Paragliding

Lion's Share

2012-03-05T01:43:00.009-06:00

Guess which side of this sign I managed to land and then estimate how long it took to scale the 10ft gate clipped in?The forecast for Saturday looked fantastic with moderate Southerly winds which are fairly rare in this part of the world. A bunch of us headed for the Dam and set Thabazimbi as a destination about 130km South of Hartbeespoort. What an absolute pleasure!!! The R11 felt like a

Valle Super Final Word

2012-02-08T02:15:00.004-06:00

Jack posted his opinion about the class debate on the forum half-way through the comp which was well received I believe. There has been a little pressure from several groups suggesting I say something too... Jack said it all in my opinion.The only tiny bit I would add relates to the deep resentment I have for ill considered decision making by bureaucratic neophytes who ingratiate themselves into

Valle Super Final - Final day

2012-02-04T14:47:00.003-06:00

A 79km task starting on Piano on to la Pila before a milk run under the convergence to B15 and back to B10 before finishing over the lake. Peter Neuenschwander has probably taken it from Jean-Marc and Charles. Petra will probably win the ladies from Seiko. All in all a fantastic competition. We are leaving early in the morning so this is my last opportunity to post a message. Thanks to

Valle Super Final - Task 8

2012-02-03T18:29:00.007-06:00

A grueling task of 120km was set. Starting 13km from B23 north east of launch back to la Pila with 50km out and return past Llana to the east and ending on B43 and Torres plus goal. I think UliP won it and handful couldn't finish after ESS. The start was really lovely with most of the field soaring up against the clouds well above base. The lead changed half a dozen times during the day and no

Valle Super Final - Task 7 after dark

2012-02-02T20:04:00.001-06:00

So!!! Turns out the Afro-Alaskan team from house 207 San Sebastian had some admin! Jack was the bugger who deployed on the wall spending 5 seconds under reserve. 'I threw it hard!' says the speed demon. BZ tested the stall recovery on the IP6 early on over Divisidero. 'Today is my day' said the man at breakfast. Never a truer word spoken in jest! Turns out the IP6 recovers well (if one

Valle Super Final - Task 7

2012-02-02T17:09:00.003-06:00

A proper Valle day with a decent task starting on Divisidera and then out to Aguila before Monarca via the crazy thermal area in the convergence. Then elefant and one more tp before ESS 5km from Torres. All looked good before a big gaggle went down on the way to the last tp before ESS. The survivors won the day. I elected to fly around the shadow that cut many short getting to goal 12 mins

Valle Super Final - Three days to go

2012-02-02T08:11:00.002-06:00

This morning is looking better/good. With luck we will fly a normal Rock 'n Roll Valle day!

Valle Super Final - Task 7 - Canned

2012-02-01T17:57:00.003-06:00

So after a little para-waiting the day was canned so we flew back to the lake which was a challenge in itself in conditions reminiscent of the task yesterday. There was much swapping of gliders going on with some fairly interesting comments. As luck would have it, it cleared beautifully after most pilots were on the ground. I met Olivier Nef yesterday and asked about stall recovery on the IP6.

Valle Super Final - Night Time Retrieve

2012-02-01T07:58:00.000-06:00

Valle Super Final - Niviuk rocks!

2012-02-01T07:57:00.001-06:00

Valle Super Final - Task 6

2012-02-01T07:44:00.002-06:00

A desperate day of grovelling around 82km. A ten km start on Llana and then onto b27 with a eleven km exit and return before B30 and home. The field split as early as Llana with a small group going along the ridge to the south and the rest returning to Penon... The former group was a little quicker but in the late after noon gloom we all needed one more thermal to complete the task. More than

Valle Super Final - New Day

2012-01-31T07:42:00.013-06:00

After a mellow rest day of you tube recreation, laundry and friendly debate ranging from politics to the greatest female vocalists and paragliding (of course) our household is ready to take on the day which is looking a whole lot more cheerful today!Updates: the story of Luca Donini's reserve ride would not settle down so I asked the great man directly. His English is infinitely better than my

Valle Super Final - Open Class Debate

2012-01-30T11:39:00.004-06:00

Looking at the responses to the 'Open Class for world cup' question it seems most agree open class is appropriate for world cup pilots and the reasons are well known.It would be really interesting to know why some of you disagree.

