| 2006 News Page |
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Richard Westgate claims world tandem record
De Aar, South Africa, December 2006 Thursday the 7th of December 2006 was a memorable day in De Aar, South Africa as it saw 3 paragliding world records broken in one day (pending FAI ratification):
Two British pilots, Richard Westgate and Phil Bibby travelled to South Africa to set a new tandem record. Their flight saw them achieve a new world open distance tandem record of 356km. The Slovenian born Valic brothers travelled to South Africa with the specific goal to achieve a world record. Both brothers made the declared goal of 368km, and had enough time to continue to fly further, eventually landing within 300 meters of each other. They set a new world record as well of 426km! The two brothers flew at over 5200 meters above sea level. Future team selection CIVL are currently discussing and altering the team selection system for Category 1 events (World and European Championship). As a result of this we are delaying publication of the British Team selection criteria for future events (2008 onwards) until such time as a decision has been made by CIVL. The next scheduled meeting of CIVL is in February 2007 and we hope to be in a position to finalise our British Team selection criteria during March 2007. Thank you for your patience while we work to develop the most appropriate format for selecting our future British Teams. British Team for World Championships Manilla The team selected to represent the UK in the World Championships in Manilla, Australia in February 2007 is: Adrian Thomas, Bruce Goldsmith, Steve Ham, Russell Ogden, Louise Burnham and Nicky Moss. Based on the nations ranking the UK are entitled to enter a team of 4 men plus 2 women. This may be increased to 5 men if additional places become available in the December re-allocation. In this event, Mark Watts has been selected as the fifth male team member. Congratulations and we wish the team the best of luck! Adrian Thomas is British Champion 2006 
The British Championship was won by Adrian Thomas with series leader Steve Ham pipped at the post to second place and Mark Watts third. Ten tasks were flown over the 2006 series in Wales, Portugal and Spain. See the full British Championship results and presentation Xevi Bonet wins British Open Àger 2006 
26 August to 01 September Àger, Spain The third and final competition of the 2006 series has now finished in Àger. The competition was won by local Catalan pilot Xevi Bonet with Bruce Goldsmith in second and Mark Watts in third. Bleriot Cup 2006 14 to 19 August in the UK The Bleriot Cup was retained for the third year in succession by Team UK. Ramon Morillas wins British Open Montalegre 2006 
24 to 29 July Montalegre, Portugal The second open championships was won by Spaniard Ramon Morillas on board his Advance Omega Proto. Three tasks were completed. 9th European Championships 2006 2 to 13 July Morzine, France The 9th European Championships took place in Morzine, with team UK in 8th place:
Jim Mallinson wins first British Open 2006 
23 to 26 June South East Wales Two tasks were completed; indifferent Welsh weather playing a big part in the procedings. Big bucks in Serial Class There are more incentives than ever for pilots flying certified gliders in this year's Championships. Cross Country magazine are putting up a £500 cash prize for the overall winner of this year's Serial Class, and there's a free skiing holiday up for grabs for the top DHV2 from www.chaletchardons.com This is all in addition to Ozone's ongstanding overall Serial Class sponsorship. The Competitions Panel support the idea of Serial Class and see it as encouraging pilots to progress by flying certified gliders and not jumping onto comp wings too early. So here is a fantastic reason to stay within serial class, whether it be DHV2-3 or DHV2. Bleriot Team 2006 The team chosen for this years Bleriot Cup is: Burkitt Rudd (captain), Charlie Merrett (vice captain), Gareth Aston, John Ellison, Mike Aston, Aidan Toase, Nigel Prior (reserve). The competition will take place in August in the UK. British Squad 2006 This years British Squad earmarked for Squad training and boot camps for 2006 is as follows: Men: Russell Ogden, Adrian Thomas, Mark Watts, Kelly Farina, Neil Roberts, Craig Morgan, Roger Fowkes, Steve Etherington, Steve Ham, Alex Coltman, Mark Hayman, Ulric Jessop. Women: Abigail Barr, Louise Burnham, Nicky Moss Many of the squad are intending to enter the Paragliding World Cup tour, the highest competition circuit in the world. It is hoped that Bruce Goldsmith and Russell Ogden will be mentoring our top pilots during the World Cup events in preparation for the Cat 1 comps of the European Championships (Morzine) in July 2006 and the World Championships (Australia) in February 2007. |