3 sleeps to go
I had forgotten how crazy it is to upkeep the blogtastic side of things.....lets see how this goes... Team Pilots (Gordon/Grant/Malcolm/Ollie/Dave/Andy) prepping gliders.. Steve B and Rich L (our GB additional pilots) already on their way.. Team GB guys doing last minute glider/customs/booking veggie meals for the flight kinda prep. TL (me) and TD (Nick Chitty) sorting maps/satnavs/phones/guitars.. you name it.. we're checking it..
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Results:- http://www.cbvl.esp.br/evento/resultado/117
A brilliant final day with Team GB all in goal and Grant 2nd for the day.
The new World Champion Petr (Czech ) celebrated well ( and hard!) and along with the Team Champions Italy flew a brilliant comp. 5 times world champions, they are a force to be reckoned with.
Closing Ceremony this morning with the usual cheers but tinged with the sadness that always comes with Hang Gliding competitions as we say ‘Goodbye until the next time’ to our friends.
We didn’t end up where we wanted to be but I know how damn hard our boys flew every day.
So our thanks….
To the British Hang Gliding Association and Competitions Panel for funding and support.
To the organisers in Brasilia; FAI, Chico, Luchas, Cid (MD) and the very brilliant Nani for putting on such a great comp and all their help.
To you guys ( our families) at home for all the FB support and love.
To Nick; Team Driver and massive support.
From me? Hats off and on bended knee; please accept my thanks and awe to the pilots and Team Leaders at the 2017 World Hang Gliding Championships.
You make something hard look so damn easy.
Team GB.. I’m proud. 
So… it appears to all that with the late starts (13:30etc) and it isn’t possible to really go earlier due to conditions that the tasks are a touch on the long side.
Yesterday a case in point; no pilots in goal of 118km task and best effort by Primoz at 106 with our guys mostly getting around the 97km mark..
we run out of flyable day as it’s totally switched off by 1645/1700.
We haven’t had the *typical* Brasilia day since maybe Day 1.
After being used as a task briefing pillow by GR ( TLs duties are wide and various!) off they went..
Nonetheless the boys flew great, and we were fortunate to be invited to Vicki Cains Moyes party in the evening. A great night 🙂
This morning Grant and I got up at 0400 so he could be interviewed on BBC radio.. a very early start!
Last comp day today people.. no medals
in sight but some great and gutsy performances from All the GB guys.
So the forecast was a bit rubbish with expected max height not thrillingly high… so a ridge run task ( although off track).. of 98 km set .
Initial climbs not really wild. And the sky very very busy.
Rich and Steve landed short after a ‘busy’ time and the guys pushed on. Ollie really went for it and was way out in front but the risk didn’t pay off in the end. A damn shame.
Dave and Malcolm landed short of third turnpoint and Grant very dissapointingly north of the lake ( it’s his birthday!!!).
But… bloody proud TL of them all And to have Gordon and Andy in goal.. 
😉😊😊
So people, the days are long and Team GB have me (us) run ragged. Nick ( ollies Dad &Team Driver) and I leave the hill once the guys are airborne and head to the filling station for an ice cream with the Aussie girls and Vicki.. then we start on the long drive back to Brasilia or watch and wait and monitor the live tracking/radio to follow our guys in the sky..
So Day 5; another task to the esplanade with severe warnings in place about penalties and ‘unsafe’ approaches.. GB flew their socks off but the task was long/the conditions are short and they ( and most) ran out of daylight; opting safely to land by the land and not risk certain death on low glides into a capital city..
Day 6; after 2 pax landing v low at edplanada, Cid the Meet Director had a massive job to sort ruffled feathers and come up with a solution regarding possible penalties for the low approach guys.
The task this day avoided esplanade goal but the met forecast didn’t live up to expectations with the 40 km behind take off ended up littered with gliders.
One pilot tumbled in a dust devil and deployed his parachute. A Dutch pilot crashed on launch but got away with minor injuries.. only tanaka ( Japan) made goal; a seriously impressive result!!!