Valle Super Final - Thinking about Sunny Places

2012-01-30T09:58:00.005-06:00

In order to keep the mood up a little I have posted this picture of Porterville in December. We have had two or three pre-world cups there and it's time for the real event or even a super final.This pic was taken after a 100km O&R record attempt before the comp a month ago. The day started @ 11 am with a 28 km run to the start and I was on the ground before 3pm. On a good day you can fly until

Valle Super Final - Day 6 Cancelled

2012-01-30T09:15:00.001-06:00

Valle - Day 6

2012-01-30T08:24:00.005-06:00

Day 5 proved to be as expected in terms of points. The first place got almost 600 points. This has upset the leader board a little. Many were not happy about an extended glide counting this much, but in reality this result will be erased by the discard system. The scoring system seems to be working with some debate about parameters. We were under the impression that the last two days of

Valle Super Final - Translation

2012-01-29T19:17:00.003-06:00

Ok folks I found the google translation widget! Select language in the left column.Ok Leute, ich fand die google-Übersetzung Widget! Wählen Sie die Sprache in der linken Spalte.Ok j'ai trouvé les gens le widget Google Traduction! Sélectionnez la langue dans la colonne de gauche.Ok folkens Jeg fandt Google Oversæt widget! Vælg sprog i venstre kolonne.

Valle Super Final - day 5 - task 5

2012-01-29T17:23:00.001-06:00

Are they serious!? 74 km into the twin valleys of 'no-sun' and 'little-hope'. Don't get me wrong I am the ultimate optimist living a life of naive positivity, but even that version of me was unable to keep the field airborne. That we managed the start and two TPs was impressive enough, but not even the squadrons of little black raptors showing where the scant lift was saved any of us except for

Valle Super Final - Day 5 - Task 5

2012-01-29T16:26:00.000-06:00

Valle Super Final

2012-01-29T09:08:00.001-06:00

Murky morning

Valle Super Final - abbreviations

2012-01-29T08:50:00.000-06:00

As requested:TLC - Tender Loving CareTP - Turn PointCG - Cerro Gordo (local TP)P2P - pulley to pulley (too fast!)

Valle Super Final - Day 5 - Murky Morning

2012-01-29T08:08:00.002-06:00

Mmmmm... After several clear and crisp days we have a dull, dim and murky morning. Hopefully this means unstable upper air and the forecast about today being better than yesterday is true because I have no ballast to drop should it be one of those terrain inspection tour type tasks!Even though I know my methodology is statistically suspect, it is curious to see that my little informal opinion

Valle Super Final - Day 4 - Task 4

2012-01-28T22:31:00.010-06:00

My apologies for the late post, but after 114km of racing today I was in need of some TLC so I had a sports massage and early dinner with my house mates. What a day! A monster task that started @ 3700ASL & 14km from Llana, back to la Pila across town to some tp near Monarca then back to la Pila again before finishing ESS 7km radius across the lake with the normal safety tp at Torres and goal.

Valle Super Final - Day 3 - Morning thoughts

2012-01-28T07:55:00.002-06:00

Guess what? Ja, you got it, another perfect day.So I believe there has been hot debate on the forums about the new EN D class of wings. I don't know if the opinions expressed there are representative of the greater flying population on account of the fact that all the super final (mostly English speaking) pilots that I have quizzed here don't contribute much and many are skeptical or cynical or

Valle Super Final - Day 3 - Task 3 - Update

2012-01-27T21:51:00.000-06:00

A chaotic day now that all reports are in! Four reserve rides including NickG who flayed his glider through the trees and punctured himself in the process. Nothing too serious I believe (just a small thing really). YassenS also went down they say and there was some grumbling about the last tp which was CG but we had to take it in the lee of strong wind which spoilt it for a handful who could

Valle Super Final - Day 3 - Task 3

2012-01-27T17:36:00.002-06:00

So another peach of a day with 104km square of sorts starting on Maguey to Divisidero and then into the flats la Pila and across to Llanur and back to CG via another tp near Monarca.The start was very quick and the field was spread within minutes. I found myself in the lead in a strong line of lift with one other pilot on an Ozone (funny how many pilots here are called Enzo hey?).By the time we

Valle Super Final - Day 3 - Sunrise

2012-01-27T08:09:00.001-06:00

Another chilly morning with the promise of more good flying. Sky looks clearer than last two days..

