HGFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 31 May | June 2018 ‘Best of the Rest’ saw Chris Czajowski in first place, also flying a Moyes RX5 Pro with Dustan Hansen second and Brod Osbourne a close third Floater class was won by Don Gardner, with Blaino second and Adam Cainero third. Vicky Cain, Moyes Gliders Icarus X Series Heads to South Africa The year’s second edition of the Icarus X Series, took to the skies above South Africa. The Icarus X Series is a global paramotoring race series which features four stand-alone race events across four continents, US, UK, Australia and last weekend saw it visit South Africa for the first time. All competitors carry their own food, clothes, sleeping accommodation (although if you land near a hotel there’s nothing in the rules against you sleeping in luxury) and basic parts to fix their paramotors should anything go wrong. On 30 March, 13 eager contestants took off from Bill Harrop’s Balloon Safaris, 90km north of Johannesburg. Following a stunning 340km two-day (ABC-A) course, they flew over nature reserves and parks, giving them a unique view of the local landscapes and wildlife, stopping at four checkpoints en-route, before heading back to the start/finish line, Stormy weather and showers on day one meant pilots had to adjust their carefully planned routes and even forced one or two early landings. The inevitable mechanical failures included broken props, a missing exhaust, putting the early race leader out of contention for the trophy, and flat tyres, as the challenge at hand took its toll on the first ever trike entry into the race. Weather and breakdowns aside, however, the field battled on, South Africans Alard Hufner and Bruce Askham took over the lead, with Eugene Cussons close on their heels. Day two saw gusty winds, which slowed many of the competitors down. Bruce took a nasty fall whilst taking off putting him out of the race completely and en-route to hospital to get fixed up. Alard used this opportunity to take a commanding lead and eventually crossed the finish line first on Saturday afternoon, securing the trophy and bagging himself a spot in the Icarus Trophy proper in the last week of July. Eugene finished up in second place. Whilst some of the remaining pilots managed to cross the line on Saturday, the strong winds meant others had sat out the rest of the day and waited until Sunday to finish. Despite the challenges, most pilots had an incredible time, organisers are now planning the second South Africa race for 2019. If you want to learn more about the Icarus X Series or its big brother, The Icarus Trophy, head over to [www.icarustrophy.com ]. Left to right, back row: David Bella, Anthony Forshaw, Perry Johnstone, Mark Gentry, Duane Stapleton, Darren Hocking and Steve Bartlett Front: Kev MacNally, Chris Pfeiffer and Ric Attard (standing)