TOYOTA PARAGLIDING CUP
Dasklip Pass, Porterville, 15-19 December 1999

The Pilatus fell from the sky. The engine whined, the wind howled past the wingtips, but it continued to fall, like a wounded gull, spinning out of the heavens to its fate. We were quiet. The plane swooped down on us, and with an expert hand, the pilot corrected his craft, rocketting overhead with exhilirating speed. Loop, hammerhead stall, spin, roll, inverted turns - he did them all, and thus, declared the 1999 Toyota Cup open.

Wednesday dawned as hot as a smoking barrel. It began with justice, as few things do. After deploring the pilots to 'allow the inexperienced to launch first', yours truly sneaked away as the window opened. Go directly to turkey patch, do not pass go, do not collect hero points. Poetic justice that the task setter should drop out, but justice all the same. All of the competitors got away, and began to battle a strong headwind towards the turnpoint 12km away, in Porterville. One pilot bullied some rocks on takeoff, but came out the worse for wear, with stitches administered to his gashed knee. The leaders began to zoot past Dasklip, with glory in their eyes, and the wind up their backsides. The sky had other plans. Massive Cumulonimbus clouds had been building all morning over the Cedarberg. Now there was something to eat, floating along in all manner of bright colours! The clouds rumbled their hunger, and began with Chris Rust. After some terrifying turbulence and rapid height gain, Chris gained some welcome guidance on the radio, and escaped to the safety of the ground. The task was cancelled, and everyone recommended to land immediately. That one thundercell covered half the sky, and had blown a veil of cirro-stratus out to the angle of four-o'clock. Big sky for Dasklip in summer. Not wanting to endure the 40degrees of heat on the ground, I floated out into the flatlands, watching the golden fields and dams drift by underfoot. Nothing better on a summer's day than to be at cloudbase.

Thursday dawned hot as a smoking barrel. The thermals began to fire off the plains at eleven, and by noon we were dodging 6m/s bullets. The horn was sounded for the Constriction, and the cavalry was off for a 53km task. Climbs were good, up to 2500m asl which was the base of the rapidly developing cumulus. Craig Richards (195 flights, Apco Allegra) amazed everyone by claiming the ground of the goal field 15minutes before the second pilot, Ulf Arndt (our chairman can FLY!) Other dignitaries in goal were 3rd place Stephan du Toit, and 5th Bob Jennings (first over 50km xc). I reluctantly came out of the Cedarberg and spiralled down to goal. Within half an hour the sky was severely over-developed, soon followed by gust fronts and rain. But we had captured the sky for a while, and we returned home triumphant.

Friday dawned hot as a smoking barrel. The expected southerly wind soon became a northerly, the 44km downwind cruise transformed itself into another into-wind tussle. Most pilots were downed at the 15km mark, a few pressed on to Bumpy Peak, with Scott Ross winning the day at 22km. Some pilots returned to the south, only to find a southerly wind blocking progress. A mild convergence line was present, but it was stationary, and couldn't be used to progress in the task. I went exploring to the east along the weakening convergence, and found a new route through the Kouebokkeveldberge. The trick was to have clouds for lift, and um, don't look down to the deep gorges and sheer cliffs. Over-developed cumulo-nastiness clouds ended play once again. Back on takeoff, a visiting pilot got slammed face-first into the slope, demonstrating the urgent need to be careful on launching at Dasklip. His full-face helmet saved serious injury, and our medic (the champion Don Nortier) was put to work again.

Saturday dawned ... wrapped in a cool veil of low-level cloud. Aaah! At last, some respite from the furnace. But the clouds soon burned off, leaving the flatlands baking as we flew out to the turnpoint 30km to the south. A strange blanket of stable air was drawn over the valley, forcing the thermals to break up at ridge height as they pushed up into the unwelcome inversion layer. One by one the pilots dropped out. It was windless on the ground, and even though the temperatures were again in the high 30's, very few thermals lifted skywards. Neil Roberts set the best distance, landing 300m short of the turnpoint, followed by Dave Mohr who landed in his footprints!

Sunday looked dismal. Thick clouds smothered the sky, rain fell intermittantly, and the north wind howled through town. The unsinkably optimistic Rob Manzoni smiled and said 'Of course it will be flyable'. I looked out the window again and told my friends in Cape Town not to bother driving all the way. There would be no flying, I thought. Yet we went through the motions of boarding the truck and assembling on the launch site. What do you know? It was soarable at Dasklip, with 25km/h wind, gusting to 45km/h. Launching was border-line, with the strong wind threatening many pilots as they scrabbled for their speedbars. But the air was smooth, and almost all of the field got away, enjoying a rapid 12km task to the meet centre and the afternoon prizegiving before the real wind of the cold front arrived. Craig Richards, even after breaking his speedbar, roared into third position with a 26minute flight to goal, thus defending his position for the fourth day in a row. On his Apco Allegra Craig has been out in front, flying fast every day. And now I hear he wants to get a Bagheera - it's going to be like trying to catch a Ferrari with a bicycle.

After five days in the baking heat of Porterville, the 1999 Toyota Cup has come and gone. The flying was challenging with afternoon cumulonimbus clouds, 40degrees of heat, and thermals up to 7.5m/s. The competition, hosted by Rob Manzoni of Airborne Paragliding, was one of the most enjoyable, fun-filled competitions I have attended. A strong contingent of pilots from the UK, as well as a few from Germany, Holland, and the Gauteng area filled out the Paraglider's lodge in Porterville. The organisation was run smoothly, with the sponsored truck arriving on time every morning, scoring being completed without any protests, and excellent cuisine from the kitchens. The generous purse of R5000 from Toyota was split between the task winners, the top 10, and the category winners. The camera crew (on site for the duration of the competition) took some excellent shots, and a ten minute documentary will be appearing on E-Tv on Christmas Day at 10:15pm.