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15.6 HARE AND HOUNDS (HNH)
15.6.1 Competitors will follow a hare balloon and attempt to achieve a mark close to a target displayed by the hare no more than two meters upwind of the basket after landing.
15.6.2 Task data:
a. description of the hare balloon
b. intended flight duration of the hare balloon
15.6.3 The result is the distance from the mark to the target. Smallest result is best.
15.6.4 Variation from intended flight duration of the hare shall not be ground for complaint.
15.6.5 The hare may deflate after landing and may be removed from the field.
15.6.6 The hare may display a banner hanging below his basket. No competitor shall display any banner hanging below the basket during this task.
Breakdown
Breakdown
A Hare and Hounds involves a designated balloon taking off and setting a target at their landing point. Typically, this balloon launches from the same field as the competitors. It can be tricky, because the hare balloon is then located inside of the task scoring area.
It is very helpful when the wind conditions are not predictable, because the hare balloon cannot go where the wind does not take them. The hare balloon cannot score in this task.
A common joke in ballooning is the phrase "Hostile Hare", describing a pilot trying to make it as hard as possible for competitors to score.
The picture on the left is a picture I took from the basket of a hare balloon at an event in 2023.
Task Data Description
Task Data Description
Task Data
description of the hare balloon
This tells the pilots how to identify the hare balloon. Often, it is distributed as a photo either on the task sheet or on paper during briefing. Ballooning is also a small enough sport that pilots often know balloons by their pilot's name.
intended flight duration of the hare balloon
This gives pilots an idea of how long the flight is going to be, but also gives the hare some basis for setting the target. This prevents the hare from flying for an absurd amount of time, although the flight duration is not grounds for an official complaint.
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