Page 102 - AGC Journal 2018

GC JOURNAL
2018
A AGC JOURNAL 2018
North Devon Coastal
Path Challenge 2018
By Sergeant Adele Thompson
The annual event for the anniversary of 54 Commando Squadron Royal
Engineers consists of a gruelling 13 mile loaded march along the North
Devon coastal path.
Preparation
Some of the detachment had taken part in the event
the previous year, which meant we had the experience
to prepare for the tough challenge. It was also great
preparation for the upcoming Triple Crown Challenge
which we were already training for.
The Team
The detachment team included Sergeant Anjit Gurung,
Sergeant Rob Van Rensburg, Corporal Darren Burmis,
Private Darshan Ghale and myself. The event is open
to all members of 24 Commando Royal Engineers to
compete for a podium place.
The Start
It started on a dry sunny morning on Wednesday 25
April 2018. Once we were transported to the starting
point at Woolacombe, the obligatory photographs
were taken. Final preparation of kit and our daysacks
then we were off. The event is an individual best effort
race so the pressure is mostly self-induced. The first
part of the race is warming up, along the up and down
terrain of the coastal path. The views of the coast are
spectacular, but the terrain is tough on foot. You must
pace yourself carefully as you follow the same route
back.
Halfway
Normally, at the half way point there is an opportunity
to catch your breath and refuel, but this time it was
not the case. There was heavy hail and strong winds
so there was no long stops at the top of the big hill. I
grabbed a snack and a drink out of my bag so I could
get going and away from the downpour. It took a few
miles to see the sun and after an hour or so I soon dried
off.
Last Few Miles
The last few miles are always a mental struggle.
Everything hurts and the steps along the route feel like
walls to climb. A final big hill to push and you’re on
the road to the finish line. Getting over the finish line
is such a great feeling and everyone is there to clap
you in. A quick change into civilians then the top three
results are announced. A curry dinner and an open bar
was waiting for us back at camp. A brilliant way to
finish the day.
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British National Wingsuit
Championships 2018
By Major Stephen Marsh
With two seasons of Wingsuit training at Netheravon Parachute Centre
in Wiltshire under my belt to develop the flying skills required, I entered
the British National Wingsuit Performance Championships at Hibaldstow
airfield in North Lincolnshire in July 2018.
National Championships
What is the British Wingsuit Performance Championships
you may ask?
The three-day National Championship brings together
Wingsuit jumpers from across the United Kingdom to see
who can fly the fastest, fall the slowest or fly the furthest.
The current speed world champion from Cyprus even
All made a guest appearance to show the competitors how it
participants is done.
before the
race. The Competition
The competition involved two jumps in each of the three Stephen Marsh
disciplines with judges measuring flying performance during the Wingsuit
between a height window of 3,000 down to 2,000 metres. Championships 2018
Competitors jump from the aircraft at 3,600 metres (with
parachute), 4,500 metres out from the drop zone and Centre had just been broken). An embarrassing telephone
aim at an allotted aiming point on the ground. We wear
a Global Positioning System on our helmet which tracks call to the competition organisers followed as I tried to
our every movement and the data from these is given to explain where I was. The 16 kilometres journey back was
sheepishly silent. I duly received a firm ‘de-brief’ and was
the judges after each jump to calculate the competitors’
performance. rightly issued a ‘yellow card’. This was the worst possible
start and the results board showed me in last place. A
The Disciplines renewed mental focus over the next few jumps saw a
steady climb up the position rankings until it all rested on
The first discipline is your average ‘Speed’ through the the last jump, the distance round. Achieving a personal
height window and involves a steep angle of attack (45 best, travelling 1,970 metres within the window snatched
degrees) whilst still covering distance across the ground. the Bronze medal at the National Championships. This
It is the distance covered divided by the time spent in the was followed in August with a silver medal at the Army
window that calculates the self-generated flying speed. I Parachuting Championships.
managed a speed of 214 kilometres an hour.
The second round comprises of the longest ‘Time’ you can
spend in the window. Basically, this involves making the
wingsuit as big as you can whilst maintaining forward
speed to gain lift. I managed 39.7 seconds.
Finally, the ‘Distance’ round involves maintaining the best
possible glide ratio (approximately 18 degrees) to see how
far you can travel across the ground in a straight line.
My Performances
On my first jump and in the speed category, I aimed at the
The
beginning wrong road junction and barn which was 160 degrees off Stephen Marsh
course and resulted in a landing in South Lincolnshire,
of the 7.4 kilometres as the crow flies from the Drop Zone (a flying over
Wiltshire
race. 25-year record for an off landing at Hibaldstow Parachute
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