2008 Chabre Hang Gliding Open the Pre-Worlds
23rd June to 5th July 2008
Programme:
23 June 2008 Registration opens
24 June 2008 Official Practice Task
25 June 2008 Mandatory Safety Briefing (All Pilots must Attend) , Registration closes
26 June to 4 July (inclusive) Competition Task Days
5 July 2008 Prizegiving
Venue:
Laragne is situated in the South East of France, about half way between Grenoble and Marseille. GPS coordinates are : 44°17’52’’N 005°45’54’’E. Nearest airports are: Marseille, Nimes, Grenoble, Nice. Headquarters will be at the Salle des Fetes, in the centre of Laragne town.
Flying sites: Montagne de Chabre (N & S), Aspres le Longeane (S & W), Montagne de Buc (W).
Registration :
Registration for teams will commence online from 20 October 2007 (12 noon GMT)
Registation for individuals will commence online from 20 December 2007. (12 noon gmt)
Team Registration:
20 October 2007 (12 noon GMT ) to 19 December 2007
Countries have the opportunity to priority register a named team of 5 pilots using the team form. These, and only these, pilots will then be able to register before 20th December on the normal pilot registration form. To guarantee a place, payment must be received from these pilots or their NAC/national body by 20th December. At any time prior to the start of the competition, the NAC/national body can reconstitute its team from pilots who are registered, accepted and paid.
If a pilot allocated a national team place withdraws from the competition, he can be replaced by a registered pilot, either accepted and paid, or on the waiting list.
General Registration:
20 December 2007 (12 noon GMT ) to 28 February 2008
From 20th December any other pilots can register. Pilots will be allocated places on a first come, first served basis until the competition is full. Registered pilots will be emailed with a confirmation of acceptance and a deadline for payment of the entry fee (within 1 month). On receipt of payment by the deadline, their place will be reserved. Places are not transferable.
Waiting List:
The 2008 competition is limited to 120 pilots. In the event that the competition is oversubscribed, a Waiting List policy will operate. Places will be offered by email to Registered pilots on a 'first come' basis.
Entry Fees:
Standard entry fee: €350 per pilot
This covers: entry to the competition, pilot competition information and souvenir packages, lunch packet, maps, T-shirt, Opening reception, Midway reception and meal, Closing reception and meal.
Extras:
Transport and Retrieve.
Transport and retrieve can be provided to pilots at a cost of 300 euros . This must be reserved and paid for in advance.
Payment:
By PayPal, direct bank transfer or by cheque in Euros. Details coming soon on the payment page.
Refunds:
In the event of a paid pilot withdrawing from the competition before 20th April, 2008, a minimum refund of 250 euros will be offered. Cancellations received after this date will not be eligible for a refund except at the organiser's discretion.
Teams & Prizes:
Pilots who are not members of their national team are encouraged to form teams of five, which need not necessarily be 'national'. Trophies and prizes will be awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd Individual, 1st Woman, and 1st, 2nd and 3rd Team. There will also be a special Sportsmanship Award.
This is a FAI Category 2 competition. All pilots must hold a valid FAI licence.
Italy takes the Gold
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Podium finish ... L-R: Jonny Durand, Alex Ploner and Thomas Weissenberger
Champagne moment ... World Champion Alex Ploner with the Gold Medal winning team Italy at the awards ceremony in Laragne this morning
More pictures of the opening ceremony in this Flickr set
World Championship Winners!
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Gold: Alex Ploner (Italy), Icaro2000 Z9
Silver: Jonny Durand (Australia), Moyes Litespeed RS 3.5
Bronze: Thomas Weissenberger (Austria), Moyes Litespeed RS 4
And in the Team competition
Gold: Italy
Silver: Austria
Bronze: France
Congratulations to all, and congratulations to the new World Champion, Alex Ploner. We've had a BLAST! Full results on www.chabre2009.com
Friday 3 July: Task 8: 154km
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10.30pm: Results coming very soon... waiting for one last guy to download then it's all official...
8.30pm: Alex Ploner has just been into the download room, above. He got to goal in 4hrs 1min.
See more goal pics in this Flickr set
Manfred congratulates Alex Ploner...
Manfred explains what happened to him...
But who cares? Manfred's been World Champion three times already, and now he gets the girl!
7pm: The drama doesn't stop here. Just when we thought it was all over Manfred Ruhmer appeared to congratulate the new World Champion (yet to be confirmed etc etc) and the other medallists. (Who will be third? It's in a GPS on its way to download somewhere...). Amazing scenes of great sportsmanship. I have a tear in my eye. When the Tour de France starts next week and the tales of drug taking, cheating and rivalry start to pour out, remember this as a true competition, where the best pilots have fought the best fight, and then they've sat down together afterwards to laugh about it as the sun goes down on a great day. Thank you for taking part and for watching. Results out later tonight. Come back for the aftershow party about 11pm French time... à toute à l'heure!
Ladies and gentlemen ... Alex Ploner has landed! Probably our new World Champion, but it will be close. Congratulations on a great competition. Results out later tonight...
Alex Ploner ... flies Icaro
6.30pm: Alex Ploner is coming over the line.
6.25pm: Attila Bertok in. Antoine Boissellier next.
Jonny Durand is told he's getting more than a medal tonight...
Jonny coming over the line
Zac Majors, Team USA!
6.15pm: Jonny Durand second. 'Nice day out,' he said. He took the first start gate. 'Pretty much everyone did.' Described the day as smooth and nice. Confusion over Manfred cleared up: he has definitely checked in, and it was probably Christian Ciech that Nene Rotor was flying with. He has the same colours. About half a dozen in, including two from the US team: Zac Majors and Dustin Martin.
Nene Rotor ... good name
6.10pm: First across the line is number 95. Brazil's Nene Rotor. He said he was flying the whole course with Manfred Ruhmer and only outclimbed him on the last turnpoint. Which is baffling because Manfred checked in.. or so we were told. What's going on? Is Manfred still in the air? Can he still win?
