragliding club.

Kellner, who has been competing at hang gliding for eight years, can often be seen training off local sites in and around Totara North thanks to local farmers who support him and numerous other local pilots by providing these flying sites.

At the national champs top pilots from around NZ and Australia battled it out over five days of cross country flying with an average distance of 100 kilometres a day, speeds up to 110 kilometres an hour, and altitudes of up to 9500 feet. The competition involved pilots competing in daily races, requiring them to navigate a course in the least amount of time possible by flying a non-motorised hang glider.

The competition included three competing classes of Sport, Open and Rigid.

Kellner said he got into hang gliding as it looked like the closest you could get to flying like a bird, and so it had proven to be.

“It can be very frustrating at first as you don’t know much about understanding the air and winds and currents, and what you think will be a great day with great weather can just put you straight back on the ground very quickly,” he said.

“But when you get it together and get to fly it’s amazing. Bouncing from cloud to cloud is just a sensational feeling - it’s the closest to flying like a bird that you can get. It’s just the best.

Kāeo’s Tom Kellner, in foreground, competing at the NZ Hang Gliding Championship in Murchison, where he won the Open Class.

“And the scenery is just so beautiful from up there, especially in the South Island, it’s just stunning.”

He said the sense of freedom in the air was second to none.

“You can really feel [the wind beneath your wings] and it’s just sensational to be able to control how you fly ...”

Kellner said at times during the competition he was reaching speeds of 110km/h - something that would get you a speeding ticket on the roads - but that speed is part of the fun of flying for him.

“You average maybe 60km/h to 80km/h, with nothing else to hold you up and it’s pretty amazing really.”

He last competed in the world champs with the NZ Team in 2019, saying he didn’t do very well, but with much more experience under his wings, he’s confident of doing much better this year.