Paragliding Race Support 2023

Hi all,

I have received an email from a paraglider pilot, Witold Wawszczac, who helps to organise and competes in Hike and Fly (H&F) competitions. Witold is looking for capable individuals to help support the 2023 series of races and I have attached his email message below so you can see something about what’s involved and the anticipated dates for events.

I have spoken with Witold and it would appear that the sport, although not new, is in an early stage of development in the UK. He is trying to establish if there is a potential team of willing helpers to support the paragliding races. I personally think that this could be an interesting day or two out. If anyone is interested in helping with support for the events please let me know and I’ll get in touch with Witold again.

Cheers, Dave M

WANTED supporters for paragliding hike and fly races in 2023

Hello, Dear Sir or Madam,

Together with few athletes I am looking for enthusiasts volunteers to support us during hike & fly races and I thought that some members of your club might be interested in participating.

Please help us to get the message across as explained below.

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WHO ARE WE?
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We are a group of friends, amateur athletes. On a daily basis we work just as everybody else, but in our spare time we fly paragliders.

We are licenced under BHPA (British Hang-gliding and Paragliding Association) and rather experienced paragliding pilots. We all live in different locations around England and travel to hills which are take-off spots. In favourable weather conditions, we attempt to fly “cross country”, otherwise we stay locally around a particular hill suitable for that day.

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WHAT IS HIKE AND FLY
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Generally, Hike And Fly (or H&F for short) it is an outdoor activity where participant(s) move from one point to another only by foot or a paraglider. This could be as simple as hiking up a mountain and flying down (also known as “top-to-bottom flight” as opposite to a “cross-country flight” or an acrobatic one). Only minimalistic and ultra light type of equipment is used for hike and fly.

H&F can also be in a form of vol-biv (French: vol – flight, bivouac – camping), where participants cover a long range distance over multiple days, camping over night in between. In this scenario a full range of ultra light equipment is carried by participants incl. camping gear.

Another form of H&F is racing, and this is where supporters come into play. Typically racers carry only the equipment deemed by event organisers as “mandatory” (paraglider, harness, helmet, reserve parachute, at least 1 GPS tracker, UHF/VHF radio) and – if race rules allow – supporters provide logistics. Otherwise athletes must carry everything they need incl. camping gear and food for multiple days.

The below video gives a good insight of what H&F race looks like:

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WHY HIKE AND FLY?
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From our experience in the sport, we find that H&F is the most complex form of paragliding, because it involves all possible aspects, which in other forms of paragliding are usually narrowed to one or two only.

These aspects are: a solid physical stamina, mental strength, self motivation, experience to choose and adjust the tactics as an event goes by, advanced skills of piloting a paraglider, knowledge of equipment, safety and legal regulations concerning air traffic as required by CAA (British Civil Aviation Authority), means of wireless communication, experience in advanced meteorology along with proven ability to interpret weather reports and how these translate into flyability conditions, etc. And all that in a time pressure. These factors combined mean that only a small percentage of paraglider pilots decide to engage in H&F and even smaller portion in racing of that format. H&F is the ultimate challenge for every paraglider pilot.

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WHAT WE OFFER
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A participation in an outdoor adventure and memories for life. We treat paragliding and H&F racing purely as a hobby and we are looking for like-minded people to join us to their abilities (i.e. they will NOT be required to fly or endanger their lives in any shape or form).

We are not paid, sponsored or associated with any company, equipment manufacturer, etc. In fact, we have to carefully consider our individual home budgets to cover costs of the sport of paragliding incl. equipment purchases and entry fees for H&F events. As a matter of courtesy we might or might not be able to cover some of the costs for supporters, therefore we expect them to be enthusiasts of outdoor just like we are.

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WHAT DOES A SUPPORTER DO
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This function can be compared to a co-driver or a mechanic during a car rally. In case of a H&F race, supporter’s scope of activities might vary. It can be as simple as walking to meet a racer in field to deliver spare food/drinks, non-mandatory equipment such as charged power banks, camping gear, etc. The goal here is to minimise the weight of the rucksack carried by racers, which even in it’s ultra light form typically weights between 10 and 15 kg.

If a supporter happens to be a paraglider pilot themselves, they can also monitor meteo reports and provide racers with weather updates or tactical tips.

Supporters can also provide mental help, especially by walking or running with racers during some chosen parts of the route.

A typical daily distance that racers cover on foot and paraglider is around 40 km across mountain terrain such as Yorkshire Dales, Snowdonia, Lake District, Black Mountains in Wales or – in case of international racers – even Pyrenees or Alps. For supporters the daily distance is significantly shorter, still few miles of ascends and descends.

Usually the team of supporters consists of a driver with a motorised vehicle, who deploys walkers as close as possible to a certain point on the map, then such walker meets a racer for whatever is agreed (i.e. deliver food or camping gear).

Communication is carried via GSM network such as mobile phone (calls and texts) and popular internet communicators, or – in some areas of poor coverage – via VHF/UHF radio (AKA “walkie talkie”). We can equip our supporters with radios if need be.

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HOW DOES THE RACE GO
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Organisers select dates and a route based on weather forecast. This is to ensure as much distance can be covered by racers in the air. However, every H&F race still involves a lot of walking. Racers compete during day time against each other, whilst their supporters help.

Most often races have a set of turn points to pass through in a specific sequence and whoever gets to the finishing line first before the set end time, wins the race.

However, some races operate on an “open map” basis, that is: there is no set route but multiple turn points, each of them scored differently, and it is up to each individual athlete (racer) to select their route to score the maximum number of points and still go back to the finishing line before the race end time.

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REQUIREMENTS TO BECOME A SUPPORTER
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From the above it is obvious that a supporter must:
1. be physically fit for endurance (i.e. walking or running across relatively long distance)
2. have mental endurance (i.e. not being afraid of covering up to few miles in an outdoor environment, sometimes in remote locations)
3. have comfortable shoes and a comfortable backpack; possession and usage of hiking poles is not required although highly suggested

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WHEN AND WHERE?
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We are aiming at participating in following events:
* Dragon (May 2023, Black Mountains in Wales, 2 weekend days, exact dates TBC by race organisers based on weather forecast)
* X-Eryri (May 2023, Snowdonia, 2 weekend days, exact dates TBC)
* X-Lakes (June 2023, Lake District, 2 weekend days, exact dates TBC)
* Gryfn (July 2023, Black Mountains in Wales, 2 weekend days, exact dates TBC)
* X-Dales (July 2023, Yorkshire dales, 1 weekend day (Saturday), exact date TBC).

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CALL FOR ACTION
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Please kindly help us to get this message to as many members of your club as possible, so that each individual can decide for themselves whether an activity as outlined above is of interest to them and they are willing to participate.

Thank you very much in advance and I am looking forward to hearing from you.

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Best regards,

Witold Wawszczak MSc

• This topic was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by Dave M.
• This topic was modified 1 year, 6 months ago by YMC Admin.