Banging at the BOS

So having stayed at home for the first two days of the Mid Wales Round of the British Open Series (BOS) Hang Gliding competition we loaded up the van and headed north on Sunday afternoon. Tim j and myself were just about to leave to pick up Daisy when Kaz popped her head out of the door and decided to join us, so a bit more kit into the van another glider on the roof and off we went.

Dropping in to see Bill and Sue at their new house on the way broke up the drive and showed us how the other half live, smashing view of the Malverns, lots of wine in the Cellar and some very nice gardens :)

Morning campers, peace and tranquility at Foxholes

Yummy

Camping at Foxholes we set up tents and headed to Bishops Castle for a pint or two and some food nice.

Rigging under a good looking sky

Under starters orders

Monday saw us off up the Mynd on what turned out to be a fairly blustery day but plenty of lift around on the hill at least. 90k race to anywhere soon saw gliders up and away and a large gaggle leaving at cloudbase with me as one of them.  Over the back was a little trickier and lots went down at the 20k mark including yours truly but others struggled on with several making the distance and Justin n winning the day.  Still it was my first thermic flight on my new T2 C and what a fab' piece of kit she is :)))))

My new wing gets the thumbs up

Following and early retrieve we nipped back up the Mynd and Kaz took the opportunity to have a fly on her Hangy.  Having the whole of the ridge to herself she had a fine time in still bouncy enough conditions playing with the passing clouds.  a super top landing then it was off to the Pub again for refreshments.

Shedsy and Shedsy

Tuesday the winds were lighter and conditions on the hill (Mynd) tricky. Still swifts on the hill tempted Rob G off and that was enough for several others to follow and soon a gaggle was on its way on an 80k task. Plenty were left to watch and wait, another couple of chance came by and I took one of them but did not make the most of it  and after a second attempt found myself derigging in the bottom landing field, still nice company.

Tim J looking like he means it 

The evening saw us having a ball in the pub where Kaz had managed to arrange for BC/DC to play for us (local rock band) and things went lively to say the least. Plenty of dancing , head banging and "singing" made for a top night and a few headaches.........

shape of things to come ??????

Final day and yes it was back up the Mynd for more fun.  It was a while before the wind came on and the thermals out but when they did it was very nice indeed.  Soon it was off to cloudbase with a gaggle of gliders including sailplanes and over the back.  The lead gaggle suddenly found themselves in trouble and several went down at Wenlock edge including some top names and me!  But 2 made it on to  with Geoff b landing very close for an excellent effort.

Gordon R finally gets his hands on the British Open Trophy 

Bit of drama on the hill when a Sailplane got it wrong and ended up splat on the front but fortunately no one was hurt.  Bit more drama when Kaz drove down the hill and the drive shaft broke on the van resulting in a very long retrieve to Cornwall on a low loader, still worse things happen at sea and we did have a good laugh on the way!!

well saves on diesel I guess .......

So a fun time away and plenty of flying, lovely camping, good company and top memories...SE Wales next time :)

Quote of the comp "were you born during the war"  nice one Mike