Task stopped....

.....cu nim on courseline. This shot taken from launch.

Tail, Cross or almost nil wind on launch....

...not the best if conditions on take-off today. Robin pushed and so
was forced to launch fairly quickly. Both he and Luis launching behind
him took a few stones with them and gave us all quite a scare.

Here's Shapiro showing us all how easily it can be done.

Launch Dance

....you know how it goes....short little steps, eyes down toward the feet, push out a far as your arms will allow ;-) Carl and I demonstrate. Some seem to be really good at it!

Day 4 - Task Cancelled

Just after landing, meet officials came over and told me the task was cancelled for the day and to notify my team. It was a 70km triangle, but there was a fair amount of overdevelopment at the first turnpoint. In setting the task, they had worried about that. Oh well, another rest day and another flight for me!

Chabre Launch Again

Apparently the rumors of a French protest were greatly exxaggerated.

There were two blown launches yesterday. One Dutch pilot who
dislocated his shoulder, broke a rib and blew out his knee. Havent
heard the status of the other, but I'm assuming he's alright. Its kind
of nice to be back at the Chabre today.

Here is the task committee figuring out what we'll do today.

Standings

Jeff O'brien is doing great here. He's 13th overall as of yesterday. Go Jeffo!!!

Yesterday's standings were:

Andreas Ollsen
Attila
Robin Hamilton
Gary Wirdnam
Christian Voiblet


Here's the ridge were the Aspres launches are situated. Nice photos by Scott who is in the lead overall!

Protest?

As we were enjoying dinner on the patio outside Davis & Belinda's place, we learned there may be a protest by the French team. It seems no one was very happy that the task was stopped. There was grumbling that there was no rain or dangerous conditions on courseline, but rather just a little near goal. Close to 50 gliders came into goal after the task had been stopped, so the argument is that there was no safety reason for stopping it.

Talk among some is that Robin Hamilton may have won the day...that would be cool!!

Plenty in...

Back at the camping goal there are dozens here. Andreas was first in
but took the first clock. Attila and Alex took the second clock and
were in pretty quickly so its hard to say who might have won. As I'm
writing, they have stopped the task presumably because of the
overdevelopement here at goal.

Launch open....

....finally. Late day waiting for the wind to blow up (or at least not
down) on launch. After 2 holds, they finally started launching about
15 minutes ago. One blown launch so far...don't know who it is :-(

Day 3, Task 2

Wagon Train

A bit of shifting around of launches today. It has been blowing tail
at the Aspres launch so we were finally moved up the hill to a more
west facing launch. We'll see how that goes.

Mini Mistral

The wind blew yesterday - hard. We were all directed to drive up to launch despite the fact that reports from up there said the wind was "crazy strong". Anyway it was a cool site to see. At least it didn't take long for the day to be officially canned.

Another lovely swim in the river on the way down to the thrift store in town. Nic and the Jeffs really wanted to check that out. Some very entertaining finds ;-)


We thought we ought to take advantage of our great villa, so we had a little get-together with the French boys, the headed to the party/bonfire in town. Great rest day!!

Unofficial Results - Day 1

Scott Barrett won the day by a giant margin - about 20 minutes ahead of Gary Wirdnam in second and Gordon Rigg in third. Apparently there were only 6 in goal. I don't know who the other three were. Davis landed in a tiny creek bed in an extremely narrow canyon. Natalia from Russia landed on the side of the mountain near him. Shapiro had a slightly larger field up the canyon 5 km or so along with 10 others and many broken uprights.

After an incredibly long day of retrieving pilots from deep within the canyons, we got back to Laragne in time for all of the restaurants and supermarkets to be closed....so much for dinner :-/

Some pretty tiny landing fields today!

....all of the American team landed a bit short today in some
amazingly small canyons. We just picked up Davis who landed in a creek
bed.

Looks like Scott Barrett probably won the day.

132 km Square Task

....with goal back at camping.

