First a preamble on what started my competition flying.
Competition flying is something that I got into without really thinking about it much. My first experience was when we (me and Caroline) went over to the Isle of Wight soon after qualifying as Club Pilots. We just went over for a weekend flying to put into practice what we had learnt on the course and when we arrived at the High Adventure school/hotel where we were staying, we found out that the Green Dragons club had turned up for a competition against the IOW club. We were members of the IOW club but we were drafted onto the Green Dragons team to make their numbers up.
I'll not go into detail as to what actually happened, suffice to say the Green Dragons won the weekend and we were both pleased to be on the winning team. I make reference to the reserve throwing leg of the competition in my account of Butterfly.
The next occasion was a fun-fly weekend organised by Rob Arnold of Para-Excelence in cahoots with the N Wales Club. At the end of two days incorporating, open distance, spot landings, etc etc, I managed to come first. A year later the weekend was repeated and I won it again.
Then, in 1998, I was approached by Rob Arnold, the new UK importer of MAC gliders to see if I was interested in a deal that would give me their latest performance glider at a much reduced price. My part of the bargain was that I had to fly it in as many competitions as I could and thus increase other flyers awareness of MAC's existence. I entered 4 out of 6 rounds of the British Paragliding Cup (BPC) but due to the terrible weather and salmonella poisoning, I only managed to score in 1 round putting me in 49th place out of 60 odd pilots.
The 1999 year was to be rather different. There were only 4 rounds in this country, plus 1 in Spain and 1 in Italy. I only entered the UK rounds, 2 in Wales, 1 in the Lakes, and 1 in Scotland.
Round 1 was in Snowdonia on the 12/13th June. The weather looked a bit dubious but we all showed up anyway. Due to very large and potentially dangerous black clouds that were forming over the mountains, the task of 35km "race to goal" was abandoned in favour of an 11.3 km race to goal via 2 turn points. Goal was in fact at the bottom of the hill. The start of the race was to be an "air start", since the wind was so strong on the hill many pilots had difficulty in launching. Those that didn't get airborne in the 30 minutes preceding the start were at a disadvantage. I was apparently the last to get airborne before the launch window was closed due to excessive high winds. However, the start of the race still went ahead. Those on the ground had had their chance to get in the air.
Those of us in the air set off for the first turn point, which was Harlech castle. We all got round it with ease and at this point I was in 4th place. As we approached the second turn point, I could see that the front runners were sinking out very rapidly due to sinking air coming over a hill that we had to pass. One by one we all bombed out and landed with similar distances of 6-7km. We all felt quite smug that we got that far and since it was the first round, we were leading the competition at that point. Then the controversy started. The wind eased and the launch window reopened. Every one else who didn't get off the ground for what ever reason (not good enough at controlling their canopy in high winds?), took off and having seen where we all bombed out, they went round it. Thus they all had an unfair advantage and they all did more than 7km. Those that were in the lead were now at the bottom of the standings. Protests were made but all to no avail.
Sunday was even windier and so the day was scrapped. I was currently in 35th place.
Round 2 26/27 June was in Scotland, with the base being at Killin, next to Loch Tay. Again the weather was somewhat inclement and on Saturday morning one of the pilots decided to give it up as a bad weekend and went home. To our surprise people were flying 45 minutes away near Alloa. We all drove off in a 30 car convoy and made our way to the top of the hill. The task was set at 14.5km race to goal. Since the weather looked like not getting any better, this was thought to be a bit ambitious.
Most pilots launched in strong wind conditions and we all glided around in front of the hill trying to gain enough height to jump the gap separating us from the next hill. One by one we went across. 13.5 km to go! The thermals were light and not very defined, making good altitude gain difficult. I could see some pilots heading off in the direction of the goal field but were soon sinking out. There was at this time no point in leaving the hill in the hope of finding lift en route.
It then dawned on me that if any good thermals are coming off the town of Menstrie, the wind, which was which was funneling up the valley right between the 2 hills, was going to take the thermal with it. I left the safety of the hill and flew back towards where I originally took off from. Another pilot had the same idea and so we were mid distance when we both spotted a bird circling. We headed for the bird and found our huge thermal. 3000 feet later we are both at cloud base drifting away from takeoff and getting closer to goal. There were other pilots who had done exactly the same thing earlier and they were in front of us by about 5km. The other pilot set off on a direct glide to the goal field, but I preferred to drift slowly under my cloud until it degraded. I followed a black plastic bin liner that had been lifted into the sky by the wind. It was caught in the thermal and marked exactly where I had to stay.
The wind direction and hence the clouds track, didn't exactly coincide with the direction of the goal field. I radioed down to my wife to head off in the car towards Dunblane, since that was the next town near to which I'd land if I couldn't get to goal. I started the glide and lost 2500 feet in height but was still 4km from the goal field. There were gliders all over the place by this time all struggling to find a bit more lift to get them into goal. I was one of them. I was also lucky, I stumbled across a thermal that gave me another 1000 feet of height and allowed me to drift another 2km closer. The final glide was to be the most satisfying I'd ever had. I was going to reach goal. I crossed the finish line and spiraled down to the ground. I landed seconds after another pilot and we were both seen jumping up and down yeharing! I presume it was his first time too.
