Strong wind in the morning but, joining up with Al McMaster we went to Dungiven in the late afternoon. Wind was strong and gusty - 15 - 22mph. After a while it eased a bit and we soon had pilots airborne, including Phil Barron, Al McMaster, Sean Glass, Billy Reed and Dermot Lagan. Graeme Moseley went for a drag when he lost his footing but I eventually brought things to a halt by grabbing a wingtip of his paraglider. No harm done, but he packed up and left the site soon after.
I had a very pleasant flight in patchy lift conditions - turn in lift and you climbed; then sink after. I eventually came in for a slope landing when the wind eased just as Dermot decided to take off across my approach line. But again no harm done as I flared hard and landed short of his takeoff path. Alastair had to turn out to stay clear of Dermot's takeoff and as a result landed at the bottom. Both Al and I spoke to Dermot afterwards to remind him of the need to do a complete pre-flight check including making sure that his takeoff would be clear of other paragliders.
When all had landed, either on the slope, on the top or at the bottom, the wind quite quickly died to less than soarable speed so, after Alastair had a paramotor flight out around the Dungiven area, we packed up and headed home. I was travelling with Al and was treated to some excellent barbecue food back at his place later.
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