Hang Gliding Competitions Report 2009

The British Open Series this year started a Sports class for pilots new to serious competition and this proved very popular. With lectures on non-flying days, this provided an insight for new and more experienced pilots into what was going on. James Roy entered the Sports class and although his results didn’t live up to his high expectations, I believe he gained a lot of experience, enjoyed himself and will be back next year with a vengeance. Watch out.

• Steve Green crashed out of the Safety Committee and then hid away for the rest of the season.
• Grant Crossingham got lost, forgot to take half his equipment and still finished 4th.
• Bruce Kavanagh came 8th - probably not used to flying in British conditions.
• Tony Stephens managed a task victory in the first round which gave him 3rd overall.
• Tim King and Jamie Cannon also competed.

The British Nationals saw a reduced field of only 16 Brits in Ager, Northern Spain due to the perceived travel distances, but fortunately there were plenty of pilots from Russia, France, Spain, Columbia, Israel and the rest of the world.

Windy conditions and low inversions resulted in only 2 tasks being completed with the final day being canned with most pilots in the air. Sky Surfers achieved some impressive results:

• Bruce Kavanagh finished 2nd overall with his first ever task victory in the second task, not quite enough to regain the lead from Dave Shields.
• Tony Stephens finished 22nd overall after a poor 2nd task.
• Tim King competed in the rigid class but flying around the turn point cylinders doesn’t count so maybe I learned something.

Thanks to Tim Hudson for stepping in as new meethead and keeping us all entertained.

The pre-Europeans (also held in Ager) were run prior to the British Nationals and are a preparation for next years championship. Bruce Kavanagh finished 17th and Tony Stephens 24th.

The World Hang Gliding Championships were held in Larange, France. Included in the British team of 5 were Sky Surfers Bruce Kavanagh and Grant Crossingham. Bruce scored consistently and finished 26th overall. Grant battled with a turning glider but finished 32nd overall. The team position of 7th was a disappointment after the victory in 2007.

Back home in the UK, in the National XC league Bruce Kavanagh is presently in 2nd place with 632 points, leading Tony Stephens with 580 points in 3rd. Both are behind Malcolm Beard, (another local pilot but not a Sky Surfer) on 710 points. Flying a rigid wing, Sky Surfer Neville Almond is again leading the country with a 150-mile flight to Birkenhead and a 75-mile out and return flight around Berkshire giving a total of 905 points. Tim King is currently 7th with 220 points after a late purchase of an Atos VR.

In the UK Club League we are so far ahead of all other clubs that the score of 2439 points is more than twice that of 2nd place!

In all a successful year for our competition pilots in some very good competitions.

Tim King

Paragliding Competitions Report 2009

We entered a BCC team this year (now called the Airwave clubs challenge) and attended rounds in South Wales and the Malverns. Although we didn't make the final we explored some new sites.

Well done to all those Sky Surfers who flew XC this year; 3 Pilots reported XC's from Sky Surfing sites and 6 members flew from other club's hills.

Two of us entered the national XC league this year but between Jason Smith and myself we've covered 350km XC in 6 flights which puts the Sky Surfing club 20th out of 30 clubs nationwide. Not bad considering other clubs have up to six scoring pilots. Lets have more members entering flights next year!

Chris Jones