< PreviousSpring hazards At this time of year we all look forward to better weather, more flying and thermic conditions. March and April are the months of particularly boisterous aerology, yet many BHPA members will have logged little airtime over the winter. This applies as much to experienced pilots as to inexperienced ones. Before venturing out to enjoy the emerging season, pause to make an inventory of your own situation. Some of us may not have been able to maintain peak fitness over the winter; a few will be hard put to remember when they last flew. In these circumstances even experienced pilots may struggle to remember exactly how to rig their gear or perform the most basic flying tasks. A further stress-raiser is the possibility of crowded skies; those who have been keeping current over the winter may have had the hills to themselves for a few months. Preparing to go flying in spring, especially to recommence XC flying, requires forethought. • Give your glider an extra-careful pre- flight inspection. • Make sure all your equipment is in tip-top condition, including a recently- repacked parachute. • Check your instruments and radio, and that you can remember how to operate them. • If you have any thought of leaving the immediate vicinity of even a familiar site, be sure your navigation instrument has the most recent chart loaded. Don’t forget to check for NOTAMs, and make a CANP notification appropriate. • On the hill, or the tow site, be thorough in assessing the conditions, and give yourself wider safety margins than you may recall from last season. • Don’t plan anything ambitious, don’t rush, and think through your flight plan • Acknowledge that you are rusty and take things slowly. • Fly conservatively and with ample margin for error. • If you’re uncomfortable in the air, land. You can only regain currency by flying, but pick another day if conditions are not ideal. As well as all pilots being on top of rigging, preparing and pre-flighting their wing, paraglider pilots would do well to brush up on their ground handling if they are not supremely and justifiably confident. Be aware of everything about flying that isn’t familiar, and don’t hesitate to ‘bag it’ if conditions, including numbers in the air, don’t meet your self-imposed, extra- cautious limits. Emerging from hibernation or limited flying can be exciting, reminding us all of why we fly. Yet spring conditions can also bring punchy thermals, switching winds, gust fronts, violent precipitation and even snow showers. At this time of year, for most of us, our flying skills have never been so rusty, nor the air so ready ready to drop a surprise. Let us not mark our eagerness to fly our socks off with a spate of incidents and accidents. Please take extra care! Tow conversion opportunity Rutland Airsports club will be running a tow conversion week from March 31st to April 6th. Groundschool and towing will take place on the North Luffenham airfield daily from 09:00 to 17:00, weather permitting. If you would like to get your paraglider tow rating before the season starts, this could be your opportunity. Candidates must be CP + 10 hours. Contact CFI Mick Roche for a slot safety matters BHPA club parachute repack sessions March 9 Pennine Chipping March 16 Sky Surfing Club Southampton Please book all repack places in advance; some clubs may require money up front or a deposit.MARCH 2025 SKYWINGS 11 0114 3920032 Hope Cottage, 7 Sherwood Rise, Nuncargate, Nottinghamshire, NG17 9AF Courses now available You’re up against the rest! You’ll fly safer! You’ll fly further! You’ll fly faster! We’ll make you better! Talk to us Goose ... Events key: l hang gliding u paragliding z powered flying m accuracy z human powered flying APRIL 24 – 27 u British Paragliding Cup UK Round Yorkshire Dales 5 - 6 m British Accuracy Cup Round 2 Woldingham, Surrey MAY 10 – 11 u Dragon Hike and Fly Crickhowell, Powys 10 - 11 m European Classic Accuracy Grand Prix Persan-Beaumont, France 10 - 17 u PWC Spain Algodonales, Spain 10 - 13 l British Open Series Round 1 Crickhowell, Wales 26 – 1 Jun u Sports Class Racing Series Gin Edition Mungyeong, S. Korea 30 - 31 u Buttermere Bash Buttermere, Cumbria Facebook: Buttermere Bash 31 - 7 Jun l British Open Series Round 2 Blair Drummond, Stirling JUNE 1 - 14 l World HG Sports Class Champs Laveno, Italy 7 – 8 u Dragon Hike and Fly (fallback date) Crickhowell, Powys 7 - 14 u PWC China Linzhou, China 11 – 18 u British Sports Trophy Gemona, Italy 14 - 22 z Icarus Cup Lasham, Hants 19 - 22 u Lakes Charity Classic Grasmere, Cumbria 21 - 22 u X-Lakes Hike & Fly competition Grasmere, Cumbria 21 - 22 m British Paragliding Accuracy Nationals South Wales 28 - 05 Jul u PWC Italy Feltre, Italy JULY 5 - 6 m British Accuracy Cup Round 3 Woldingham, Surrey 6 - 13 u Sports Class Racing Series 3rd Edition Gemona, Italy 11 - 13 lumz South-East Wales Magic Bash Crickhowell, Powys 12 - 19 u British Paragliding Championships Kruševo, Macedonia 13 - 26 l World Hang Gliding