No. 445 MAY 2026 The magazine of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association2 SKYWINGS MAY 2026 B attitude Flying accidents have happened in the Cumbrian mountains on several occasions, and as a member of a local Mountain Rescue team I have attended many downed pilots. As a pilot myself, I have also been asked by other teams to help locate pilots who are lost or missing in their area. Until recently, this meant finding out which tracker system the pilot was using (if they were using one at all) and piecing together their likely flight path, assuming we knew where they had launched from. Even with teams and helicopters deployed immediately to search the likely area, pinpointing an exact location could waste critical minutes and hours. What was needed was a single platform that aggregated all, or most, of the trackers and instruments pilots use, bringing them onto one screen that emergency services could access quickly and easily. Working with Indy, who had developed the Escape tracking app for XC guides to monitor clients in the air, we set out to find a provider that consolidated as many trackers as possible into one reliable, robust, and long-lasting platform. After extensive research, we found exactly that in Puretrack, designed and continuously updated by Tim Bromhead, a national champion sailplane pilot from New Zealand. His primary goal is to build and maintain an international tracking system that tracks all pilots who register their devices. And it’s completely free. All we ask is that you visit puretrack.io and register your devices like SPOT, InReach, Syride, Flymaster, XContest and many mobile apps. That’s it, free! You don’t need to download or run an app while flying. Puretrack will automatically track you when you switch on your devices, which you’ll do anyway. If every pilot registers with Puretrack they will be visible to fellow aviators and rescue services alike. This is why I am encouraging all Mountain Rescue teams to use Puretrack when searching for a missing pilot. It is a simple, responsible step, a no-brainer. If you are not registered you may have to wait those critical extra minutes before help reaches you. To give you a sense of the platform’s reach: Puretrack is now used as a backup tracking system for all French national competitions, and many more like the Ozone Chabre open. This is because its straightforward registration process gives any competition a reliable safety net alongside their primary scoring trackers. When you visit the Puretrack website you’ll be impressed by the range of services on offer, and how easy it is to navigate. There are helpful FAQ pages, learning videos, and for those wishing to run courses or competitions, or simply support ongoing development, there is a Pro version available for just £35. This includes better maps, live thermal layer marking, and a range of additional features for tracking groups of pilots and competitors. The Cumbria Soaring Club is installing three PilotAware ATOM relay systems to track all pilots flying through the Lakes. PilotAware provides a complementary nationwide air traffic service to UK search and rescue teams. If your instrument is registered with Puretrack, you will appear through both systems. By connecting these networks you make yourself more visible to rescue services and to your family. And, yes, possibly your employer too, but that’s a risk worth taking. Please get registered. Be seen. A pilot lies motionless after tumbling to a halt on steep, rocky ground. The noise and chaos – wind and instruments screaming – have fallen silent. Now the breeze drifts quietly through a glider at rest among the boulders. Alone in the mountains, the silence closes in. The aching pain grows as the adrenaline fades. ‘Shit. I hope someone comes.’ Photo: Keswick Mountain Rescue Puretrack. Why not? JOCKY SANDERSON PARAGLIDER PILOT AND MOUNTAIN RESCUE VOLUNTEER4 SKYWINGS MAY 2026 regulars 2 attitude: Jocky Sanderson 6 news 10 safety matters 12 pilot profile: Tom Hodgkin 14 comp lines 18 hang points 21 calendar of events 22 dead centre 24 new products 26 airmail 35 caption competition features 28 chasing the tide the big paramotor gathering on the Severn 32 my journey into paramotoring that first flight changes everything MAY 2026 SKYWINGS 5 THE BHPA LTD 8 Merus Court, Meridian Business Park, Leicester LE19 1RJ. Tel: 0116 289 4316. SKYWINGS MAGAZINEis published monthly by the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association Ltd to inform, educate and entertain those in the sports of Paragliding and Hang Gliding. The views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the British Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, their Council, Officers or Editor. The Editor and publisher accept no responsibility for any supposed defects in the