Last 2 Days (Tasks 4 and 5)

My rubbish performance the day before saw me drop from 7th to 17th... Much to do! And sorry for the lack of pics but I am writing this from work!

Some videos of each day of the comp are available on the links below courtesy of the French comps website http://gcvl.free.fr
Videos

With a stable forecast we had two tasks set and they called the longer of the two with a 16:00 start zig zagging along the ridges for 112.4km. Curt Warren was first off the hill around 15:00 after two parawafters had launched and proved it to be stay-uppable! Gaggles formed ans few broke away as the useable climbs were restricted to above 1600m altitude and few and far between. I launched and struggled to get up for 15mins before evntually climbing to 1900m to join the gaggle. When the start passed no-one seemed in a rush to start so I bimbled off staying high and trying to make slow progress as I went. Only a few notable others were really pushing and we were never far apart To cut a Loong story short, after a few hours in the air the day became too stable to continue and the field generally glided out. Mario won with 94km followed by Gerd Hoenhuber, Fabien Agenes then me. Small recompense but a decent effort today anyhow. We were retrieved late as most of the field were dotted all around the range. We got back for food at midnight!

Story of the day had to be Curt taking a leek in the air then getting his tinkle caught in the zipper of his harness. He perservered for hours trying to stay in the air to sort it out as it was too painful for him to get upright for landing... Eventually he found a good grass field to crash land into on his chest. It turned out to be a school field and just as the kids were letting out. Poor guy! The local doc wouldn't touch it so he had to cut his harness up to get out and was ambulanced off to the local A&E for a 4-hour ordeal.

Sadly I have no pics to show!!

The last day was forecast to be as stable as the previous but turned out to have little puffs of cumulus forming over the higher peaks of the Belle Garde Mountains aroun 2300m. A similar zig zag was set and the day started late also despite the evening presentation and meal booking! I raced across the ridges fairly low after making a terrible start 1000ft below most of the field but caught them up by the penultimate turnpoint where I climbed out to 2700m! I set off for final glide from here with 29km to go and a 17.6 glide angle... At the last turnpoint the glide had improved to 15:1 and 14km left so for safety I styed on a ridge to catch one more climb to be sure! Sod's law came into force and no climb appeared and as the glide increased to around 28:1 I had to leave and make the best of a bad job! Mario apparently glided behind me from the same point and saw me head for the ridge.. "Zat ridge never works!" he told me... "I got somzing from ze gorge and made eet een eazzily!" He gloated! Ten made goal on the last day and Mario won the comp outright... I placed 11th overall.

I headed straight back for work but return for more punishment after the 3rd July to Laragne before the Pre-Euros in Ager! See you then

Day 5 Task 3

Well done to Antoine Boisselier who made goal yesterday… Unfortunately he arrived 13 minutes after the goal closure time! Mario only just made the second turnpoint before landing. Considering the conditions, grey and stable, they made remarkable progress!

During the night Luis arrived in our Gite! Now the whole French Worlds team are here! I'd better pull my socks up and show them who’s boss…. They are!

It turned out I had dropped from 2nd in the comp to 7th due to my mistakes! I hoped for better the next day but….

Clouds below launch..!

Task 3. Again two tasks were set as the clouds were below the launch when we arrived. The first start would be at 16:00 and eventually the longer of two tasks was decided upon at 94km. It was a race along the ridges from Val Peylouse launch first to a turnpoint in the valley and then to Grenoble and back in a zig zag once more before goal at the Lumbin landing. Not having learned from racing ahead the day before, on the way to turnpoint 2 I got low and had to glide out to the valley for a low save near the Allegarde lake where a few others landed. I never managed to get back into the mountains and only glided to Grenoble never catching another thermal. Antoine won the day followed by Luis then Pierrot and Mario…!

Who's a Pretty Boy then???

Day 4 Task 2

Yesterdays Task Winner with Raymond Caux

Well with a changed forecast we now have 20kph SW winds so again we headed out to Le Sire overlooking Chamberry. The high cloud filled in as two tasks were set... We were to be told which we would fly 5 mins before launch would open! As it turned out we ended up taking the second shorter task along the ridge lines as the day became more and more stable..

Flying the Flag

The Start of the end of the day!!

A Crazee French Juggler

Again I had a relatively good start.... (above the ridge is a good start today!!). Maybe I pushed on a little too hard but I was in good company with Antoine Boiselier and Mario just behind me. We crossed the first two ridges taking rough climbs that petered out just above the ridge tops. The next ridge was a longer crossing and got the better of most of the field... A few of us scrabbled along the ridges managing to simply extend our glide toward the first turnpoint 24km away. Several other pilots got their timimg much better and again climbed allowing them to not only make the turnpoint but to return across the same ridge! How they faired only time can tell... More updates tomorrow. BTW I made only 20km of the 74km task! Bummer!