Valle Super Final - Day 2 -Task 2 - Results

2012-01-26T21:22:00.005-06:00

Results are out. If the cumulative points look weird consider the 25% daily discard of the worst task... for example, look at my two scores: 975 & 927... take 50% of 927 = 463.5 and subtract that from my total (975 + 927 - 463,5 = 1437). So after four days we will subtract 100% of our worst task from the total. Got it?

Valle Super Final - Day 2 - task 2

2012-01-26T18:08:00.025-06:00

The day dawned with a chill in the air... again. I guess it is winter here after all. At any rate the variation today was the cirrus which induced the task committee to set a 91km task from Piano to Divisidero, Llano, Monarca, Cerro Gordo and eof SS 3km from Torres and then goal via the safety TP (Torres @ 400m). The drier air gave few clues about lift and the cirrus had little effect from

Valle Super Final - Gliders - which witch is worst?

2012-01-26T06:43:00.007-06:00

Everyone wants to know which glider is best and there are some truly bizarre theories floating on the forums. So here is my take on it: 1. You can't make any conclusions after one day of racing2. Most super final pilots don't need time to 'get into' these wings simply because the handling is by definition better than R10/11 and we are all flying the medium size with the notable exceptions of

Valle Super Final - Day 1 -Task 1

2012-01-25T17:41:00.010-06:00

Day 1 dawned with a slight chill in the air. Dramatic you may think but completely irrelevant because the flying is more or less the same everyday regardless of chill or wind or cloud or even the entrails of the possum roadkill on the way to launch in our taxi.An interesting TASK was set requiring some thought and decision making and several changes of pace.Start was an exit 5km from Piano with

Super Final Opening Ceremony

2012-01-24T21:42:00.001-06:00

Super Final Accommodation

2012-01-24T21:41:00.001-06:00

Room with a view. Sharing a house with BeeZee and Alaska Jack.

Super Final via JFK

2012-01-24T21:39:00.001-06:00

16 hours to New York before some de-icing and onwards to Mexico.

Valle Super Final -Practice day

2012-01-24T21:17:00.002-06:00

A 40km task in the convergence is hardly a chore nor challenge for this field, but the governor of Mexico City was to attend the opening ceremony at 17H30 sharp so the organisers set this screaming task In the convergence to Monarca and back to the lake which saw half the field disappear for prolonged periods of time alternately spiraling hard to try stay out of the clouds in order to finish the

Valle de Bravo - Paragliding World Cup Super Final

2012-01-23T22:24:00.005-06:00

For those of you not up to speed on paragliding current affairs, read this: The paragliding world cup super final is intended to be the ultimate competition whereby all the top in-form pilots in the world along with various 'legends' get together for an extended event to determine the world cup champion. Pilots qualified during the 2011 season by finishing in the top ten or fifteen places in

World Cup Super Final

2012-01-19T14:41:00.000-06:00

Time to see what these new serial gliders can do in Mexico!

Pete Prukl in concert

2011-07-12T02:17:00.001-05:00

Sent from my iPhone

Xavier & Nicholai

2011-07-08T13:42:00.001-05:00

World champs - Francisco & Eitel

2011-07-08T13:41:00.002-05:00

World Championships - cancelled!

2011-07-08T13:32:00.001-05:00

No surprises here! CIVL pulled the plug without really taking any notice of the plebeian pilot masses. I guess Andrew predicted it earliest but at least we have confirmation now: no more open class gliders in FAI I comps. Part of me is delighted because now the Paragliding World Cup will continue the tradition that Frankie Brown spelled out for us today: 'fourteen years of world cup hosting

World Championships - Sublime, Sad and Ridiculous

2011-07-08T05:06:00.004-05:00

It breaks my heart that Xavier is gone too. A black week for paragliding darkening rapidly by the condescending arrogance and total lack of leadership displayed by FAI representatives while Steve Ham gallantly tries to gain acceptance for a proposal designed to save what is left of this competition. Steve’s initiative started well enough but the mood has turned partly sour with fractious opinions

World Championships - Sober Thoughts

2011-07-07T05:44:00.003-05:00

Two fatalities and nine reserve deployments in two days. If you’re not here you probably think this place is seriously dangerous? You would be right and wrong because most would argue yesterday was a fairly benign day. One opinion asked what will happen in the next ten days if conditions become at all challenging as Piedrahita is known to be at times. Others are dismissive in the sense that

World Championships - Spain - Bad news

2011-07-06T13:35:00.000-05:00

Two fatalities: http://www.piedrahita2011.com/piedrahita2011/newsSent from my iPhone