Into the wind ... windsock outside the beer tent just minutes ago
5.50pm: Seems like a false alarm. Apparently they are still 35 km away. One rigid wing pilot appeared on the horizon but landed a mile short, caught out by the headwind. Tough day out there.
5.35pm: The Italian team leader is on the line talking to the Italian pilots over the radio, briefing on wind strength and direction. Final glide is close...
5.15pm: Radio reports that pilots are on their way from Sisteron - less than 30 km away. Plus, Alex Ploner is 33 tomorrow ... and he is still in the air. Christian Ciech is also reported to be still in the air.
Can you see any gliders? The sky now in the direction pilots will be arriving from
Alex Ploner, Italy
5pm: Alex Ploner: 32 yo, factory pilot for Icaro, excellent hang glider and rigid pilot and no stranger to the podium in both disciplines. He won the World Championships in Class 5 (rigids) hang gliding last year. He was fifth in the 16th Hang Gliding World Championships in Texas.
In this comp he was second in task 1, sixth in task two, 10th in task three, 12th in task five, and ninth in task seven. This performance has put him in second place overall. If he doesn’t deck it today, he could take the title. But today has been a day of the unexpected: the Austrian Gerolf is down too.
4.50pm: So if not Manfred, who? "Alessandro Ploner has got to be the favourite," says meet director Heather Mull, "But it's wide open."
4.50pm: More pictures from launch today are in this Flickr set
4.40pm: Jamie Wanders tweets: 'It also appears that Christian Voiblet [Switzerland] has landed here at the goal field...couldn't have flown the course yet.' Looks like the day, which started out difficult, with tricky launch and difficult conditions, could be shaping up to be a disaster for some of the big names.
Eyes wide shut ... Manfred Ruhmer on launch this lunchtime
4.20pm: Manfred Ruhmer has landed. He has checked in with the competition HQ. Confirmed. Quite a crowd down here at the landing field. The weather is good still, with no sign of any overdevelopment on course.
4.15pm: Unconfirmed news is comp leader Manfred Ruhmer (AUT) landed short of the first turnpoint. If correct the race has been blown wide open.
3.45pm: Very little news from the course line. Most seemed to have taken the first start gate. Heading down to the goal field to wait.
2.40pm: All but two pilots have launched and are on course. It's been a difficult start to the last task here in Laragne, but with a 154km task ahead of them pilots will have to put that behind them and concentrate on the task in hand. Three hours from now pilots should be making goal.
2pm: Just heard from one of the wind dummies (non-competing pilots who take off before the competition to show pilots what the wind/conditions are like). He's just landed and rang in to HQ to tell us it was tricky up there today. 'Hard to stay up.'
1.40pm: Txt from the hill: 'NW winds on top slowing launches down in lane two.'
1.30pm: Close observers will see that the final leg of the race will, if the forecast is correct, be into wind. The north west wind is forecast to increase in strength later in the day. Should make for some interesting final glides into goal.
Final glide explainer: Final glide is the last glide of the day - it is where pilots glide into goal, often from many kilometres away, not stopping to use another thermal or gain more height. The final glide calculation that a pilot makes - how high they have to be before setting out on final glide - can win or lose them the race. Get it right and the pilot will glide into goal and across the goal line with space to land easily and safely. Get it wrong and pilots will land short, or worse, stretch it out until they crash down within metres of the line. Final glide calculations are done with a flight instrument, coupled with the pilot's knowledge and experience. But calculations can be undone by unexpected conditions on route - for example stronger wind lower down that slows pilots down and degrades the glide. If the forecast is correct we can expect to see some of that today.
1.15pm: Competition race leader Manfred Ruhmer (AUT) is 'pushing' to launch now. Conditions are trickyish, with pilots launching from both sides. The switchy winds are making it hard for pilots to launch, so while pilots are waiting for the wind to come up the hill and make it easier to launch Manfred is effectively telling them to get on with it when the wind comes on or get out of the way ... he wants to go now. Pilots are taking the hint and going when it's good. About 30 are already in the air - no one wants a repeat of Task 5 when conditions were difficult on launch and some got left behind.
1pm: Pilots are launching now
12.30pm: A 154km task has been set, with three turnpoints and goal at Laragne camping. Launch window opens at 1pm, with start gates at 2.30pm, 2.50pm, 3.10pm and 3.30pm. This is a big task today - from here to Batie Neuve, then back to south of here, then home.
12 noon: Tensions reported to be running high as pilots have to re-load gliders and head to the south launch. Parking needs strictly controlled here on the single track road and things have been fraught. Pilots are however now in situ and rigging their gliders.
11.45am: They have switched launches. They have gone up to the top launch, where they should be able to take off from the south. The wind has gone south now, but will probably be switchy. The two launches are about a mile apart, so things may well be a bit tricky up there just now.
11am: Everyone is now on the hill, but the wind has gone very light - 3kmh from the north. Could make for a tricky start.
9.30am: Weather forecast
Summary: Hot and sunny, with moderate north west wind, and low risk of thunderstorms in the afternoon.
Winds
5,500m: NW 25knots, 50kmh.
1,500m at 2pm:
Aspres: 15 knots, NNW
Laragne: 15 knots, NW
5pm: Increasing winds through the day, slightly lighter to the south.
3,000m: Lighter winds, NW, 10 knots, 20 kmh.
Sounding: dry convective layer to 3,000 m at 2pm. Very convective by 5pm. Drier and warmer air above, with low risk of thunderstorms.
2-5/8 cumulus cover
Significant weather: NW wind at 15 knots, stronger after 5pm. 0C at 4,300m. Max temp: 33C.
Tomorrow: Hot, sunny, risk of thunderstorms in the afternoon.
Conclusion: We are going up to the lower north take off on Chabre
Wives and girlfriends
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Victoria Beckham and Man United ... you can keep them. From launch on Aspres, July 2 2009. More WAG pictures here...
