Flytec
Wills Wing

Oz Report

topic: Ollie Moffatt (2 articles)

Great British Aerotow Revival

Mon, May 9 2022, 12:04:52 pm GMT

Day two

Andrew "Andy" Hollidge|Babs King|competition|Dave Matthews|Gordon Rigg|Graham Phipps|Great British Aerotow Revival 2022|Jamie Shelden|Joe Bloggs|Johnny Carr|Justin Needham|Kathryn Cole|Ollie Moffatt|Paul Harvey|Ricardo Marques da Costa|Richard Lovelace|Steven "Steve" Blackler|Tim Swait

«Kathryn Cole» writes:

The forecast has been suggesting that today might be the best day for the competition, and there was a palpable sense of anticipation in the air.

Briefing at 9:00am turned out to be relatively amusing as Steve Blacker collected his day prize for winning the first day of the competition he organised! In addition, Babs King gave a highly amusing summary of the text messages she had received from pilots the previous day. Apparently just texting "Joe Bloggs down safe" is incredibly hard for pilots desperate to let someone know that he made it to goal!! The Flyability kitty grew quite nicely thanks to a number of £5 "fines" for not following basic instructions.

The task was set. An 80km triangle for the flexwings and an ambitious 100km triangle for the rigids. Sport Class were tasked with and out and return of 40km.

Eager to get on with the days flying, and with not long until launch opened, the pilots began rigging in earnest on the day's allocated runway - which was even more crosswind than anticipated. As a result, meet head Jamie Shelden had to make the difficult call to relocate everyone to the cross runway. Begin the mad rush to move 50 odd gliders in various rigging states, trolleys, paraphernalia etc. Thanks to the sterling work of the volunteers everyone got moved across and back into a sensible launch order in record time.

Then the fun began of tugging up first the rigid pilots, followed by the flexi's. It was a boiling hot day, and with the rougher runway claiming a number of flat tyres and an engine getting a bit grumpy, we were down to two tugs at one point. The aptly named 'fun' tug decided it wanted to be renamed to 'not so fun' after all! All in all, 52 tows were achieved, with two pilots grabbing a relight.

Nine pilots from Class 1 made it to goal, with Dave Matthews, Gordon Rigg and Steven Blacker taking the podium. Other pilots in goal were Richard Lovelace, Johnny Carr, Graham Phipps, Justin Needham, Andy Hollidge and Ollie Moffatt. Special mention goes to Ollie who was one of the last pilots of the day to launch and still made it to goal, skimming in out of the sunset, landing well past 7pm!!

In Class 5, Paul Harvey and Ricardo Marques da Costa both made goal. Another four pilots made it more than 80km, nothing to be sniffed at with today's task!

None of the Sports Class pilots made goal but Tim Swait made it 31.4km taking the win for the day.

Discuss "Great British Aerotow Revival" at the Oz Report forum   link»

British Hang Gliding Competition Panel Meeting

Mon, Nov 22 2021, 3:31:56 pm GMT

2022 Competition Season

Andrew "Andy" Hollidge|British HG Championships 2022 & Chabre Open 2022|British Open Series 2022|Carl Wallbank|competition|Darren Brown|Dave Matthews|French Nationals 2022|Gordon Rigg|Grant Crossingham|Jon Sacre|Kev Gay|Malcolm Brown|Ollie Moffatt|Simon White|Stephen "Steve" Penfold|Steven "Steve" Blackler

Darren Brown writes:

This weekend we held the annual British Hang-gliding Competition Panel meeting. This is where decisions are made regarding the next year's competitions, team selection etc.

The panel has several official positions, which have now been filled as follows:

- Chair: Darren Brown
- Vice Chair: Kev Gay
- Secretary: Simon White
- Treasurer: Steve Penfold

The British team for the 2022 European Championships was also selected:

- Grant Crossingham
- Gordon Rigg
- Andy Hollidge
- Carl Wallbank
- Dave Matthews
- Steve Penfold

Reserves:

- Darren Brown
- Steve Blackler
- Malcolm Brown

Additionally we decided what competitions we intend to hold in 2022 and set dates / locations. Please note all this information is PROVISIONAL and is based upon obtaining the relevant permissions and ensuring the necessary organisation is available and in place. I am posting this in order to keep you informed but be aware some of this information (including dates) could change. The panel are now working on putting everything in place in order that we can officially finalise and publish the dates and locations.

British National Championships:

- Local Organiser: Ollie Moffatt
- Location: Laragne, France
- Dates: Sunday 7th August to Saturday 13th August 2022
- The competition is aimed at backing directly onto the French Nationals, which will be held in Aspres, France from 31st July to 6th August 2021 (2022?). This will give pilots the opportunity to enter both competitions.

British Open Series Round 1:

- Local Organiser: Kev Gay
- Location: Yorkshire Dales
- Dates: Sunday 29th May to Saturday 4th June 2022.

British Open Series Round 2:

- Local Organiser: Jon Sacre
- Location: Builth Wells, Wales
- Dates: Sunday 4th September to Saturday 10th September 2022.

As new chair, I would like to thank all the panel members for their support and efforts over this weekend and in particular to the new panel members, Gordon, Ollie and Nick, who injected new ideas and enthusiasm.

We will keep you informed of any new developments and confirm dates/locations for the competitions as soon as we are able.

Discuss "British Hang Gliding Competition Panel Meeting" at the Oz Report forum   link»