Chasing Sunsets

louis tapper sets the NZ overseas xC record of 405km in Brazil

For a long time the northeast of Brazil has been on the bucket list of places to fly. it’s a truly special place, with some of the most reliable flying on the planet and the most welcoming people anywhere.

This trip was my 4th time to Brazil, the first time 12 years ago to set a record of another kind, which still stands today, Kitesurfing solo for 2000km, the longest solo kite biv in the world.

Like many of you we have seen the big flights and world records, fly every day and into the sunset, or so says the marketing. Is this the reality? I experienced 4 different towing/retrieve providers on this trip and hope this article will give you a sense of the reality and challenge.

I didn’t initially arrive in Brazil with any delusions of world records or a particular distance other than the NZ record, which I had assumed, incorrectly, would be easy.

Earlier in 2022 (March) I had been flying in the south of Brazil and conditions for free flying/ competitions were world class amazing. Out of 3 major competitions and 21 potential tasks, 20 tasks were possible, something I have not experienced anywhere else in the world. It left me definitely keen to return to Brazil again.

The month of October and early November is the traditional time that pilots target the North East of Brazil for big distances. The first 1.5 weeks of October did not produce epic conditions this season and made me wonder what I was doing spending so much time and money in the NE of Brazil. Thankfully things progressed more positively as the month went on.

For the first 3 weeks the typical pattern was a 4:40am wake up with breakfast at 5am, in the vehicles at

5:30, setting up gear around 6 ready for a potential early tow at 6:30. On a good day towing up to a maximum of 1000m above sea level (700m AGL) was possible.

The first hours until 10am are about survival and staying in the air. On the good days there are 1-2m/s thermals and on the average days drifting in very light lift becomes the norm. Light drifting thermalling is a skill that gets well honed through necessity in Brazil.

Of course launching later around 8 or 9am does become more reliable and 200-300km flights leaving at that time, are possible on most days. Many of the world class pilots who were part of the Fly With Andy group, would land before midday if the average speeds were not sustaining a 500km+ flight or a world record. Flights of 100km or less were usually considered a bomb out, resulting in lunch around midday and an afternoon chill out in an air conditioned room to escape the afternoon heat.

LOCATIONS

There are a number of launches and locations in the NE of Brazil that are commonly talked about. All of the sites can regularly produce epic flights on the right day. Of course there are many more than described below but the following are the most famous;

Quixada

The original site that made the NE of Brazil famous. It’s a foot launched site and has many videos online of sketchy high wind launches. As the paragliding distance scene progressed in Brazil, launches began to move further east and pilots opted for winching starts, much safer in high wind.

Acu

This location is located closer to the coast and in the convergence zone between coastal air mass and the drier inland air. There is higher humidity closer to the coast and is a favoured spot in E to NE wind. In SE wind the Fortaleza airspace becomes an obstacle and the initial start may end up being cross wind to avoid the airspace.

Caico

Towing operations in Caico are run exclusively by Fly With Andy and are based off a sealed runway. It generally has an earlier launch and aligns better for flying in SE winds but most wind directions will work. It’s also the site that has the most 500km flights anywhere in the world, mainly due to the earlier starts and quality of pilots. On some days the launch times can be up to an hour difference compared to Assu. This difference in timing is partially cultural with pilots’ decisions to launch early and partially inherent with the location further inland.

The general flying line in Assu aligns much better in the first 200250km with major highways making for speedier retrieves and an earlier retrieve return for flying the next day. Beyond 300km the retrive times are similar but will depend on where you land for both Caico and Assu. The quality of your retrieve team and coordinator (see below) will also be a significant factor.

Tacima

The final spot east is favoured for the serous Brazilian record chasers and those chasing the outright distance record. The infrastructure and town supporting this site is limited and the initial start committing. It was originally a foot launched site, but in recent years private towing up and soaring the launch has been the favoured option. It has a reputation for not being as reliable, or at least that’s what the Brazilians would like you to think.

