Splashdown report
Yet another successful Lakeside Splashdown competition has wrapped
up. For the umpteenth year in a row we were able to run the contest
on the Saturday, and didn't have to fly on Sunday (good thing
considering how the Saturday night party went). Only once in 32
years has the contest had to be extended to the Monday.
This year once again we had sunny skies and an early start, with the
hang gliders being heli-lifted up to launch (except for the late
arrivals - right, Bruce and Zeke?). After a 7:00 pancake breakfast,
we had a pilot's meeting at 8:30 where long-suffering judge "Haver"
Hans Verstraten characterised us mostly as "pathetic" in our spot-
landing attempts (in good humour, of course). He then proceeded to
give some very good tips for how to hit the target, which the winners
all actually used later on.
First PG pilots were off the mountain around 10 am, with all of the 40-
plus pilots having flown by soon after noon. Good thing too, because
the afternoon forecast was for cloud buildups to 40,000 feet, strong
winds, lightning, rain and hail ! While we waited for most of the
HG pilots, some of us got in some extensive kiting practice in that
baby-smooth laminar air coming off Lake Windermere.
Most of the hang gliders also got off the mountain, but a few that
waited got skunked by the building south wind, which reached 40 km/h
by 16:00... followed around 18:00 by even stronger gusts, then sheets
of rain and finally a torrential downpour and lightning.
Thanks go to Frank Kernick, Max Fanderl and Penny Powers, Hans
Verstraten, Flour Jimmy, Darren, and all of the other volunteers that
made this meet possible, and of course the many local business sponsors.
Only two minor mishaps this year - a PG pilot tried to stretch his
glide toward the target and didn't get his feet under him, bouncing
off the ground and giving himself a stiff lower back. And a hang
glider pilot mushed off the south-side ramp and was turned left back
into the mountainside; fortunately he was essentially uninjured though
his glider took a hit. Best of all, all the pilots behaved themselves
in their landing approaches and we had no surprises there.
We had a few pilots from the early days in attendance, including Brian
Cuthbertson from Edmonton and Jeff Blake from Invermere. We were also
graced by the presence of Dano & Julie Saunders, who ran the meet for
21 years in a row!
On the HG side: Roger 'Zeke' Laing was the winner at 30cm off the
inner tube (3rd year in a row on the podium), followed by dark horse
Martin Polach at 1.5m off, and newcomer Tim Middlemiss at about 3m
off. On the PG side, the competition was tougher and the top three
were all in the inner tube: Jeff Greaves, Penny Powers, and Jean-
Michel(?) Wan.
Pictures of the winners here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/stewart.midwinter/32ndLakesideSplashdown
Come out next year and join in the fun at the longest-running meet in
Canada!
