The second ever X-Scotia event is happening this weekend the 30th and 31st May 09. This is a Paragliding and hiking adventure race, based at Loch Earnhead and involving rounding the 3 Munros of Ben Vorlich, Ben More and Meall nan Tarmachan.

The prize list has been mounting and we are really grateful to the following
for their support of of this event:-

Basse Beaumettes - Ruth and Ulric Jessop
Border Crossings - Dave and Beth Thomson
Northern Paragliding - Neil Cruikshank
Cross Country - Bob Drury

The main (but not all) of the prizes for this event are ....



1st Overall - Week in Les Basse Beaumettes

2nd Overall - Weekend with Border Crossings

Northern Paragliding are supplying a raft of prizes:-
3rd Overall - Charly Hotliner Flying Gloves, 1st Female - Ozone Saucisse Sack and for the Longest Flight - Jetboil Personal Cooking system.

Heaviest Pack - Cross Country Magazine Subscription

Red Bull will also be there with rocket fuel and their inflatable start
arch, so no-one can miss the start or finish.

Labels: 2009, basse, beaumettes, borders, crossings, Earnhead, Loch, May, northern, paragliding, prizes, sponsor, x-scotia

Well there was a quick briefing and advised leaving from here at Tibbieshiels base camp at 08:45 heading for Broughton.

Labels: 2009, BPC, May, status, Tibbieshiels

Just to advise that the above page has been updated with some more detail on what is happening over the coming week. Various media organisations have also been advised of what is happening with a short press release etc copied below...

Flying high over Tibbieshiels

Have you ever fancied flying high in the sky like a bird, well this week (9th - 16th May) you may well see some world class paragliding pilots doing just this. They will be up in the air just above Tibbieshiels by St Mary's Loch and maybe flying 50Km or more over the Borders. The British Paragliding Cup/Scottish Open and British Open Championships will be taking place from 9th -16th May. These top championships are weather dependent and so if the wind is too strong then these human birds may not fly. However here is hoping that there will be a very competitive and enjoyable event, with some spectacular flying. The Borders will be well represented with some excellent pilots who hope to do well in these competitions. You never know you may well be inspired to join these top fliers in the future.


For more information

What:
British Paragliding Cup (BPC) and Scottish Open 9-12th May, followed by the British Open Paragliding Championships13-16th May 09

Where:
Based at the Tibbieshiels Inn at the end of St Mary`s Loch

More detail :
The BPC is held at various locations throughout the UK during the year but this is the only round being held in Scotland this year. For more details please see http://www.bpcup.co.uk/borders.php or http://www.shpf.co.uk/shpf-British-Championships-09.php Scottish pilots competing in this competition can also opt to be considered for the Scottish Open. Currently there are 104 pilots registered for this event http://www.bpcup.co.uk/pilotlist.php

Some photos and links from last year :-
http://groups.google.co.uk/group/LLSC/browse_thread/thread/93817c7ee02b9b5e/cad783b2abc45b29?lnk=gst&q=scottish+open#cad783b2abc45b29
http://picasaweb.google.com/BobVeitch/BPCBordersRoundScottishOpenJuly13th2008#
http://picasaweb.google.com/BobVeitch/ByRikMcHargBPCScottishOpenParaglidingBroughton13thJuly08#
http://picasaweb.google.com/BobVeitch/BPCBordersRoundScottishOpenJuly12th2008#

British Open Paragliding Championships
This is the highest level free flying competition to come to Scotland for 12 years - (a FAI Category II competition) where pilots are competing for World ranking points. A competition of 3 rounds with the other rounds being held this year in July: Piedrahita - Spain and in August: St Jean de Montclar in France.
Currently there are over 50 pilots registered for this event.
http://www.pgcomps.org.uk/

There are a number of Scottish Pilots from the Borders area - perhaps one of the most significant being David Thomson who will be heavily involved in both events especially with respect to weather and flying site choice each day.