Thursday 2 July: Task 7: 113km: Stopped
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All the photos from take off and goal are in this Flickr set
Jonny Durand wins the day
10pm: Jonny Durand (AUS) won the day. One point ahead of Antoine Boisselier (FRA). Jon took 2hr 5min 4 seconds, while Antoine took 2hrs 10 mins 20 seconds. No lead out points for Jonny as he took the second start gate and raced through the rest of the field. Pic shows him crossing the line at Ribiers, with the last turnpoint, the ruin at Mison, in the background. Congratulations Jonny! Read about it and watch the video on his blog when it goes online here.
The win pushes Durand into third place overall, with Italy's Alex Ploner in second and Manfred Ruhmer (AUT) in first. Ruhmer leads by more than 200 points, and Ploner also has more than 200 points between him and Durand. With one task to go on Friday the gold and silver medals seem assured, but Durand's position isn't so comfortable. Given the forecast - good - there is still a lot to play for tomorrow.
Antoine Boisselier (FRA), first in goal but one point behind
Encroaching storm from the east as a pilot arrives in goal
In the fields
5pm: All go here as first at least 30 pilots made goal. Notable exception was Christian Ciech (ITA), who wasn't there. Attila Bertok didn't get there either - in fact he didn't even make the first turnpoint. He took the last start gate, skipped three thermals and says he knew he was pushing his luck. 'The worst hang gliding task of my life,' he said.
The first two pilots arrived in goal in a nose to nose race finish at just before 4pm. Antoine Boisselier is rumoured to have taken the second start - unconfirmed - which would make his a very fast time. Lots landed short as a stiff and strengthening cross/head wind set up. A couple in the fields. Manfred Ruhmer was in the first dozen or so.
Once the first 10 or so were in though it was clear things were developing rapidly to the east, and the storm to the west that had been there all day was finally making itself felt. The task was stopped at 4.31pm. The task will be scored back by 15 minutes (this is the interval between the start times). That means not all who think they will score goal points will actually do so. Again, an interesting night of results ahead.
4.31pm The Task has been stopped, due to thunder storms on the course line.
4.22pm: About 25 pilots in goal now and they are still arriving.
4.10pm: Pilots are arriving in goal thick and fast. Already in are Antoine Boisselier, first to cross the line, then Gerolf Heinrichs from Austria. Also in are Curt Warren from USA and Jonny Durand, Australia.
3.30pm: The day looks great out there. The big clouds are to the west and the course is clear.
Flying in front of Aspres
14.45: Still looking good. No dangerous-looking over-development so far.
A 113km task is set to Ribiers landing field taking in turnpoints B35 just north of Sisteron, B52 at Malaup at the end of Aujours ridge, then B43 Longue Dent near Chabestan, south to B36 at Sigoyer near Vaumeilh then hopping over the Durance to the fort at Mison with a final glide from the north into the Ribiers landing field.
Starts: 1.45pm, 2pm and 2.15pm
Landby time 6pm
The field launched swiftly, and they are all in the air. With the first start gate in just a few minutes, they will be streaming south...
The key today is to miss the storms - we hear the clouds are already building on Beaumont.
9.30am: Weather forecast for today
Winds
1500m
2pm Aspres: West, 10-20kmh
2pm Laragne: W 10-20 kmh
5pm: WNW 10-20 kmh
3000m
NW 10-20kmh, increasing from 5-10kmh earlier
Laragne sounding
2pm: Bit of an inversion at 2,500m
5pm: Inversion broken, strong climbs
Summary: West or north west winds, getting stronger by the afternoon/evening, storms from 4pm. Sunny until 2pm or 3pm. After 4pm risk of isolated storms.
Tomorrow: Still hot and sunny, very weak risk of thunderstorms in the afternoon. Increasing NW flow up high. ‘Probably’ a good day for flying.
Conclusion: We are going up Aspres
Photos from Wed 1 July
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Photos from launch on Wednesday
World Championships photo competition
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More photos from yesterday and Monday taken by Getty Images sports photographer Michael Steele
Cross Country magazine is running a photo competition during the World Championships. To enter, simply send your three best photos (high resolution, jpgs, non-Photoshopped or manipulated) from the competition to: assistanteditor@xcmag.com
Include your name, address, email and short caption. Prizes include a basket of XC Mag goodies, plus publication in the magazine.
Photos must be un-published and taken during this comp. Deadline for entries is July 15 2009. Photos that do not win but are used in the magazine anyway will be paid at the magazine's normal rate. The editor's decision is final, etc etc...
Not in the rules, but a heavy hint from the magazine's editor, Bob Drury: 'In-flight photos preferred...'!
Spaghetti night at Chateauneuf de Chabre
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Tuesday night saw the competition field head to Chateauneuf de Chabre for spaghetti and dancing. It was another funny evening - one of many. Photos of the night are all here
To download a high resolution version (for free) that is suitable for printing:
1 Click on the photo you want
2 Click the icon 'All sizes' at the top
3 Click 'Original'
4 Click 'Download the original size'
5 Print it from your home printer or email/take it to a photo shop
Wednesday 1 July: Task 6: 89.4km: Cancelled
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2.30pm: Pilots all over the sky above Laragne. All landing at the camping field for an early bath. It's all over until tomorrow.
2pm: Task cancelled. Big storm development over the mountains to the north (Pic de Bure) mean the task has been cancelled. Many pilots in the air will probably head home to the landing field in Laragne. What a massive shame.
1.30pm: OK, sounds like it's a big rush to get in the air. No wonder after yesterday's slow launch. Get up while the going is good. Aspres is also a much easier/friendlier place to launch from than Chabre. So all good in that regard. Although the clouds are said to be getting bigger already behind Aspres.
The task as detailed below is confirmed.
The launch window is open from 12.50pm to 2.30pm.
Start gates are at 2.15pm, 2.30pm and 2.45pm. Anyone taking odds on who will hang around to take the second start gate today?
The deadline for the task is 5.30pm. Quite early, presumably in an effort to beat the storms that are forecast for later on. The goal is a 300m cylinder - no physical line to cross today.
