Simon Phipps 28 April

I checked out the shipping forecast this morning and showed a ‘perfect’ North force 3-4. Having seen the number of people on the webcam waiting at the Dyke I decided to head for Ditchling and arrived at about 1pm. I was shocked and appalled to see the pay-for-parking at £2 a go so I parked on the verge then checked out the wind. It was a bit top-end but seemed OK. I took off easily enough and did a couple of beats of the ridge East of the car park. Although it was strong I only got about 150ft above take off. I gave it 10 minutes but was having a bit of trouble penetrating even with speed bar so I decided to come in and try the Dyke instead. It got turbulent coming in so I waited for a ‘down’ bounce and did an A-line collapse which worked fine.
At the Dyke it was again top-end and Northerly although a few had flown. After a bit of parawaiting I decided it has calmed down a bit and took off, heading straight for the North ridge. I guessed that if it was flyable then within a few minutes I’d have about twenty others joining me. When I got to the bowl I could not penetrate even with speed bar. I had enough height to get to the winch field so did a U-turn and landed without incident. I don’t think any other paragliders flew for the rest of the day.

Simon Phipps