Competition News

Liebe Freunde Jan Sterren ist am Sonntag auf einer Skitour, die er zusammen mit Michu Witschi in der Augstbordregion unternahm, von einer Lawine erfasst worden und tödlich verunglückt. Der Trauergottesdienst findet am Mittwoch, 7. März 2018 um 10.00 in der Pfarrkirche von Visp statt. Jan, du hast uns alle mit deinen gewaltigen Flügen und deiner offenen und ehrlichen Art inspiriert. Danke für die Zeit, die du mit uns geteilt hast. Danke für den Sonnenschein, den du uns geschenkt hast. Danke für den Power, mit dem du deine Ziele verfolgt hast. Wir vermissen dich. Wir wissen aber auch, dass dein zu kurzes Leben erfüllt war. Wir wissen, dass du in den 28 Jahren mehr erleben durftest, als viele mit 100. Wir wissen, dass du bei einem geliebten Sport von uns gegangen bist, ohne den du und viele von uns keine Erfüllung fänden. Unendlich traurig.

Mittelhohe Bewölkung schon früh, je nach Modell schon um 10 Uhr, oder am Mittag. 6-10 hp Druckunterschied (Prognose hat zugenommen) Wind nimmt am Mittag rasch zu, prognostiziert ist auf 2000m 20kn. Wahrscheinlich ist es weniger, aber der Wind ist zu stark für einen Task. Ev kann im Nordtessin am Sonntag früh mit Thermik geflogen werden, bevor die Staubewölkung zunimmt. Beim aktuell prognostizierten schnell ansteigenden Druckunterschied muss in den «föhnsicheren» Fluggebieten des Nordens mit sehr grosser Vorsicht geflogen werden (Interlaken, Fanas). Der Wind dürfte am Mittag schnell zunehmen.

Notizen: Samstag 4hp, sinkend auf 2hp. Im Vorfeld einer Störung erreicht mittelhohe Bewölkung auch das Tessin und Graubünden schon um die Mittagszeit. Nachfolgend von Westen her wenig Niederschlag möglich. Sonntag Aufbauender Föhn, am Mittag 4 hp, später gegen 8hp steigend. Ausser in den «föhnsicheren» Gebieten wie Interlaken und Fanas ist ab Mittag kaum an Fliegen zu denken. Wie schon geschrieben: 1) Westen ist ausgeschlossen. 2) Graubünden/Tessin: - Samstag: Zu viele Wolken - Sonntag: Zu viel Wind und Druckunterschied Lokal dürfte in Fanas oder Flims über Mittag geflogen werden können - für einen Task hat es aber zu viel Föhn. 3) Sonntag Interlaken? Nebst dem relativ starken Wind ist nicht sicher, ob nicht Cirren und mittelhohe Wolken die Thermikentwicklung stören. Dennoch wäre die einzige Chance, einen kleinen Task zu fliegen, in Interlaken. Aber auch hier dürfte der Wind und ev. Wolkenfelder einen vernünftigen Task verunmöglichen. Ein bisschen Hin und Her vor dem Startplatz wäre wahrscheinlich möglich. Entscheid: Samstag abgesagt, Entscheid für Sonntag morgen Freitag 14h (kleine Chance für Interlaken).

Südwestströmung, mit Schüben feuchterer Luft, schwierig zu prognostizieren. Samstag: 4hp, sinkend auf 2. Kleine Störung, macht aber viele Wolken, am Morgen in GR noch aufgehellt. Sonntag: Steigt auf 8hp 2000m 10-20kn SSW 3000m 20-30kn SW Im Osten föhnig aufgehellt. Regtherm macht im Nordtessin die besten Bedingungen - was aber unwahrscheinlich ist. 1) Westen und Süden ist ausgeschlossen. 2) Sehr, sehr, sehr kleine Chance für 2 Tage Graubünden. a) zu viele Wolken am Samstag, b) zu viel Wind und Druckunterschied am Sonntag. 3) Sonntag Interlaken? - 50% sonnig, 50% zu viele dichtere Wolken. - Wind auf 2000m: 20kn ??? (kaum möglich...). Grindelwald geschützter mit 10kn. Nächste Info heute Abend, 21h.

