Monday 3 August 2015

All To Play For

Wednesday 25th July 2015

The last day of the British Open Series.

Rain. Overnight rain. Damn. With only about 300 points separating 1st and my 6th place, I was willing the weather to deliver a task able day. Being the last day of the last round of the BOS, this was going to be the final  chance to improve scores and positions. Some pilots had already gone home, either through work commitments or because of a gloomy forecast, including Gordon Rigg in 1st place, and with such a slim margin of points separating the top places, it would only take one slip up from the remaining leading pilots for it all to change at the top. On track to meet my "Top 6" target, (a national team has 6 pilots so I thought it a good starting point to aim for) did I now dare to believe that a top 3 finish was possible? It was definitely all to play for.
Early morning panoramic view from the Long Mynd
And the view over the back....
A quick drive up to The Mynd before briefing and I could see that the forecast had been overly pessimistic. Yes, the cloud was still hugging the hill, but it was lifting, and there were large patches of blue sky and just a moderate breeze. Of course, it would suit some pilots to have the day cancelled, rather than risk losing their lead, but we are there to fly. I texted Phippsy (then in third position and who was recovering after his sons wedding in South Wales the day before) to let him know that we might be flying...
"If I can make it, I won't be there until midday at the earliest. Keep me updated." Rightio.

Back at briefing and the number of pilots had decreased significantly but with stand-in Meethead Trevor Birbeck calling the shots, we were soon dispatched off to The Mynd where there would be a task briefing at 11.30am. No retrieve, so back up the hill in my car. Arriving first I had the glider off the roof and half rigged before most of the other pilots had arrived. When they did, I heard rumblings that perhaps the Mynd was not the right site for the day with some pilots forecasting that the wind would veer more to the NW - not the forecast I had seen so I ignored the rumours and finished off rigging.


Shortly before the task briefing, Phippsy arrived on the hill. The one pilot ahead of him in the series and who was still on the hill must have been taken aback - if we did get to fly then the stakes were now rising. Being in 2nd place, and with Gordon not flying, Luke's route to first place had just got a little more complicated.... Would there be another challenger for the top spot? It's exactly these situations that make competition flying so compelling. Amateur, minority sport it might be, but it is no less competitive, with the same pressures, challenges and psychological battles as other more main stream sports. Who would keep calm and not blow their chances.
Phippsy, Trevor Birkbeck and Craig Dolwin shelter from the approaching rain

Darren Brown and I helped Phippsy get rigged in super-quick time before briefing. A 52km race to goal downwind was set. A small task, but very appropriate for the day. Soon, and with rain on the horizon, Justin Needham was clipped in and ready to go, apparently to try and "surf" the gust front from the approaching squall line. Unfortunately the right window of opportunity didn't open up, and he hastily retreated as the rain began.

And did it ever rain! A veritable downpour. Huddled under Phippsy's wing doubts were starting to creep in that we would fly. As soon as the rain stopped there was a scurry of activity to chamois the gliders to help dry them off. Gliders don like the rain, and fly like planks with a significantly increased stall speed which makes landing at best challenging, and at worst plain dangerous. Some pilots called it a day and de-rigged, but the top 6 (minus Gordon) were still there.

Mark Woodhams, guardian of the Club Class

Rain and struggling to make height gains
Then more rain, but a shorter shower and a brighter looking sky developing after it.Another flurry of glider wiping. Right, here we go. No more waiting around. I clipped in and made my way to the take off. A club class pilot beat me to it and started soaring the hill. I waited for signs of other lift, ignoring the jeers of pilots behind me. I launched when three buzzards started climbing out in front. Yep, it was definitely lifty, but very lumpy.



