This year's Southern Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club** (SHGC) paragliding cross country (XC) league was more strongly contested than ever before.
Many SHGC paraglider pilots were out frequently trying to fly XC as far as possible.
This was from both local SHGC flying sites in Sussex, as well as other prime XC flying sites around the United Kingdom!
In the end Carlo Borsattino, BHPA** Chief Flying Instructor (CFI) of Flybubble Paragliding, finished top SHGC pilot in the 2005 UK National Paragliding Cross Country League***, flying a standard production DHV 2 paraglider.
This was no mean feat when you consider that some of the best pilots in the country also fly from SHGC sites, including current British paragliding team pilots flying competition prototypes!
Carlo also flew the longest paragliding cross country flight of the year from a SHGC site, again on a standard production DHV 2 paraglider, a 71 km straight-line distance flight from the Devil's Dyke to Rye.
* The Southern Hang Gliding & Paragliding Club (SHGC) is the longest established freeflight club in the UK. It looks after superb flying sites on the famous and beautiful Sussex South Downs hills, and is still one of the largest and most active paragliding and hang gliding (freeflight) clubs in the UK.
** BHPA - the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association.
*** See the 2005 UK National Paragliding Cross Country League.