goods, services and practices represented or advertised in this magazine. The Editor reserves the right to edit contributions. ISSN 0951-5712 SUBSCRIPTIONS AND DELIVERY ENQUIRIES Tel: 0116 289 4316, e-mail: office@bhpa.co.uk THE EDITOR Joe Schofield, 39 London Road, Harleston, Norfolk IP20 9BH. Tel: 01379 855021. E-mail: skywings@bhpa.co.uk. COVER PHOTO Anthony Moore at the recent Bore Chasers event Photo: Fin Stead Photography THIS PAGEMark Steadprepares to launch at the Bore Chasers event in March Photo: Fin Stead Photography DESIGN & PRODUCTION Fargher Design Ltd. Killane House, Ballaugh, Isle of Man, IM7 5BD. PRINT & DISTRIBUTION Newman Thomson Ltd, One Jubilee Rd, Victoria Ind. Est, Burgess Hill, RH15 9TL. ADVERTISING Tel: 07624 413737 Email: ads@skywingsmag.com Online: www.skywingsmag.com. SKYWINGS ONLINE All issues of Skywings magazine are now freely available at https://www.skywingsmag.co.uk. DEADLINESNews items and event/competition reports for the July issue must be submitted to the Skywings office by Friday May 29th. Letters for the June Airmail pages should arrive no later than Friday May 15th. Advertisement bookings for the June 2026 edition must arrive by Monday May 11th. Copy and classified bookings no later than the following Monday May 18th.6 SKYWINGS MAY 2026 B news FAI celebrates women in air sports The FAI marked International Women’s Day on March 8th with a great video showcasing four successful women pilots from paramotoring, paragliding, fixed-wing aerobatics and aeromodelling. Paramotor pilot KaLeigh Biss (pictured), a lab technician from Florida, flew in last year’s World Championships and World Slalom Champs, having started flying in 2022. ‘My advice to women who are considering getting into airsports or competition is to go for it,’ she says. ‘It’s taught me so many things about myself … given me confidence, empowered me, and introduced me to such a great community of people, especially women.’ Kazakhstan accuracy pilot Ayana Askar also features in the FAI’s video. ‘For me, she says, ‘the sky is a place where all people are equal and free.’ Amen to that! And top marks to the FAI too. Watch the three-minute video at https://tinyurl.com/a57jhm5z. Swiss numbers game An SHV registration number on your wing is now mandatory for all foreign pilots flying in Switzerland. This is an established requirement that is now being enforced for visitors. Foreign pilots can request a five-digit number from the SHV free of charge; the process is said to be straightforward. Self-adhesive numbers, at least 40cm high and clearly visible, must be provided by the pilot – easily achieved with sail tape cut into digital-clock segments. Official competition numbers can be used during an event. Swiss legislation on registration marks is unchanged, but the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) have recently tightened their approach. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office are said to have issued suspended fines for not displaying a number, payable on repeat offences. Procedural costs and a criminal record may follow. With Interlaken/Beatenberg emerging as a popular holiday and competition destination, this may require forethought from Switzerland-bound pilots. Details: www.shv-fsvl.ch. Paramotor/Sub-70 electrics If you’ve ever found yourself baffled by the electrical systems on modern paramotor or Sub-70 engines, help is at hand. Flylight BivvyBee pilot Paul Batterton, aka PaulieB796, runs a YouTube channel putting out videos on the lighter end of microlighting. His latest, The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Paramotor & Sub 70kg Electrics, is a masterpiece of communication. Your engine’s electrics have to provide a spark, possibly power to start the engine, and perhaps different power so it can keep on doing the first two of these. PaulieB’s new video explains the how and the why, and the performance and the possible pitfalls in how this comes about. And if you can’t tell a rectifier from a relay you will be enlightened. Those who weary of the poor signal-to-noise ratio of most how-to videos need have no worries here. PaulieB packs in so much clear detail you wonder where the last 45 minutes have gone. Go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWLlrRd2VYg. You’ll never have learnt so much in such a short space of time. Wing Locker – a new player A new UK-based paragliding retailer offers pilots an alternative route to new equipment. Founded by Devon-based pilot Matt Gough, Wing Locker Ltd offers wings, harnesses and accessories from leading manufacturers. Alongside straightforward purchases and interest-free instalment plans of up to 12 months, they offer a 90-day hire option. Pilots can fly a wing for a fixed hire term before deciding whether to buy; if they choose to purchase, the hire payments