World Championships - Spain - Day 2 - Task 2

2011-07-06T12:08:00.002-05:00

Conditions were not so good today 'they' said so we had to bumble around below take off height to get the remote turn point before a start in town and another turn point west before a run to Avila 50km to the east. Mixed success for SA. Andre fast, Russel fast but low, Henry and Khobi short. Five reserve deployments and two serious incidents. Henry: 'I'm sulking in a corner contemplating

World Champs - Spain - Day1 Task1

2011-07-06T01:52:00.002-05:00

And so we were off to a glorius albeit chaotic start with a 154km task set past Segovia in a substantial west wind. The SA men did reasonably well with Andre leading most of the way joined by Russel at the halfway mark only to be held up near the end. Henry romped home on the end of the first gaggle in the 30's with Russel and Andre in the 40's and 50's It was a relatively straight forward

World championships - Spain

2011-07-03T08:57:00.001-05:00

Braai time (barbecue for heathen) in Piedrahita to the sounds of Bob, Ramstein and Bueno Vista Club.

World champs - Salamanca touring

2011-07-02T07:48:00.000-05:00

World Championships - Training day two

2011-07-01T10:53:00.001-05:00

Strong westerly wind preceding a significant weather system had us punching into wind for and hour or two before landing with a lenticular backdrop to the south and cirrus to the west. Another good flying day with the rest of SA contingent arriving around midday. Probably no flying tomorrow with strong southerly predicted so we will probably tour Salamanca or Segovia which are spectacular.

World Championships - Piedrahita spain

2011-07-01T03:07:00.000-05:00

Here we are after 24hrs of relatively mellow travelling. The team this year is Russel, Henry, Khobi and I with Martin, Cyril and Jan along as the management team. The comp starts on Tuesday so lots of time to practice. We had a four hour day with the French team yesterday doing a 97km out and return to the west (el Barco) in relatively difficult conditions. All the usual suspects are

Worldcup Roldanillo Colombia .. Task Six

2011-01-22T08:12:00.000-06:00

and so the final day dawned with a higher base elevated the task committee to set a hundred kilometer triangular task. The task briefings have been entertaining with Luc Armant taking it upon himself to share pearls of wisdom with Ozone pilots everyday. The first lesson from the unlikely genius suggested that we should not use the brakes in the event of flying in rain until such time as the

Paragliding World Cup Roldanillo Colombia - Task 2, 3, 4 & 5

2011-01-20T18:07:00.000-06:00

We start really early, so not much opportunity to update the blog. Sincere apologies to our thousands of blog disciples! At least I have good news! RusselA is hot, hot, hot and on fire staring at a top 10-15 place going into the last day. Russel followed up on his solid start with a top ten finish on a six hour 120km marathon on day two with Pepe getting the furthest just 800m short. Day

Paragliding World Cup Roldanillo Colombia - Task 1

2011-01-16T18:32:00.000-06:00

The day dawned heavy and ominous, the sky pregnant and bereft of promise. Or so it seemed to my jet lagged aching body rudely awakened while the entire field was ferried up the hill at an ungodly hour of 7:30. .. and then they set a 120km task (90km nett)!! A couple of red bull shots delivered by a ‘bull babe’ and accompanied by a spanglish speech extolling the wing giving ability of the

Paragliding World Cup Roldanillo Colombia

2011-01-16T17:47:00.001-06:00

So Russel and I did the 36 hours with two big flights on the retro-fitted Iberian airline A340 (no personal tv on seat back) via Madrid to Perreira and finally Roldanillo arriving at 1 am local time totally broken. Roldanillo is rustic and rural with our accomdation best described as functional is somewhat noisy. Nightclubs and street bars are the order the night, but at least Russel’s

Super Final - Turkey - Day 10 task six

2010-10-01T14:31:00.000-05:00

An 80km back and forward story was set. It started really well and then the majority picked up the discard at the halfway mark with only one pilot getting around the windy last turn point before rollicking on down wind to goal. Bottom line is that the other 99% of the field picked up the discard they were carrying before today and that has determined the ranking. In short the French champion,

World cup super final - day 7 task six

2010-09-28T09:57:00.004-05:00

Lenticular Valley So we got onto the bus early to go to another launch 2hrs from Denizili. Awesome place! 1700m launch above a flat valley ringed by low hills forming a classic racing amphitheatre . Quote from Tamaga Sensei Nick Greece (see pic): 'the village has laid the red carpet out to gladitorial pilots of the world cup. It was difficult to utilise our ozone samurai swords as we were

