SAFA Skysailor Magazine

48 SKY SAILOR March-April-May | AUTUMN 2026 Coco’s role: the human engine behind the technical one Projects like this don’t happen on code alone. They happen because someone keeps showing up, day after day, especially when motivation drops and the fun parts turn into frustrating blockers. A big part of Squiggly 2’s story is Coralie (‘Coco’). Not as a developer behind the scenes, but as a motivating force. My brain has a habit of chasing shiny things. In the air, that sometimes means filming while thermalling. On the ground, it means disappearing down rabbit holes and emerging days later with something impressive that nobody asked for. Coco’s superpower is calling it early. In the air: “Focus, Ham!” On the ground: Pull it back to the simple solution, the thing that actually moves the project forward. Sometimes I listened, sometimes I didn’t. More often than not, she was right. In a sport where staying focused is literally a safety skill, it’s fitting that the person keeping Squiggly on track is also the person keeping me on track. Squiggly in the wild One of the funniest moments was meeting a few Aussies in Europe and realising they were using Squiggly for retrieves. John Norman was especially enthusiastic: “I f*’g LOVE Squiggly!” It hit me: this little tool had escaped my bubble. People relied on it. Another time, I was on launch and heard someone mention Squiggly to a mate like it was just a normal part of flying. That’s the best compliment you can get as a builder: When your project becomes something people rely on for safety. The long road to Squiggly 2