Turning right (North) up the ridge I struggled to make decent height gain. Phippsy was off shortly after me and immediately seemed to be doing a lot better to the south, so I flew over to join him. Frustratingly I found it difficult to make the same height gain, something that continued for the entire two hours we eventually spent flying the hill. First Phippsy, then Luke, then Justin, then Dave Matthews all out climbed me. Being heavy on my wing  I can expect some loss of performance in sink rate (but gain in gliding performance) but this seemed to above and beyond that. What the blazes was I doing wrong? Luke was calling "wave lift", something that I have little experience of flying. Subsequent feedback from respected pilots is that I was perhaps working the lift too hard, and instead should have just "parked" in to wind to maximise the lift in the apparently small wave bars. Lessons learned for next time.


Rain flying.... Lovely. Not.
More rain, and I'm flying. Not the best place to be. Carl Wallbank pulled some radical turns to descend quickly and land. Luckily with the Mynd ridge being so long (as Phippsy says perhaps that's why it is called "The Long Mynd.."), we could run from the worst of the rain, but  the glider was showing all the characteristics of a wet glider so I opted to keep flying, waiting for the weather to cycle and hopefully deliver the forecasted brighter spells.

A glimmer of hope
 And it did. The sun was now hitting the ground upwind of us and the glider was now behaving more predictably,  Luke was the first to leave the hill, going on a death glide to activate the task at 10km.  I took a climb to base for (the first time) downwind of Phippsy, Justin, Darren (Brown) and Dave, who called on the radio he was leaving the hill. Struggling to stay out of base at 2500, I was nervous that he would start gliding downwind and not know where I was,  I decided to start my glide too, ahead of the gaggle, and to escape the  frustration of my poor performance on the hill.  

Suspecting  that Luke was on the ground I glided through the "sink hole" heading towards cliking clouds and thermal triggering terrain. A couple of little bleeps, a couple of 360s.
"What you got there Ben?" asked Dave, gliding a few hundred meters behind me.
"I'm going down slightly slower than I was a minute ago..." I replied, as I sized up landing options.Off on a death glide to a factory and rising ground. 


A few more bleeps and circles but I knew the game was up. Downwind was a large flat field near a lane which I gauged I could get to safely. As a last ditch attempt to stay up I flew to one side of the field where the trees were thrashing about (a sign that a thermal is kicking off) but didn't find anything. Not until that is, I flew a base leg and turned into wind at a perfect height to make a landing near the gate. And that's when I found the thermal. My left wing was violently lifted and I was now heading in the wrong direction. Too low to use it, I hung on to the left upright,  intending to ease the glider back into wind without over reacting. Stay calm, it's coming round. Bingo. Back on track. Plenty of speed, round out and a gentle flare. Perfect. And that's why my glider has become such a trusted friend.

As I carried the glider to the edge of the field I was greeted by Tony, a local chap who lives with his wife in a caravan on the edge of the field while they renovate their adjoining house. An ex-glider pilot he was genuinely enthralled by it all, and we chatted away while I de-rigged, and watched Dave, Justin, Darren and Phippsy circle way above me....

Mark Woodhams kindly retrieved him having been to pick up Tim Swait from the Club Class who had also managed to squeak away from the hill. A really good effort by him, and landing just a few metres short to activate his task.



Sharing the sky with Tim Swait


 I was soon back at my car and driving home, waiting with baited breath to hear what had happened. My minimum score wouldn't affect my 6th place, but these boys were about to set the cat among the pigeons. I couldn't wait any longer.
"Phippsy, it's Ben. So what's going on?"
"I'm having supper.... Oh the scores. Luke 10km, Darren, Justin and me 20km, Dave 25km. I've just won the championship".
"WHAT???"
"Yep. Luke 3rd, Dave 2nd and me 1st!"

Graham Phippsy
British Open Series Champion 2015
With permission of ASM1Photography
I could not have been more pleased for him. With an enviable flying CV, including being a member of Team GB, Phippsy has been a major force in keeping hang gliding alive in the UK by bringing new people in to the sport through his highly regarded hang gliding and paragliding school, and often in the face of excessive commercial pressures. What a result for him, his school Cloud 9, and his Wills Wing dealership.

And what an end to the series. I got my top 6 place and now it's off to Spain to train with Team GB and then fly the British Nationals, hopefully against some of Europe's top pilots.