Super Final - Turkey - Day six task Five

2010-09-27T23:35:00.000-05:00

More wind after a very relaxing rest day spent touring the Cleopatra mineral pool, the ancient ruins and Travertine pools of Pamukale. After some debate the task was revised to the NE goal some 60km away. We used the lower launch which proved to be really messy and side-on requiring multiple launch attempts from many pilots with the customary hoist-off-your-feet and flapping bundles of glider

Super Final - Turkey - Day four task four

2010-09-27T23:25:00.000-05:00

Another day of 10 - 15kt predicted wind so the task committee decided to test the hang gliding metaphor by setting a 107km task with half the distance into the wind. The resulting glide test saw a third of the field landing within a couple of km of one another at the 60km mark with Alex Hoffer winning the day. SA team still looking good.

Super Final - Turkey - Day three task three

2010-09-24T14:01:00.000-05:00

Another howling gale and then a task just before sunset. 63km crosswind task starting at 16H00 ande then 120 pilots flew to goal with the winner finising in 1hr 23min! Today is the first of two discard days so it will be very interesting to see the leader board. Russel got in top 5, Nev landed short and I was a minute behind the main group. Lead-out points will be interesting..

Super Final - Turkey - Day two task two (Updated)

2010-09-23T14:58:00.004-05:00

Sweet and Sour Turkey A howling gale on launch had us all huddled around the chai pot muttering about how long before they would call it off. Two hours later we launched and flew a 63km task in blistering pace of 41+km/h. Freaky man! I guess it was too much to ask given the luck of yesterday, but I was styling with 20km to go with a glide of 8 required and just when I was adding up the points

Super Final - Turkey - Day one task one (Updated)

2010-09-22T10:46:00.004-05:00

The day dawned breezy and chaotic with the normal first day of organisors confusion amplified by over eager pilots. A 71km round-about RACE was set which saw the lead change once or twice. A personal blunder of laughable proportions after the start proved to be fortuitous at the crux which gave my lag gaggle of 5 chasing pilots an advantage shortly before the 15km final glide where we took a

Practice day..

2010-09-21T08:11:00.001-05:00

All dressed up and no-where to fly. Sat on launch all day waiting for wind to come up the front. A few got off in the lee but did not look so good. A hand ful of test pilots were tying knots into their two line protos in the bushes which was comical. You can add axis and sol to the two line mix and we almost have a full compliment of 2 liners!Sent via my BlackBerry from Vodacom - let your

Paragliding World Cup Super Final - Denizili - Unofficial Practice Day

2010-09-20T15:51:00.003-05:00

The bus fetched us from our doorstep and took us to the top launch today which is around 1,500m+ ASL. The valley was heavily inverted far below. We eventually got off the gravel launch to climb to 3,000m+ which was where the second inversion ended. One or two guys reportedly got through that inversion to about 3,400mASL. With mellow thermals of around 2-3m/s everyone boated around until

Paragliding World Cup Super Final - Denizili

2010-09-20T14:08:00.005-05:00

Another Epic competition looms in the form of the super final. This is where every former world cup champion and all 'legends' get wild cards along with the top fifteen of each qualifying event during the year. There are three SA pilots attending: Nevil, Russel and I. Russel qualified in Brasil and Nevil got a wild card on account of his world record and I qualified in the US in August. Nevil has

Chelan - World cup

2010-07-20T22:16:00.001-05:00

Day two120km triangle. 3500m base with 8m/s thermals. Russel and I were with the lead gaggle that scored the first big climb that split the field at the 50km mark. The lead changed several times until the last leg where the lottery was in force. Josh took it from Russel Ogden by a few minutes. Russel in 8th Andre in 10th. Team SA lying second under the banner 'JPA' which is a world cup

World cup - Chelan

2010-07-20T21:50:00.001-05:00

The world cup circus is in town! The morning looked like it was totally blown out. We were watching the kite-boarding wondering if we could hire a sailboat for the day on the lake. In the end we flew the fast and furious 94km task in just under two hours and five thermals. Russel and I were in with the lead group with Theuns in a while later. A fair start to the comp for the Sud Afrique

US Nationals - Chelan Final Day

2010-07-16T12:31:00.002-05:00

The final day dawned with many pilots feeling the effects of the epic triangle the day before. Some flew for more than six hours and many were recovered late (around 10pm). Clear skies and the sight of dust devils kicking off in the distance early on made for high expectations of a great task. A 60 km cross-down leg race was set, but the BIG problem was getting

US Nationals - Chelan Task 4

2010-07-14T22:26:00.001-05:00

Another awesome day! Less wind gave us the opportunity to do a 104km triangle. With a lower base and variable local winds, it took a couple of gritty climbs in a dust devil or two to get to goal on time. All the same faces at goal with one exception in Josh who landed short.