If long retrieves and chasing distance are not your thing there are fantastic options to discover Brazil as part of a safari style towing, similar to what is done in Australia. The idea is to tow up and fly to the next location launching somewhere different every day. Hotels are organised to facilitate short retrieves and the same location for the next day. It’s a great way to discover more of the country and fly to multiple locations. As of writing Fly with Andy are the only commercial organisation that are offering this service.

ReTRIeveS

With every long flight comes a proportionate long retrieve. If retrieves are efficient you will be spending roughly the same amount of time in the car retrieves as you did flying. Of course this time can and does vary significantly depending on the following 5 factors;

- Ratio of cars to people

- Quality of the retrieve coordination

- Quality of the drivers

- How well you communicate your flying intentions to the coordinators and other pilots.

- Where you end up landing, either next to a main road or in the boonies away from main roads.

Where all 5 of the above factors are not in alignment, retrieve times can double and is a common cause for complaint when I was doing research for this trip. I have experienced a worst case scenario, 11.5 hour retrieve after flying a little over 100km. Be sure to check what the car ratios are as well as the experience of the retrieve team/ coordinator, cheapest is not always the best. Retrieve providers who work with other companies for the longer flight retrieves, may lead to a better outcome for all.

TOwINg

My prior experience towing had been mainly back in NZ in low wind situations over a lake and had never consequently needed a cobra style launch, common for the high wind launches in Brazil. Not every day produces high winds and is generally accessible for a range of pilot levels. To make the most of your time in Brazil it is worth having a solid cobra launch and a tow bridle you are familiar with before arriving. For me personally there was some initial apprehension having never done a cobra launch off tow before. That apprehension was well founded as launch one resulted in twisted risers and an aborted launch that had the potential for injury. The next few days I had multiple laps on the winch and really honed it until it was comfortable.

I spent a total of 2.5 weeks in Caico with Fly With Andy and a week in Assu with a variety of providers so I experienced the best and worst of what’s on offer.

An important element to making the experience good is the towing setup and the heights they can consistently tow to. The equipment varies so

Upper right; Doing a Cobra launch at Assu Right; Retrieve after Marcella Uchoa set the womens declared record of 457km be sure to check if providers have modern well maintained setups.

Fly With Andy have by far the best service overall (tow and retrive) with the most experienced team for combined towing and retrieving. The service does come at a premium price so the budget conscious will likely find more options in Assu.

Rentmywinch run by Swiss/ German pilots Roland and Falko also provided a solid winching service in Assu, with tows consistently over 700 agl. In Assu there were at least three people on the launch mat experienced at managing launches. This made the launches stress free and relatively easy.

As group numbers increase for a towing provider, so does the wait time to launch on a good day. Providers with more than 2-3 winches able to simultaneously launch, will result in a higher but not guaranteed chance of flying in a group.

If you do intend on flying as a group, pick your flying partners well and have good communications. Group flying is challenging to do in practice with varying wing/skill level, also where motivations are different and communication is poor.

I found getting away off tow from weATHeR

Acu slightly easier and more reliable. This may in part be due to the later starts and my improving skills over the month in Brazil.

Brazil is one of the most reliable places in the world to fly big distances. But why is this?

The math for flying a big distance is simple; go to a place where the long day and fast average speeds are possible. The average speed is largely dictated by one thing, strength and direction of the wind at all levels through the day. In many places throughout the world the wind direction starts bending after 200300km and it’s difficult to maintain a straight line. The wind that makes Brazil famous for kiting, also makes it good for flying long distances in a relatively straight line.

The maximum length of day is around 11 hours in Brazil due to it being close to the equator and supports launching super early, around 6:30am. Starting times, in practice, vary from day to day and on the good days you will see a wave of clouds popping as the coastal moisture and wind moves inland. There are lots of theories as to why it works so early, but it does like magic, earlier than you could ever have imagined.