1pm: Launch is open and pilots are now taking off. Conditions are good and unlike yesterday gliders are getting off easily.
Tweet from the hill: 'Super quick launches in perfect conditions ... Very crowded over launch.'
: A new provisional task, above, has been announced. 89.4 km via three turnpoints. Taking off at Aspres and landing back there too.
11.30am: A provisional 114 km task has been called
10.15am: Michael Steele, a sports photographer for photo agency Getty Images was on launch for the past two days. His photos are here. Jose Herrarte is the pilot against the clouds, but who is the pilot on the Combat? Post a name if you know. Getty Images sends pictures to media organisations around the world, so the pictures end up online (for example here, as a photo of the day) and in newspapers around the world.
9.30am: Weather forecast summary: Hot and sunny with thunderstorms. We still have the NW flow.
2pm winds at 1500m: 15 knots (30 kmh) NW
Aspres: WSW 5-10knots
Chabre: slack wind, virtually none
Valley breezes SSE up to 2,000m around Laragne. With storms from 4pm.
5pm: winds disturbed by cunims. Possible storms.
Max temp: 33C
Cloudbase at 2,400m – 2,600m
Chuckle went round the hall as a slide went up showing convective clouds at 5pm – basically everywhere, with lightning strikes all around.
Pretty much the same as yesterday: good, then storms later.
Tomorrow: Hot and sunny with less risk of thunderstorms.
Conclusion: We are going to Aspres. Pilots will wait at the main launch until it is decided what the wind is doing.
9.15am: Nice day outside today. But heavy weather remains from yesterday's task, which scored 1,000 points despite being stopped. Provisional results were posted last night, (on chabre2009.com) with official results expected later today.
Tattoos on launch: 2
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The second in an occasional series of bird tattoos spotted on launch. More pictures from today's launch here
Phil Lardner
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Phil Lardner has taken the World Championships by storm, scurrilously blogging his way to newfound fame in the hang gliding community and – according to his own well-founded reports – beating the Oz Report, the best known English-language hang gliding blog, at its own game. But who is he?
According to his profile he is 41, single, lives in Bray, Co Wicklow, Ireland and likes beekeeping, astronomy and hang gliding. His hang gliding CV shows he has held a number of responsible posts over the years, including being the Irish Hang and Paragliding Association’s training and flight safety officer, their webmaster and their sites officer. The IHPA is a sponsor of Team Ireland at this World Championships and links to Lardner's blog from its website with the instruction, 'Failure is not an option - national pride is at stake.'
Lardner is also the FAI alternate delegate for Ireland. However, not much else is known about the mystery Irishman. Professionally, the Irishman has revealed he is a systems analyst who for the past two years has worked on maintaining his family’s Edwardian estate in Ireland.
Passionate about astronomy he used to build telescopes, before the overcast Irish skies dampened his enthusiasm. He took up hang gliding in 2000.
Lardner in dancing mood
Lardner in mystery clinch
Lardner in Team Leader mode
Lardner in a chicken hat
Lardner in shorts
Tuesday 30 June: Task 5: 130km: Stopped
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5pm: Tom Payne watching from Geneva posted a good question:
'How does the scoring work when a task with multiple start gates is stopped with no pilots in goal? If you score it up to the point that it was stopped then pilots who chose a later start gate will have had less time on the course.'
The answer according to the scorers is that the task will be scored on distance only, and to 20 minutes before the task was stopped: so as far as the pilot got at 3.24pm. And yes, that means people who took a later start gate will end up scoring less. The pilots knew it was likely to storm early. They knew the task might be stopped because of storms on course. Savvy ones got up quick and set off on the first start gate. Those playing for tactics by waiting in the air to race through the pack after taking a second start gate will probably have lost out this time.
Comp leader Christian Ciech is in the campsite bar having a bit of a sit-down and an orange juice. He looks pretty knackered to be honest. How was it Christian? 'A little bit windy, around the first turnpoint.' Nothing more. Everyone will just have to wait and see.
4.15pm: Some 20+ pilots have now landed in the goal field after flying straight here once the task was stopped. More coming in. Manfred Ruhmer landed around the number 25 mark, well after Christian Ciech, Attila Bertok and Jonny Durand. What does this mean? Who knows. It could mean he was way back in the field when the task was stopped, or it could mean he went for a bit of a fly after the task was stopped, or he took a later start gate to try and race through the pack ... Results should make interesting reading tonight.
3.45pm: Task stopped at 3.44pm. Rain was reported - via radio - on course by at least one pilot, Gordon Rigg of GB. Big overdevelopment - storm clouds - pretty much everywhere now. Smells like rain here at the goal field. Non-competing pilots who have landed here in the last half an hour are now quickly packing up. No competition pilots in goal.
Explainer: The task today was stopped because storms started to develop near to where the competition pilots were flying. Storms are dangerous to all pilots. Read here what happens when glider pilots get too close to thunder clouds.
3.30pm: The sky looks like this just south of Laragne camping and landing field. Big clouds all around now.
3pm: Launch pictures in this Flickr set
3pm: Bill Moyes, above, of Moyes Gliders is here with his team of Moyes pilots. 'Could do with a bit more flying, but pretty happy with the gliders.'
2.15pm: Took a while but all the pilots are off now. Some biggish-looking cloud development around, but nothing too serious yet. Pilots are out on course now, with the first expected to arrive in goal around 4pm.
Jonny Durand (AUS) launches from the North side of Chabre
1pm: Dust devils on launch, pilots are now taking off from both north and south launches, Manfred Ruhmer (AUT) and Jon Durand (AUS) just went off the north side.
12:35pm: First pilots have launched and are getting high, winds are very light and switchy so launching is a little slow, the sky is looking great with lots of cumulus clouds.