As paragliding is such a weather dependent activity if it is bad then all these people will be looking for other activities to do in the Tibbieshiels area - if you have a website to which you might want a link then please feel free to email it to webmaster@shpf.co.uk

To learn to paraglide in Scotland there are 2 schools to choose from - Cloudbusters and Flying Fever links here :-
http://www.cloudbusters.co.uk/
http://www.flyingfever.net/index.html

A Borders pilot who will be heavily involved in the site selection and or weather related decision making activities during these competitions will be David Thomson at http://www.bordercrossings.co.uk/

Regards,

Robert Veitch for the SHPF

Labels: 2009, borders, BPC, championship, May, paragliding, SHPF, St Marys, Tibbieshiels

	12.9 Mb	Orange wing landing
	60.3 Mb	2 More TTB landings
	39 Mb	Steve Durkin and Pilot review route
	8.8 Mb	Richard V?.
	13.9 Mb	Pilot landing near landing field
	4 Mb	Steve Nash walking with his bunched glider
	23.4 Mb	Jitka (and Cliff) just shortly after arriving in Goal
	23.4 Mb	Jitka chat
	39.3 Mb	Jitka + Paul Ogden discussing ..
	108 Mb	Jitka - "interview" however very windy so cannot actually hear very well at all - sorry Jitka
	30.7 Mb	Andy McGregor interview and short story?.
	25.1 Mb	Just before prize giving ceremony ?.
	16.6 Mb	Part of Cliffs Speech
	8.5 Mb	Steve Nash receiving the 1st X-Scotia Trophy, 11th May 2008

Labels: 2008, event, May, paraglider, paragliding, paragliding event 2008 scotland, Scottish, videos, x-scotia

	12.3 Mb	Julian and Chris
	9.3 Mb	More pilots walking past near the turn for the South Lochearnhead Road
	8.8 Mb	Andy McGregor and Mark Leyland
	25.3 Mb	Long distance parawalkers
	6.8 Mb	and more
	4.8 Mb	Ian +Gordon
	24.5 Mb	Dave H
	8.8 Mb	DH into distance
	30 Mb	Bicycle Reflectors play at headquarters
	7.5 Mb	Non Competitor landing
	12 Mb	Non Competitor landing+ Dorita
	6.8 Mb	Gound handling practice
	68.5 Mb	S Durkin spiral and landing
	105 Mb	Quentins son landing
	61 Mb	Quentin landing
	9 Mb	Dave Thomson Killin evening day 1
	36.8 Mb	Dave Thomson Killin evening day 1 - talking through his day and events
	27.3 Mb	Status report of competitors as of the first evening by C Smith
	56.9 Mb	At control - paragliding stories?.
	19.8 Mb	Steve Nash arriving as winner - all dark so mainly sound
	8.3 Mb	Paul Myerscough arriving a couple of minutes later ..similarly dark
	40.54 Mb	and Paul Myerscough a few minutes later
	92 Mb	Interview / talk by Paul Myerscough

Labels: 2008, May, paragliding event 2008 scotland, SHPF, videos, x-scotia

X-Scotia - 10th + 11th May 2008 Videos Part 1

Below you will find the first of a series of a tables containing links to numerous videos and their respective sizes ... Please right click and save as to view. I hope that you enjoy and all comments gratefully received.

	16 Mb	X-Scotia 2008 Campsite at The Lochearnhead Watersports Centre the night before the event
	33 Mb	The X-Scotia competitors signed check
	15 Mb	The X-Scotia Tracking board
	3.7 Mb	X-Scotia - sign to fly sheet
	18 Mb	X-Scotia campsite again on morning of race start
	247 Mb	X-Scotia - fun pilot and pack weigh in
	0.5 Mb	and continued
	46 Mb	and continued
	4.3 Mb	and continued again.
	28.8 Mb	Just before the start of X-Scotia at 07:30 on Saturday 10th May
	27.8 Mb	The start of X-Scotia 2008, 07:30 Saturday 10th May
	2.5 Mb	Steve Nash briefly visible in the distance dashing past
	12.3 Mb	Julian and Chris
	9.3 Mb	More pilots walking past near the turn for the South Lochearnhead Road

Labels: 2008, events, May, paragliding, SHPF, videos, x-scotia