5th FAI Canopy Piloting World Cup, South Africa 2009

Martin Reynolds attended the FAI Canopy Piloting World Cup, which was held in South Africa on December 2009.  Here are some extracts from his logbook about the event…

2/12/09…. Day one of comp. Woke 4.30am, and drove to DZ. First round of Accuracy, very strong down wind, but within comp limits. Maha first out, and scored zero. Russian came in next, nice swoop in conditions, but landed hard on sand. Broken femur, course closed, wind increased and no more jumping today… Great start!

3/12/09…. Up at 4.30 again, rain all night, so accuracy sand pit very hard. Course changed to speed. Wind picking up again very early. Jumping started… Got to 2,000’  on my load, and plane leveled off and then began to descend. Walked back from boarding area to see Max the russian receiving C.P.R on the course. 5 minutes later they announced he was dead! Broken neck. Surprised how much it affected me. Always thought I knew the risks and had come to terms with the fact that death was the same whether I was there or not… Apparently not… Cried a little, very upset. Super G still in a coma from a training incident, and Russian having Femur operation today. Segay needed to borrow 6,000 rand as down payment for them to start operating on the Russian. Gave him some money, felt a bit like I was doing something. Sat round a bit, chatted to Pete about his team mate dying, Eli, and Sam… sad day… Back to guest house, shower, back to DZ, chatted to Chief judge, felt we should not jump again that day. She listened, and took an informal pole with Ian Bobo amongst the jumpers… In the end, Russian captain said he wanted the comp to continue, so felt OK with that…. Wind 5.8 m/sec coming in over the tent onto the course not happy, but meet director said go. Nicky on our load decided not to go, so just me and Brian on my pass ( this competition beginning to feel a bit like the Grand National!). Felt mixture of emotions, but felt focused. Sit fly exit to break the tension, set up for speed, cross/down wind on pond. Felt super fast, heart racing, and mouth dry on landing. One of the biggest adrenaline rushes I have ever had on jumping. Ambulance guy shook my hand. Wind dying down now, packed and did round two. Faster than round one 2.8 secs, and personal best, but felt much calmer. Beer with Chris and Julie then back for dinner.. Very weird day!

4/12/09…. Up at 4.30 again. Nice distance run 91m. Best run 135. Second distance run, OK but set up not great did 91m. Jay broke world record with 175m! Quite strong cross wind at 1,000’ lot of people caught out. Watched Brian from above, very nice run and he got to yellow line (world record prior to Jays jump)

5/12/09…. First load at 5.30 .. Down wind accuracy…. set up good but slowed down too much on water, fell out of pond into zero zone… Pete Alum very good advice, said you can only morn a jump for 5 minutes then you have to move on ( morned it for the rest of the comp!! ). Next run distance…. Got 121m ( new P.B ). Hit the gate just right and got lift, then went flat, felt very good. Nick Batch had awesome run… 181.7m new world record. Next run speed. Walking to plane for my load, herd announcer saying Greg Windmiller 2.09 sec for speed run…  new world record. I did 2.36, Nice set up, and straight down the centre line of the speed course, slight turn, and out. Felt good and fast. New UK speed record. 5 minutes later Wes did 2.34 and stole my record. Wes has really come on a lot over last year. Think this record will stand for a long time. Next accuracy, nice set up again, and felt really good dragging water through the course. Came out of water heading for zone 5 and perfect score, but slid over into -37 zone… Dooh. Stopped packing to go and watch Sooty’s (Sean Sutcliff ) accuracy run. He did perfect Superman, and turned to look at spectators as he dragged all water gates, with a broad smile on his face. For me, one of the highlights of the comp.

6/12/09…. Last run of the comp. Had nice set up, and good run. All water gates and landed in zone 1. Felt big relief comp over and happy with my performance. Time for some freestyle… Wind picked up, and now 15 knot down wind on the pond! Talked about landing into wind, but Brian said “are you Danger-pants or Safety-pants?” Nothing like a bit of peer pressure to override any fleeting safety considerations. Decided to go big! Set up way back, 450 degree turn, and Miracle Man. Planned to land safely in middle of pond, but as came out of turn, found myself skimming across the pond to just about slide it up the bank. Sweet!  Nick did good wing over – then blind man into the middle of the pond, Robbie had nice run… Back to Guest house to dry cloths and rig. Evening presentation and banquet. Food good I won a pair of Gators for freestyle comp. Later did suicide tequila with all the Australian team and Atti (he was really supportive throughout the comp, and added great value to the S.A experience). Brian Vacher and Jessica Edgington from P.D also did tequila suicide. Paid Jay £20 ( lost bet that I would not be beaten by a girl in the competition)… Got 20th out of 65.. Very happy with result. Back to DZ for late night drink with Julie, Grim, Woodsy, Mike Teague, Koppell etc. End of night, lay out on grass drunk, looking at stars, beautiful sky in Africa. Contemplated comp and some of the sad events and some fantastic moments…. Thats skydiving….