Day 1

We're using the alternate launch today because of prevailing west
winds. Its a bit of a drive- about 30 kilometers or so outside of
Laragne. Its well worth the drive though...heaps of set up space and a
beautiful grassy takeoff. Weather looks perfect and the cues are
starting to pop nicely now at 11:30.

Rest Day

One last day of relaxation before the comp starts. We had hoped for another nice flight like yesterday, but on launch conditions were iffy with fairly consistent breeze out of the west (the wrong direction). Instead of flying, we opted for a bit of tourism and checked out the citadel at Sisteron, followed by the opening ceremonies back in Laragne.

Davis rocking out to Neil Diamond on the way up ;-)

Practice Day

Nice mellow conditions for a flight yesterday.  There was a bit of an inversion so we weren't getting terribly high, but I was just happy to get in the air.  Had a chance to check out that bomb out LZ and get that out of the way ;-)  Today's conditions are looking similar, but should be fine for a relatively short flight before the opening ceremonies this evening.  

We have a great villa we're sharing with the Scandinavians.  Pool and lovely patio and a straight view of launch.  

Finally in France

I was too beat, but the boys opted for a late afternoon flight after sorting out our accommodation this morning. Launch conditions weren't ideal and I was a bit nervous after several blown launches in the past few days. But, they were happy to get the lay of the land before tomorrow's official practice day. Of course, we had to stop at the river for a quick swim along the way....nice cool water and silly diving boys to entertain ;-)

I'll fly tomorrow and check the place out a bit. The weather seems perfect at the moment and our house near the road to launch is ideal....pool, lovely terrace and hot Scandinavians! Got a nice chat with Attila after dinner - always good to see him. All of my favorite Brits are here as well, along with Scott and Monica from Newcastle!

If I had teeth on my tongue, I would want to be mounted too!

Early arrival in Munich where we found the Jeffs looking as lovely as ever. Jack McGyver fashioned a great rack system for the van and found a spot to sprawl out with all of our gear while they put it all together...only a few hundred strange looks from other travelers in the airport.




Planning to catch the prize giving and after party for the Euros, we made the drive to Greifenburg straight away. I guess many people had to leave for the pre-worlds, so they moved the prize giving up from 8pm to noon, so we missed everything. At 5pm when we arrived, Greifenburg looked abandoned. But we were probably too tired for a party anyway and a good night's sleep gave us the boost we needed to fly the next day. We had been wishy-washy about flying versus hitting the road for Laragne. We were sooooo happy to have opted for a flight. Conditions were heavenly and we all landed in Betina's field with perma-grins ;-)





Just enough time for a quick swim at the landing field pond and some showing off at the diving board before we hit the road again. We arrived in Laragne at about 6 this morning, having taken turns driving through the night. Everyone is beat, but excited about flying today!!

Pack heavy, start late, go slow...

...our motto!

Drinking tequila at the bar inside security at Ft. Myers. The gliders
got in without a second look- no questions, no problems, they didn't even charge Jack. Things are gonna be good!

Nobody's Baby Now

Isn't freedom the best gift anyone can give??

Timothy and I had a very memorable last day in Nova Scotia. He's back on the boat now, sailing the last leg of his round the world journey and I'm back at home packing my things and getting ready for my summer travels. But, we had an incredible time in Nova Scotia. Last day was cold and incredibly windy. We had arranged for a sea kayaking tour of the cold waters of Cape Bretton, but woke up to wind gusting up to 70kmp! Ouch! Ended up chatting up our kayaking guide and learning that he was playing a gig that night at a historic lodge in one of the next towns over. In his little kayaking shop, he played for us the CD of the fellow he would be playing with. We just couldn't resist making the hour and half drive up the cape. Turned out to be a fantastic gamble....the music was exactly the kind I love- melodic with beautiful vocals and harmonies that sounded so much like Dan Fogelberg with a bit of a Scottish accent. The band (Angelo, Cyril and Harold) treated us like we were long lost family members - they sat at our table and chatted between sets, made special dedications to us and even invited us up to stay in their log cabin and ski this winter. I have a feeling there will be a ski trip in my plans for the winter ;-)

Fun Graffiti in Halifax

Loving Nova Scotia

Too busy to blog lately. Had a difficult trip to Halifax, via Chicago where the weather was terrible and I was trapped for 30 hours or so. But, I finally made it and it's unbelievably cold, but gorgeous. We met a sweet girl who offered to take us out on her boat for a little race last night. Awesome time with great people!

