Paragliding Oludeniz High Street Landing, EPIC FAIL!!!

Well, I guess I’m nominating myself for the wooden spoon award this year in my local paragliding club AGM, after my high-street landing in Turkey, I’ll try my best to explain how I got into that situation of being “a bit short“. On a family holiday in Turkey. I had been solo flying most of the week in Oludeniz doing perfect landings on the beach, rising warm air and very little wind ment landing was nice and gentle on the sand, no dramas, kinda boring in fact. Compared to the tandem pilots who come swooping through the streets level with the roof top bars, brushing the tops of trees with their feet as they come into land on the small grassy area by the beach, surrounded by trees, buildings, tourists and other paragliding pilots. I had been watching them all week and thought I’d like to do that one day, maybe next year. The next day, the last day before we flew home I managed to persuade my mum, sister and wife all to do a tandem flight at the same time while I fly solo with them. So we all took the same minibus on a dodgy road to the top of Babadag mountain. We all took off one by one and met up again 5000ft above the beautiful blue sea, waving at each other, I’m trying to show off with my wing overs and mini spirals. Then I hear the screams of my sister hanging on for dear life as her tandem pilot enters into several infinity loops, and I’m like yeah but did you see my wingovers 😅 After watching the crazy tandem pilots do acro with my family and me doing more not so impressive wingovers, we eventually come into land and the tandem pilots split off to fly low down over the buildings to then come swooping in through the streets and landing on the grass in front of the bars. I’m on my usual boring flight plan lined up with the beach, I look below me and see another paraglider coming into land on the beach. Now the beach at Oludeniz is not huge in comparison to Woolacombe ( Our local site in Devon), especially with little huts and deck chairs spread all over. You really need to pick your landing spot well, but where is this other pilot going to land?? In my spot?? Are we going to collide?? I look over and see my wife’s tandem lining up for a highstreet swoop landing. I’m thinking yeah, if I just follow my wifes tandem pilots exact route i’ll be able to land safely out the way of this paraglider beneath me. Who was I kidding?? This was my brain making an excuse to show off again, thinking my family will think I’m cool if I swoop down through the highstreet landing perfectly on the grass with all the other crazy tandem pilots. Decision made, I fixated on following my wifes tandem pilot in front, flying low over the buildings, thinking wow I never would of done this by myself, so glad I’ve got that paraglider in front to follow, looking down, thinking there’s no where here to land, so glad I can follow that paraglider in front to the beach. Getting lower, almost inline with the high street. I can see my wife has landed safely, great, now here’s my chance to impress, James Bond style. Just over the highstreet I turn out to face the sea, but I’m not penetrating the air as much as I thought but as long as i keep heading towards the beach I’ll make it!?! Wont I!?! This is what the tandem guys do every day!! Looking out at my wing tips now level with the roof tops and I’m now telling myself it’s ok as long as I keep my wing away from the roof edges, tv aerials and signs, which the wing tips are probably less than a meter away each end. Now trying not to brake as I need as much speed as I can if I’m going to swoop in low, “I can save this“ is still going through my head. Until I see my low swoop route ahead covered in people walking around, I’m now thinking they will see me and move out the way! Not a chance, I was coming in low and fast heading like a bowling ball down the alley on route for strike!! My chance of swooping in to meet my wife like some spy hero has completely gone! I shout “watch out“ “watch out“ as a horrified mother pushes her child out the way. I land a good 40 meters short of where I wanted in the highstreet. Embarrassed I quickly run with the wing still inflated to prevent it falling on the people and restaurant staff explaining to people on the way “bit short“ finally setting the wing down on the grass. Relieved I made the landing without injury, it could of gone wrong so many times, what if i had a collapse? what if the street was busier? what if my lines did catch on a roof? It’s only afterwards I could reflect on why I was soo short on the landing, I didn’t account for different glide ratios between my wing and tandem wing, nor did i allow for any head wind coming off the beach. Silly mistakes all made because i wanted to show off! Hope you all have a laugh at my expense but ...... don’t be like Jamie !!😂