Championships Ager, Spain 19 - 26 u PWC Macedonia Kruševo, Macedonia AUGUST 9 - 16 l British/Italian Hang Gliding Champs Monte Cucco, Italy 16 - 23 u PWC Turkey Aksaray, Turkey 16 - 23 u Niviuk Fly Wide Open Krusevo, North Macedonia 23 - 25 m British Classic Accuracy Nationals South Cerney, Gloucs 30 – 6 Sep u Sports Class Racing Series 4th Edition Ager, Spain SEPTEMBER 6 - 9 l British Open Series Round 3 Builth Wells, Powys 13 - 14 m European Classic Accuracy Grand Prix Terheijden, Netherlands calendar of events Please double-check with the organisers that any event is going ahead – entry in the calendar is no guarantee. New Foundation booklets In response to requests from clubs to relaunch the PG (Hill) Foundation booklet for red streamer pilots, an updated version was revealed at the BHPA AGM on March 1st. The text has been updated and a new parallel HG (Hill) booklet has been created. CPs will be able to print the relevant booklet from with them on the hill. A discipline-specific printed copy will also be sent out with each new CP rating registration. The booklets’ layout is similar to the Student Training Record Books that new CPs will be familiar with. Their use is entirely optional, but they will provide a great starting point for newly signed-off pilots. The booklets provide a helpful armature to guide your future advancement in flying with a progressive series of exercises. You may decide to undertake some of these with an Instructor on a local hill (or abroad), and/or make use of your club’s coaching system. You might also choose to work through all or some of the exercises by yourself. Any feedback, or offers of assistance at creating further Foundation booklets for other disciplines and environments, should be addressed After a lovely practice flight from Mt. Elliot it was straight into the Corryong Cup (January 5th-11th). This competition is aimed to encourage newcomers and usually tasks are relatively short. Corryong is a big, wide-open valley surrounded by hills, and the goal is usually by the airport just outside of town. I’m grateful to Jonny Durand for the loan of his spare 6030. The Corryong Cup. The first task went really well and I was first in goal. Only Johnny ended up faster, from a later start, putting me second. After a few days off we flew again, and this one I cut very fine after hitting sink on the final glide. I only just made the goal circle, landing downwind having just got over the paddock fence. I slip to fourth. The next task had an interesting crossing of the open valley in stable conditions to start. After circling up and down for a while in conditions suppressed by high cloud, we seemed to reach peak altitude. I set off, to find nobody came with me. But having crossed while the valley was in sun I made good progress into the mountains beyond. Later that early part of the course became much more difficult. The end of the flight was a glide from over 8000ft into shade, due to high cloud. I hadn’t seen any other gliders until I was on what seemed like a final glide towards the penultimate turnpoint. Then Guy Hubbard appeared below me, just making one of the alternative goal fields. I glided on, but was tempted back to land with Guy in that nice field with a windsock. Later some more gliders came over and just one, Nils Vesk, had his patience rewarded with a significant climb to win the day. I move back up to second place. We launched another day, but conditions deteriorated with storms. The final day had a similar forecast, but the organisers had us on launch at 10am to squeeze a task in before the weather deteriorated. We had a lovely day of racing, with many in goal and the storms staying away to the north. The winner took just over an hour and I was ten minutes behind. Jonny Durand takes first overall, with Rory Duncan second and me third. It’s a lovely atmosphere at Corryong, with lots of prizes for all sorts of people. There is a floater class for beginners, and a category for the experienced pilots who now fly floaters, known as Floater V (V for Viagra). The ‘Ozbangers’ – Olav Opsanger (Norway), Jochen Zeischka (Austria) and me – win the team prize, of which Olav is particularly proud. The Corryong Cup is a long-running competition; the list of well-known names on the trophy includes two-times winner Judy Leden. Corryong Cup 1 Rory Duncan Australia Moyes RX Pro 3,209 2 Jon Durand Australia Moyes RX Pro 3,200 3 Gordon Rigg GB Moyes RX Pro 3,120 Full results and tasks On to Forbes. This year (January 14th-21st) Forbes was dedicated to the memory of the late Bill Moyes, founder of Moyes hang gliders and grandfather of the sport, and also Bob Bailey, co-inventor with Bill of the Dragonfly tow plane, three of which we were using to tow us aloft. Juan Corral had made wonderful trophies in memory. Conditions at Forbes are always good when it’s flyable. We didn’t get the best conditions but had some very good tasks, starting with a 102km Z-shaped flight to goal. Start timing turned out to be critical. Along with some others I was lucky with that, encountering excellent conditions on the difficult crosswind middle leg. This helped me arrive at goal among the first; those who had waited for the next start struggled, with only Attila Bertok able to jump the 20-minute gap to join us. Those who waited 40 minutes till the last start struggled too, and many landed. Another good start with me in 3rd place. Next day the three of us on the safety committee agonised over the wind strength. We eventually said yes to a fast downwind 120km in blue skies. Everyone launched without incident, but at goal the wind was stronger and we chose our landing places carefully. 