THE IRISH Hot-Air Balloon Championships began yesterday evening when the wind died down long enough for the balloons to take to the air.
More than 40 balloons took off from the grounds of Newcastle House outside Ballymahon in Co Longford, filling the midland skies with a sight that was a joy to behold.
Ballooning in Ireland remains the triumph of hope over experience; they cannot fly unless there are benign wind conditions, with speeds below 10 knots and no rain.
Unfortunately, Ireland has too little of the former and too much of the latter to guarantee good flying conditions.
Nonetheless, the Irish championships remain the longest running in the world.
Now in their 40th year, they have returned to where they started in 1971.
As it stands, Thursday looks the most likely day for the set-piece event of the championships when the participants will attempt to line up every balloon on the runway at Abbeyshrule Aerodrome, creating a British and Irish record for a single take-off.
The championships have an element of competition with a “hare and hounds” event, where participants will attempt to follow a lead balloon, no easy feat when you cannot mechanically steer a balloon and pilots must navigate according to wind direction. The participants, most of whom are from overseas, keep coming back despite the vagaries of the Irish weather. There are four balloons from the United States this year.
“This is like a family for us. We have grown up with so many of the people who are here,” said George York from Maine, who has been coming for 36 years. “It’s a chance to kick back, not take phone calls and just fly for a week. Everybody is too busy nowadays,” he added.
“It is a good chance to meet people and have a few drinks. Ballooning is a bonus,” said Hugh Savage from Edinburgh, who has been taking part in the event since 1975.
Balloons can only fly early in the morning or in the evening because the sun heats the land during the day, creating unstable air currents.
Yesterday they gathered at 6.30am for the morning briefing only to be told that the wind, at 12 knots, a gentle breeze to you and me, was too volatile.
After a breezy day, the wind dropped to eight knots, much to the relief of all the participants who spent the day killing time in the hope that conditions would improve.
Organiser Joe Leahy told the participants to go and “burn some gas” as the forecast is mixed for the rest of the week.
He said Irish balloonists need patience as much as skill.
More often than not, conditions militate against flying in Ireland. But when it’s possible to fly, it makes the waiting worthwhile.
“This is the only activity where you don’t know where you are going to end up,” he said.
“That’s the mystery of it. There is nothing like being able to pick a leaf off the top of a tree or land on a river or lake and put your basket down on the water.”