11:40am: A 130km task is called exit circle 20km around B36 then 114 (Villeperdrix), B29,then north to B56(Valdrome), east to B44 and then goal at camping. Launch opens at 12:20, with 4 starts 13:50 14:10 14:30 and 14:50
10.30am: Wind is south east on Chabre just now, which is good. Hopefully a decent breeze will set up and pilots will get off easily today. Twitter posts from launch are here
9.50am: In the meantime, the competition has been on French TV, above. Watch it here. Fantastic in-air footage
9.45am: Yesterday saw us sitting on a west launch in a north wind – not good. The reason this happened, we are told, is because of a strong inversion at 2,300m that kept the north wind trapped below it and blowing past us. The expected local westerly flow never really happened. Chabre was flyable, but tricky to launch – meet director tells us only one in five gliders got off there as well. Tricky everywhere, is the message.
Today’s forecast has been done for both launch sites, and is also tricky (NW flow is the hardest one to fly here):
Winds at 1500m
Aspres at 2pm: NW 8knots, 15 kmh
Chabre at 2pm: WNW 4 knots, 8kmh
Aspres at 5pm: NNW 27kmh
Chabre at 5pm: WNW 23kmh
3000m winds: N, 3kmh – very light
By 6pm: southerly winds at 6pm, coming from storms to the south east.
Local breezes will dominate. Less likelihood of thunderstorms today
Inversion at 2,300m. This trapped northerly flow beneath the inversions yesterday.
Drier, more stable air than yesterday.
Summary for Laragne
12noon: SW at 10 knots, 1-2/8 cu, base at 2,400
3pm: WNW wind, cb at 2,700m,
5pm: Could be big cloud devpt, possible rain showers
High risk of thunderstorms in mountains to the east and north east. Showers over Pic de Bure.
Conclusion: we are going to the top south launch at Chabre with an early briefing of 11.30am.
Video: Task 3 winner Christian Ciech
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Christian Ciech on winning Task 3 and who he think might win the World Championships...
Video: Meet Team Guatemala
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Team Guatemala on flying at home, and the comp.
Monday 29 June: Task 4 cancelled
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More photos from launch in this Flickr set
Playing the waiting game on Aspres
16.00: The task has been cancelled - the wind was just not coming round to the west as hoped. Pilots won't even be able to fly home.
15.40: After some time of unlaunchable air, pilots are taking off again. Conditions are slowly improving. About 12 pilots in the air (Manfred is still up at base, waiting). A couple of unlucky ones have landed. The cumulus development is not looking too threatening at the moment.
Manfred Ruhmer takes one of the only launch slots of the day
15.00: Manfred Ruhmer launched first and has skied out. Jonny Durand is working his way up. Another 6 or so are struggling. The wind is still mostly 90degrees off the hill. There's a big cumulus building to the east.
The start gates are now 15.45, 16.00, 16.15 and 16.30. Launch window closes 16.15 with a maximum extension allowable of 1.5h.
14.45: Now pilots are taking off. Some think this is a risky move, but maybe it will pay off.
13.50: Launch is closed again. They are rethinking the timings. It's still blowing from the north on the westerly launch, but it looks like the thermals are beginning to bring a breeze up the front south facing launch. A difficult day already.
13.30: The task has been announced. A 114km tour from Aspres (D05), travelling first north west to Luc-en-Diois (B810) then due south to B41 col de Perty, just off the end of the Chabre ridge, then east over the Buech valley to the hilltop village of Ventavon (B30), south again to Bevons La Fontaine, east of Sisteron, overlooking the Jabron valley, and then to the official landing field at Ribiers (A11). The launch is now open, with starts at 15.15 and 15.35.
Noon: The pilots are on the summit of Aspres, the wind is northerly, so the waiting game has started. The organisers are convinced it will turn to the west, but not sure exactly when. Same thing happened last year in the pre-worlds, it was a good call. The wind finally turned and a good task was set, albeit late.
9.50am: Jeff O'Brien has had his appeal and he has been reinstated. He scores to the point of his infringement. It was his lucky day.
9.40am: The forecast is confused today by models, overridden by the forecaster – basically the computer is modelling thunderstorms and overriding the general pattern. (As an aside, the way the forecast is done is the France Meteo forecaster creates a specialised forecast for the comp, which is then emailed over as a powerpoint demo, and he gives an analysis of it over the phone through David Owen, the comp organiser. This means the comp gets the benefit of forecasting local knowledge and ‘feeling’ as well as the modelled forecasts.) So the general pattern is north west flow, with north west winds on take off, and the risk of isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon that will create local winds.
The sounding we took today indicates a cloudbase of 2100m to 2200m early on today, rising to 2,400m at 2pm.
Fine until noon, some cirrus from west, big clouds over east mountains. Showers in first part of the afternoon, storms later. Laragne should stay clear until 4pm.
0C at 4,100m.
Tomorrow: Hot and sunny, with less storm development. NW flow.
Conclusion: Undecided. Decision is between lower north take off at Chabre, or Aspres west. And the winner is... the west launch of Aspres.
9am: The day looks good out there from the ground. More north in the wind yesterday, but so far the weather looks fine for hang gliding today. Weather report online as usual around 9.45am.
8.45am: So, 44 at goal yesterday. Christian Ciech won the day by a point ahead of Christian Voiblet. Zac Majors (USA) came in third. That means Christian Ciech is now leading the competition. Congratulations Christian on a great flight yesterday.
A huge upset though for Task 1 winner Jeff O'Brien (USA). He scored zero (0 points) after being penalised for flying in a no-fly zone. The area, which was close to the course line, is a parachute dropzone. Several pilots clipped it, and landed, as the rules dictate. But O'Brien's tracklog shows he spent some time inside it - as a result he scored nothing for the day. A huge disappointment for the American. He has appealed the decision, citing rain, the whole valley lifting (making it hard to land - he was spiralling but going up), and a parachute plane as the reason that he thought it best to stay in the air and get out of there rather than land in the dropzone. We'll have to wait and see... but fingers crossed he gets a fair hearing. He blogs here.
Video: How not to land a hang glider part 2
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A second video of the looping glider pilot who threw his reserve yesterday.