I have been following the weather in the NE Brazil for the last 4 seasons, trying to reverse engineer what a good day looks like. In truth the weather forecasts all look the same from afar, but now having experienced it first hand the following is what I have observed as being important for the big days; wind of 25-30km+ at all levels and all day. Very high base days don’t always translate to better wind at all levels. The wind doesn’t seem to get much stronger than 35kmh so outright records above 600km have been out of reach so far, despite the very best in the world trying over a sustained period of time.

Strong wind allows you to make distance even when thermalling and also gives free speed on glides. Much more than 35kmh (especially low down) will likely impact the ability of thermals to stay cohesive and add to the spice and safety on landing. On the best days I have managed 6:40am starts and averaged over 50kmh for the first 2 hours.

The Swiss pilot Michael Sigel created a spreadsheet that calculates wind at different levels along the course of the day and predicts a theoretical maximum for the day. It’s a crude calculation which doesn’t always result in being there for the best day, although it’s roughly right.

The calculation doesn’t take into account any other factors like cloud, thermal strength or wind direction. The forecasts are less reliable about predicting humidity and cloud coverage, although the blue days sometimes seem obvious in Skysight, my weather provider of choice. There’s a fine line between having enough clouds and too much causing overspread, so the usual approach is to try every day if it’s really windy and hope that it’s epic. Every day a sea breeze from the north and east pushes inland to varying degrees. A strong line of convergence forms at this point but is not always useful as it transects the unnecessarily big Fortaleza airspace. If the Brazilians ever manage to get notams for the Fortaleza airspace in the future, flying would become truly epic and more consistent for both Assu and to a lesser extent Caico. Like NZ, it would require a multi-year lobby timed for any airspace review and engagement with controllers, regulators, tourism ministry and airlines.

How much the wind turns at the end of the day appears to be affected by the strength of the sea breeze and Meteo wind strength/direction. There are often weaker lines of convergence that run further inland as indicated on Skysight, but lining up with these is not easy and requires some tactical decision making a couple of hours ahead to anticipate the right line. The track and strategy most take is simply heading direct downwind and hoping for the best.

NZ ReCORd

The last day of the trip produced a flight of 405km but it didn’t all go smoothly. It was a stressful start with the towing provider for the day operating on Brazilian timing, not the Swiss/European influenced discipline I had become accustomed to. A broken tow line on the first winch added to the stress, as did the low battery on my new Air3 instrument, which beeped at me all day long showing low battery.

Eventually I managed a late start of 7:30am. The first 200km was marked by clouds and flown relatively efficiently with a local Brazilian pilot Fabio Kogout. He landed in the middle of the day after a missed low save. It’s easy to miss a line/thermal or lose concentration, putting you on the deck early. Low saves in the middle of the day can be spicy requiring full attention and this day was no exception.

In my head I refused to land and went into hyper low save mode, which paid off and got me high again. Flying on my own I went into conservative mode, to negotiate the increasing blue holes on the route.

After 9 hours 6 min in the air I landed safely with more than 1.5 hours sunlight left in the day, at what I thought was 390km.

Over the month, motivation had simply moved to flying until sunset and maximising the day. Chasing a number on XContest has progressively over the years become well down on the priority list and not something that motivates me any more.

To keep the motivation true, there is a question I ask myself which is, “if no one knew what I was doing would I still be happy with the flight?” The answer for this day was a resounding yes, as I had managed to safely eke out the best I could for the conditions, on what was a good, but not epic day which started late with some stress.

The following day after checking my second instrument, the flight ended up being 408km with a straight line distance of 405km and a New NZ record. See www. xcontest.org/world/en/flights/detail: yakernz/29.10.2022/10:23

Like my previous experience kitesurfing, the distance flying was not really about a number and was more about stretching my own personal limits and mindset.

In the end, staying in the air and not landing, resulted in the biggest flight of my life. I’m yet to experience the full sunset and may have to return again. Who is keen to visit Brazil early or late 2023?

Words and Photos by Warren Simonsen