Unfortunately the last day of the 2018 Australian World Cup was cancelled due to poor weather but it didn't detract from a great competition, with 4 very imaginative tasks, good organisation and excellent task setting. The closing ceremony was well attended with a great ambiance, fantastic food and the Champions who have flown so well this week, received original trophies with maps of the area! Overall results 1st Honorin Hamard 2nd Maxime Bellemin 3rd Cody Mittanck Female results 1st Méryl Delferriere 2nd Midori Nakanome 3rd Wooyoung Jang

Erstes Regiofliegen Ost in Brigels. Der starke Westsüdwestwind machte aus unserem ersten Schenkel Richtung Disentis eine Herrausforderung. Interessant zu sehen wie bei dem 20er wind das aufdrehen mit so viel Versatz bestraft wurde dass die gewonnene Höhe beim vorfliegen schonwieder dahin schmolz. Hier wäre tief fliegen, steigen mittnehmen, aber ohne drehen sicher die effektivere Strategie gewesen. Meteo, siehe News. Danke an Yanick fürs organisieren, es war spannend und sehr lehrreich!

Today started off with rain and 100% cloud cover. However Aussie optimism ruled the day and we all went up to Mystic launch. A 51 km task comprising two separate triangles, one to the east and one to the west of Bright was set. The conditions remained still and overcast which meant patience was paramount. It was a really tactical day, very demanding, a mix of 100% overcast followed by lovely sunshine where you could push. Before the shady sections you had to be very disciplined, slow down and take even the smallest climbs to get height. Only 19 pilots made goal today, but it was 19 more than we expected first thing this morning! The star of the day was Andreas (Pepe) MALECKI, who from the lowest of low saves, which had us all holding our breath, came back to overfly the leaders and cross ESS first. Top 3 overall 1st Marko Novak 2nd Paolo Veratti 3rd Josh Cohn Top 3 women 1st Midori Nakanome 2nd Meryl Delferriere 3rd Kari Ellis

Today started off with a heavily veiled sky and hours of parawaiting. It looked as if the task would be stopped before it had even started as the lack of lift made the milling gliders over launch a great sight for the spectators but not good enough for a 55 km task. Fortunately, just at the right moment, the sun came out and the 120 competitors raced twice round a triangle south of Bright. Unfortunately cycles of shade put a lot of pilots on the ground. Once again Honorin Hamard won the day. Thirty pilots made goal with a further twenty landing just short. Top 3 places 1st Honorin Hamard 2nd = Jungman CHOI 2nd = Gareth CARTER Top 3 women 1st Midori NAKANOME 2nd Wooyoung JANG 3rd Geonhye HYOUNG

Today we had an 89 km task north west of Bright in what can only be described as stunning conditions. Clear blue skies with not a cloud in sight the whole day! There were strong smooth thermals which gave great lines and lots of route choices in the hills and flats. From the very beginning and right until the end, the pilots were totally spread out which made great viewing. Top 3 places 1st Isidor Fink 2nd Josh Cohn 3rd Honorin Hamard Top 3 women 1st Méryl Delferriere 2nd Kari Ellis 3rd Gabriela Mettler

Ein kleines Schweizer Team ist in Australien: Patrick Von Känel Chris Banford Phil Glutz Gabriela Mettler Patrick erflog den hervorragenden 7. Rang an diesem schwierigen ersten Task! Hier die offizielle Mitteilung: Today we went to Gundowring launch 1.5 hours northeast of Bright. Getting everyone off was difficult as the wind switched round unexpectedly for long periods of time. Today’s task was an 88 km zig-zag course up and down the valley with two turn points. With Patrick Von Kanel flying an Advance RFC (ready for certification) Omega Comp glider and Felipe Rezende flying Flow Paraglider's new XCRacer, an EN D 2 liner, there was lots to watch. This comp has got a star-studded cast from all around the globe so today was an interesting combination of local knowledge versus international experience racing around the valley. Honorin Hamard and Jurij Vidic pulled away from the rest half way round the course. They continued to leapfrog each other with Honorin finally winning by 1min 30 seconds. After a difficult start to the day, we had 94 happy pilots in goal. Top 3 places 1st Honorin HAMARD 2nd Jurij VIDIC 3rd Jouni MAKKONEN Top 3 women 1st Méryl DELFERRIERE 2nd Ewa KORNELUK- GUZY 3rd Johanna HAMNE