First video here
Sunday 28 June: Task 3: 166km
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Some more launch photos are in this Flickr set
8.15pm: Zac Majors (USA), above, in download. He crossed the line third. How was it Zac? 'Awesome out there.' Team mate and Task 1 winner Jeff O'Brien wasn't so lucky today - he didn't make goal. How was it? 'Rough.'
7.45pm: Ciech, above, in to download. He completed the course in 3hr 9min 55 seconds.
Bruce Kavanagh (GB) in to download: 'Incredible day. The second turnpoint was just out of this world.' Everyone liked Pic du Bure today.
Christian Ciech being interviewed in the landing field after his spectacular landing
Manfred Ruhmer in HQ tonight
7.15pm: Switzerland's Christian Voiblet just in downloading his instruments. 'Great task' he says. 'Strong climbs, always safe - the Laragne we like.' Favourite part of the flight? 'The other side of Pic du Bure - the cloud was on the mountain ... we could dolphin fly along the mountain beneath the cloud ... out to the turnpoint and back.'
6.45pm: Christian Ciech (ITA) was first across the line at about 5.30pm. Amazing final glide: landing field spectators thought he was surely in the fields, but his final glide, a metre above the ground, seemed to go on for 300 m or so.
Christian Voiblet (SUI) was second across the line, Zac Majors (USA) third, Manfred Ruhmer (AUT) fourth.
Ruhmer is in download HQ just now. How was it Manfred? 'Beautiful!' He liked the high mountains the best, he say - Pic du Bure and the surrounds.
Three French pilots were in early too: Mario Alonzi, Gianpietro Zin and Antoine Boisselier. Good day for the French.
Estimated 35 in goal so far.
Sorry for lack of updates during the day - Sunday: the blogger went flying.
The task is big enough, pictured above, but not as big as it could have been. Once on launch, it was clear that cloudbase was not high enough early enough to go for the 200km+. Instead we have a none-too-shabby 166km task, launching from Chabre south, flying west to col de la Trappe (B51) near Sederon, then way north to Oubiou (B94), tracking south east to Mont Colombis (B80), returning to Laragne Camping (A10). Launch opens right now. First start gate 14.00. More news as we get it.
10am: Word is the task will be big
9.45am: Everyone has headed up the hill. Jamie will be tweeting reports from the hill here. Updates will be posted on this page as the task is set etc.
9.30am: Forecast summary: Sunny and nice. Good for hang gliding.
Winds at 1500m at 2pm: SW at 10kmh
5pm: increasing slightly and going westerly
3000m at 2pm: 10kmh WNW
3000m at 5pm: Bit more west, at 10kmh
Sounding reports up to 3,000m is very convective: good thermal climbs. Above the inversion is dry.
Sunny, 0-2/8 cumulus. Few patches of thin cirrus. Low risk of isolated showers over north and east high mnts. Valley breezes dominate with poss NW wind strengthening by end of afternoon.
Max temp today 32C. Cloudbase at 2,600 – 2,800m at take off. Rising to 3,000 – 3200m.
Overview for tomorrow: Sunny, moderate NW winds.
Thank you for you attention – have a good flight! Meteo France.
Conclusion: We are heading up to Chabre, and will take off from the top south take off.
Everyone is leaving the hall very fast … looks like it could be a good day.
9.15am: Yesterday was blown out for comp hang gliding, but there was a display of aerobatics by several pilots above the landing field at Laragne. Part of a local 'Fete de l'air' taking place here this weekend. One pilot got it wrong and threw his reserve - video above. He landed ok and was fine. It's the seventh time he's come down under reserve apparently.
9am: Looks like a nice day outside. Light north west at the moment.
Last night was the pizza and paella night for the pilots. We all went to Ribiers, a village nearby and ate pizza and paella at tables set up for us outside in the town square. Of note was Davis Straub of Oz Report fame, who took a direct line, off course, and swooped into the paella pan ahead of the main pack of 100+ pilots, getting back to his seat and goal well before most people had crossed the start gate. Team USA was circling just outside the start cyclinder and managed a quick getaway on the pizza, while Team GB was noticable by their abscence until they made a fast dash-and-grab for the paella. No shows included Team Japan and Austria. One part of Team Australia turned up three hours late demanding food, clearly still on Pacific time. No chance, mate. All up another good night.
Video: Manfred Ruhmer on winning Task 2
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Manfred Ruhmer talks about his win on Task 2 and why he's come back to competition hang gliding
Video: Meet Team Japan
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Video: Here's........ Jonny
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Australian team pilot Jonny Durand makes videos every day:
Saturday 27 June: Too windy: no fly
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1pm: Sorry for lack of morning updates. Too windy today - so we didn't even go up the hill and the day was cancelled at 10.30am.
9.30am: Extended forecast care of Meteo France, which is producing dedicated forecasts every day for this competition, is sunny, with a risk of storms over mountains to the east
Winds
5,500m at 2pm: NW 18 knots – 35 kmh
1,500 m at 2pm: 10-15 knots, 30 kmh. However, the forecaster suggests winds will be stronger.
Surface at 2pm: Moderate NW
Wind strengthening through the afternoon.
Moist air at high level, with cirrus developing. Temp: 0C at 3,700m. 29C max at Laragne
Summary: Sunny, 3 – 4/8 cu over Laragne. Thunderstorm risk over the mountains, maybe around Laragne too by the afternoon. Base at 2,500m to 3,000m. Increasing wind throughout the day. In short, a windy day, maybe too windy.
Tomorrow’s forecast: Sunny, light winds with good conditions for hang gliding. ‘Quite a nice forecast’ according to organisation.
Conclusion: We are going to watch the wind on Chabre, where it is too windy to fly just now according to the weather station on top. Rebrief at 10.30am. If we do fly, it will be from the lower north take off on Chabre.
9.15am: Summary forecast is for big cloud development over the mountains, with wind at launch on the limit for take off.
9am: The sky at Laragne camping at 8.15am.
