Top Ten presentation, Forbes Flatlands 2010. Photo: www.moyes.com.au

Vicki Cain from Moyes, Australia, reports on the 2010 Forbes Flatlands hang gliding competition:

It’s a wrap….The Forbes Flatlands 2010 was a huge success with 9 consecutive days of flying. The last day was cancelled after a vote came in at 20/20, 20 to fly, 20 to cancel. The deciding factor being made after a consultation with the safety committee.

Zac Majors from the USA flying Wills Wing led the competition for the first 6 days before he fell down on the 7th. Jonny Durand of Australia flying Moyes picked up the lead and finished the comp with a comprehensive lead of 467 points.

Andy Phillips from Victoria flying a Moyes Malibu took out the Sport Class and an up and coming pilot from Canungra Ant Coleman flying a Moyes Litespeed S 4  won the A Class.

The Brauniger voucher kindly donated by Braungier and the Encouragement award presented by the Forbes Shire Council was won by a 17 year old pilot from New Zealand. Jonas Lobitz placed a very credible 21st  overall in a World class field.

Results Tables

Sport Class

A Class

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Following last year’s successful paragliding equipment testing event, a second Super Paragliding Testival will be held in Kössen, Austria, from May 13 – 16 2010.

‘Fly Kössen’ director Sepp Himberger and his team – in close cooperation with PMA (Paragliding Manufacturer Association) and with several large, local sponsors – hope it will eventually become one of the biggest and most important air sports events in the world.

Last year 2,000 visiting pilots tested the gliders and equipment of 20 top market brands who were on site. 5,600 flights were enjoyed over the four days without any accidents.

Organisers say they have purposely avoided organising any airshows, preferring to allow pilots all the airspace and maximum time for testing gliders. However, “a ‘Paragliding Fashion Show’ will demonstrate the different trends in clothing; a vibrant SPT Party sponsored by AXA Insurance with the Cuban grooves of ‘A Buena Vista’ will scorch the social get-together and food and drinks will be offered till late at the famous ‘Fliegerbar’”.

More information on their website.

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The Ed Levin Speed Gliding 2010 competition will be held in the Ed Levin County Park in Milpitas, CA, on 30 – 31 January 2010, with the weekend of 6 – 7 February reserved in case of bad weather.

The organisers, Wings of Rogallo, stipulate that “Those wishing to take part must be legal to do so and at be present the park landing area car park no later than 8:00am the day(s) of the event.

“The pilot meetings will cover important information which may impact the course, rules, and pilots’ scores for the day. Pilots are encouraged to attend all meetings during this competition”.

Promptness and swift repacking is important as organisers hope that two rounds will be flown each day.

There are three classes in the event (Open, King Post, and Rookie), with different pilot requirements and rules (particularly regarding altitude turnpoints) for each. The rules and entry form for the event can be found here.

The organisers say, “Speed gliding is a thrilling event both to watch and take part [in]. Ed Levin Speed Gliding 2010 continues the tradition of prior speed gliding events held by Wings of Rogallo. The speed course has been designed similar to a giant slalom ski run where participants fly around turnpoints with the added thrill of altitude control gates thrown into the mix. Top place finishes will be awarded to pilots who can find the fastest, most efficient line between turnpoints from start to finish. The event isn’t all about winning, though…it’s about having fun as we explore the speed range of our gliders and our own capabilities as hang glider pilots”.

For more information contact Christopher Valley on 650-863-1298

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Australia’s famous friendly week-long hang gliding competition, the Corryong Cup, finished on 9 January 2010, with only two tasks lost to bad weather.

Tailored to encourage competitions newbies and fun, there is a floater class as well as Open and female classes, with approximately a third of the field on floaters.

Organisers say of the area, “Corryong is a perfect location for low air time hang gliding pilots to gain valuable experience flying in mountain terrain. The area offers wide open landing fields and you are only a few thermals away from Australia’s highest peak Mt Kosciuszko”.

