I got to Ringstead about 3.30pm and watched the hangies fly about for a few hours waiting for the wind to drop enough for paragliding. By 5.30pm it seemed to have dropped a bit (maybe my imagination or wishful thinking!) and gone south so I set my kit up on the hill. Sods law, it seemed to pick up as soon as I clipped in and I spent 5 minutes holding on for dear life as the wing thrashed about. I took my chance in a short dip in the wind to get up and away. Penetration was ok, sometimes no ground speed at trim speed, guessing wind was 18-24mph. After getting great height on the ridge I pushed forward on half bar towards the cliffs, easily making it with loads of height. I'm very impressed with the Gin Sprint as it penetrated the wind very well, as it can be difficult to get to the cliffs on a paraglider in a southerly. On the cliffs the lift band was huge and it was very easy to get very high considering the wind was off the cliffs. If only I had launched earlier I could have made it to Lulworth and back easily. As it was I had a bimble about for a while and then landed in the back field just before sunset. Peachy in the end and I had the site to myself!
I also have some photos from St Aldhelms Head last Sunday, beautiful Skysurfers outing with myself, Darren Griffin, Neil Withers and Simon Vacher. We had a couple of hours there before moving to Kimmeridge for another couple of hours there. Have to be greedy with airtime this time of year, as good conditions are few and far between.
Photos here
Richard