Virtual Insanity

I left the relaxed Delmarva Penninsula for the chaos of Chicago O'Hare
airport. Next stop is Halifax...but I'm questioning whether I will
arrive there in this lifetime. Weather in the Midwest has caused so
many cancellations that the ticket counters have 3 hour lines of hundreds of people desperate to find their way. I've been in line for two and a half hours and I suspect I still have another hour ahead of me. Looks like I'll spend the day in Chicago tomorrow and then on to Halifax late tomorrow night.

Thank goodness for Jamiroquai. Without him, I would have lost it by now ;-)

It's All Over :-(

Great fun today. Soooooo hot on the ground (they said near 100 degrees) that it was best to be in the air as early as possible. But, still very weak conditions. Aside from the ridge race at Canoa, this has been my most fun competition ever. I thoroughly enjoyed myself through this entire meet and I felt that competitive spirit coming back for the first time since I was flying rigids. Special thanks to Gerolf for designing a glider that really makes me want to fly and compete again.

Dusty Wins!

Just called ahead to goal. Don't know any details, but Dustin won the
day today, winning the meet for him! Top 4 are:

Dustin - T2
Jonny - Litespeed RS
Sunny - Combat L
Kevin - T2

Sent from my iPhone

Landing Crew

I landed in a gorgeous corn field surrounded by a MOAT!! No way out!! Thanks so much to Princes Jarrod, Andrew and Ankles who fashioned me a nice drawbridge and got me out of there. I fought my hardest, but it looks like Linda flew about 3 miles further. I'm sure that will move her into first. Well done Linda!!

Konrad's Wake Boarding Video

Fight to the Finish

It will come down to the last day to determine the winner of the women's division.  Of course, there are only 3 of us, so who really cares....but anyway, I need something to shoot for.  I maintained my lead today, but lost a few points to Linda Salamone who glided over my head after I got impatient and left the gaggle.  I've got 3 points on Linda going into the last task tomorrow :-/

Jonny got this great shot of me fighting to stay in the air today.

Beauty

See, everyone loves my baby...not just me ;-)

Day 6

Wow...even tougher than yesterday. The entire field took at least 2 tows. We started with a slow climbing gaggle the contained most every pilot in the meet. We scratched and scratched until I watched Dustin and Jonny doing wingovers to get another tow. Tow height was pretty much as high as anyone got. Second tow I decided to just release and go on glide and try to make my way out of the start circle. Found just one light climb, which was barely enough to get me there....glided out of the cylinder and straight to the ground :-( Don't know who might have won the day, but I was only a mile or two behind Jonny and Dustin.

Sent from my iPhone

The Dangers of Hang Gliding

Everyone needed some way to burn off the extra energy after yesterday's short flight.  They couldn't resist turning the newest lake on the field into a wakeboard slalom course.  

They twisted my arm ;-)

Followed by karaoke for dinner.  Only Nico and Ben had the nerve....thankfully!

Soft Day

Not an easy day at all. All of yesterday's rain really softened things
up. Have heard from Dustin and he landed 2km short of goal. I'm
guessing he might be the closest. Jonny landed in the start circle and
rushed back for a second bite at the apple. He's just calling now
though and of seems he didn't make it too much further the second time
around :-( Looks like this might put Dusty into first place.

Sent from my iPhone

Day 5

Things are awefully soggy around here- 5 inches of rain fell last
night and we have a new lake in site. But, we're gonna give it a
shot. They've call a little 24 mile task and I think that might even
be tough with cloudbase below 700 meters.

