Joe Dart breaks UK triangle record

Joe Dart took advantage of exceptional flying conditions in Scotland on 20 May to set a new UK triangle record. He flew a cracking 139km FAI triangle around the Scottish Highlands having launched from Mount Blair in the southern Cairngorms.

Joe was flying an Ozone Zeno 2 and was in the air for six and a half hours. He reached a maximum altitude of 2,504m – more than twice the height of the landscape – and saw max climbs of 3.8m/s. His average speed around the course was 22.57km/h.

Sharing the news he wrote: “After seven months on the road, we wrapped up our trip in the Scottish Highlands, right in the middle of a heatwave.

“The week had been one of the best of my life — from a 78km FAI triangle out of Glencoe, thermalling with golden eagles and escaping huge walkouts by hiding in leesides waiting for a bullet train back to base — to Mount Blair, a rarely flown old hang gliding site in the southern Cairngorms.”

The plan for the day was to attempt to beat both Guy Anderson’s 125.8km free triangle (2017) and Hugh Miller’s 122.9km declared (2018) UK records.

Joe explained: “There were plenty of hungry Scottish pilots lining up for this five-star day, but the sky looked limp at first. Then, as warm air filled with rising gliders, we set off.

“I’d searched too long and found myself at the back, so I pushed off track, found a solid climb, and surfed under a good base to catch Warwick [Lister-Kaye] and Jules [Robinson] at the front. From there we raced over incredible terrain without seeing a single manmade object until turnpoint one.

“Declared triangles cursed me as I pushed into headwind, leaving the clouds behind and getting low. Jules was watching from behind. I clawed my way up, but the wind was cruel to him too — he raced to my climb, but the ladder had been pulled. I waited at base, but he was a speck below, so I moved on into the dreaded lunchtime lull. Climbs vanished.

“Approaching turnpoint two, still cursing whoever puts turnpoints in blue holes, I saw someone — Jules! He’d beaten me there by a kilometre and pushed straight for the sunshine. I went the other way, sticking to cloud and climbing high again. Now it was on.

“Only 40km to go. Just breathe. Observe. Relax. Feel. I saw Mount Blair — 31:1 glide to goal. I was 800ft above the deck with 15km of bonnie nothing and the sky looking weary.

“My 26kg of gear reminded me how bad the walk out would be. I told it to shut up — this was for the record. The plan: find anything, frisbee it, and don’t leave till the number hits 7:1.

“It worked. The feeling building inside was electric — I tried not to celebrate too early, but when the turnpoint clicked, my shouts were heard from the lay-by far below. Declared triangle closed.

“Then I saw a cloud forming behind, and the wind farms confirmed it: tailwind here, headwind ahead. A small convergence gave me one last climb, I pushed on at base again until FlySkyHy flashed up: 140km triangle.

“I turned, sped back to Mount Blair, looped the wing, landed in the lay-by, dropped it onto a barbed wire fence — and was flooded with joy.”

See the tracklog here