In Kolumbien gelingt Michael Sigel die Sensation! Gegen über 100 der weltbesten Gleitschirmpiloten holt er sich am Superfinal die Goldmedaille. Anbetracht der Leistungsdichte des Teilnehmerfeldes kann dieser Erfolg gar nicht hoch genug bewertet werden. Doch auch die anderen Schweizer Athleten tragen mit ihrem Auftritt zu einem hervorragenden Resultat bei. Obschon die beste Schweizerin Yaël Margelisch quasi auf der Zielgerade vom Podest verdrängt und auf den vierten Schlussrang geschoben wird, so gelingt dem Schweizern Team der Sprung aufs Treppchen. Sie belegen als Nation den hervorragenden dritten Rang! Dieser Wettkampf hat in der Szene wegen dem hohen Pilotenniveau den höheren Stellenwert als die Weltmeisterschaften! RANGLISTEN, BILDER und VIDEOS finden Sie in den Links unten. Videomaterial zur freien Benützung finden Sie hier: ACCESS VIA BROWSER: Link: http://icarussailingmedia.cloudapp.net Username: events2018 Password: news2018 Folders: PARAGLIDING_WORLD_CUP / Final Day ACCESS VIA FTP: Host: icarussailingmedia.cloudapp.net Username: events2018 Password: news2018 Folders: PARAGLIDING_WORLD_CUP / Final Day SHOTLIST: RAW_MATERIAL_PWC_FinalDay.mov 00:00 - 00:13 Aerial shots 00:13 - 00:19 Pilots preparation shots 00:19 - 00:24 German team briefing 00:24 - 00:31 Laurie GENOVESE (FRA) 00:31 - 00:46 Swiss team briefing 00:46 - 00:49 Peter NÄGELE (GER) - Flying 00:49 - 00:55 Emanuelle ZUFFEREY (SUI) - Flying 00:57 - 01:46 Michael SIGEL (SUI) - World Champion INTERVIEWS: GERMAN: Michael SIGEL (SUI) / Pilot - Overall Winner FRENCH: Emanuelle ZUFFEREY (SUI) / Pilot FRENCH: Pierre REMY (FRA) / Pilot GERMAN: Torsten SIEGEL (GER) / Pilot POLISH: Klaudia BULGAKOW (POL) / Pilot - 3rd Winner Women

A 93 km race to goal zig zagging north and south was set. It was a day of marking and flying conservatively until everyone went down at the last turn point – except for 7 pilots. What a nail biting finish as Michael Sigel, lying in first place overall, raced across the flats, and Nicola Donini in 2nd place, with 3 other top pilots, raced in from the east, each knowing that first across ESS would be crowned winner. After 4 hours and 16 minutes of racing, Michael scraped in first on his Gin Boomerang 11 and Nicola came in second on his Ozone Enzo 3. This was the best ever finish to a Super Final. What a race to celebrate twenty-five years of the Paragliding World Cup. Top 3 overall in the 2017 Super Final 1st Michael Sigel 2nd Nicola Donini 3rd Joachim Oberhauser Top 3 women in the 2017 Super Final 1st Laurie Genovese 2nd Meryl Delferriere 3rd Klaudia Bulgakow Top 3 nations in the 2017 Super Final 1st France 2nd Italy 3rd Switzerland

