Swiss Nationals

Wilkommen Auf Der Sweiss

After a long day driving through Holland and Germany I finally arrived in Biel for the Swiss open just in time to set up a prime camping slot “avec les Francais!”.

In the morning at the brief it was announced that we would head up Mt. Whatever where an 80km task was set; a ridge race criss-crossing East and West before heading downwind to the end of speed section over Biel. The goal was set at the comp HQ, Kappelen Airfield, a further 4km away but due to airspace constraints we were to descend to below ~3000ft before heading to goal. Also as this was around a 10:1 glide the goal was opened up to 1km radius to enable sports class and lower performers to safely reach the airstrip.

The brief on the hill was first in German, then French and finally I was given a brief overview to check details… 7 turnpoints and height limits with varied cylinder sizes.. Plenty of food for thought! No sooner had I programmed the Compeo+ then I was called to launch! There was an ordered launch with the first 15 pilots from WPRS in reverse! I got ready as quickly as possible but then there was a push from no. 3 pilot! (the w@~ker!) The air was stable and the cloudbase only 500ft above launch with a gentle breeze on the hill… even the wind dummies didn’t want to launch and there was still an hour to the first start! With only a thirty second window before being punted to the back of the queue I launched and climbed out no problem!

To say the skies were grey was an understatement and busy to the point of being dangerous. Still 40 mins before the first of two starts I glided to another ridge to keep clear of the melee. As the first start clock passed I made a perfect start and headed on course at cloudbase only to find I was 500ft lower than some pilots! Still I was doing OK and made the first turnpoint simply gliding across the tops of the ridges. The return was similar though some of the French pilots including Raymond Caux and Fabien Zadora had raced into the ground from allowing themselves to get too low on the ridge.. With the low bases it really was a ridge hopping day although the lift tended to be more thermic up the faces of the slopes than dynamic. I lost GPS signal for a few minutes back over the take off turnpoint second time around but other than that made good progress around the course behind what I believed to be the lead gaggle.
We had one valley to cross for the penultimate turnpoint and here I managed to catch the pilots in front of me. With glory in mind I headed towards the last turnpoint which was also the end of speed section and dived over the back of the ridge with only 100ft clearance! It was a rough ride but I made the turnpoint before the others could catch me up. Now I just had to make it to goal but no pressure. I headed over the low hill before goal and required a 17:1 glide though only got 16:1. With the grey skies above it seemed unlikely I would get a thermal so glided on with clenched buttocks! At 2km to go I realised I would make the cylinder but not the airfield and as I started picking fields I noticed other gliders below on the ground! It would seem I was not leading after all! I made goal by 200m and turned with just enough height to make a safe landing and watched as several gliders passed by me overhead.

Approximately 20 of the 41 gliders made goal and I placed 11th later corrected to 10th. Winning the day was Primoz Gricar from Alex Ploner then Mario Alonzi.

Day 2

Day cancelled due to strong winds. Some pilots went to Interlaken to fly a small site in the flats. I spent a little time studying the strange mating rituals of the common hill frog!!:

Day 3

We went to a beautiful site high in the mountains near to Bern to rig and then have the day canned due to rain, We at least free flew for half an hour after the rain… A very stable day!

Day 4

Today we ventured into the hills on a hope of a flight bearing in mind that the forecast winds had died down each day late in the afternoon. A task of 152km was set first along the ridges from launch then crossing the valleys to end up at the base HQ below the airspace. The site itself was small and sheltered from the true wind which in actual fact was 90 degrees across the hill. Only one launch at time was possible and so with 67 pilots this was always going to be a challenge! I launched in 7th place and was blown around the ridges for 20 mins before climbing out in a scrappy 2 up thermal. The base was only 2000ft above launch (1200ft above the ridge). This turned out to be rather significant as the winds increased. I started on the first gate at cloudbase and stayed relatively high with the lead gaggle until the first turnpoint around 20km. When I turned back into wind to head back I was drilled and found there to be an average 34kph headwind. For most pilots this proved too much and those that actually took off AND went on course generally landed before or at the first turnpoint. Pushing hard upwind I was being turned uncontrollably and kept my distance from other pilots for reasons of safety. With only 1000ft between the ground and cloudbase there was little room for error. Eventually common sense got the better of me and so I headed out to the valley for a safe landing. A few pilots continued further on course but not many. Mario Alonzi however made a sterling effort and covered 130km of the 152km course as opposed to his nearest challenger at 50km …ish!

Special thanks go to Roland the Crazy French Chauffeur!!!

I ended the day in 11th place putting me in 8th overall for the comp. Let’s hope for lighter winds or better conditions tomorrow!

Last Day

With a forecast for strong winds again the day was cancelled and the scores stand. Results here.

Primos and Alex are joint winners with Mario in third place...

Now I'm off to the sun in St Tropez as the weather in St. Hilaire is pretty blowy with storms forecast for the next few days!