Day 2 - 8.00 First Accuracy load takes off
4th July 2018
On schedule the first aircraft of the day takes off - and the 7th FAI World Canopy Piloting Championships have started. The schedule is to complete one round of Accuracy and then move to Distance followed by Speed. At the moment the conditions are perfect, clear skies, light winds and 23 degrees.
Yesterday evening we were treated to a superb Opening Ceremony - (full report will be in an individual article). When the competitors lined up under the flags preparing to march out to the 'pond area' where the stands are, they did not believe our organiser, Marek Jóźwicki when he said "and make a fuss and wave to the 5,000 spectators on the stands! " this is a parachuting World Championships after all. Imagine our surprise when we emerged from the back of the hangar to find not 5,000 spectators - but more like 15,000! The car park was full (5,000 cars) - the road to the airfield had been blocked for over two hours - as Regan found out to his cost. He had returned to the hotel (10 minutes drive away) to change and left at 6.00 to return. In the end he abandoned his car and ran the last couple of kilometers and still missed the start of the ceremony! At least he entertained the spectators who shared his fate as he ran past waving. Fortunately the various dignitaries who made the speeches had arrived earlier.
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Calm Waters at the beginning of the day |
So far the Jury at this competition: Sylvia Wagner (President), Mike Teague and Pia Berggren have issued three Jury Notices on decisions they have been called on to make. These can be found under the Documents heading at the top of this page.
13.30 The day is going well with one round each of Accuracy and Distance completed and the weather is still being kind to us. After lunch we switched to the Speed event, which went like clockwork, so by the end of the day we had completed the three rounds, resulting in a new Speed World Champion. We extend our congratulations to Australia's Andrew Woolf as the new World Champion in Speed Canopy Piloting with a score of 288.95. In second place with a score of 282.653 is the USA's Nicholas Batsch, with Armando Fattorusa of Italy taking third place with a score of 280.872.
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| Andrew Woolf (AUS) - Canopy Piloting Speed Champion 2018 |
As important as the day has been, we cannot bring today's report to a close without wishing our American competititors and Judges alike a Happy 4th July and we trust you'll all celebrate in style tonight!
