SAFA Skysailor Magazine

19 May | June 2023 SKY SAILOR Personal bests and collaborative bests! Women With Wings at Manilla XC Clinic by Catherine McMillan With five out of eight WWW pilots flying personal best inland flights, I feel it is safe to say that this XC Clinic, 1 to 3 April, at Mt Borah was highly successful! Under the expert tutelage of Godfrey Wenness of Manilla Paragliding, every pilot in attendance received a mega download of valuable wisdom and knowledge to boost flying confidence and ability. Godfrey is uniquely placed to explain and convey the many varied aspects of the intertwined and diverse parts that make up a successful XC flight. Teaching the joy of flight comes easily to him and his passion for sharing his knowledge made for wonderful morning sessions. After the morning education, we were atop Mt Borah and ready to fly by midday. The first two days proved a bit challenging, with a few bomb outs and about half of the participants achieving decent cross-country flights. Thankfully, conditions on day 3 allowed for all pilots to ‘get up and away’ – making for a truly spectacular and memorable day for all. Huge gratitude to Halina Kaufman, our guide whose skills as an expert pilot, as well as being able to communicate with eight other pilots in the air, was truly super-human and remarkable! Halina was masterful at monitor- ing, guiding and giving perfectly timed advice to the rather large gaggle of gals! After everyone’s successful launch and climb to cloudbase, Halina led us out towards the Boggabri Gap. The sight of so many pilots thermalling together, then going on glide together was absolutely beautiful and the highlight of the three-day course. Huge con- gratulations to all the pilots for creating such a joyful moment of collaborative ascension! Thank you to Karl and Michael for their support, driving and coaching (Godfrey has a great team with you guys!) and our retrieve drivers, Annie and Dallas, were fabulous and made our life easy. We are grateful to Women WIth Wings and the NSWHPA for their ongoing support and encouragement. The event was funded by the NSW Government’s ‘Her Sport Her Way’ grant funding initiative. Photos: Courtesy Catherine McMillan and Godfrey Wenness