In September 2010, the 54th Gordon Bennett International Gas Balloon Race ended in tragedy when Richard Abruzzo and Carol Rymer Davis’ balloon was lost from Italian air traffic control over the international waters of the Adriatic Sea. A lengthy search was conducted for the two missing American crew members until, on 6th December 2010 their bodies were finally recovered from the Adriatic Sea by Italian fishermen.
In a competition where the sole objective is to travel as far as possible without landing, the British crew of David Hempleman-Adams, sponsored by Reside, and Simon Carey fared better than most. The pair covered 2008.90 kilometers in 82 hours 31 minutes, finishing third in the competition behind the Swiss and German teams. David and Simon’s balloon finally came to rest in a farmer’s field near Boljevac in Serbia; the map below shows their route and finishing position:
Upon landing, the farm was soon visited by the local policija, who had arrived investigating reports of a hot air balloon which had become entangled in a tree.
Belated congratulations to David, who has just skied to the south pole with his daughter, from us all at Reside.