12th place drops me down to 7th overall. The next task was another straight downwind 145km, again in blue conditions, which get gradually higher until we are approaching the final glide. I set off early but have to stop and top up, then glide in really lifty air to the goal field where Attila is just landing. Many gliders arrive high after a very lifty final glide. In improved conditions, despite some high cloud shadowing, the 4th task was an ambitious 140km triangle. The wind is stronger than expected and the second leg gets really difficult. Approaching the last turnpoint the wind switched to make the last leg into wind as well. Some of us climb to our highest point, 8,500ft, then glide over shady ground. I land after five hours flying, still 30km from goal. The best are 15km short, flying almost an hour longer. 12 SKYWINGS MARCH 2025 hang points Winter comps down under GORDON RIGG MAKES A SPLASH IN AUSTRALIA Things started with a splash. The first flight of my new RX3.5 ended with a misjudged approach into the bottom landing of Stanwell Park, a benign and easy place to fly. I ended up in the lagoon, just deep enough to drown my beloved Flytec 6030 and Insta360 OneX camera. Gordon Rigg behind a Bailey-Moyes tug at Forbes Gordon is second at Forbes after winning the final task All photos: Michael Zupanc/P eak PicturesThe final day and I’m fourth overall, a few points off third but only a few above 10th. The forecast is for lift up to the 12500ft ceiling with cloudbase above that, but it’s a strange sky full of lenticulars and cumulus. The task is a 110km flat triangle, with a short 13km last leg into goal. To start with we don’t get much above 6000ft. Some get higher and take the first start while I’m low. I end up close to Jonny and Olav at 7000ft and take the second start, but I’m on my own as the others stay behind. First glide is awful, pushing crosswind to get upwind of the course line in sink. When I get into the sun the lift is rough, and after climbing fast for a while it’s gone. Pushing further upwind to find much nicer lift, I realise I’ve just flown through the down wave, climbed in the turbulence under the arch and then got into the up part! Its not real wave lift, more a pattern the wave is making in the thermals below it. Other gliders are rare as I pick my way crosswind toward the turnpoint. I’m getting nice lifty glides, but all below 7000ft. Then, near the turnpoint, I circle with another glider up through 10,000ft and nip out to get the turnpoint at 11,500. I have fond memories of the great days in Australia and Spain where you just glide along and don’t stop for lift unless you are below 8000ft, and this was one. Two or three stops in strong lift, and despite the 25-30km/h cross/headwind I’m soon looking good for goal. The final leg is completely into wind and likely crossing the wave sink line, so I took the last climb to 9:1 for goal before gliding. The lifty line continued almost to the turnpoint; with bags of height in hand I was pulling over 100km/h for the last 15km. I arrived first in goal followed, by Pawel Cedro and Yasuhiro Noma who had started earlier. Three more arrive off the later start including Attila, who is actually a few seconds faster than me, and Olav, but it’s a task win for me due to leading and arrival points. Scott Barret and Johnny Durand are absent from goal, allowing me to sneak into second place with Olav third. Winner Attila Bertok was never in doubt, 400 points clear. Moyes are happy, with three sizes of their 2025 glider in the top three places! Great thanks to Moyes Gliders and Vicki Cain for running the wonderful Forbes competition, and for all the great hospitality in Australia. I look forward to another visit soon. Forbes Flatlands 1 Attila Bertok Hungary Moyes RX Pro 4,643 2 Gordon Rigg GB Moyes RX Pro 4,236 3 Olav Opsanger Norway Moyes RX Pro 4,071 Full CALL THE SPECIALISTS 0800 5999 101 FOR BHPA MEMBERS life insurance EST 1989 Run by Pilots for Pilots We Fly What You Fly! Protect Your Family, Mortgage or Business 205 SkywingParamotors skyscraper ad 0125-297x104.indd 1 MARCH 2025 SKYWINGS 13First the dreamers: ‘Light and short-packing gliders, so we can repopularise the sport like paragliders!’ And then the realists: ‘Hang gliding cannot rival binbags and string – we need to keep pushing performance, but with manoeuvrability!’ And, always, a few defeatists just laugh at any suggestion of a future for hang gliding. These conversations have become the main interest of hang glider pilots as the statistics suggest the sport’s imminent demise. What can we do? It seems we have passed the point of no return. Most manufacturers have folded, and those that survive only scrape through on maintenance and odd jobs. On the secondhand market top gliders in good condition are not selling, even for peanuts. I have always been a dreamer and I fit in the first category. But unlike most pilots, I’ve actually embraced the dream and explored some of its facets by acquiring this ground- breaking technology … that has existed since 1974. Yes, short-pack hang gliders aren’t new. The Finsterwalder Funfex I have grown to adore, built in 2018, was designed in 1988! For a measly sum of 2,300 euros I acquired all the secondhand flying equipment I needed to go adventure flying: Funfex, harness, parachute and vario. My first adventure was an impromptu trip to Corsica. When a friend asked me for my climbing gear, a deal was made where I also brought my flying gear. The trick was squeezing climbing gear, Funfex, harness, bags and three people into a 2001 Renault Twingo to reach the ferry. Later we reorganised, swapping one person for a guitar and more bags for the three-hour drive across the Corsican mountains. By the end we had become professionals at Tetris and taking naps in tight spaces. Contacting the local paragliding club and choosing a flying site was no issue, and for us they swapped the nice official take-off (a long walk) for the easily-accessible unofficial one. This turned out almost disastrous. It was a small and shallow gully sloping obliquely. I set my glider up, apprehensive at taking off in the very light wind, but determined that I hadn’t come all this way for nothing. Attempt 1 ended in the bushes on the lower side of the gully – I hadn’t kept my wings level for fear of a tip strike (the Funfex has 7 degrees of anhedral). The second attempt was much less rushed. The breeze proved slightly better and I lifted into the most beautiful sled-ride I’ve had. Flying over the turquoise sea and landing on a white sandy beach, I glimpsed the potential this glider offered. From now on I’d only be flying this machine. The benefits are so great that I wanted to do what everyone else does, but with a Funfex to prove that it is possible. And so in August I spent two weeks at Laragne, flying alongside the British and French Nationals, meeting a lot of stars and inspiring people. Flying almost every day, I learnt the area, the routes and the aerology – and my glider – to fly better and further every day, climaxing with my first 100km flight. Taking off in strong wind, gusting to 50km/h on top, after Kathleen Rigg told me three times I could de-rig and ride down with them, I ended up losing the thermal and being blown over the back. After an hour of soaring the next ridge I manage to ride a low save all the way to Aspres, and from there it was booming all the way to Grenoble. With an average climb of 8m/s (reaching 12 instantaneous) I soared up the Obiou to 3800m. Reaching the west face of Belledone, the sun was low and a storm was approaching from Annecy. Halfway along the ridge I decided to make a dash across the valley to reach the landing field, only to find convergence/magic lift halfway through my glide. This enabled a top landing at St Hilaire, where I called local pilot Alain Jacques for a retrieve and a bed. The next morning Alain took me to the train station in the valley. Packed short, everything fitted inside his Suzuki Swift. I lugged my glider onto the trains with a bike-rack ticket just in case. 24 hours after landing I was back at Laragne with a great grin and a story to tell! But why is no-one flying these gliders? They have proven reliable and cheap, and are the only ones that fit the demand of short-packing and weight. I’ve heard several reasons put forward by pilots who haven’t actually tried this manner of flight, the first being the weight. The Funfex weighs 24kg (the smaller Lightfex goes down to a claimed 19.5kg). Given that most harnesses already weigh more than 10kg, it’s a lot to carry up the mountain. Having tried it myself a few times, I can say a great reduction in harness weight needs to be made. Minor weight savings are possible for the glider, but only at the expense of cost and structural integrity/stability. The second question is the long and complicated setup and breakdown. On my first flights I measured my full breakdown 14 SKYWINGS MARCH 2025 hang points 100km of fun in 2 metres! SEAN CARSLAW EXPLORES FINSTERWALDER’S SHORT-PACK FUNFEX It seems that the hang gliding world, small as it has become, is divided! When asked ‘What is the future of hang glider development?’ the flying population splits in two. Still able to go the distance! All photos: Sean Carslawtime: a little over 40 minutes. With a bit of practice this has reduced. However I don’t notice this extra time because it’s about the same time everyone else takes to set up, complain about the weather and slouch about getting anxious for the right take-off conditions. Meanwhile I’m ready and looking at the vultures in the sky, and I’m first to take off straight into a thermal. This pattern has repeated so many times I’ve lost count now. And the complication? Finsterwalder have really honed the science of snap-lock fittings for cables and tubes. They may look rudimentary, but they make the idea of short-packing possible. Any attempt at a short-pack glider that doesn’t copy or improve on these is a non-starter and degrades the idea of short-pack gliders – I’m looking at you, Discus B and WW Falcon. With these fittings, parts click into place in milliseconds. The long setup time is accounted for by the number of parts to join. Particularly appreciated are the basebar snap fittings that completely remove fiddling with pip-pins, screwing nuts onto bolts and safety catches, etc. Just slide the fittings into the bar and twist. Done! The only real gripes are that one cannot flat-rig a Funfex, and that a 2m breakdown requires removing the sail. This too has been made very simple compared to standard gliders, but neatly folding and unfolding 16m2 of dacron by oneself takes a bit of a knack. Short-packing to 2m takes about 40 minutes, but the glider can still be used long like any other, or with outer leading edges folded. The third question, and I think the decisive one, is performance. The Funfex is probably the lowest performance double-surface hang glider on the market. This is due to its comically low aspect ratio of 5.52. Aspect ratio is possibly the best metric to compare glider performance as it is directly rated to induced drag. More importantly, one finds that most manufacturers’ claimed L/Ds are almost always twice the aspect ratio. It’s the case for hang gliders, but also sailplanes and paragliders too. Yes, hang gliders and paragliders, with their draggy lines and external pilots, follow the same trend as the sleek sailplanes! As seen above, it is perfectly possible to have great flights and even fly distance in a low-performance glider. My curiosity led me to calculate the maximum potential distance coverable by this type of glider. Assuming nil wind, ten hours of thermal time, a flying altitude between 1500 and 3000m and 3m/s climbs, a pessimistic (realistic?) glide of ~7.8, an average thermal search time of five minutes and landing at 1000m, the distance coverable is 237km in just over 10h30, using 20 thermals. It is worth noting that with a 20km/h tailwind the distance goes to 400km. Which is presently way above the current French Class 1 open-distance record, and similar to the French paragliding record set in June 2024 (460km). The problem with such arguments is that they miss the point of flying a short-pack hang glider. One does not fly this glider to break records in the flatlands. For that fly an Atos VR or an Aeros Combat. Neither is it to rush to be first in the air at a comp. Nor should it be to fly five sled rides in a day. The point is to fly freely. Free of material and external constraints such as accessible launches or organised retrieves. Free of mental constraints such as sticking to an arbitrary take-off window, or landing at a specific goal at a specific time. The point of this kind of glider is its adaptability, which procures independence, which opens the realms of travelling, adventure and flying independently of others. I believe the short-pack glider ensures a future in hang gliding. It enlarges the potential population to those that dream, who live in apartments, who have small cars or none at all. It brings hang gliding back into free flying. Finsterwalder Funfex details are at MARCH 2025 SKYWINGS 15 FAIRHAVEN ELECTRONICS LTD MICRO ALTI 2 Now available with bluetooth! The Micro Alti 2 is our latest wristwatch- size multifunction vario-altimeter which now includes Bluetooth-5 to connect to paragliding apps! It provides ultimate vario sensitivity with a loud audio tone system, QNE and QNH references, G-meter, weather trend, humidity, vario averager, weak lift thermal finder, FM radio, time clock and timers, and gives up to 70 hours of battery life! The Micro Alti 2 also has USB-C and headphone sockets and is supplied with wrist strap and riser mounting clips. Bluetooth Micro Alti 2 £139 (no Bluetooth £119) for more info and FAIRHAVEN 01332 670707 Flying new places – Corsica Sean Carslaw en route to take-offPlenty of space in a Twingo!Classic Accuracy UK competitions. The UK Classic Accuracy Nationals will be a three-day event at South Cerney over the August Bank Holiday weekend. The competition is open to both square and paraglider pilots with a minimum of Club Pilot rating; a novice competition will cater for pilots new to accuracy. Only pilots flying squares are eligible for the individual national title, but there