Monday 4 September 2017

World Cup Brazil - Task 1 - Pipped by a Point

There was a carnival atmosphere on launch with no less than two mega-watt sound systems blasting out an eclectic mix of music to send the pilots off the mountain in pursuit of glory for an ambitious 83km task.

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You will understand the task perfectly if ever you have tried to cut solid metal with a cheap hacksaw blade:  It goes really well until about half-way through and then it becomes progressively more difficult as the blade loses teeth until it breaks or you run out of steam.

We failed to complete the task, but not for lack of trying.  The wind and dying heat of the day was too much for our equipment taking the edge off of our 'blades' agonisingly close to goal.

Most of the field landed between 10-20km from goal.

A korean pilot, Chigwon Won, took it from me by a single point landing less than five kilometers from goal.  Pretty cool name for a task winner even though it led to some confusion:

Khobi: So who won?
Andre: Chig-won Won won
Khobi: Say what?
Andre: Chig-won Won won
Khobi: Do you mean Chig won?
Andre: Nooo... Chig-won Won won!
Khobi: You're an idiot!

Racing aside, it was a glorious day of flying in a beautiful place.

Follow world cup site progress here
Follow local FB coverage here
Catch the video here.

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Grande Hotel Prata (home for the week and headquarters)