Phil Schroeder won the open class and Gary Newton the floaters, with Helen McKerral the top woman. The highest ranked team, comprsing Adrian Boscoe, Nick de Lavaulx, Sam Prest and Adam Stevens, were ‘ARRRRRG’.

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Eduard Vila and Aljaz Valic

Aljaz Valic is joining paraglider manufacturer Niviuk in their research and development team, which comprises his brother Urban, and Olivier Nef. Aljaz will be a competition team pilot and involved in the R&D of serial and competition paragliders and will also help with the development of their harnesses ande accessories.

Also new to the Niviuk team, and replacing Erwan Didriche in charge of export sales, is Eduard Vila. Erwan is moving on to concentrate on new projects but will stay with Niviuk as a competition team pilot.

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The 4th edition of the Speedflying Pro, Les Arcs, takes place from 25 – 29 January 2010, sponsored by Gin paragliders.

The world’s 20 best pilots from 8 nations will compete in Les Arcs for the season’s major title.

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The 4th edition of the SkyNomad Open paragliding competition takes place in Sopot, Bulgaria, from 1 – 7 August 2010.

August is a good time for flying in Sopot, with a successful XC Open held there in August 2009 and a PWC round the previous year.

Nikolay Yotov of the Skynomad club says, “Again it will be a low budget FAI cat 2 competition focused on flying, flying and flying. The 70 euro entry fee will go for transport, mountain rescue and GPS-ing and can be paid when you arrive. The tasks will be over the Central Balkan region and take offs will be Sopot, Beklemeto, Kalofer. Again if conditions allow we’ll try to break records and challenge you with interesting tasks.

“… let the best win and all enjoy!”

You can register online at Skynomad’s website.

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Registration for the 5th Ozone Chabre Open, opened on Sunday 17th January.

Organisers say that if the competition is over-subscribed some selection criteria will be applied, but they will confirm by email whether you have a place before 31 January.

There will be prizes for different glider classes, females, rookies and teams.  This year sees the return of the X-class which will include LTF2-3 gliders and selected hot-shot pilots.

All the up to date competition information and registration pages can be found at www.flylaragne.com.

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‘Reise zum Horizont’, ‘Journey to the Horizon’, is Thomas Latzel’s paragliding documentary featuring Ewa Wisnierska and Dorte Schwarz. It picked up the Best Picture award at the Palermo sports film festival, and is now available to buy on DVD from Ewa’s website, in German with English sub-titles.

Following her near-death experience during which she got sucked up to nearly 10,000 m in a thunder cloud in Australia, German paragliding star Ewa Wisnierska was forced to sit back a little, take stock and re-asses what is important in her life. Paragliding is still up there, of course.

69-year-old Dorte Schwarz has spent the last 40 years of her life raising her family and looking after a disabled partner. Now that family commitments have lessened, she has the opportunity to do something for herself. Under Ewa’s tuition she is able to fulfil a long-time ambition of free-flight, but the journey is not without its difficulties. Together the pair overcome various obstacles, and not only get Dorte paragliding, but find some answers to the question of what is really important in life.

Thomas Latzel picks up the Best Picture award for 'Reise zum Horizont' at the Palermo film festival

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Ski and Fly fun in the Alps. Photo: www.voletski.fr

The calendar for the French free flight federation (FFVL)’s ‘Vol et Ski’ speed flying challenges for the winter of 2010 is as follows:

16 – 17 January: St Gervais, France. Google map here.
23 – 24 January: Crest-Voland / Cohennoz, France. Google map here.
23 – 24 January: Zinal, Switzerland. Google map here.
30 – 31 January: Chamonix Mt Blanc. Google map here.
6 – 7 February: Vars, France. Google map here. Email fred.mazzia@gmail.com for info.
27 – 28 February: Chamois, Italy. Google map here.
13 – 14 March: Flaine, France. Google map here. Email s.broisin@hotmail.fr for info.
20 – 21 March: Courchevel, France. Google map here.

Pilots holding current FFVL licenses (do not need to be competition rated) are invited to come and enjoy winter flying in the beautiful Alps in a friendly atmosphere.

www.voletski.fr

We will keep you posted of the results as they come in.

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