Durban - Like many people, my knowledge of hot air ballooning was limited to what I had seen in the film Around the World in 80 Days – in other words, not much. And when an invitation came to observe the recent 2014 SA National Hot Air Balloon Championship I naturally jumped at the chance.
As I was soon to discover, hot air ballooning is a globally recognised sport, with regular championships taking place all over the world and a complex set of rules. For the uninitiated the concept can be summarised as follows: a competition is run by a director, who sets the balloonists various tasks. For example, pilots might have to drop plastic markers over targets laid out on the ground, or a task could be a race to a certain point.
With new electronic technology such as GPS logging, new events such as 3D Shape tasks (pilots have to fly at certain altitudes in different areas, creating a virtual picture in the sky) also exist. To make it a little more confusing, all these tasks have weird and wonderful names, such as “Hesitation Waltz”, “Watership Down” and “Hare and Hounds”.
To learn a bit more about this fascinating sport (and the lingo that goes with it) I convinced my wife to accompany me and we packed our bags and set off into the unknown world of hot air ballooning. All of which goes to explain how we found ourselves in a quiet field on the outskirts of Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal at a very cold and ridiculously early hour of the morning.
Hot air ballooning is the kind of sport that has a small but fanatical following, so those who were there were shivering as much from anticipation as from the cold. Before long the massive nylon balloons were laid out on the field and the big gas canisters were working furiously to breathe some life into them.
Slowly the balloon envelopes began shaking and wriggling and rising off the fields and into the sky as they filled with hot air. Once ready, the pilots untethered the safety ropes and set off, hopefully, for their first target, the balloons creating a beautiful portrait against the morning sky.
And I say hopefully for a reason, as the pilots can only control the altitude of the balloon by heating the air in the envelope or letting out some hot air of the valve at the top of the balloon to cool it a bit, meaning they have almost no control over its actual direction.
It is precisely this fact that attracts many people to hot air ballooning: as stated by the chairman of the Balloon and Airship Federation of South Africa, Deon Grove, in his opening message. “If you aren’t in a hurry and you don’t care where you are going then hot air ballooning is definitely the best way to travel.”
Once the balloons were in the sky we hopped in our car and furiously set off for the first target, quickly discovering that balloon watching is just as hard as the actual competing. The first target was won by Felicity Clegg, the only female pilot in the competition, who managed to control her altitude well to hit the right winds and drop her marker very close to the target. Soon after that the wind changed direction completely, meaning the balloons were blown off course and no one managed to hit the second target.
Impressed
All of which went to show how difficult the task of tournament director was, a job commendably done by Gary Lockyer. He started flying in 1976 in his native Canada, and with 30 years experience as a director he was the perfect person for the event.
This was his first championship in South Africa, and he was impressed with the overall standards of flying in the country. Gary also designed the eKlips scoring system used in the competition, whereby the winner of each event is awarded 1 000 points and the other competitors then receive points depending on a whole combination of complicated factors. Despite the competitive scoring system, this sport is as much about being part of the event as it is about winning.
This is certainly the feeling of the youngest team in the event, the Roberson brothers. Duncan (the pilot) and Craig and James (the back-up crew) compete enthusiastically in the memory of their late father who was himself a passionate pilot.
The Saturday afternoon challenges were set around the beautiful Vulintaba Country Estate and, eagerly supported by most of the Newcastle population, the balloonists took over the golf driving range to set up their balloons. Sadly, Mother Nature was to have her say once again as, just before the balloons were untethered a few strong gusts blew through and made the conditions unflyable.
This meant that after four days of competing, it was down to the final three challenges on the last morning to decide the winner. Conditions on Sunday were calm and still, perfect for flying. To spice things up, Gary decided that pilots could launch their balloons from anywhere for the last challenges.
This caused mass anxiety as all the pilots tried to guess which way the high altitude winds were blowing and, therefore, where the best launch spot was. After much deliberation, and many helium balloons let into the sky to test the wind (these balloons are known as pilot balloons, or “pie balls” for those really in the know), the pilots were ready to go and the final day’s action was under way.
Seeing all the balloons scattered over the skyline, and watching the pilots skilfully manoeuvring their balloons closer to the targets, reminded us once again that this is a sport like no other.
This feeling was confirmed at the prize-giving later in the day. The ballooning community is a small but close crowd and it was easy to see that most of these pilots had been friends for many years and would be for many more. Despite the important-sounding name of the competition, in some ways this event was a reunion; a chance for good friends to meet up and share their passion for flying.
Eugene Schilz walked away with the title of SA National Champion, followed closely by Danie Minnaar in a Kubicek balloon designed especially for competition flying. First time entrant Japie Leipold did exceptionally well to come in third.
While the logistics and the costs of competing in this sport mean that many of us will never own our own balloon, taking a commercial ride (and experiencing this magical form of flight) is definitely something that should be on everyone’s bucket list. - The Mercury