US nationals Chelan

2010-07-14T22:08:00.001-05:00

Day three - the day dawned frigid and breezy, before settling down with cu's popping horizon to horizon. They managed to set a 104km task despite the day looking like a 'hundred miler'. It would appear that people are concerned about the cost of recovery which blows my mind given that we had a rest day yesterday and the next few days should be suitable for triangles. Whatever the case, we lost

Chelan USA - US Nationals

2010-07-12T10:46:00.002-05:00

So we got onto this big-ass airplane called an A380 which takes hours to load because there were almost 800 passengers. I am not sure how the thing actually gets airborne, but it did and then we were offered Poullet or Bouef which is somehow tastier than the Chicken or Beef option on other airlines. I guess it had something to do with the french accent and flashing false eye-lashes. I was

Chelan USA

2010-07-06T05:47:00.001-05:00

Here we come America! Off to the states for the US nationals and World Cup back2back.

World Cup 2010: Pocos de Caldas - Brazil: Task 6 & 7

2010-04-13T01:55:00.002-05:00

In an act of comic desperation a group of us that included most of the world cup committee decided to woo the thermal gods by staging a roof-top garbage and trash party the night before the second last day. It was agreed that if we succeeded we would be awarded special bonus points. It was a noisy affair of at least four thousand mili-watts supplied by a mouse sized speaker compliments of Pepe

World Cup 2010: Pocos de Caldas - Brazil: Task 5 Cancelled

2010-04-08T09:03:00.002-05:00

The rush up the hill was a little muted this morning with updated predictions indicating stronger winds than yesterday. The task was cancelled after we began the inevitable foot-vote which is so often the result of the mortal battle between transcendental reality and blind optimism. I guess I should say a little about Pocos de Caldas which is a mid-size city in the Minas Gerais province. If

World Cup 2010: Pocos de Caldas - Brazil: Glider Talk

2010-04-08T05:05:00.004-05:00

The talk of new gliders and technology here seems to revolve around: the duration of Ozones' current advantage; and the protos from Gin, Niviuk & Mac. The casual consensus seems to be that Ozone is a minimum of 6 months ahead of any other manufacturer putting a production version of something competitive on the market (the failed PMA recommendation is widely interpreted as a confession by various

World Cup 2010: Pocos de Caldas - Brazil: Silly buggers

2010-04-08T04:46:00.002-05:00

Watch the first few seconds of this video clip to see the crazy Belgian doing a Benny Hill style 'thing' Untitledhttp://vimeo.com/channels/paraglidingworldcup#10769139

World Cup 2010: Pocos de Caldas - Brazil: Task 1 - 4

2010-04-07T13:59:00.006-05:00

Did I mention it rains during the monsoon season? The first three days were cancelled and the fourth dawned frigid and relatively dry. We finally went up the mountain in the howling gale and low base with great excitement and enthusiasm. A 55km downwind dash was set and cancelled after 40 or so pilots were pasted all over the sky like skinny post-it notes facing into the wind in perfect alignment

World Cup 2010: Pocos de Caldas - Brazil: Practice Day

2010-04-03T04:52:00.007-06:00

Humid and overcast as Brasil always seems to be we arrived after an epic 24hrs of travelling. It is great to have so many compatriots at a world cup after flying 'solo' for so many years. It feels like a world championship without any of the bother.The hotel has broadband! We managed to catch the Dam-style cable car up to launch which in typical Brazilian style has a lush green carpet of freshly

World Cup 2010: Pocos de Caldas - Brazil

2010-03-19T02:36:00.002-06:00

Anxiously awaiting the arrival of my R10.2L from Ozone in time for Pocos. It's a pity we couldn't get them for the local comp starting Sunday, but as long as it arrives for Brazil, I don't really mind.There certainly has been a huge buzz of anticipation about this new machine. I have no doubt Brazil will reveal all things interesting.