I checked the score sheet later that night and found that I was one of only 17 out of 62 who made it to the goal field and took 9th place.
Sunday dawned with the camp site an inch deep in water after the overnight thunderstorms. Visibility was less than a mile and the day was abandoned in favour of an early start home. But before that, the prize giving. I received a little silver cup for my efforts and was now in 12th place overall in the series.
Round three 17/18 July was a complete washout. It was the Lake district that lived up to it's name, they were every where, even in the high street in Keswick. It started to rain 9am Saturday and was still raining on Sunday when we left. The rest of the country was basking in glorious sunshine. So I retained my 12th place for another 2 weeks.
Round four, 31 July/1 August. South East Wales was the venue and good weather was at last with us. Task 1 was 34km race to goal (again). The thermals were rough and there wasn't many pilots flying. One pilot Noel Humphries, owner of Skydragons in N. Wales, got away from the hill (the Blorenge) quite early on and I was spurred on by his lead. I took off with 2 others who very quickly landed again on the side of the hill. I flew down the hill face and picked up a small thermal in a bowl in the hillside. I stayed with this for 1200 feet above takeoff and then lost it. I couldn't get back to the take off, because I had drifted too far down wind, so I headed off and put as much distance between me and the hill as possible. I landed 3.3km away. Noel was just a speck in the sky. I phoned Caroline for a retrieve and sat by the Little Chef on the A465 and waited. Meanwhile someone had spun in and everyone was grounded whilst the helicopter was awaited. It seems calous but this was good for me since I had time to get back and stay in contention.
I arrived back on take off just in time to see an exodus of canopies in the sea breeze convergence. By the time I was ready to fly again the wind was coming from the south and take off was practically impossible (the Bloerenge is a north facing hill with east and west possibilities for wind direction). Once in a while the wind eased just long enough to launch, and so I did. 15 minutes later I was on the ground again in the Hospital car park at the exact spot where the helicopter had just left. My second bid for glory had failed. It's all down to tomorrow, the last task day. My score for the day was 8th position and I held on to 12th place overall.
Sunday, and a southerly wind meant a long walk up the 2300 foot mountain near Talybont reservoir. The task was, wait for it, race to goal 32.2km to Builth Wells. We walked for 90 minutes to the take off point and one by one we took off. I kept picking up small thermals that would take me to 600 feet above take off, but at the same time over the back of the hill. The thermals weren't strong enough to get any decent height. I went so far over the back at one point that I couldn't make it back to the front of the hill so I top-landed and walked back to takeoff. I tried again and watched loads of groups of gliders thermal away in the direction of goal. I was annoyed with my self for not being in the air when I needed to be. There wasn't many pilots' left to go and I was convinced that I was the only one not to get away from the hill.
I took off again and found another small thermal and made 650 feet above takeoff. I radioed Caroline to leave the bottom car park and head for the next town, Brecon. I made a dash over the back and found a lot of very rough air. I was close to the ground as I flew across the mountain top plateau. I knew I was going to find rotor on the lee side of the mountain and wasn't disappointed. The canopy was waving around all over the place and I was getting tossed around in my harness (oooer). It was rough, but all times I kept control of the wing and never had a collapse. I found very small lifty bits over the back and used them as best I could whilst I drifted in the general direction of Breacon. I came in low over some trees and then into the little valley at the south end of the Breacon. I was about 500 feet above the ground and was looking for a place to land as I wasn't going to make it onto a hill just a little further on where I knew there would be thermals.
Fortunately the gods were on my side and I found a small thermal that I worked and eventually drifted over to the little hill that I was hoping to reach. It was here I found a real stonker of a thermal and it took me to 3300 feet above takeoff height, i.e. 5600 feet above sea level. A cloud formed above me and I stayed with it while drifting towards the goal field. The cloud eventually decayed and turned to sink so I headed off on a glide for Builth Wells. Caroline radioed in and asked where I was. I said about 17km from the goal and so she should continue past Brecon. I caught up another glider who had given up hope of finding more lift and he headed off towards a road away from goal, a strange thing to do. I had lost 1800 feet on the glide and was now only 10km from goal. I radioed to Caroline and told her to head for goal. I was convinced I'd make it. I crossed the finish line at 15:25, 2 hours after taking off for the second time. I had 1600 feet left of height and so I spiraled and wing-overed down. I was the 8th to arrive but 5th in the days task, since 3 of the pilots were nationals pilots and not eligible for the competition, i.e. they were the top flyers of last years BPC contest.
This result boosted my overall position to 7th. As a result, I qualified for the nationals for 2000, the competition that decides the British Champion. I'll be giving it my best.
The BPC rounds gave me the best flying I'd ever had in the UK. Twice I had made personal best distances in this country and had broken my previous height gain record of 4300 feet in Spain to 5600 here in Sunny Wales. This flight also gave me the distance I needed for the FAI Silver Eagle badge.