Local paraglider wins competition in Barberton
This year's Open Paragliding competition hosted by the Lowveld Slope Soaring Club (LSSC) was concluded on Sunday.
This is one of South Africa’s premier winter flying sites, as Porterville in the Western Cape is to the free-flying community in the summer.
Clubs and participants from all over the country including Cape Town and Natal were soaring through the great valleys of Barberton.
The event was described as one of the biggest yet.
More than 100 paragliders took to the skies and a distance of more than 7 000km was covered during the six days. They ascended at 12:30 daily from Lone Tree Hill. As soon as they were airborne, they needed to complete a number of different challenges. This included seeking thermal columns to get them to their next checkpoint via GPS.
These daily tasks of between two and three hours finished at Barberton Golf Club. The overall winner with his Ozone Enzo-2 Glider was Anton Naudé of Mbombela with a score of 4 011, with Nevil Hulett hot on his heels with a score of 3 887.
Other than the overall competition, there were four different classes including sports, intermediate, novice and women.
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