The two Antoines

French Nats Day 3 Task 1

And not before time! Todays forecast was for strong southerly winds and localised thunderstorms so again we drove to a site north of Chambery. We set up on arrival and watched as the storms developed in front of launch. A task of 64km was set in a zig-zag along the ridgeswhich were 45 degrees to the wind. We were to head north as far as Annecy finishing in Gruffy and to our amazement the storms died back and a task was flown!!! Woohoo!!

I was soon in the air and soon found lift over the crucifix to the left of launch. As I climbed out the views were amongst the best I’ve ever seen if not THE best! I took a camera with me but unfortunately the air was rough due to the increasing southerlies so never got the chance to take any pics… I will ask around for pics in the morning!

I had a good start position and so raced off down the ridges managing to stay ahead of the pack with Laurent Thevenot for company. I got better air on a valley crossing after the first turnpoint and managed to sit on top of him for the rest of the flight before leaving him after turnpoint 3. By now Mario and Pierre Zin had caught up but were still lower which helped me find better lines. I took a risky glide to the last turnpoint, into wind and away from the cloud line, and so allowed one of the german pilots to overtake me having taken a route via the clouds. He rounded the turnpoint ahead of me before gliding onwards to goal. I raced for the last turnpoint then chased him managing to make up some ground coming into goal second. Behind me came Mario Alonzi then Pierre Zin. Having led most of the day I hope to be rewarded in the scores but will have to wait until tomorrow to see what happens!

Strange Attire worn by a German pilot "Just in case of crashes!" or so I'm told... he's been named Robokraut!!

French Nationals Day 2

Monday and again we have bad weather! At least the breakfast here is good... Free is good! They have organised the retrieve service, a hearty breakfast and a lunch pack for all the pilots each day and service with a smile!! What more could you possibly ask... Oh Yeah.... Flying....!!!

The Meteo suggests we may have a chance to fly tomorrow early afternoon only, otherwise it may not be until Thursday before the competition starts in earnest. Today the French had a discussion about sprogs with an open question session hosted by Xavier Zaza and ably assisted by Raymond Caux, Mario Alonzi and Fabien Agenes. They might well have been sharing cooking recipes for all I understood!

Instead I watched some aerobatics by the paragliders who braved the rain showers then listened to some classical music whilst the Italian in our Gite prepared our evening meal…

Gianpietro Zin

Just wait until it’s my turn to prepare a good old fashioned British meal... do you think they’ll appreciate a greasy sausage dinner wit’ chips’n’peas followed up with a Mars bar!!? Nothing better after a quick pint of mild and a walk back home past the mill/pit with your whippet and a copy of the racing post!

Now I have to admit to getting bored of not flying! I took up running again whilst here a few days ago in an effort to get a little fitter and although the first warm up effort was only for half an hour my legs have been a little stiff! Likely due to all the hills here. Nevertheless I'm off shortly for a cycle ride before we have dinner Italian style!

Ciao for now!!

French Nationals Competition

St Tropez is nice this time of year and the pace of life quite relaxed… A dip in the pool every now and then is welcome as the temperatures reach 30 celsius most days..!

I stayed with friends for a few days, needless to say I think they need help on a personal basis... The pics speak for themselves!

After a few days in the sun to recharge my cells I set off for the “Championnat De France” (French National Hang Gliding Championship). Later that evening I arrived at the competition area: St Hilaire, and soon found the North launch with breathtaking views and fine weather.

Naturally I searched out a lively bar first before even thinking about setting up camp for the night… and so, several hours and much Pastis later, I stumbled from the pub “Grange Au Loup”. Luckily for me I was fortunate enough to be offered a bed for the night from the local fireman which I gratefully accepted on the grounds that he didn’t try to give me the French interpretation of a fireman’s lift!


The next day arrived and brought the bad weather with it… Welcome to Hang Gliding! Grey skies and cloudbase below the hill… So much for the practise days I had planned. The comp starts officially on Sunday though it looks like the first flying will not be until Monday when the weather is due to improve… Another glorious night in a tent with broken sleep due to torrential rain, thunder and lightening. There was an expo in Grenoble for all types of sports today which we visited. They even had sailing and wind surfing in the car park via a huge temporary swimming pool..! again the weather played it's part and, as you can see, the whole event was a roaring success...

At the south take-off there is a 3-day Juggling convention and display with ethnic dancing and drinking. We visited the practice night last night! Tonight promises to be a riot!

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!