A tactical review from the midfield by Greg Hamerton: I don't like jogging. My normal day involves 10 hours or so of sitting at a PC, interrupted by exciting moments of coffee and chocolate. Occasionally, if the weather's good, I'll go flying instead. So to even consider something like the Bornes To Fly, I knew I needed some body-conditioning. Then there was the unavoidable fact that my name appears on the XPYR entry list for July, along with Maurer, Durogati and Coconea.
Read moreParagliding United Kingdom (UK) cross country (XC) season report for Spring 2015.
A couple of weeks later saw the first ‘100+’ day, on 10th March with Phil Wallbank scoring 112 points for a 43km FAI triangle flight from Llangollen in North Wales on his Ozone Mantra M6.
Read moreParagliding United Kingdom (UK) cross country (XC) season report for Summer and Autumn 2015.
7th June turned out to be a record day for XC flying in the UK: 130 pilots logged XCs totalling 12,261 km. The biggest flights of the day were from Leckhampton in Gloucestershire, and The Lawley and Long Mountain in Shropshire.
Read moreParaglider pilots’ tales from the United Kingdom (UK) cross country (XC) paragliding season 2015.
Peggy Williams: “I had some really memorable flights during the year. Flying off Aonach Mor in Scotland and looking down on Ben Nevis from over 6000′ was a real moment.
Read moreWinning paraglider pilots from the United Kingdom (UK) paragliding cross country (XC) season 2015.
Winners of the 2015 National Paragliding Cross Country League:
1st overall: Carlo Borsattino, Niviuk Artik 4 (1424.7 points)
2nd overall: Philip Wallbank, Ozone Mantra M6 (1416.7 points)
3rd overall: Hugh Miller, Ozone Mantra M6 (1403.7 points)
1st woman: Nancy Elliott, Advance Iota (560.8 points)
Top club: Southern¹ (4807 points)
Weekend league winner: Hugh Miller, Ozone Mantra M6 (1158.4 points)
Winter league winner: Mark Watts, Ozone EnZo 2 (283.6 points)
Longest² turnpoint flight on EN C wing: Carlo Borsattino, Skywalk Cayenne 5 (244.3km)
Longest² FAI triangle: Guy Anderson, Ozone Enzo 2 EN CCC (78.3km)
¹ Southern club: Carlo Borsattino, Hugh Miller, Mark Watts, Roger Turner.
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Getting the most out of a good XC day often comes down to a simple decision: do you leave the hill as soon as you can (and try to stay up all day) or do you wait till it's good and blaze a trail on speedbar to cover more ground during the strong part of the day?
Flybubble's Carlo Borsattino recounts his decisions and tactics on an epic flight from Selsley Common hill near Stroud in Gloucestershire to near Eastbourne in East Sussex, when his leading position on his sports class wing (Skywalk CAYENNE5, EN C) was put to the test against the relentless racing of Mark Watts on his competition wing (Ozone Enzo 2, CCC).
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Each year Skywings Magazine presents the Wings Over The Cloud award for inspiring writing. This year Flybubble's Carlo Borsattino has won the award for his articles: Super Sunday and If We're Lucky We'll Make Bexhill.
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Flybubble's Carlo Borsattino has been flying cross country (XC) by paraglider since the early nineties, and has a reputation for his ability to stay aloft for hours even in the weakest conditions. But it takes more than patience to fly over 200 km in the UK. He analyses the technical challenges, tactical moves and saved mistakes that helped him to achieve his personal best distance to date.
Read moreYou don't have to fly a hotship to achieve great flights! Although having more performance helps, you don't have to fly a Performance Class or Competition wing to achieve your Big XC dreams. The gliding and climbing ability of the modern Sports Class (mid EN C) is now remarkable!
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Although having more performance helps, you don't have to fly an Advanced or Competition wing to achieve your Big XC dreams. The gliding and climbing ability of the modern Performance Class (mid EN C) is now remarkable!
Nothing demonstrates this more clearly than Carlo Borsattino's recent performance on his Artik 4.
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