Our guys did well and are creeping up the scores.. 🙂
So knowing the next day was a mandatory rest day we then headed back to the esplanade for a party leading into karaoke … both Gordon and Nick taking the spotlight.. a talented and vaguely charismatic duo 😂😂🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Today was reesssssst.
Now we are ready for the final three days! On! On!
Another day another dollar; hang on, that’s not true.. we are still in Brasilia and this is supposed to be fun 😊!
After a dissapointing day 3, the team turned straight towards day 4 with an impressively positive attitude.
Traffic delays on the road out of Town caught out at least half the teams with everyone arriving a tad .. late. Ollie got dressed in a rush and only managed one sock…
Big discussions at the TL meeting and Task brief regarding Gerds landing on the lawn of the Presidential Palace and subsequent suspension from flying right/wrong-ness distracted somewhat from the task in hand.
However.. good task set back to the esplanade and With the fantastic result of all the selected Team in goal! Sadly, The gods of flying didn’t smile on Steve or Rich today .
Nick and I, however got to sit in a traffic jam for 40 minutes adding to the 1:30 drive back to town meaning we missed G Riggs triumphant landing..( but made it for Grants minutes later).
After trying the -howmanypilotsandharnessesyoucanfitinthehotwlliftgame; Dinner with the Aussie contingent topped the day off nicely 😉 
The usual 1.5 hour drive to take off; man its Hot for Brits in Brasilia in Aug.. however the locals manage wearing jeans?? TL brief and a few minor amendments to the local regs all swiftly minuted by Cid (Meet Director) and his amazing team.
A drone (quadcopter?) on launch proved to be a distraction and was flying at dubious altitude so Mitch Shipley (the FAI Steward) had him dealt with quite swiftly..he’
s so Grrr.
To the task… bigger and more challenging (130km via 4 TP) proved to be our downfall (bar Steve Blacker! go Steve) with the whole team landing short in a 10km area.. massively dissapointing when they had worked So So hard. Pah!
Interesting … Gerd (Germany) landed within the wall of the Brasilia Presidential Palace (imagine; Buckingham Palace) for safety reasons and this then involved the MD and Comp D spending the pm up at the Palace getting him out of Nick…
Tomorrow is however another day so onwards and upwards!!! Go Team GB !
Results here:- http://www.cbvl.esp.br/evento/resultado/117
Two days of consistently good flying by the GB boys with all of the team in goal both days and Rich (goal twice ) and Steve (G day 1; 1km short Day2) flying bloody well too. Italy however are the absolute bomb. (and currently leading on Team and individual).
Already the days are blurring into each other and the drives… man the drives are long. The ‘sticks’ of Brasilia are RED DUST and the car, my feet, skin, clothes , gliders … are covered in it. And its sticky! You can wash 3 times but its still there!
Yesterday goal was not actually that far from launch but today the pilots landed at the Esplanade in DT Brasilia … an incredible location with the entire city watching. A great atmosphere (and less dust).. Nick Chitty spent the afternoon of Day 1 sorting the car tyre dramas … but got to see the masses descend (literally on the esplanade this afternoon).
Brasilia is hot, dusty, and quite quite amazing.
Launch 1230. First start 1350…
And they’re off!
Sooooo the time has come. After last nights mandatory safety brief for the pilots and then the Team Leaders meeting which went on until … 11pm we are ready. Trying to find food in Brasilia on a Monday night at 11pm however is not quite So Simple. Thank heavens for (and I’ll only say this once) Jonny Durand who has a remarkable grasp of portuguese and could charm the socks of well… pretty much any doorman of a casino/dancing ladies club in Brasilia (at 11pm on a Monday night). The man has.. talent.
Caipirinhas and an interesting burger/karaoke later Gordon, Tom and I made it back to the hotel. Today has been prep day; back brief from the TLs meeting, (airspace files by the v clever Gordon Rigg), glider stickers (Ollie) and Glider stuff (Dave)…
Some flew today on the official practice day (inc Steve Blackler) but the rest of the team devoted themselves to prep in anticipation of 10 days flying ahead.
Early start in the am to get up to take off and get ready!
Wish us luck!
