I’ll bet no one ever expected a 10.26km flight to bring home
a trophy, but that’s exactly what happened at the Auckland Regional Paragliding
Competition last weekend.
The one valid task, with a value of a whopping 138 points,
doesn’t nearly capture the excitement of the weekend though.
 |
| Happy Prize Winners |
The competitors spent hours in the air at Dills on Saturday.
In typical Dills style, the opportunities (or should I say opportunity) to get
away were limited. Only a handful of pilots managed to get enough height for a
run towards Waitoki. Sadly the numbers weren’t enough to make it a valid task,
but it was a great fun day for a blast around the hill.
The forecast for Sunday wasn’t promising, but tempted by how
close we were to getting a task the day before, we hit Dills again. The wind
was stronger, but just about everyone managed to get away. Second climbs were
hard to find though, and the strong easterly component made it tough to stay on
the course line, dropping loads of pilots around the 5km mark.
Anand Srinivasan took home the Wind
Tech tankard for winning the fun class, in second place overall. He won’t be letting Evan & Reuben
forget how he outflew them either, by a massive 60 metres.
Jeff Ripley took the coveted trophy home, for the fourth time in a row, with his unforgettable 10.26km flight.
Good work all.
Thanks to Johnny for organising another comp full of laughs, to all the pilots for making the most of what we had, and to drivers & supporters for making this a successful weekend.
