2003 Helen to the Atlantic

                      Balloon Race & Festival 

"From the Center of the world to the edge of the Earth"            Pete Hodkinson, 1974 

The South's oldest balloon event and the United States' only long distance hot air balloon race began at 7:00 am, Thursday, June 5th, 2003.  It was a beautiful morning.  Several competitors took off for the coast.  The race was won by Steve Stokoe, who completed the distance in ONE day.  Steve's crew was right with him for his two fuel stops and helped him onto victory.

Steve took off in Helen just after 7:00 am and crossed I-95 just after 8:00 pm.  He crossed the finish line southwest of Florence, SC

There was a lot of great flying locally as well.  We were able to get off all flights but one (Sat AM, which was lost to rain).  And we were able to get many balloons up for tethered rides on Saturday evening.

Many great photos of this years event can be found at:  http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=jthead&P=&AID=859247&GID=619598&T=1

If you have any photos you would like to see added to the photo album please email them to us.

This link is to a local newpaper article on this year's race:  http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/news/stories/20030606/localnews/430610.html

	Click here to see photos of some of 2004's participants.
	**2002 Race Results and Photos - click here**
	Race Headquarters, sponsor and organizer of the Helen to the Atlantic Balloon race and festival  706-878-2271
	Manufacturer of FAA Approved Hot Air Balloons
	Co-Sponsor of the Helen to the Atlantic Balloon Race.  For more information send email to:  wldbnchint@aol.com
	Official homepage of Alpine Helen, Georgia
The Helen Story	the history of Helen's transformation - The Helen Story   and images of the past
	Click here to see Helen's 1st balloon ascension
VISIT NORTHEAST GEORGIA . com	www.visitnortheastgeorgia.com  has a lot of information about the Northeast Georgia Mountains
www.n-georgia.com	www.n-georgia.com is another great resourse for information on Northeast Georgia

copyright 2003 - HABR