Arrival day for many pilots and the start of the 13th World Championships. A great team of pilots representing Great Britain this year: Emile Van Wyk, Adam Hill, Guy Anderson, Jamie Messenger, Adrian Thomas and myself for the Women's.
The long upload queues this morning put many off until later on in the afternoon, but with little hope of flying today, we waited patiently for 3hrs, shuffling through HQ, filling in forms about insurance, license and equipment. The inevitable spot checks on gliders and of course the uploads in addition to the "weigh-in"! We were all set by mid-afternoon.
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| Yawn! as Adrian and I join the queue. |
Pilot briefing in the auditorium scheduled at 17h30, but which only started at 18h30, including speaches and introductions from the committee, who presented all the pilots with a slide show and an outline of the area, the rules and the local dangers to avoid.
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| The major hazard of this venue - the North wind which means lee-side take-off's everyday. |
At 20h00, we gathered for the welcome speeches from the local Mayor on the main square. All the 45 nations represented by flag bearers and banners.
The parade meandered through the back streets of Sopot, with bystanders waving and cheering as we walked past, all the way to the base of the chairlift some 2km away. The evening was filled with street entertainment, with performing artists miming and juggling. Much to everyone's delight there were also fire-easters, who helped to warm the crowd from the howling northerly wind pouring its way over the hills and through the valley.
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| Registration over. I have my World Championship pilot card. |
An earylish night for me - practice day awaits tomorrow and the promise of better skies.
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