The British Paragliding Cup is a series of fun competitions designed to help pilots discover the joys of competing. Organiser Laurie Gavaghan reports on the 2014 British Paragliding Cup
When I took over the running of the BP Cup in 2012 it was my intention to hold the first round the following year on the Isle of Wight to keep things simple. But after several requests to hold this year’s round again on the Island I conceded. The IOW offers a range of coastal soaring sites and inland sites with all wind directions covered. The weather forecast was promising for the weekend and looked like we would get a mix of inland and coastal flying.
Some people have challenged the idea of coastal sites for competitions and it is probably worth just outlining the aims and objectives of the BP Cup as some may not know what our goals are.
Primarily the BP Cup was set up to introduce pilots to competitive flying and all that is involved with that, i.e. registration, downloading waypoints, briefings, setting up the task on your GPS and flying in a gaggle.
These skills can be learnt on a coastal site or on an inland site and as David Thomson stated he had some of the most enjoyable and challenging flying he has had in a long time.
Round One: Isle of Wight
Task 1 was a modest 9.2km race to goal due to the weather conditions that day. The task was won by Lawrie Noctor, who managed to cover a grand total of 6.84km in difficult conditions.
This may not seem far, but with the thermals we get on the Island being very small and punchy, this is a good distance and requires full concentration and skill on the part of the pilot.
Task 2 was a 45.3km elapsed time task along the coast. The wind was too strong when we first arrived at Atherfield so we had to wait until it had dropped enough to fly. We managed to get all pilots in the air and around the first turn point.
Lawrie Noctor again won the day with a 25.98km flight. Unfortunately the wind then went from south westerly to almost due west which meant it was not possible to complete the course set.
When I saw David Thomson on the beach and having to walk back with his kit I was expecting to receive some abuse on his return to HQ, but far from it – in came a smiling David grinning from ear to ear like the proverbial Cheshire cat. He stated how much he had enjoyed the flying and how great it was to see the entire field spread out along the cliffs.
Evening BBQ provided by the Isle of Wight Hang Gliding and Paragliding club was great way to end the day with burgers and beer. A big thank you to the Isle of Wight club for making us welcome and use of their sites.
Unfortunately that was it for Isle of Wight the weather was sunny but the wind was fickle so on to the Peaks for round two.
Round Two: Peak District
Arrived at the Peaks on Friday 1 August and set up race HQ at The Derbyshire & Lancashire Gliding Club, who have now hosted the event for the last three years. This is a great venue with excellent facilities including a bar, restaurant and meeting rooms and is centrally located for most of the Derbyshire Soaring Club sites. The DSC made us very welcome with free use of their sites and local knowledge and support provided by Alan Horsfield and Steve Charlesworth.
The weather outlook for the next nine days looked pants and it was 70/30 as to if we would get any tasks in at all. Saturday dawned overcast and raining with strong winds, this eventually stopped and the sun started to come out but still too strong for us so no tasks.
Simon Blake from the Pennines did manage a flight on his Bobcat from Bradwell just to show willing, thoughts of copying the North South Cup did go through my mind but were soon dashed when Simon landed saying it was rubbish.
Fortunately Viv Fouracre had helped to arrange a number of guest speakers for such an eventuality. Cue David Thomson to talk about competition flying and how to prepare mentally and the importance of getting your equipment ready etc. He also talked about the importance of keeping calm and preparing for the task, emphasising a few useful points like: don’t be tempted to free fly before the briefing on the hill, make sure you sign to fly and other words of wisdom.
Roll forward to Monday 4th and the weather decides to play ball and is from the west so one of my favourite flying sites comes into play and it’s off to Bradwell. Over to Gareth Aston to set us a task. We arrived at the hill bright and early to find all the local pilots sat down and no one flying as the wind was a bit strong so we hunkered down to wait it out…
Five hours later it finally dropped.
Due to late start a 29k race to goal was set and the window was open and soon pilots were taking off and disappearing behind the hill. Lawrie Noctor was first to goal with a time of one hour twenty one minutes followed by Lester Gordon (first time in goal, yippee!) with a respectable one hour fifty three minutes with Richard Whiteside making it in third place with a time of one hour fifty four minutes. This was a great task with FS Comp making it a 1000 pointer, a fantastic start.
Tuesday’s forecast was 50/50 for the morning but definitely no good after midday, so with Southerly winds it was off to Rushop. Gareth had decided on a lapse time cat’s cradle from Rushop along to Mam Tor then on to Lose Hill and then jumping over the back across the Hope Valley and onto the High Peaks with goal in Edale.
