2025 - 61st Annual Hayward Air Rally - Course Information

The 61st Annual Hayward Air Rally was held May 31, 2025.  This year's event was a single day, single leg course ending at Sacramento McClellan Airport.

Congratulations to our 2025 winner:

Race 111  Michal Koenig

Special Awards:

• Masters Class - Race 24, Tim Ronan and Michael Saboff
• Red Baron (Adversity Award) - Race 20 (Jeff Zalewski - Coffee machine malfunction Saturday morning)
• Tail End Charlie - Race 17
• Best Fuel Score - Race 24 (0.44 gallon error)
• Best Time Score - Race 12, 24, 111 (1 second)
• Best Rookie (requires both crewmembers to be rookies) - Race 94

Rally statistics (16 competing aircraft):

• Course length - 240.6nm to timing line Hazel, 260.1nm to MCC
  
  
• Fastest on the course (to timing line Hazel) - Race 1, Socata Trinidad, 1:46:06, average speed 136.1 kts
• Slowest on the course (to timing line Hazel) - Race 5, Aerotrek A220, 2:56:18, average speed 81.9 kts
• Total flight time (to timing line Hazel) - 36:16:29
• Total distance flown (full course to timing line Hazel) - 3850 nm
• Average speed (to timing line Hazel) - 106.1 kts
  
  
• Least fuel used - Race 12, Vans RV-12, 13.1 gallons, 19.8 nm/gal
• Most fuel used - Race 1, Socata Trinidad, 32.7 gallons, 8.0 nm/gal
• Total AvGas pumped - 380.0 gallons
• Total distance flown (full course to MCC) - 4161 nm
• Average fuel efficiency - 11.0 nm/gal

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PDFs of the official results and rally materials are available below:

• Official Results
• Raw Data Results
• Checkpoint Answers
• Rally Course Handbook
• Sample Rally Scoresheet

Browse the 2025 Photo Gallery

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This year's rally course included:

• 1 Start Point (HWD)
• 3 Mandatory Checkpoints
• 1 Optional Bonus Checkpoint
• 1 Mandatory Timing Point
• 1 End Point (MCC)

The checkpoints, and therefore the course, change every year.  The required checkpoints which define the course are announced the day before the race (see the race schedule) at the briefing and are documented in the race book provided to each team.  The exact course flown is chosen by the pilot of each aircraft.  Remember, this is not a speed race, it is a proficiency event; accuracy counts.

So that prospective racers can get better idea of the materials provided during the briefing, a PDF copy of the 2025 Race Book is available for download here.

Checkpoints are to be overflown by Rally aircraft. Each checkpoint can be adequately identified from the air and a multiple choice question must be answered to prove that you properly identified each checkpoint. The answers to the 2025 checkpoint questions are here.

The mandatory airborne timing point at Checkpoint Hazel is overflown and Rally officials on the ground record the time overhead the timing line.  In 2023 we used custom built ADS-B data loggers (we call it the RallyAware, based on the PiAware project) to more precise calculate timing line crossings based on aircraft-generated position reports.

The 2025 course is described here to provide an example only, the 2026 course will be different, and will not be announced until shortly before the race during the briefing.

The 2025 course included the following checkpoints and stops:

• Hayward (HWD) - Rally Start
• Oakley (N 37º 59.9' W 121º 38.1')
• Football Field (N 37º 47.6' W 121º 12.5')
• Windmill Farm near San Luis Reservoir
• Obstruction near Chowchilla
• Knights Ferry (N 37º 49.2' W 120º 39.8')
• Amador County Airport (JAQ)
• Checkpoint Hazel Timing at Cameron Park (O61)
  
• Sacramento McClellan (MCC) -  Land, Fuel

The planned 2025 course:



Actual routes flown by the racers:
(missing data for some tracks near CP4)



Race 4 at the timing line. The perspective is misleading - They're actually still 13 seconds from the timing line abeam the threshold line!