Today’s task was a 87km task South to Piedechinche with only one waypoint on the way in Buga. The conditions were looking more dry than the previous days and the task gave many options to fly. Finally three groups formed: one went out to the flats very fast, the middle group 5km later, while a last group stayed on the mountains for some more kilometers. The reason for that was that the valley was once again covered in shade. While most Swiss were in the first group, I decided to fly in the second group. It was working well and even the shade was no problem for us. However, as we passed the first turnpoint, we arrived in sunny hills – but they did not work well! Once again the Valle de Cauca proved to be special, as we could not find good thermals, even if the ground was in plane sunshine… Even if we arrived first there, we were struggling to get up again and it got messy once again. While some pilots had to land, we were slowly fighting our way to the goal. Finally in the lee of a hill we got a nice thermal and were able to climb enough to make it to the goal. First in goal was Spanish pilot Francisco, but Nicola Donnini won with leading points. Meryl from France was the first girl in goal. Franz Schilter was fast too, while Tim pushed too much and had to land before goal. Also the rest of the Swiss team did not do so well… Now most of the pilots have to dry their gliders, as it was raining in goal. Tomorrow we will try again?

Today started slow, as it was raining most of the night and even in the morning. That’s why the organization delayed the transport to 10. The take off was covered in clouds and the rain made the ground wet and dirty. The task was a - 8.5km entry around A15 (goal north of Zarzal) - 400m radius around A15 - 23km Exit from A15 - Goal in A15 As on the previous days, it was tricky to launch, as clouds forced to organization to close the window several times. As a result, some unlucky pilots got off too late and had no chance to race in today’s task. Lucky me I got out early, after waiting in light rain on the takeoff. Out in the air it was not much better, many cirrus clouds made it difficult to climb. The entire field was climbing in very weak thermals. However, conditions improved and we could start at cloud base. We managed to cross the valley and hit the first turnpoint. Now he had to decide: fly North or South. Both directions did not look very promising and the field split up almost 50/50. Our group went back South and we were still struggling with the opaque cloud cover and weak climbs. However, as soon as we reached the mountains, we found better thermals and managed to fly faster. As we hit the 23km exit cylinder, I pushed more than the others and had a better line, which put me in a nice position 300m higher than the rest of the field. When we flew back to Roldanillo, I found a nice 2m/s thermal, while the group did not find lift in the shade. While the others were scratching on the hill, I was under cloud base and could push out to the flatland where the sun was shining again. However, the sink was massive and I was really low when I finally found a good climb. Now it was all about climbing well and push to the goal and be faster than the Northern group. Finally the Northern route proved to be much more difficult and I arrived 6minutes before the rest of pilots. Yael was pushing hard, but did not catch the last thermal well, same for Alfredo. The rest of the Swiss team went North and Andreas was the first one that arrived from the North, but was missing the Exit cylinder by 10m…. Arrival time: 1. SIGEL 02:00:00 2. WIRTZ 02:06:38 3. REBORD 02:06:38 4. CARON 02:06:41 5. DONINI-N 02:06:41 6. GENOVESE 02:06:47 41. MARGELISCH 02:09:37 44. STUDER 02:10:07

Der heutige Tag begann am Morgen schon mit Regen. Wir wurden informiert, dass die Busse erst um 9 hochfahren würden, Sie aber damit rechnen das es aufreisst und wir fliegen können. Am Startplatz packten die meisten nicht gleich aus und tatsächlich gab es noch einen kleinen Spritzer Regen bevor es dann aufriss. Die Aufgabe ging zuerst wieder Richtung Norden bis kurz nach La Union und dann in den Süden. Die Zylinder waren gross gewählt so dass man bei bedarf ins Flachland wechseln konnte. Nach dem Start ging es flot bis La Union wo es bereits wieder etwas abgeschatet war und das Feld sich immer mehr in die Länge Zog. Es wurde immer zäher und wir drehten alles was es an Thermik so gab. Als wir wieder zurück in Roldanillo waren kam die Sonne wieder immer mehr hervor und sofort gab es wieder gute Thermik. Jetzt galt es eine optimale Linie und Vollgas zu fliegen. Die Linie im Flachen erwies sich nun als langsamer als am Fusse der Berge wo wir viel besseres Steigen hatten. Mit einer direkten Linie konnte ich ganz zur Spitze aufschliessen und wir konnten auf dem Weg zurück nach Zarzal weiterhin vollgas bis ins Gol fliegen. Da wir nicht genau wussten wie stark das Saufen im Schaten vor dem Gol war sind wir nicht mit vollem Risiko geflogen, sondern haben vor Zarzal noch drei Kreise gemacht. es reichte uns dennoch mit 1,5 Minuten Vorsprung vor den Verfolgern ins Gol. Gleich erster der Verfolger ist Michi als 6ter. Danach kommen Sie im Sekundentakt ins Gol. Zuerst Chrugel, dann Yael als zweite Frau erneut nach Laurie. mit 10 Minuten Rückstand kommt Andy und weitere 7 Minuten später auch Emma ins Gool Dominik,und Tim schaffen es leider nicht durch den Schatten und müssen frühzeitig landen. Auf dem Rückweg nach Roldanillo ergiesst sich dann ein Gewitter über uns und zeigt erneut wie nahe hier Sonne und Regen sind.