SA Winelands Open 2009 - Porterville - last two tasks

2009-12-29T02:11:00.003-06:00

It is not easy going into the last two days with such a slim lead. The third day saw the lead gaggle of Francois, Andrew, Nevil and I miss the climb on the way to bumpy peak while the lag gaggle scored a fantastic corner elevator at teenage-tit which whisked them up and away carrying them halfway over the back en-route to the second turn point in the back valley. Wim was in this group and they

SA Winelands Open 2009 - Porterville - Day 5 Task 2

2009-12-18T02:00:00.002-06:00

After four sublime practice days we had three blown out comp days. No-one can remember when last there were so many un-flyable days in PVille.The first task was a quick affair which saw all the regulars with a total of 42 pilots in goal. I managed to squeeze in less than a minute ahead of Wim verHoewe from Belgium. Scoring turned out to be an un-mitigated disaster with the new software unable

SA Winelands Open 2009 - Porterville

2009-12-08T06:03:00.005-06:00

After the sad and sorry debacle about a dead world cup in Porterville, we thought Porterville was no more. The All Africa Open Porterville may well be history, but we can now say Long live Porterville!.Yes folks my favourite comp site of all time (ok a close second or third to Bravo, Castelo and Piedrahitha) will be brought to life by Mike Burgess who has stepped up to the plate and opened the

Aeroclub pulls rank on SAHPA over comp bans (for the first time ever)

2009-07-29T06:54:00.006-05:00

After months of rumour and speculation SAHPA has published an ‘official’ decision on the terrible lost love triangle between the troubled competitor; the duped administrator; and the difficult land owner.For those of you who missed this astonishing missive, I invite you to read (between the lines if you can) and comment. It so happens that I volunteered to ‘mediate’ in an attempt to resuscitate

Mexico Task 9

2009-02-04T17:23:00.003-06:00

Another 106km task through 6 turn points.Base @ 3800mThermals: strongConvergence: plenty of.There is a high pressure system sitting over the Gulf of Mexico and this somehow feeds moist air into Valle de Bravo. The result is cloud cover. The northerly wind mixes with the South westerly valley breezes and this is what produces the convergence marked by cloud streets amplified by moisture.It is

Mexico task 8

2009-02-03T21:43:00.004-06:00

Valle by nightTeam report. Today saw the boys in goal and desi doing a 23.6 m/s spiral out of a cloud. Now let me tell you wannabee comp pilots out there, a spiral of this magnitude would render the author unconscious with stretched and shredded lines plus glider. Had it not been for the proof supplied we might have been sceptical. A fantastic day of 117km back and forward under substantial cloud

World Champs: MEXICO - Day 9 Task 7

2009-02-02T21:21:00.003-06:00

Team Reporting97km triangle through 7 turn points.Cloud Base >3400m ASLThermals 6.5m/sGoal G01 on the lake. Another great day for flying after two rest days. There were four reserve deployments including Nevil who ended up hanging from a thirty meter tree three seconds after deploying behind the infamous el Penon or 'finger'. He was rescued by the expert team who according to the organisers have

World Champs: MEXICO - Days 4, 5 & 6

2009-01-28T08:31:00.003-06:00

World Champs: MEXICO - Day 4, 5 & 6Sorry no news for a while, and now the news is bad. Day six was a real bummer. One of the Swiss super stars, Stefan Schmoker, crashed on the cliffs behind the 'Finger' shortly after the start. I saw the whole thing from directly above and it was brutal. I was flying around the crash site with Helmut Eicholzer. Heli spiralled down and some how managed to land

World Champs: MEXICO - Day 3 Task 3

2009-01-27T21:24:00.002-06:00

Team Reporting.94km similar to day 2.Cloud base >3000m ASL.Cloud Cover 1/8ths with cloud street dominating the course line after the first two turn points.Wind Variable < 5kts.Max Climb 7m/sAverage Climb for the day +- 2-3m/sThe day appeared more stable than the preceding days, but this did not deter the task committee in setting a challenging race. The convergence set up for three legs of the

Opening Ceremony

2009-01-26T20:52:00.001-06:00

Valle de Bravo Launch

2009-01-26T20:35:00.001-06:00

World Champs: MEXICO - Day 2 Task 2

2009-01-26T20:14:00.004-06:00

Team report.91km triangle with dog leg around 4 turn points and goal at a 1km radius end of speed section with a physical line validation.Cloud base >3000m ASL.Cloud Cover 3/8ths with cloud streets here and there.Wind Variable < 5kts.Max Climb 6.5m/sAverage Climb for the day +- 2-3m/sDesi's website: http://www.flydeaar.co.zaThe start was the normal cloud flying