count towards the price. The aim is to give pilots time to make the right choice without committing to an outright purchase from Day 1. The site also includes a data-driven Smart Wing Finder tool, using pilot profile data to suggest appropriate wings based on experience, weight and flying style. Further details are at https://winglocker.co.uk. Sheep farming and free flight An inseparable part of the UK free-flight landscape, sheep are pretty much everywhere. Christina Richards, a sheep farmer herself as well as a DSC Senior Coach, has written a fascinating article explaining sheep rearing’s yearly cycle. Its value is in allowing us pilots to understand a little more of the arduous, poorly rewarded work farmers do, inviting us to help reduce the longstanding tensions that can accompany our use of the hills. With minor adjustments to the way we treat the land around us, and little inconvenience to ourselves, we can get on better with those who have been its guardians for generations. Find it at www.bhpa.co.uk/documents. Lock in peace of mind with cover made for the skies Get tailored life insurance, income protection and critical illness cover for hang gliding and paragliding Apply today or compare our rates with your current cover Sports Financial Services Ltd is an appointed representative of Suttons Independent Financial Advisers Ltd which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales. Registered No. 493197. Call today 0345 565 0935 Visit www.sports-fs.co.uk8 SKYWINGS MAY 2026 MIND paramotor trip postponed The proposed May Scotland-France paramotor trip by ‘Ant-Man’ Shaw and Nick Durham, fundraising for the mental-health charity MIND, has been postponed until May 2027 to give their sponsors time to gear up their support activities. The pair will now start their journey, from John o’ Groats to Combiers near Angoulême, on May 16th next year. Their final destination is the HQ of John Cooper’s Paramotor France operation, where former World Champ Pascal Vallée will assemble 50 pilots to escort the duo across the finish line. The expedition is part of a wider project to raise funds and awareness for MIND. Sponsors coming on board include Parajet, the Amey infrastructure giant and many others. Meanwhile Ant- Man and John will shortly be contributing to an online training diary. The GoFundMe website at Fly4mind.com goes live on the 16th of this month. SRS podcasting The SRS commentary team has launched a new series of podcasts. In the first of these, Gin team pilot Riley Ferre talks to SRS founder Brett Janaway, to Portuguese BGD pilot Joao Pinheiro and Colombia’s Cesar Arévalo. Riley also caught up with leading ladies Summer Barham (US) and Shauin Kao (Argentina). Interviewed too are Gaetan Gerber (Switzerland), Venezuela’s teenage sensation Isaac Michel and British Skywalk star Ben Hodgson. Riley’s competition knowledge and her easy interviewing style makes for a great listen. On multiple providers including Spotify and Apple, with more to follow. PWC shuffle The World Cup round at Brasov, Romania, in July has been cancelled due to the site’s cable car being out of commission. The World Cup round at Siatista, Greece, in September has also been cancelled in the wake of conflict between the Greek national club and parts of the local paragliding community. Instead a World Cup round will take place at Çameli, Turkey during the week originally scheduled for Siatista (5-12 Sept). The last Cameli event, in August 2024, is remembered as one of the best-ever PWC rounds, and for Violeta Jimenez securing the first ever overall podium place by a female pilot in PWC history. It is hoped that the Siatista event will go ahead on similar dates in 2027. BGD Weightless BGD’s innovative Weightless competition returns for its 7th edition at Laragne, France, from August 1st-7th. An XC competition for gliders up to EN D, the Weightless uses Multiple Radius Turnpoints to even up the playing field for pilots of different weights. The Weightless has always been a fun and friendly ‘good-vibes’ competition, and Laragne offers sunny days, strong thermals and plentiful landing fields. You might win a brand new solo BGD paraglider in the prize draw! Details are at www.flybgd.com. Photo: Guillaume Funck. In brief New Gin website. Gin have overhauled their website, already pretty good, to make it more comprehensive and easier to navigate. In addition to all the product stuff there‘s now a broader News section and some very interesting ‘Stories’ of flying in far- flung places. Examine it closely at www.gingliders.com/en. XC League correction. Last month we listed, in error, the top EN B and C flights in the 2025 XC League as the overall winners in those categories. The lower half of the ‘winners’ table on page 18 should have been headed ‘Highest scoring EN C and B flights’. The