05 Nov 2017

Sunny Sunday - Competition continues

Sunday, 5th November 

After an extra hour in bed we woke to a beautiful  morning - no sign of the clouds and wind that caused so many problems for the first days of this competition.  The first lift was called at  7.15 am to commence round 4 of Acrobatic Wingsuit Flying.

After further research by our Records Officer, Randy Connell - here in Overton running the Training Judges course, he found two further records had been set by yesterday's first task of Performance Wingsuit Flying.  Marcelo Zoni  of Brazil set a new South American Continental Record in Distance of 3,948 km:  Luke Rogers of Australia set a new Oceania Continental Record of 4,577 km.  CONGRATULATIONS to both competitors. 

The huge importance of the actual Wingsuit design chosen by a competitor has an impact on his/her performance and for this reason a fierce competition has developed between the major wingsuit design/manufacturers.    Like F1 Racing I can see this discipline developing its own Manufacturer's competition alongside the individual flyers/teams.  A great deal of interest has focused on the Russian team and their suit with its air vents and also rig shape development to increase the aerodynamic flow.

Rig 2Rig 1

11.05  The first load of Round 7 (last round) of the Acrobatic Wingsuit Flying competiton has taken off.  So fingers crossed we could complete Acrobatic Wingsuit Flying by lunch time today.  The videos are being posted on the IPC Youtube channel as quickly as possible after they are judged.  

The last round has been jumped and judged and the scores are posted.  We now have a 2 hour window during which a team may protest - if they have grounds for a protest - before the results are made final.  Meanwhile the second task of round 1 Performance Wingsuit Flying is being flown.  We will not have sufficient time today to complete the third task, so an early finish is in prospect with an early start for everyone in the morning.

Providing there are no protests we must congratulate our Acrobatic Wingsuit Flying World Cup winners:

2nd FAI World Cup in Wingsuit Flying
Acrobatic Wingsuit Flying
 
Gold Medal WinnersUSA 2 Wicked Wings2012
Silver MedalUSA 1 Flat Spin1969
Bronze MedalRussia - Sky Republic1926

Catch up with the latest episode of the Overton Wingsuit World Cup with Skydive TV:

And a trailer for the next episode: