Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 2: February 2014 | Page 46

ABOVE Davidson DaSilva on glide after Mansfield. BELOW Davidson, Joe and Steve– the locals. Topless, and Rigid. About 40 pilots registered for this year’s Classic, with pilots from as far away as Massachusetts, Hawaii, Alberta (Canada) and California making the pilgrimage. Several Canadian paraglider pilots who were driving home from the Woodrat Rat Race, held the week before, decided to check out Chelan. So they just competed for one or two days, as drive-by pilots. Saturday, June 29: Warm-up Day It was too windy for any of us to attempt warm-up flights. All pilots would have to begin the meet the following day from a cold start. Sunday, June 30: Day 1 The first day was a rocker, but perhaps one that slept in a bit. Launches were later, and the lift was weak but steady. For those ready to go XC, points were available. In the Topless class, Jeff Beck and I flew identical, 73.4-mile triangles—Farmer, Sims 46 HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE Corner and a return all the way back to tag the Chelan Butte waypoint. Another Topless competitor, Wayne Michelsen, knocked out the nearly equilateral 49.9-mile triangle— Farmer, Mansfield, Soccer Field LZ. John Taylor set a personal best by flying Farmer, Mansfield and almost to the halfway-back line. Still others on their second flights used the new waypoints at Lamoine and the Knee to put points on the board. Mike Daily in the Rigid class also flew Farmer, Sims and back, but his pri- mary GPS went kaput and his backup GPS only could prove that he did an out-and-return to Sims Corner— bummer! Frederick Bourgavalt, one of the drive-by Canadians in the paraglider Serial class, knocked out a 61.3-mile out-and-return to Sims corner with enough altitude to fly farther west up the lake and get a good view o