Mark Watts Flies 329km for new uk PG record

Mark Watts set a new paragliding open distance XC UK record on Thursday 3 July with a jaw-dropping 329.3km flight west-to-east across England. Flying an Ozone Enzo 3 he launched from Llangorse in Wales and was with a group of top British pilots including our own Hugh Miller (325km), Ben Dry (317km), Guy Anderson (315km), Kirsty Cameron (311km) and Markek Mogielnicki (302km) who spent the next eight hours flying 300km east. 

On what was an “extraordinary” day for the UK pilots, conditions saw base at 2,300m and 5m/s climbs. A line of lift running across the country like a belt allowed one sailplane pilot to criss-cross the country four times.

“It was like flying in spring air in July with a lid on it,” Kirsty Cameron, who set the new British women’s record with her flight, said afterwards. “There was quite a bit of cirrus around with cumulus below. You just had to wait for weak sun to hit the ground and it would start working again.”

She added: “I had a couple of spots where I had to hang out and wait, and almost decked it at 204km, but at less than 1,000ft I banged into a solid 5m/s that I had to bail on at 6,500ft because I was worried about busting FL75, which was at 8,000ft.”

The day was not super windy, “just an amazing air mass.” A westerly flow up high gave pilots a downwind speed of 60km/h on glide, with Mark averaging 42km/h over the whole flight. 

“We were able to bar it a lot for some sections,” Kirsty added. “I remember one section when I thought ‘When did I last turn in a climb?’ Looking back on my track it looks like I flew for half an hour at over 6,000ft without turning.”

Hugh Miller said the group did not fly as a gaggle but that “people were strung out along the course line.” He added: “We hit sea breeze at the end and Mark worked it better before the headwind … We were both gripped and knackered at the end and he just stuck it out better than me in the weak lift.”

The UK has enjoyed very special conditions this year as first a blocking high settled over the UK in spring, before the good weather continued in mid-summer.

Only eight pilots have flown further than 300km in the UK since Richard Carter broke the barrier and set the bar with a 306.8km flight in July 2018. Alex Coltman also joined the 300km club in the UK this year with a flight from Milk Hill on 30 June. The epic day on 3 July also saw numerous 200km flights as pilots took advantage of what were rare and exceptional conditions. 

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This article was first published in Cross Country 259