Malin Lobb was first goal with 457 points, Simon Blake came in second scoring 436 with Brad Nicholas in third on the new Aspen 5 (one of only two in the country at the time of writing).
Take off was interesting as we had briefed the pilots that we would task as soon as we got to the hill given the deteriorating weather forecast. We were therefore surprised to see a pilot in the air when we sounded the briefing horn… had I mentioned that David Thomson had given a great talk on things not to do and how to prepare for the task? Anyway, David gave a great demonstration of how to do big ears and get back to the task briefing halfway through!
Task set, pilots briefed, launch open, off we go. As I have stated the BP Cup is a friendly comp, so on looking at the sign to fly sheet we noticed that some pilots had not signed, so we put a call out stating this.
Had I mentioned that David Thomson had given a great talk on things not to do and how to prepare for the task? David, obviously wishing to help as many pilots as possible, gave another faultless demonstration of big ears back down to take off! Assisted by Paul Street who also decided to take advantage of our meet and greet service, lol.
The great thing about this task, from the organiser’s perspective, was that we could watch the pilots making their way around the course.
Wednesday was rained off but again we had talks lined up from David Thomson talking about convergence flying, Mark Riches with his 101 things you wanted to know about RASP but were afraid to ask. This ever-popular talk was great and was still going strong after nearly two hours.
We then had Judith Mole doing her interactive workshop on how to be a better pilot which was also very popular. Thanks to everyone who gave a talk it was greatly appreciated by all the pilots and the organisers.
Thursday was looking good and although a bit overcast to start it soon developed into a classic sky. Gareth decided to set a 77.4k task. Pilots briefed, launch open and off they went and task 3 was under way.
Unfortunately the weather behind the hill after you dropped down from the peaks was not so good. Difficult conditions were encountered with a number of pilots coming down around Hathersage. Viv Fouracre worked what lift there was and made a number of decisions which pushed her on beyond the field to eventually land 49.9km from take-off.
Ed Cleasby was second with a very respectable 41.48km, third place was Sean Staines with 19.39km demonstrating how hard the day eventually turned out. Lawrie Noctor decided to follow in David Thomson’s footsteps and after flying 15k bombed out only to realise he had forgotten to sign to fly!
Friday dawned and we hoped to get another early morning task in, but after getting everyone up on to Mam Tor cloud base was just a few feet above. Although I was trying to be optimistic that things might get better, Gareth decided to bin after the top of the chimney of the cement works in Bradwell disappeared and it started to rain. With the forecast for the rest of the weekend blown out it was back to the glider club for the prize giving.
With Lawrie Noctor winning first place with 1684 points he received free entry to both rounds of next year’s British Championships an Ozone rucksack and a year’s subscription to Cross Country magazine.
Richard Whiteside was second with 1517 points receiving free entry to both rounds of next year’s British Championships and an Ozone rucksack.
Dave Fentum was third with 1503 points receiving free entry to one round of next year’s British Championships an Ozone T shirt and a year’s subscription to Cross Country magazine.
Best newcomer was Matt Bayliss with 1177 points winning an Ozone wash bag and a year’s subscription to Cross Country magazine.
Best CP was Peter Hope scoring 220 points and winning Thermal Flying second edition and an Ozone wash bag.
David Thomson won the wooden spoon which included a luxury soft toilet (allegedly he still uses Izal so may be a shock to the system) and a Cross Country magazine wind banner.
Last note
On a final note we introduced a CP event which culminated in those who had completed all their Pilot tasks and sitting their exam being allowed to enter the final task (under supervision). The event proved very popular and watch this space for articles written by some of the participants.
I would like to thank our sponsors Ozone and Cross Country magazine for their generous gift of prizes and for the Comps Panel agreeing to donate entry into next year’s British Championships.
This is a great incentive for new pilots to gain an introduction to competition flying. At the end of this year’s prize giving we had a short debate on how to take the BP Cup forward next year. We are thinking of doing a 4/5 day round in the Dales, Pennines or Lakes and keeping the week-long event in the Peaks.
Finally I would like to thank Gareth Aston for being such a great meet director and for Viv Fouracre who has agreed to come on board as treasurer. Also a big thank you to The Derbyshire & Lancashire Gliding Club and the Derbyshire Soaring Club for their hospitality and all the guest speakers who gave their time.
A big thank you to David Thomson for assisting with the practical CP workshop and the Club Coaches who were roped in to assist. Lastly and not least the pilots for attending. Dates for next year will be announced early in the New Year.
Cross Country supports the BP Cup with prizes
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