Task 2 British/French Hang Gliding Nationals (Chabre Open), Laragne, France

The pitter-patter of rain woke me in the night, but by 7am we were greeted with the early morning sunshine bathing the area in glorious light. If the forecast strong westerly winds held off, we could be in for a good day.

The Circus arrives at Aspres

After a short delay we were dispatched off to Aspres, a West facing mountain to the North of Laragne and another great flying site. By midday everyone was up at the top launch. At 1.30pm a task was set that would take us south towards Sisteron and then back north via couple fo turn points before goal at Laragne.

Mountain top briefing

Rigged and ready to go

Launching soon after the window opened, the sky was soon filled with over one hundred gliders fighting for lift. As soon as one glider is seen to be going up well, then like a swarm of bees around a honey pot, the rest of the gaggle of pilots will race to the same area, trying to catch the same thermal that has hoisted a competitor towards the clouds.

Climbing out from Aspres

At cloudbase 7200'

Getting high at launch I was in a good position to glide out towards the start cylinder. Gordon Rigg was just ahead with several gliders below. Watching the gliders around me I was adjusting my glide to try and keep in the best air and I managed to arrive at the next mountain above cliff height, while some pilots struggled low down to stay up. Working my way along the ridge I thought it was just a matter of time before I took another climb to cloud base. But no, with climbs breaking up at 5600', the next move to reach the first turn point was becoming more tricky.

Several fields at the foot of the mountain soon claimed more and more gliders. I pushed out towards the turn point, only to be drilled lower. Soon I was one of the many that landed after just a few kilometres. Frustrating, but at least I gave it my best shot, still working lift two hundred feet above the valley, but drifting downwind over inhospitable terrain. I made a good landing to join some of my fellow competitors. As I de-rigged a couple more pilots came in to land, one managing to overshoot the field to land on the road.

After a swift retrieve by our driver Jeff Sykes, a UK ex-pat who now lives near Laragne, we were soon back at HQ, just in time to see Grant Crossingham make a final glide to goal having completed the task.  Even though many pilots landed well short of completing the task, several of the top guns did make it in, proving that the task was good and valid. What did I do wrong? That's the million dollar question...

Oh well, a good excuse to have a beer or two.

Results here:

http://bhgcresults.wikidot.com/2014-nationals:results