Friday Night Thriller: Fête de la Saint-Jean
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A bonfire night opposite the campsite brought pilots and locals out en masse to enjoy Laragne hospitality and beer. The party was a local event – the Fête de la Saint-Jean is an annual bonfire night.
Highlights included Team Japan showing in a kimono. He then danced with Team Russia and Team France in a spectacular show of international unity. When he and Team Russia leapt through the pallet fire, we knew a new threshold in international democracy had been breached – sport can do that.
Meanwhile, Team USA pledged to fly with only one glove for the rest of the comp – or was it only one task? – in honour of countryman Michael Jackson, 50, who sadly passed yesterday.
Team Russia breached French barriers to commandeer a fire hose, which she sprayed liberally on the crowd, causing mayhem and excitement in equal part.
And the mayor of Laragne, a local and national political name, made headlines by dancing with all the pretty girls, both local and international. Worlds staffer Dutch blonde Cornelia remarked that she had to be careful, as she knew she could cause heart attacks among a certain male age group. Wow. To have the power.
A highlight came as the DJ played homage to Jackson with a full, 12-minute version of Thriller. US Team pilot Zac Majors impressed with his impression of a Thriller Zombie, as he did with his moves all night.
All up a good night. Thanks to Laragne for hosting it – and hopefully that beer drinking and hangover will be the sacrifice the weather gods need for today.
More photos from the night, including incriminating ones, here
Pilot photos
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All the pilot photos are in this Flickr set
To download the original high resolution image, in the Flickr set:
- Click on the photo you want
- Click the icon ‘All Sizes’ at the top of the photo
- On ‘Available Sizes’ click ‘Original’
- This will give you a photo that you can download and print off at 30cm x 20cm
4.30pm: It's raining at the moment. Most pilots are either here:
The hardest working pizza guy in France
or here:
Casino supermarket: The pilots' favourite ... open Saturdays, and Sunday mornings. Please remember to take your own bag.
Friday 26 June: cancelled
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1.40pm: The task was abandoned but most pilots who had rigged chose to launch and fly down. Some had a lot of fun buzzing the launch. It's raining now over Laragne. Tomorrow is another day...
12.40pm: The task committee worked hard and fast to plan a route that would avoid the storms, but to no avail. The skies above Chabre clouded fast, and the cumulus are towering on nearby ranges. The day is abandoned.
10am: The field has gone up the hill. Looks like they will set an earlyish (and short?) task to try to avoid the forecast thunderstorms. Check back 12noon French time for an update on the route they will take. Updates from the hill on Twitter from Jamie
9.45am: Forecast summary: ‘More clouds than we have had. High risk of thunderstorms, and NW wind – but not too bad.’
5,000m: Light W to NW winds at 14 knots
1500m: WNW at 14 knots 28km.
Surface: Light W to NW winds
Winds increasing during the day. Moving more NW. By 5pm 30 kmh NW winds in Laragne region. At 3,000m the winds forecast to increase to 30 kmh and W. So, strengthening NW wind during the day.
Forecast sounding for 2pm: high altitude humidity indicating patches of cirrus. 3,000m cumulus. Lots of moisture in the air – storms likely. Temp: 29C high forecast.
Significant weather: rain showers, cunims and thunderstorms by the afternoon in N and W of Laragne. Hopefully these shouldn’t get to us. Must be ready for forecast changes by midday – the day could be tricky weatherwise, basically.
Cloud cover: 4 – 6/8 cloud cover, with cunims above the mountains.
Tomorrow: Cooler, light NW, some cumin to the E.
Conclusion: We are going up Chabre, to the lower north take off. Weather briefing at the top again at noon. Aiming for early take off to beat the thunderstorms.
Team Colombia reach the Mediterranean
9.30am: Team Colombia is blogging here in Spanish, with pics.
Chabre, the main take off hill, at 8am this morning
8.45am: Sixty pilots made goal yesterday. Manfred Ruhmer first, Christian Ciech, then Attila Bertok. Manfred got to goal so far ahead of the pack that the points are spread wide - Manfred gets 999, and third place Attila gets 764. That performance puts Manfred in the lead overall.
Thursday 25 June: Task 2: 125 km
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Manfred's winning smile
He was this high when he got to the line
6.30pm: There must be 30 here now. I heard someone ask for a vegemite roll, so some of the Australians have got in too. Results online at www.chabre2009.com later tonight. Check back tomorrow for some more of the same, as long as weather plays ball.
6.15pm: For the Brits watching, Carl Wallbank, Gordon Rigg and Bruce Kavanagh are here. For Japan, Norihisa Wada is here too.
6pm: We now have 10 pilots across the line. It's been so quiet I've had loads of time to research Manfred. Here's a summary:
Why is it important that Ruhmer has crossed the line first? Well, he has been World Champion before – in fact he’s won the title several times: in 1999, 2001 and 2003. As well as World Champ, he has been European Champion four times too.
Born in 1965 he started to fly age 15 and began competing in 1989. He came 44th in the World Champs in Fiesch that year before starting his rise and rise on the international comp circuit. He spent 15 years at it before retiring from the competitive hang gliding scene in 2004 at the top of his game, after dominating the sport for the best part of a decade.
He left to concentrate on flying his Swift and to spend more time with his young family. He went on to dominate the Swift comp scene as he had the hang gliding scene, and also wowed crowds with his looping and acrobatics at free-flight festivals like St Hilaire, France.
He then surprised the hang gliding world by coming back to competition earlier this year. He won the first comp he entered, in Italy, and was widely tipped to walk his way through this comp, scooping the title for himself and helping his team on the way to Gold too. So it was a shock yesterday when he didn’t even place in the Top 10.
Born in 1965 Manfred grew up with one sister and two brothers on a farm in the rolling hills of upper Austria, close to the Czech border.
He is known to dislike the attention that his performance brings. But he has told Dennis Pagen, in that author’s ‘Secrets of Champions’ series published in Cross Country magazine that he is a ‘very patient’ pilot who is ‘willing to spend an hour or more if necessary getting high before the start cylinder’.
