History
The event started in 1971 as the International Bird-Man Rally in Selsey, West Sussex. The event was initiated by George Abel, as part of a fund-raising activity for the Selsey branch of the Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA) Club. Abel, a former RAF photographer, who shortly after emigrated to Australia, where he also helped to organise Birdman events.
In 1978 the competition moved to the larger Bognor Regis resort, which also had a higher pier. By 1983 the competition had attracted European teams and the attention of the BBC. In 2008, because of the demolition of an 18 metre (60ft) length of the end of Bognor pier, the 2008 Birdman event was not staged in Bognor, due to safety concerns over water depth at high tide being 13 feet (4.0 m) at the new end of the pier. The 2008 and 2009 competitions were held in Worthing as a result f the safety concerns. After safety checks in 2009 the water depth was cleared by the Health and Safety executive as safe for competition. Events have subsequently been staged in both Worthing and Bognor Regis, creating the International Birdman Series.
Read more about this topic: International Birdman
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The myth of independence from the mother is abandoned in mid- life as women learn new routes around the mother—both the mother without and the mother within. A mid-life daughter may reengage with a mother or put new controls on care and set limits to love. But whatever she does, her child’s history is never finished.”
—Terri Apter (20th century)
“The history of all countries shows that the working class exclusively by its own effort is able to develop only trade-union consciousness.”
—Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870–1924)
“In history as in human life, regret does not bring back a lost moment and a thousand years will not recover something lost in a single hour.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)