Competition News

So, auch dieser Weltcup ist vorbei. Es gab Gestern noch einen letzten 35km Lauf bei windigen Bedingungen. Während die bis anhin Führenden (Ludovic und Michael S.) mit grossem Rückstand ins Ziel kamen, lief es Michael K. deutlich besser. Auch Jan Sterren hat nur wenige Minuten auf den Sieger Simon Pellissier verloren. Die Bedingungen waren vor allem am Anfang vom Rennen sehr schwach, wurden dann aber besser. Leider sind sowohl Christoph, als auch Kusi abgestanden und sehr weit zurückgefallen. Doch: Michael K. hat es auf den ersten Platz gereicht und Jan wurde vierter!! Bei den Frauen hat Klaudia Bulgakov souverän gewonnen. Die Teamwertung gewannen wir (Küffer, Sigel, Rainsford und Delferriere) mit dem GIN Team. Leider konnten wir mit dem kleinen Team die 40 Franzosen nicht mehr abfangen, wurden aber zweite in der Nationenwertung. Jörg war leider ab dem zweiten Tag krank im Bett, während Gabi den Flow nicht so richtig gefunden hat. Die Schweizer: 1 Michael KÜFFER CHE Gin Boomerang 10 GIN Gliders 4 Jan STERREN CHE Ozone EnZo 2 pixon-ch.com 6 Michael SIGEL CHE Gin Boomerang 10 GIN Gliders - JACK&JONES - Naviter 18 Christoph TRUTMANN CHE Ozone EnZo 2 birdwing.ch 19 Markus ROSCHI CHE Gin Boomerang 10 UP International 38 Simon BONFADELLI CHE Ozone EnZo 2 74 Joerg EWALD CHE Ozone EnZo 2 Flytec 76 Gabriela METTLER CHE Niviuk Peak 4

As the locals forecasted today, the trade winds shifted more to a northern direction. Because of that the flying area is much less protected. On the takeoff the boundary with no wind and the wrong trade winds (50-70km) was clearly visible only a few kilometers to the north-west. This in mind, the task committee set a local 41km task. While the conditions were good in the beginning, they got more and more turbulent. Because of that the task was stopped and cancelled after 55 minutes. Update: They expect strong northerly wind and quite a lot of rain tomorrow morning. For this reason tomorrow (Friday) is cancelled

When we arrived on the takeoff, the task committee was already busy setting a task. The conditions seemed to be similar to yesterday, but the North wind should be stronger. Indeed, the big waves with white caps caused by strong winds are almost at the normal landing. That’s why the task was set to go to the South. After window open, pilots were still waiting, because the thermals in front of the takeoff were weak. But on the North side – caused by the convergence of the strong North wind – the thermals were strong and reliable. Thermals were so strong that the clouds produced a lot of shadow at the airstart (5km) and further to the first turnpoint. Like yesterday, the crux was to go around the corner as high as possible. But again, more than half of the field was too low to make it. Most of the Swiss pilots did very well but still found themselves scratching low on the slopes to the next plain. Because the sky was 100% overcasted, we had to fight for every meter. Luckily the conditions improved a lot and the cloudbase rose from 800m to 1400m. Especially our first group got a really nice cycle to the first and then back to the second turnpoint. Probably because of that, we got too enthusiastic and went too low into the final glide. Because of the rather strong South wind in this region we could not get it and had to fly back. 10min later Ludovic (local pilot) got a better line and managed to get to the ESS and down to the goal at the beach. All of my fellow pilots had to land, while I was scratching 50min between 300m and 500m just within a stone’s throw of the ESS. Finally I got a good climb and managed to get to goal as last – but also as second pilot. Michael Küffer also made the ESS, but had to land before the goal line. Also the other Swiss were flying well: 2. Michael Sigel 3. Michael Küffer 7. Markus ROSCHI 11. Christoph TRUTMANN 12. Jan STERREN The locals told us that the conditions do not look very nice for tomorrow, as the trade winds turn even more to the North...

Mit über 60km wurde heute ein recht ambitiöser Task gesetzt. Dabei wurde zwar dem auf NNE drehenden Passatwind Beachtung geschenkt und der Task Richtung Süden angesetzt. Jedoch wurde die Feuchte der Luftmasse stark unterschätzt. Die Stratocumuli waren so dicht, dass knapp 20 Piloten noch vor dem Luftstart der schwächelnden Thermik zum Opfer fielen, so auch Joerg und Gabi. Nach den angenehm starken Bedingungen gestern, war die Thermik heute verbreitet sehr schwach und das Höhe machen eine Geduld- und Ausdauersache. Mit den ca. 10 - 15 kmh Gegenwind und spärlichen Thermiken standen jedoch diejenigen, die nicht bereit waren sich für schwache Schläuche Zeit zu nehmen bald am Boden. Leider wurden aber auch diejenigen Piloten, die es schafften sich auf die Südwestseite der Insel zu kämpfen nicht belohnt und mussten in der völlig abgeschatteten Ebene nach knapp der Hälfte des Taskes landen. So die zwei Michi, Jan und auch Roschi. Da nur drei Piloten die Nomaldistanz von 30km erreichten, wurde der Task mit einer maximalen Punktzahl von 439 stark abgewertet. Hoffen wir auf weniger Feuchte und mehr Sonne morgen.

Hello and welcome to the reports from the Paragliding World Cup in La Reunion. Yesterday finally all Swiss arrived well here in Saint Leu on the west side of this island in the Indian Ocean. After arriving in the landing field for lunch, all locals told us that this is a morning flying site. Therefore we were not sure, if we should even go up to the takeoff. But as the conditions still looked good, we went to the take off just over the town. Light winds and an breathtaking view welcomed us there and we were quite in a hurry to get in the air. Thermals worked well and most of the Swiss pilots were flying around. After one hour I decided to top land a little south of the take off and Jan and Michi K. joined. It was followed by an amazing flight into sunset. Today was the official training day, but only Simon raced with the others. Most of us just flew around and got to know the area. Again some of us top landed on an amazing spot. After landing the local told us, that the conditions are much better than usual, because the cloud base is 300-400m higher, with stronger thermals than usual. Well, as we know from the past, this is likely to change, as the competition starts tomorrow. The inscription was in a restaurant at the beach, followed by a nice apero. However, the pilot level is quite low and only some 80 pilots are in the competition. Swiss pilots in this comp: Michel Küffer Jan Sterren Jörg Ewald Simon Bonfadelli Markus Roschi Gabriela Mettler Christoph Trutmann Michael Sigel