Worthing Pier is now the venue for the International Birdman event which is a competition in which entrants attempt to ‘fly’ as far as possible by launching themselves off a specially constructed ramp in human powered flying machines.
The Birdman Rally was originated in Selsey in 1971, being the idea of George Abel, a local gift shop owner and was organized by the local branch of the RAFA Club as a fund raising activity. Initially there was a prize of £1000 for the first ‘birdman’ to fly more than 50 yards (46 metres) from the lifeboat pier. During the time when the event was held in Selsey, the longest distance achieved was 44 metres.
The popularity of the Birdman Rally grew rapidly and the logistics of handling the increasing crowds coming to Selsey meant that this venue could no longer be used. In 1978 it moved to Bognor Regis. The increased height the Bognor Regis Pier gave entrants a much better chance of winning the prize and over the 29 years it was held there, distances of up to 82.5 metres were achieved. The popularity of the event further increased making it become a huge international spectacle which attracted a lot of media interest.
In 2008, with the shortening of the Bognor Regis pier for safety reasons which gave a limited depth of water for landing, neighbouring Worthing with its longer pier took over as the new home of the event. The Worthing International Birdman event as it is now called is organized by the Worthing Town Centre Initiative with support from the Worthing Borough and West Sussex County Councils.
This year, 2009, the event will be held on the weekend of 22nd and 23rd August and is expected to draw crowds of thousands of spectators into the two over the two days. There are over forty five entrants including ‘aviators’ from Australia and Serbia competing for the jackpot prize of £30,000 should the longest flight exceed 100 metres. There will also be a major media coverage of the event by TV, radio and newspapers, locally, nationally and internationally.
There are three different classes. On the Saturday, flyers in the Leonardo Da Vinci class for specially built flying machines and Condor class for modified hang gliders or similar will take their first flights. Then on Sunday, these more serious entrants will have a second chance to win the prize and be joined by the Kingfisher class. These are the fun flyers, raising money for charity and will include a giant crocodile, giant puffin, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and a Hobbit. They will be competing for various prizes awarded for entertainment value including a public vote for the peoples choice in this class.
Ron Freeman, who runs a paragliding / hang gliding school in Northumbria has been a competitor since 1997 and won the event last year with his personal best flight of 85.7 metres on the Saturday. Unfortunately all flights were cancelled on the Sunday due to strong wind forecasts and an exceptionally high tide.
So for this year we are all hoping for light winds and lots of sunshine in Worthing to continue the growing tradition of this great event.
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