will be a trophy for best paraglider pilot too. This event will form the UK leg of the European Grand Prix. The UK season will finish off with the legendary Birdwings club competition at South Cerney in the autumn, open to both square and paraglider pilots with a minimum CP rating. European Grand Prix. There will be a full complement of three European Grand Prix competitions as follows: France (Persan-Beaumont): May 10th-11th UK (South Cerney): August 23rd-25th Netherlands (Terheijden): September 13-14th Back-up (South Cerney): September 20-21st The competitions are open to both square and paraglider pilots with a minimum CP rating. Grand Prix teams consist of three pilots, who can only fly for one team during a season, although the team members can change between events. Overall Grand Prix individual and team winners will be determined by total points accumulated over the three events. Also this year, the 1st Portuguese Ascensional competition will be held at Alcochete on May 1st-4th. This won’t be an official Grand Prix but will be held to EPAC rules to show the Portuguese national association what a GP competition could look like. The competition is open to both squares and paragliders. All European Grand Prix and UK competitions will have UK League status, where a pilot’s best three events count in the League standings. Squad training weekends. A squad training weekend is planned for every month under the leadership of Squad Manager Dave Crowhurst. Generally these are the second weekend of the month; this may not always be possible, so check the Events page of Some funding to attend overseas events is available for the top five pilots in a rolling squad selection league. This considers both competition and training camp results; to be eligible you need to register as a squad member. Further information is available on the Classic Accuracy Squad page on Paragliding Accuracy UK competitions. The Paragliding Accuracy Nationals will be held on South Wales hill sites over the weekend of June 21st-22nd (back-up: July 26th-27th). Pilots need a minimum CP rating to enter the main event; a novice event will cater for pilots new to accuracy. Individual pilots can drop their worst score after five rounds, however teams of three pilots will not be able to do so. The main event will have FAI Category 2 status. UK pilots can still compete without an FAI licence but will not be eligible for WPRS points. The British Accuracy Cup (BAC), first held in 2022, is back this year, run by Green Dragons. This will consist of four competitions held on Green Dragons’ hill and tow sites on the following dates: Round 1: February (already taken place) Round 2: April 5th-6th Round 3: July 5th-6th Round 4: October 11th-12th All competitions have Category 2 status, and it is hoped the pilot quality will be boosted by overseas pilots. Pilots can compete without an FAI licence but will not be eligible for WPRS points or trophies. The overall series winners will be announced at the October event. Overseas Category 2 competitions. Numerous hill and tow FAI Category 2 competitions will take place all over the world; these can be found on the FAI.org website under Events. There will also be a pre-event competition for the 2026 European Championships in Romania, offering a good opportunity to practice at the championships venue. Pilots will need a minimum of CP and an FAI licence to enter these events. European Cup competitions. At the time of writing the venues and dates for the FAI Category 2 European Cup competitions have still not been announced. These are three- day events, the first day being a training day. Teams consist of three pilots; team members can change between competitions but a pilot can only fly for one team in a season. Individuals can drop a worst score after five rounds; there are no dropped scores or rounds in the team category. Series overall individual places are determined by a pilot’s best two-thirds of results, however all results are counted for overall team places. All competitions will be hill-launch; pilots will need a minimum 16 SKYWINGS MARCH 2025 dead centre Pre-season preview ANDY WEBSTER OUTLINES THE 2025 ACCURACY SEASON Classic Squad manager Dave Crowhurst at a squad training session Photo: Andy W ebster of CP and an FAI licence to enter. If you are chasing WPRS points these are good competitions to attend as the attendance of high-quality WPRS pilots will boost the points available. World Cup competitions. There will be four FAI Category 2 World Cup competitions plus a Super Final this year as follows: Nongkhai, Thailand: February (already taken place) Alanya, Turkey: April 24th-27th Lombok, Indonesia: May 22nd-25th Wasserkuppe, Germany: August 28th-31st Jingmen City, China (Super Final): September 24th-25th These are four-day events, the first day being a training day, and have a maximum of eight rounds. Teams consist of four pilots, with the three best scores counted every round. Team members can change between