Narrative

BCC 2025 Round Five – Sunday 10 August 2025 – Talybont

Ladies and Gentlemen BCCers,

With my apologies once again for the slight delay (and we are going to start cracking down on late scorers – well, we’re going to ask nicely if they can hurry up please), the scores are now in from last Sunday’s round at Talybont.

As always, I am indebted to Dennis Trussler and the SE Wales Club for seeing an opportunity and then both hosting and organising another first class BCC round, the fourth of the season on their turf, which does come with some benefits of course...

As has become the marvellous norm for this season, and long may it continue, encouraged by Joe from Skywings, with splendid assistance from Viv Fouracre, our splendidly proactive Comp Lines Rep, a full write of the round has been crafted by those who were there. So, this will be a summary of scores and Personal Development (PD) prizes. If you’d like to see the full list, please head to the results page.

So, it was a tough round and the scores reflect that. With 52 pilots taking part, there were 32 scores, which is a good outcome in the prevailing conditions, but not the percentage hit rate we’ve enjoyed so far this season. To underline that point, there were only two PD prizes earned, although that does make them rather special. So huge and heartfelt BCC congratulations go to Ellie Surtees of the Condors for her splendid First Ever XC of 11.30km and Jeremy Perl of Dunstable who crafted a fabulous 58.50km UK PB.

Note. If any pilot has inadvertently not claimed a PD prize or claimed the wrong PD prize (that does happen), please let me know and I can make amendments as required.

Looking at the scores, the 100km+ flights seen at the Long Mynd the previous weekend were not to be had this time around, with Jeremy’s flight being the furthest of the day and only one other flight above 50km. As mentioned above, operating on your home ground from familiar sites can be beneficial and this proved to be the case for SE Wales Red, who on the back of a solid team performance continued their winning streak and took the 1,000 points for the round, However, the margins were much narrower this week with the four pilots of the North Devon Devils flying superbly to earn 973 points, Hot on their heels in third place with 966 points were the Thames Valley Stars and then Condors Red, continuing their run of good form, in fourth spot with 914 points.

In terms of the team rankings, another round win has very much cemented SE Wales Red at the top of the leaderboard with 4,879 points; that gap is looking almost unsurmountable now. Crickhowell Paragliding hang onto second place with 3,040 points; however, Condors Red are very much back in contention for the Runners Up spot now on 2,930 points (and from one round fewer), so that will be one to watch over the rest of the season.

In terms of the Best Development Club points, SE Wales remain in top spot with 10 points, although the gap has narrowed to 2 points, thanks to Jeremy’s UK PB for Dunstable. Can SE Wales hold off the challengers for both trophies to achieve the (first ever) BCC double? Only one way to find out, stay involved and be part of the story of the 2025 BCC; there’s something in it for everyone.

The SportsTrackLive scene for the round can be found here:

SportsTrackLive | Paragliding - BCC 2025 Round Five – Sun 10 Aug 25 – Talybont | Matthew Tandy

Fly safe, have fun and keep learning.
Best wishes, Matt, BCC Coord