Day 1, task 1 – the task that almost wasn’t…

The organization has split us into two groups to go up the mountain, with groups alternating time (09h00 or 10h00) on alternating days. South Africa is in “group 1”, so went up the mountain at around 09h30 today.

The wind was over the back as predicted, but as the day warmed up, a few cycles came up the front and it started to look like a promising day. Then, just about the time the window opened, it clouded over, and the majority (bar 1 or 2 pilots) was still sitting on the mountain when the start opened…with instrument alerts echoing across launch.

Window was scheduled to close at 15h00 and with a few competitors in the air it eventually came to crunch time and the rest of the field launched in record time. The gaggles worked their way up to cloud-base and “better late than never” went through the start and set off on the course – via three turn points, to goal over an optimized distance of 75.2km.

The first 20 odd km seemed to run pretty smoothly, after which competitors had to decide ‘flats’ or ‘mountain’ – the flats proved to be difficult and slow, but the best choice today and pilots were rewarded in the end with late and strong climbs – Russell got his best climb about 10km from goal. The high strong northerly was another factor, and there were a few pilots who landed just short of goal.

Provisional results are out with Marco Littame (Italy) in first place, Jeremie Lager (France) and Dusan Oroz (SLO) in third. First lady is Petra Slivova, in 29th position overall. Results are at 

http://airtribune.com/sites/default/files/task_result_2013-07-15_20130715-2204.html

Consensus from the team is that it was a difficult first day, with about ten of the top twenty pilots in the world landing early. With Russell and Andre both in goal, we should get a respectable score for the day. Chris made the end of speed section, but landed short. Stef, Nevil and Khobi and their respective gaggles fell victim to immensely difficult conditions.

A happy Russell, first South African and 16th in goal

Andre arrives, 26th in goal.

We spent a fair bit of time ‘roasting’ on launch and a big thank you to the Brits for giving us a big green umbrella for shade on launch – you guys rock! Also, we would like to congratulate Emile on his fantastic flight (sixth overall)…and perhaps take at least some credit for his superb performance today… we did after all feed him well yesterday…does that count? Well flown ‘old chap’ 

Today, we would also like to remember our friend Dilip Kotecha who passed away one year ago at the pre Worlds. Dilip and Vijay shared our house and some great memories last year during the pre-Worlds, and the year before when a gaggle of South Africans flew in the Sky Nomad comp. Shambala has created the most amazing tribute to Dilip at the top of the chair lift – what an awesome and unexpected gesture!

Registration & Opening Ceremony - 13 July 2013

 Team SA has settled nicely into our home in Sopot where we’ll be staying for the duration of the 13^th FAI World Paraliging Championships… we’re fortunate to have a fabulous pad, a vibrant team and a great manager taking care of our logistics!

This event runs from the 13^th July through to the 26^th July and tasks can be viewed via live-tracking at http://airtribune.com/13-fai-world-paragliding-championship. A field of 150 pilots represents around 38 countries and we’re hoping for some challenging racing tasks to test the field’s skills.

Here’s a quick run down on the mood in "South Africa House":

“Registration was pretty painless, and the weighing in and admin went smoothly. We have a good and firm meet director who is engaging with the team leaders. I think the task committee is a good one, and am happy that one of our team, Chris, is on the safety committee. Now we just need the good weather to start racing. In terms of the ladies – France, Italy and Russia are looking strong. In terms of the men – I think it’s pretty much an open race.” Jan Minnaar, team manager

“Laurie is the one to watch!” Khobi-Jane Bowden - our woman of few words.

“We unfortunately did not get much flying in during the Ukrainian and Bulgarian Open last week, however the one task we did fly was flown in what I think was one of best flying conditions I’ve ever experienced – I’m looking forward to some more of that! In terms of favorites…after seeing them flying last week, I must say that the Colombians are looking pretty strong. Yassen is fairly bullish… but there is a whole field of talented pilots we’ve not flown with yet, so time will tell.” Nevil Hulett

“The anticipation of flying in this competition has progressively been building since my arrival in Bulgaria on Thursday morning– in particular after my glider caught up with me late on Friday afternoon - it’s much easier to focus if your toys are under the same roof! Who looks good for the World Champ title? Well, apart from yours truly of course, I think the Italians and French look strong… one can speculate, but there are a lot of talented pilots here, let’s see what the first few days of flying bring.” Russell Achterberg

“So many awesome pilots - Luca Donini…or any of the French, any of the Swiss, Jurij from Slovenia… The ladies Nicole, Seiko, and Petra – always a contender!” Andre Rainsford

“I’m in a good positive headspace and I think our whole team has a good chance of doing well. Hopefully the weather plays along and we get some good tasks. This is an awesome site, cool people all around, excellent food, and we have a superbly organised team manager!  Right now, I think Yassen is looking strong- he is brave and pushes ahead. Let’s talk again after a few tasks.” Stef Juncker

 “I am looking forward to these two weeks. Like all of us, I’ve worked so hard to get here and finally it’s happening! I think Luca Donini and Charles Cazaux are two of the most consistent pilots...but there are a few to watch…” Chris van Noord

Let the games begin!

We felt a little like rock-stars, what with the media frenzy around getting this photograph taken...It's pretty clear though that we were upstaged by the three drummies that were part of the official opening proceedings.