competitions, however a pilot can only fly for one team in a season. Overall individual and team places are determined by the best two-thirds of results over all the competitions; the overall top 30 individual pilots are then invited to the Super Final. Each competition has a maximum number of 80 places and pilots should register two months before the event. Pilots will be placed on waiting list if the event is oversubscribed, or they registered after the deadline. Allocation of places to waiting-list pilots will be based on a combination of WPRS and PGAWC rankings. All competitions will be hill-launched; pilots will need a minimum CP and an FAI licence to enter. As with the European Cup, these competitions offer good WPRS points potential. All the above Category 2 competitions have UK League status. Paragliding Accuracy Squad A squad training weekend is planned for every month under the leadership of Squad Manager William Lawrence. Generally these are the third weekend of the month; this may not always be possible, so check the Events page of the One day of each training weekend will have a competition that, along with other competition results, contributes to a selection league from which the UK Team members will be selected to compete at FAI Category 1 competitions. To be eligible for selection you need to register as a squad member and have a BHPA Pilot or IPPI 4 rating. Further information is available on the Paragliding Accuracy Squad page of website. FAI Cat 1 World Championships This year the UK team will be competing at the FAI World Championships at Alanya, Turkey running from October 25th-November 4th. This is a hill launch event with landing on beach. The competition will include the knockout system; team sizes and the allocation process will be known when the Local Regulations are published. Paragliding Accuracy Squad manager William Lawrence demonstrates how it’s done Photo: Andy W ebster 18 SKYWINGS MARCH 2025 The Colombian racing season has been extended in 2025, with events running until early March. This perhaps contributed to this first event being short of full attendance (106 pilots for 130 places), with only a moderate field strength (70-point WPRS forecast). Using the Los Tanques launch, an hour’s drive from Roldanillo, meant departing before 8am – no lazy lie-ins here! Day 1. With overdevelopment forecast in the afternoon, a 50km task was called. 11km north-east from the start, about turn and run 20km south-south-west along the convergence superhighway which sets up east of La Victoria-Zarzal, then another U- turn for the 9km glide to ESS, and 2km to goal. The fastest pilot took 01:16:38, with Richard (Enzo 3/Genie Race 5) five minutes behind in 14th place and first Brit. Mags, along with 14 others, was unable to launch due to a backwind which set in as a shower kicked off out front. Day 2. A 75km task with similar first and second legs, but continuing further south to land at Bugalagrande. Alex, flying a Zeno 2 and a prehistoric harness, had a great day, coming 11th overall and 2nd in Serial class, just 2:30 behind Ireland’s Bogdan Bialka on an Icepeak X-One/Ozone Submarine. Steve, just a couple of minutes behind Alex, retained his Serial class lead. Interestingly, this event was also the Irish Winter Open, and the task cemented Bogdan’s place at the top of the four Irish competitors! Richard stumbled on landing and sustained a minor injury to his shoulder. He chose to sit out the next few days to focus on recovery for the British event. Day 3. The 107km task turned into an epic. Alex had another great race and was the only Brit to make goal. He reports ‘Difficult start, with most gaggles joining at a thermal in a good position. As usual, about ten minutes before the start the thermal died and the gaggle proceeded to thermal downwards. Those of us stupid enough to try and find something else just found more sink and ended up starting low. ‘Once started we ran to the hills near Zarzal. We bounced along the foothills in reasonable conditions, heading south towards Bugalagrande because it looked big and dark in the higher mountains, and despite some cloud cover we still had some sunshine. But the decent-looking clouds took us straight towards the airspace, and eventually Steve slid off east to keep clear. Our gaggle split, with some seemingly flying straight into the airspace (which had been briefed), and our little crew of perhaps eight gliders pushing into a dead-looking sky with only small patches of sunshine. ‘After a seriously low save the gaggle slowed right down, usually just gliding at trim, hunting the small, short-lived thermals, a good one giving 1m/s. This desperation carried on all the way to the southern turnpoint, and then all the way back to the corner of the airspace. Never high enough to be comfy, and always having to move on for fear of missing the next bubble. Eventually some of the guys missed a move and just got dregs when they arrived. We lost Steve and Ollie here. ‘The remaining group slowly tracked back along the foothills to some sunshine and found a 2m nearly to base. The rest was a bit easier. Long, long glides and then trying to spot the birds. I pimped this bit remorselessly; there was another blue Zeno who seemed to be brilliant at spotting the birds. A much younger local guy, so probably has better eyesight! ‘Tagged the north turnpoint and started south again with 20k to go. Found a great climb to 2200m and started thinking about final glide. 