World Champs: MEXICO - Day 1 Task 1

2009-01-26T19:57:00.002-06:00

74km triangle with dog leg around 5 turn points and goal at a 400m radius of the radio towers above Valle.Cloud base <3000m>Cloud Cover 3-5/8ths with cloud streets along the course.Wind Variable < 5kts.Max Climb 7.1m/sAverage Climb for the day +- 2-3m/sThis was a crowd pleaser if ever I saw one109 pilots made goal with the leaders taking about 2 hours. The meet

World Champs: MEXICO - Registration, Practice & Opening Ceremony

2009-01-26T19:39:00.002-06:00

Andre reporting. Registration Is pedantic at these events. No one seems to mind as there is a buzz in the air. Valle de Bravo is an ideal paragliding destination. The locals are friendly and enthusiastic. The town, perched along the shores of a dam which feeds the hydro electric plants downstream, is picturesque and bustles with cobbled alley-ways lined by dozens

World Champs: MEXICO - Baggage

2009-01-25T19:08:00.001-06:00

Andre reporting.Baggage retrieval became an epic adventure into Mexico city, home to between ten and twenty million hombres depending on who you speak to.I now have a deep disrespect for airlines and the dark arts of baggage handling. To cut a long story short, a six hour round trip with multiple dodgy pickup venues and two thousand pesos later, Jose Luis got us home at two a.m. With all bags

World Champs: MEXICO 2009 - Travel

2009-01-22T20:14:00.003-06:00

Andre, Marty & Desi reporting:So who said Paris can handle baggage??!! We received half of all bags naively entrusted to Air France. The upside was the empty albeit ageing Airbus on the Paris-Mexico leg that saw us spreading out and colonising the aircraft. Air Mexico rocks man!! Tequila for breakfast lunch and lunch (yeah this timezone thing is a bit whacky). Desiree is like a little kitten, she

World Champs: MEXICO 2009

2009-01-20T03:30:00.011-06:00

Andre Reporting:Hello everybody It's almost time to leave for Valle de Bravo. Armed with visas, hopes and dreams, my team mates and I are looking forward to the 24hrs of travel into the land of sombreros and tequila with mounting excitement.In case you did not know Africa's Finest SA 2009 Protea Team (blommetjies): Left to right: Martin vdM (Manager), Nevil Hullet, Henry Schurink, Andre

Castelo - Finale

2008-10-04T18:52:00.002-05:00

So folks! Africa's Finest team of two can now go to the bar with 14th & 15th position.

Castelo Day 7 task 7

2008-10-04T15:26:00.002-05:00

Can you believe it? seven out of seven, still hot. Takeoff is awash with tourists and local pilots. The result... a circus. Airshow mentality prevails, and our ring side seats give us an uninterrupted view of the local pilots crashing into the trees both in flight and under reserve.The day is looking strong and fast... probably one for the hot bloods. Pilots taking on ballast at launch.

Castelo Day 6 - Task 6

2008-10-04T15:16:00.001-05:00

Another sultry day. Sweat dripping from the jungle that masquerades as Andrews armpit before the first cup of coffee is consumed.After dicking around on the huge cliffs for a couple of turn points, the task takes us across the flats to the distant cliffs and valleys. Puppy styles the first few moves across the flats and to the 600m vertical cliffs. Alas the fan was off so he ends up get retrieve

Castelo - Day 5 - Task 5

2008-10-02T16:17:00.002-05:00

Bored on launch here's a new format. It' called mashing.The morning dawned sultry and nothing dawned on the sultries despite the death like slumber. Hot and humid to start we got to the top of the hill and settled into the 'Shadow of the Wind'.Darkness on the horizon turned into cloud beneath us eerily tracking the sombre tone of my novel.A task is set in swirling darkness, my shades a shade too

Castelo - Day 4 - task 4 - LATE UPDATE

2008-10-01T17:40:00.001-05:00

The General finally made an appearance after an epic retrieve from Boonville. ... and so, after a massively bungled start, the lesson is: Don't believe you can zero at the start perimeter with two minutes to go when everyone else goes back 1 km into wind for the climb. The result is a sub optimal start (he means a complete cluster). However, this allows one to climb unhindered at ones