It has been a long year of very little competition flying on account of my early departure from the world championships in Italy. For those of you wondering: I left Feltre after the first task on account of my mother who ended up in ICU for a month. To cut a long story short, mom survived against all odds albeit with a few more battle scars. The life force runs strong in the Rainsford genes.
We are in Aguas da Prata to fly Pico do Gaviao which quite possibly has the most impressive launch setup of any site I have visited anywhere in the world. There are launch areas for any wind direction with a coffee shop, cooled water fountain, serviced ablutions, ample shade, and souvenir shop with easy chairs and mobile phone charge lockers. Auguas da Prata is located in the state of Sao Paulo some 200km+ north of Sao Paulo. The population is around eight thousand which makes for a fairly quaint atmosphere when combined with brazilian hospitality.
Two days of practice in sublime conditions with cloudbase above three thousand meters eased us into the friendly environment of tree clad rolling hills. It is drier this time of year and the expectation is that we will fly every day. This is in stark contrast to our previous visit to the area some years ago when we sat in the rain in Pocos do Caldas for ten days.
photo: Stephan Kruger (South Africa)
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