overall winners were Richard Carter and Matthew Church. More on this next month. Apologies to all concerned, and in particular to John Stevenson, whose work behind the scenes on the XC Leagues is invariably faultless! Let no-one imagine that the Skywings Blunder Dept has been superseded by AI; human error is always the best! BOPC venue change. The British Open Paramotor Championships (June 16th-21st) will now be held at the Bucks Paramotor Club, at Hollow Tree Farm, Buckingham MK18 4DT. Deenethorpe Airfield appears to have suffered a double booking. Flyability needs you! For nearly 30 years, Flyability has worked to remove barriers for disabled people who want to experience hang gliding and paragliding. From equipment loans and scholarships to advice for clubs and schools, the charity has played a key role in making free flight more inclusive across the BHPA community. Flyability is now entering a period of change. After more than a decade of carrying almost all the operational workload, the long-standing Chair and Secretary will be stepping back from day-to-day duties at the end of 2026. To ensure Flyability continues to thrive, we urgently need new volunteers to help take the charity forward. We are seeking motivated individuals for several roles, including: Chair – strategic leadership, coordination and oversight. Secretary / Administrator – communications, scholarship coordination, reporting. Equipment Officer – managing loan enquiries, equipment tracking, liaison with schools. Communications / Social Media Support – helping share stories, updates and resources. General Volunteers – supporting events, fundraising, and project work. You don’t need to be an expert in disability, and you don’t need prior charity experience. What matters most is enthusiasm, reliability, and a commitment to helping more disabled people take to the air. These roles are flexible, can be shared between multiple volunteers, and can be shaped around your strengths and available time. Full handover and support will be provided throughout 2026. If you care about making free flight accessible to everyone, this is your opportunity to make a real difference and support disabled pilots into the future. There’s more info at www.flyability.org.uk. Interested parties should contact jennifer-buck@bhpa.co.uk. B newsMAY 2026SKYWINGS 9 Hugh Ginty 1963-2026 Hugh Ginty was lost to us suddenly, in circumstances unrelated to paragliding, on March 15th. Deep sadness doesn’t begin to describe the range of emotions of the cadre of pilots he leaves behind. A long-standing member of the Dunstable club, but known widely amongst the great and the good of the UK free flying community, Hugh’s shadow cast long, defiant of his physical self. Seldom seen in recent years; his work patterns didn’t favour free flight, nor revelry. Hugh was the earliest of the paragliding pioneers to wrestle the Chris Ellison trophy from the grasp of the hang gliding cohort back in 1995. This was pre-IGC, witnesses on landing being required to validate flights. He had the good fortune to draw on multiple supermodels to witness his flights; Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Cambell and Kate Moss reportedly witnessed his exploits. Would the XC league admin accept such submissions today? He went on to win the Chris Ellison trophy a further four times, marking him forever as one of Dunstable’s best. Despite this, Hugh didn’t chase accolades and you’d struggle to find a tracklog uploaded to envy. Something of a rarity in the era of social media. He made a mockery of the ‘Dunstable isn’t an XC site’ mantra, and was the first pilot I saw pirouette deftly away from Sharpenhoe Clappers, his spiritual home. Many a Dunstable pilot witnessed him, working the weakest of climbs, nonchalant, gone. When Hugh Miller came to focus on the Clappers, it was Ginty he colluded with. Hugh epitomised that quality of paragliding many mention, to bring together unlikely characters that would otherwise never share any common ground. His humility spilled through to his view on marking his passing: no fuss, let it lie. I’m convinced he had no inkling of the affection in which he was held by many fellow pilots. I didn’t know Hugh well compared to some, sharing some trips, flights, days on the hill, pints and banter. And yet the sense of loss cuts deep; for me he was a personal hero, and I know I am not alone in that. Hugh Ginty, raconteur, vagabond, DHPC legend and personal hero, most diamond of geezers, floats amongst us no more. RIP. [Chris Hille] Adv li vnur n liv e y ou r SIN SS‘‘MANMANSKY EDSIR SKY ybrid single sh THE SKINNGLE WERFWERFPO POTTOSOSM SHARK M acwith20%doublesurfkin DMUND FUL IS FUL ec K EDSIR t pomos SHARKDMUND lyFe&ikH orerful single skin fw crShort T www sttry flighounoss-cr hermalling T ly Fe &ik oo.skyman..w H aer Next >