National Ballooning Championships uplifts Northam

Following a few false starts due to COVID-19 in 2021, competitors have descended on Northam for practice flights before the six-day championships start next Monday, May 8.

Pilots ranging in age from 22 to 80 years will test their skills by completing both physical and digital tasks in their hot air balloons to secure their spot in the world championships.

Free to attend, spectators can witness the competition flights from vantage points along the Avon Valley at sunrise and late in the afternoons (weather permitting), with the competition course covering an area 30 kilometres wide and 40km long.

Northam locals and brothers, Andrew and Peter Clements, whose family has a 40-plus year history of flying in the region, will be competing individually.

The late patriarch of their family, Adrian, was one of the first pioneers of hot air ballooning and the family's youngest member, Peter, who is 47, can still recall one of his first flights with his dad when he was just eight-years-old.

"I remember we were coming in for a rough landing and he tucked me under his wing," Peter said.

"But I never had a fear of heights - I loved it from the word go."

The Clement brothers have competed in four National Ballooning Championships and while a healthy level of competitiveness remains between them, Peter said they would still help each other out during the competition week.

A family affair for the Clements, the boys' other siblings, Michael, John and Sue will also be on hand to assist them on the ground throughout the competition.

Acknowledging their familiarity with the Avon Valley could provide the brothers and the remaining WA competitor, Joel Tetlow, with a bit of an advantage, Peter said the championships would still be a difficult challenge given the high calibre of the competitors.

"We know the contours of the area very well, but some of the pilots coming across have been flying for a long time and some actually fly for a living - so it will be a very tough competition," he said.

Mr Clements said for competition week, typically the pilots would set off around 6.30am and fly for an hour and a half, depending on what tasks were set for the day.

"Some of the tasks might be to fly to a marker on the ground and drop a streamer with a bit of sand in it, so it's a good spectacle for those watching," he said.

"Other tasks we are given will be digital tasks in the sky, where you have to pre-program your logger to fly to the location provided and push a button once you think you're the closest one there."

Andrew is dedicating this year's race to his late wife Belinda, who was the secretary of Northam Ballooning Events and helped put Northam on the map as a ballooning town, and whom he first met through the sport.

The much-loved active community member, wife and mother was affectionately known for always saying she was 28 when asked her age, so as part of a personal tribute to Belinda, Andrew's balloon has been named Doonyart - the local Ballardong Nyoongar word for the 28 Parrot.

"I first met Belinda in 2004 at a ballooning event in Canberra and she told me she was 28, but she was actually 31 and being a bit cheeky," Andrew said.

"She was three years older than me and the joke stuck over the years."

Andrew's balloon is also painted the same colours as the 28 Parrot.

Organised by the Shire of Northam, the Elevate Festival, a hot air balloon-themed community event, which will include live music, food stalls and family entertainment, will open the championships this Saturday, May 6.

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Northam Shire president Chris Antonio said the town was the hot air ballooning capital of Australia and he anticipated the town's local competitors would be able to hold their own.

"This is the fifth time we've hosted the nationals - I remember the first one in the 1980s when I was just a kid," Mr Antonio said.

"The climate of the Avon Valley is really good for a lot of different air events - so we always have something on.

"When people come here they can get out of the hustle and bustle of the city and also see the opportunities there are to live and start their own businesses in vibrant towns like Northam."

With Northam also selected to host the fifth FAI Women's World Hot Air Ballooning Championship in September, Mr Antonio said the two events would make significant contributions to the town's local economy and tourism sector.

"For the women's world championships scheduled later in the year - that will be the first time the event has been hosted out of Europe, let alone in the southern hemisphere, so it's a major coup for our town," Mr Antonio said.

"We encourage everyone to come and visit Northam for these two championships - it's going to be quite a sight and really fun, we can't wait."

Guests are encouraged to register for the 'Elevate Festival' on Eventbrite.

More information: Go to northamballooningevents.com/