Asian Beach Games 2012 - Tasks 1 and 2
The 3rd Asian Beach Games Powered Paragliding (Paramotoring) event has begun. Staged towards the west end of the whole competition venue, athletes are well supported with team tents, fuelling station, first aid and a whole range of officials and volunteers offices.
The flying area is approximately 500x300 metres of sandy beach next to the Yellow Sea. This area is large enough to assure the safety of pilots entering and exiting the task zone but at the same time offers spectators a close-up view of pilots preparing their machines before taking off to compete.
Task 1 was a precision take-off and competitors had one chance to score maximum points with a clean take-off. Fortunately the conditions were favourable with a steady onshore breeze leading to high scores and very few having to abort their first attempt.
Apisit OPASAIMLIKITTask 2 [Clover Leaf Slalom] followed immediately afterwards. By now the sea fog had closed in slightly so Competition Director Zhang Wei wisely chose to control aerial activity by launching only two competitors at any one time. This did not affect the smooth operations and all competitors completed the task quickly.
The scoring is being handled in collaboration with Swiss Timing with results displayed instantly on a large screen. The result? Team Thailand grabbed the top three places with China in fourth. Clearly the Thai team appear the ones to beat after a very strong start. Their practice had made perfect and their skill and composure were plain to see.
The scores are provisional and subject to alteration and results can be found at http://results.haiyang2012.com.
[flickr user=me tag="abgtask2"7542"]
