Simon Ford reports on the first round of the British Paragliding Cup, which took place at St Mary’s Loch from 9 – 12 May.
Saturday we were subjected to wind and rain of the best Scottish tradition so local guru Dave Thomson gave a talk about flying in the Borders. In the evening we were entertained by Tony Spirling on lead guitar, Tommy Bryson on ‘Scottish’ vocals, Dave Thomson on bass and Dave Hutchinson on drums as they refined their ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ entry to performance levels never before seen on the show. Unfortunately I missed the guest appearence by Richard Bungay on accoustic guitar but the band were well received and it was a great evening.
On Sunday we woke up to a frost and a beautiful day. The view and reflections of St Marys Loch in the light mist were as beautiful as any you’ll see anywhere and compared to the previous day it was like a different world. After briefing we headed over to Broughton Heights and a race to goal to Hawick was set, 45k away. No sooner had the task been declared when the wind at takeoff switched by almost 90 degrees.
Fortunately, the bowl shape and unstable air meant that once pilots had moved over to the NW facing slope there was good lift to be found, even if was occasionally interrupted by lulls which put everyone on the ground. The air was lively at times and some pilots had interesting flights. Isolated showers were forecast and this proved to be the case – many of those who made goal had to contend with hail from the sea breeze convergence on the final approach. Martin Sandwith on the serial Boom Sport was first to goal and BPCup winner, but Chris Harland on his Mac Magus had left earlier and gained enough departure points to give him 1st prize in the Open. Tanya Ephgrave on her Nova Factor was first lady. All in all it was a great task with many personal bests flown, although marred somewhat by an unacceptable number of airspace infringements. Pilots who infringed airspace greater than the tolerance allowed for the possible difference between pressure and GPS altitude were penalised 100%. Some learned that unless you particularly like mental arithemetic in a rough thermal at freezing temperatures there are some advantages to having an instrument that shows altitude in feet rather than metres. In the evening the Tibbie Shiels Inn put on an excellent buffet and Dave Thomson organsied a debrief of the task.
Monday showed borderline winds with the probability of it being blown out later but lighter winds further north, so Meet Director Calvo asked the pilots to vote on whether to make the three hour trip North or to stay locally. We showed what we were made of (?) by opting to stay local and make the long slog up to Nickies Knowe, where pilots waited behind walls of canopy bags for the strong cold winds to subside. They never did so we slogged back down again – some choosing to go down via the appropriately named hill, ‘Dead for Cauld’.
Tuesday was windier still so the day was canned and prize giving arranged. Although the winds could have been more obliging, as always, it was a beautiful location and a great place to spend a few days in lovely Scottish sunshine. Many thanks to Dave and Tommy & co, and the staff at the Tibbie Shiels Inn, who put in a lot of effort to ensure things went as well as possible. Roll on the Dales.
Results
1st Martin Sandwith
2nd Andy Plimmer
3rd Tim Bridle
1st Sports Wing – Andy Plimmer
Top LTF 1-2 – Tony Aldhous
Top Female – Tanya Ephgrave
Best Newcomer – David Thomas
Scottish Open : 1st Chris Harland
