All that work, all that preparation, all that financial backing and all that worry for Worthing's first great Birdman weekend, and what did the elements serve up for us?

Gale-force winds and driving rain combined with one of the highest tides of the year, that's what.

Frustrating is not the word.

Sunny

It was cold, wet and miserable on a weekend which should have been a summer highlight for "sunny" Worthing.

The thousands of people who flocked to the town on the Sunday (July 6) had to endure some of the worst weather of the year.

And quite rightly, the powers-that-be ruled that leaping off the pier into a 30ft swell and the teeth of a gale was not worth the risk.

Luckily, we did get some jumping done on the Saturday, and the people who lined the beach for the spectacle proved the drawing-power of the event.

Business

Let us hope that, despite the great disappointment served-up by the conditions, that hotels, restaurants and shops got some much-needed business from the great number of people who came to the town.

Fleetingly, there was a suggestion that the event could be switched to the last weekend of the Worthing Lions Festival – a great idea scuppered over safety fears because of the large area of the prom taken up with the funfair.

It's annoying that a brave decision could not be taken here – surely moving the funfair a few yards up the prom, releasing space for the birdman paraphernalia, would not have been beyond the wit of man?

The funfair organisers would surely have been happy to move, knowing the extra numbers of people who would be coming to the town to boost their income.

Festival

And what a weekend that would have been – festival fun and Birdmen, too.

There may well have been other considerations that made the switch impossible, and with that in mind perhaps we have to accept that it just couldn't be done, however frustrating that might be.

When thinking about the event next year, would it make sense to consider lining it up with one of the major summer events – perhaps the Lions' Festival or the Rotary Carnival over the August Bank Holiday?

Whatever the plan, let's hope that Worthing's other summer events are blessed with better weather.

And whenever the Birdman is next year, let's get one thing straight here and now.

We are booking perfect conditions for both sea and sky.

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• Last Updated: 10 July 2008 10:44 AM
• Source: n/a
• Location: Worthing