Audio Update - Day 4

Thanks to Mark Dowsett for pushing us to do more audio.

Storm Chasing

Tornados spotted in our county. We're out seeing if we can find one.
So far just a powerful gust front and plenty of hard rain. But, the
sky is a lovely shade of green, so I'm hopeful!!!

Tornados??

We're gathered in the clubhouse again watching the radar and it's looking exciting!  They're calling for a 70mph gust front to hit the flight park in about 20 minutes with tornado-friendly conditions.  Yee haw...we're going storm chasing!

Cancelled Again :-(

....and boy are we bored. Nothing to do but washing and squeezing into
dryers.

Day Off

Most of the competitors and Highland crew came out to a local swimming hole today after the task was cancelled. We quickly discovered the trail was overgrown with poison ivy. I hope we're not all red and scratchy tomorrow! Some of us got a ride through the worst parts.



Big style points for most of the boys jumping off the bridge and the rope swing.


Just sympathy points for Francisco who didn't quite pull of his back flip from the bridge.  Ouch!!

Task 3

The committee called a nice little zigzag task heading mostly north.
But we're all standing at the launch line wondering about conditions.
Its blowing 90 cross to the runway and gusting up and down between 5
and 20 mph. Don't know if they'll call the day yet.

My Litesport

Had my first real flight on the new Litesport today. Yesterday's flight was too short to tell anything other than that it flies perfectly straight. I was nothing short of tickled today with the way this baby handles. With the sail this new, I think it will need a few hours before I will really be able to get a feel for how nice it is. Even so, it was an incredibly sweet flight today. I continue to be amazed at the way it auto-thermals. I find the core and it seems to just lock in. I see other guys high-siding and adjusting and I can literally hang one arm down to rest it while I'm rocketing up. For a skinny-armed girl, it sure is nice not to have to work my butt off. I never imagined that a flexie could be nearly as effortless as a rigid. I'm in love.....again ;-)

Dustin Spanks Jonny

Order into goal was Dustin, Kevin, then Jonny.

What a lovely day!!!

Heaps at Goal

About 30 at goal...including me!! Yippy!!!!

Sunny's Day

Sunny Venesky, one of the main dudes here at Highland, is flying in the meet and did quite well yesterday - third for the day. I wanted to interview him to tell his funny story, but he's a bit camera shy. Story goes like this though; he flew with Jonny the first half of the flight and was really excited to be doing well and keeping up with him. At one point, Sunny was delighted to find that he was climbing right through Jonny boy....that is until he realized that Jonny was actually interviewing himself on camera, and thermaling up at the same time. So, if I can't get an interview with Sunny, maybe Jonny will post his in-air interview ;-)

Task 2

Straight downwind, 56 kilometers today. Hopefully more than 2 at goal today ;-)

Turns out PK broke his wrist yesterday...huge bummer. But, at least now Jonny only has Linda to worry about.

Dusty is in...

...we're driving alongside a pretty spectacular gust front. Just got a
call from Dustin and he made it in to goal! He came in about an hour
and a half or more after Jonny. Just the two of them in Flexies at
goal for today....definitely a tough one!

The Millennium

The only other pilot at goal is Christian who is here on a Millennium
at his very first comp. Well done Christian!!!

Jonny arrives at goal....

...so far just Jonny and one rigid at goal. No other flexies in sight
near goal, so it looks like Jonny boy will win the day!!!

Sent from my iPhone

Task 1

We're on our way to get the boys in a bit if light rain. Kind of windy
with light lift, but a fun start to the comp anyway. My new glider
flies perfectly straight, but I must admit that I had more time
carrying it today than actually flying it. My carry time out of the
field I landed in was exactly three times as long as my flight time.
Great start ;-)

Task 1

Dog leg downwind to Bunti. Cloudbase looks 5k and good for the early starters. Excellent facility, super staff, 4 tugs working great, the grass freshly mown.

Kraig Coomber at the ECC....

.....flew in, was here for a few minutes, but saw Linda and PK were here and was out the door ;-)