After a relaxing rest day, the team was full of power today. The only problem was, that the conditions were again quite humid on take off. We were waiting more than one hour until the clouds lifted and we could see the valley. Todays task was a 66km Zig-Zag task up North. While most of the pilots took of very fast and easy, some of us got stuck on take off for more than 30minutes, as clouds made it impossible to launch. As soon as we could launch, it was quite hectic, as we had only 15minutes left for the airstart at 12:30. Of course the time was not enough and our group had to take the start lower than the rest. But it was not too bad: because we were low, we were forced to fly out in the valley and got a really good line to the first turnpoint. The group that started high in the mountains had a pretty bad line, as clouds were covering almost the entire sky. Until we reached the first turnpoint, the sun disappeared almost completely. Everybody tried to climb in 0.1m/s thermals and when we were flying towards west, I was sure we would all bomb out. However, in complete shade and only a few dozen meters above ground we found again a lifting zero meter climb. While the lowest of the group had to land, we slowly started to climb and could reach some sun towards the second turnpoint. Now I was flying together with Tim and we could push a lot in the sun, while most of the following pilots were struggling in the shade. Thermals were difficult to find and cyclic and all of a sudden I was alone in front. On the briefing we discussed that the small ridge before the last turnpoint usually don’t work and it is better to fly around on the left or the right. Of course today the ridge worked perfectly, while my detour did not work. That’s why the group could catch me short before the goal. Because of the leading points I still could win todays task, Tim and Christoph came in a little later, Emanuelle also. Interesting side note: Laurie is currently in 3. place in the overall ranking - impressive flying from her!

Today was the official rest day after 5 tasks (one was cancelled shortly after the airstart). Most of the team went biking, rented motor bikes or went testing. Tomorrow we will try to catch up! Pictures by Emanuelle.

Holà Yesterday we had an optimistic 81km task. From the takeoff, it wasn't looking really promising, low cloud base, lots of humidity... But it got dryer and Rolda Magic was on. There was 2 options for the start, mountain side or flatlands. I took off really early and I went for a scenic flight in the mountains... I was hesitating a lot to go in the flats, and all the time spent on hesitating made me loose the choice in the end. I stayed in the mountains, we were not a lot of pilots but the climbs were good and I thought it was not so bad. The group was so far away that I could not even see them anymore! 10 minutes before the start, the good thermals were weaker and weaker and in the end, I was really low when I took the cylinder... I set my mind in a cross country mode, telling myself that no matter how long, I have to get in goal. km after km, I caught some slow groups that were really helpful. But I also met the leading group, who was 7km ahead of me... After the 4th turn point, we saw that everything was dark, there was no sun anymore... So we took time to get to the cloud base and did a long glide, which I thought it was a glide contest. But then, a shy sun ray came out and we could climb slowly to get to goal. At this point, I was sure that some leader had done it already, but the goal field was empty. I'm not really proud about the way it happened, but points are good to be taken ! Today is a rest day.