Five years after the opening of The Great Race there have been no attempts on the Channel crossing. Although there are four teams entered, none have managed to provide details either of their aircraft performance or of their pilot(s) which are required by the committee to assess and agree for the attempt to take place.
The original concept of the Channel crossing was for four teams to race across on the same day, but it became obvious that not only would this be a near impossible task to organise with teams coming from around the world, it could also be extremely risky having four aircraft in the air at the same time crossing one of the worlds busiest shipping lanes. The possibility of one or even all four aircraft ending up ditching would have put the pilots at an unacceptable level of risk, so a revision was made whereby a flight window would be open during the summer months with teams choosing when they fly. Teams could do multiple flights, the fastest at the end of the flight window would be the winner of the first prize, the next fastest the second prize. Even with this revised arrangement, no team have managed to get to the start line by declaring their intention to attempt a crossing.
The committee had been busy in organising take off and landing sites, liaising with the various authorities on both the English side and the French side for approval of flights in what is now restricted airspace. Agreements were reached and despite all of the red tape things were ready.
With the lack of any attempts in the last five years, and as there does not seem to be the likelihood of an attempt being made in the near future, the committee is declaring that “The Great Race is dead, long live The Great Race” which will be a change in the task from a Channel-Crossing race to a Race To Flight. The prize money will be used in other ways to encourage groups to design, build and fly their own design of HPA. So The Great Race is on to achieve flight in a Human Powered Aircraft by groups, with the aim to increase the number of teams taking part in human powered aircraft events. This is in keeping with the original idea of Anne Williams, to encourage interest in human powered flight, and celebrate the achievements of the Southampton University team in 1961 to fly the first successful human powered aircraft in SUMPAC.
The committee will therefore be looking to promote groups primarily from the UK to design build and fly their own human powered aircraft. The committee will be looking for designs that lead to a more practical human powered aircraft that can be built and operate within certain criteria, details of which will be provided on application.