He also adds much of his flying is done by feel: ‘Much of my thought process when making these decisions and especially when leaving a thermal and choosing a good path is not done consciously.
‘I think my flying is 60 to 70% intuitive. Even when thermalling I’m sort of on automatic pilot; my body does the right things to stay in the best lift while my attention can be devoted to watching for traffic and looking for signs of better lift or the best routes.’
He is extremely well regarded in the sport. A pilot’s pilot, and a deserving winner. Congratulations Manfred.
5.45pm: Two more across. Attila Bertok (current World Champ) then number 33, Dan Vyhnalik.
5.30pm: Tum te tum ... twiddling thumbs here in the campsite. It's quiet here, not like yesterday's fiesta atmosphere. No one else has crossed the line yet. It feels like we've been waiting hours.
5.15pm: Pilot 16, Manfred Ruhmer is first across the line. By a mile. Christian Ciech was second across the line.
4pm: A nice photo from launch today on Aspres, above. Beautiful site. A few more take off pictures in this Flickr set.
3.30pm: The sky outside the Laragne HQ looks like this, above. You can't see them, but there are pilots up there.
Launch pic from Jamie Wanders who is tweeting on launch
2.30pm: Update from the hill, via one of the organisation officials. Almost everyone has launched and is in the air. The gaggles are not going up fast, although they are getting height eventually. Hard work basically. The day looks good, with good clouds, but it's been a slow start. The first start gate has just opened. Going by yesterday's speeds, expect first goal arrivals around 6pm French time.
2pm: Jamie tweets: 'A bit crowded over launch, so they're holding for 2 minutes every 10 minutes or so. All the Brits in the air.'
1.15pm: Jamie tweets: 'Launch open in 15 minutes. More clouds than yesterday, chance of storms later in the afternoon. Wind dummies reporting nice strong climbs.'
1pm: 125 km task announced. Out and return from Aspres heading in a straight line first south, then back to landing at Laragne campsite. Take off opens at 1.15pm, closes at 3.15pm. Start gates at 2.30pm, 2.45pm, 3pm. Land by time of 7.30pm.
Task is from Aspres to turnpoint B25, then to Estoublon, which is turnpoint B92, then back to camping at Laragne. Straightline racing!
I'll try this Google Maps feature ... the route should be marked (updated, 1.45pm). Now, if only the pilots had tracking systems, we could follow this live...
Racing lesson number 1: Non-pilots might wonder about the difference between a take off time and a start gate. The take off time is when pilots are allowed to take off. Generally they will take off early and get established in the air - taking their time to relax, make harness adjustments, get in the groove and most importantly, get high and into position (they have a start 'line' to cross in the air, shown on their GPS). They are then ready to start racing, which they can do any time after 2.30pm today, when the first start gate opens. But tactics now come into play. To get the fastest time pilots need to cross the start 'line' the second their GPS-clock ticks over. Some pilots will also wait around until the second or third start gate because they want to use the early-birds as markers, so they can swoop through the course line and overtake pilots in front. Or they may simply wait for the next start gate because they think conditions will get better as the day goes on. Either way, the eventual time a pilot gets is from his start gate (2.30pm, 2.45pm or 3pm today) to the second he crosses the goal line. Hope that makes sense. If not, feel free to post a comment/question.
9.45am: Flip Koetsier just stood up and revealed there has been a ‘minor inaccuracy’ in the scoring. A new list will be published in the afternoon. He said pilots who missed the line yesterday should not get too excited - they probably will still have missed the line.
9.40am: The forecast briefing has just finished. Another good day forecast. Isolated thunderstorm risk later in the afternoon. Light westerly airflow: 10-15 knots at 5,500 m.
Temperature colder than yesterday because airmass is less stable. Lower pressure than yesterday. Light low level winds. Cus and cu-nims in afternoon.
1500 m: 2pm: west at 10 knots, 20 kmh.
1500 m at 5pm: 15 knots from the west. Late afternoon westerly winds will be stronger today than yesterday.
3,000m: similar to 1,500m.
Before noon might have 20 knots at 3,000m, but should weaken to 10-15 knots in the afternoon with a slight north in it. Strengthening lower level north north west wind today – will be important today. Weak inversion at 3,000 m. Wind consistent in direction at all levels today.
Hot and sunny, some cumulus over mountains, west north west wind increasing after noon, earlier westerly wind on take off than normal, some showers on mountains after 3pm/4pm.
So, the main story seems to be the westerly wind, which may kick in earlier than usual on Chabre take off, and will strengthen throughout the day. Cumulus cover will be greater than yesterday, with some chance of thunderstorms later in the day.
Overview for tomorrow: light winds, north west upper winds, possible cu-nim development in the afternoon.
Given the westerly winds, we are going to go to Aspres. This is further away from Laragne than Chabre - about an hour. The good thing is the parking is easier and the take off area is enormous.
9am: So everyone is tired this morning, but the campsite looks like this. Yes, that's right, it's the same photo as yesterday. So we may have more of the same today, although the wind seems to have a bit more west in it. The results were posted late last night and are online at www.chabre2009.com. Those poor scorers exist only on stress, beer and pizza - the last pilot only got back from retrieve just before midnight. There were two tree landings - both ok - and one hard landing where the pilot got checked out and is also 100% fine.
Jeff O Brien won the day - well done Jeff. Upsets included Blay Olmos (Spain) landing metres short, and Australian Curt Warren and Brit Carl Wallbank doing the same - by one lousy metre. Filippo Oppici (ITA) and Koji Daimon (JPN) also landed pretty much in the field but didn’t cross the line. Commiserations to all – after such great flying it must feel like murder to drop short. 51 made goal.
Meanwhile, Manfred Ruhmer crossed the line earlier than posted yesterday - he came in alongside team mate Gerolf Heinrichs to take spots 14 and 16.
Same deal as yesterday on the blog - we will post as the news comes in.