11.5:1 and we’d been getting 7 most of the day. The blue Zeno heads to the foothills again but they look very dark. I head out into the valley and find another decent 2m. He joins my climb, and then after a while he leaves at what looks like 10:1. He pretty much falls out of the sky for about a km while I watch. ‘He turns and comes back into the bottom of the climb. More are joining it now, all thinking about finals. I leave at about 8:1 required, and initially I’m making 4.5:1. Desperate! ‘200m from ESS I find a bubble. A few turns here, and I now need 10:1. I’d prefer to stay in my bubble but I can see the others are coming. After a few more turns I take ESS, followed by an uncomfortable necky glide over the town to goal. Luckily the line was buoyant and I made it, the others all following me in. A race of attrition for sure!’ This task saw Alex leap-frog Steve to 2nd in the Serial class and 12th Overall. Meanwhile Mags won the day in the female class, her healthy 89km 13km ahead of the second-placed female, Korea’s Yeana Lee. Day 4. Good conditions prevail; the task is 73.9km over five legs, This was Brett’s day; flying an Enzo 3/Race 5 he crossed the line just 49 seconds behind the winner. 154 lead-out points placed him 5th for the day on an impressive 982 points. Steve came in a minute behind Brett for a fantastic 8th overall and 1st Serial place, putting him back ahead of Alex in the top Serial spot overall. Day 5. Thursday dawned well perfect! Although it’s been labelled a La Niña year, the lack of any appreciable rain has caused cloudbase to rise and the thermals to get stronger – but not to the extent of 2024 when there were multiple reserve throws daily. Alex took a fantastic second place overall in a 102km task to score 966 points, closely followed by Steve on 910. Alex re-took the top Serial class spot with Steve dropping to third. Day 6. An 89.8km task with goal in a building site! Alex was first Brit, 966 points Roldanillo Open RICHARD MEEK REPORTS FROM COLOMBIA The Colombian competition season kicked off with the Roldanillo Open (January 8th-15th). An advance party of Brits attended; Brett and Mags Janaway, Alex Coltman, Steve Ashley, Olly Sherratt, Chris Hobbs and Richard Meek. For most this was a warm-up event to be in good form for the British Winter Open, starting on January 18th. comp lines GB advance party (L-R): Brett Janaway, Ollie Sherratt, Mags, Alex Coltman, Richard Meek and Steve Ashley MARCH 2025 SKYWINGS 19 strengthening his place in the Serial class. Steve was second Brit, closely followed by Mags Janaway who made it three female class wins on the trot. Day 7. The final day, and the weather is fantastic, again! The 85km task was seven legs, ping-ponging all over the valley. Steve broke Alex’s run of form and came in as first Brit, securing his third position in the Serial class. Alex came in a minute and a half behind, 880 points giving him first place in the Serial class and some fine souvenirs. Mags once again took the female win, but despite winning five tasks she was pipped to the top spot by Florence Igier of France. Seven out of seven tasks flown, from 50 to 108km. Can’t say fairer than that. Roldanillo Open (Serial class) 1 Alex Coltman GB Zeno 2 4,906 2 Jhojan Styven Marin Orozco Colombia Zeno 2 4,808 3 Stephen Ashley GB Zeno 2 4,793 15 Magdalena Janaway GB Zeno 2 4,013 40 Chris Hobbs GB Photon 2,913 46 Oliver Sherratt GB Leopard 2,322 Full British Winter Open Hard on the heels of the Roldanillo Open, the British Winter Open ran from January 18th-25th at Roldanillo. Again seven tasks were flown in seven days, ranging from 81 to 122km. The overall winner was Ireland’s Bogdan Bielka, with Craig Morgan top Brit in 14th place. Magda Janaway took 3rd female place behind leader Eliza Deutschmann. Remarkable results too for Josh Sanderson, 17th overall and 2nd Brit after finishing 9th on the final task, and Jacob Aubrey, 19th overall and 3rd Brit. Tom Hodgkinson and Dougie Swanson-Low were 4th and 7th overall in the Serial class. A high number of airspace violations on early tasks led to points deductions, with several pilots losing an entire task result. During the final task a flying accident claimed the life of competitor Franz Schilter, 63, a Swiss national resident in Peru. No other pilots were involved. Full Task 7 ping-pong around the valley Mags Janaway, No. 2 female pilot at RoldanilloAlex Coltman ready to launch Goal field action STOP PRESS Feb 15th: Seb Ospina 2nd at Rolda PWC Superfinal!Next >