Author: Jan Tupy
Task 1 – Saw overcast conditions, with chance of over development. We had a back and forth task consisting of 36.8km, which when flown close to the rock walls and steep forests, had the leaders stop for merely 3 thermals the entire race. Something that was very new for me, just how close the Enzo’s and Boom’s actually get to the rocks, hugging each contour, crevice and gorge.
Felipe finished 15, with myself 49. The fasted guys averaging 31.8km.
Task 2 – A fun 78.4km task that saw us do an out to Feltre (location of the Pre World’s 16th – 24th July) and return. Pre comp and throughout the comp we were plagued by hot humid and overdeveloping conditions. One hardly knew where the next build up and release would come from. On this day we were fortunate with majority of the tall cumulous staying deep in the Dolomites.
Along the course line there were considerable clouded out sections, which didn’t seem to deter the leading gaggle. It seemed all they knew was foot to the floor, as the only way was deeper, lower and forward! At the far turnpoint and half way through the race, I met the leading gaggle returning while only 2km from the TP, with a good 30 pilots spread throughout this section. Unfortunately a mistake in tagging the point and climbing back up to altitude, saw me waste a good 20mins scratching every tree at 200mtrs above the valley floor to regain the height needed to hop on to a nice sunny spur. We found when you were down low, it was technical (0.5-1m/s) to get back up to where the climbs were 2-3m/s and consolidated. Felipe stuck to being consistently 15th, while I waddled in at 57th. The winner came in with 30.7km/h average.
Task 3 – A challenging task of 89.4km that saw none in goal. Yet would prove to be the antichrist of the comp, with future protest and anti-protest that nearly saw the comp cancelled! Involving the Czech & Slovak equivalent of HGFA to prevent it in doing so. Sadly this changed the mood and energy for the rest of the comp, with politics and power struggles engulfing the rest of the proceedings. That’s another story in itself…..
This task had us again heading out towards Feltre, then crossing the valley (or not for safety), rounding the lake and back to the LZ. On launch all looked hunky dory, yet as soon as one rounded Monte Dolada and looked down the mountain range on our course line, it was all shaded out, as far as the eye could see and this included the valleys. Hmmm, from the get go we knew this task was going to be nasty!
With nothing but darkness before us, most of the pilots needed to squeeze out 20+km glides from Monte Dolada as it just wasn’t worth stopping to turn in the dark. Which proved to be a grave yard at the 20-24km section for the majority of the lower rated wings that didn’t have the glide to the first areas of lift. I have never flown so close to tree’s and rock faces as I needed to in this section. Certainly could have woven a nice headpiece from the local foliage, if I hadn’t been so busy squeezing my cheeks so tight and doing my best not to end up as a Dolomiti Koala! The one’s whom made it, spent another 20mins scratching, ziggying and zagging across the trees, ridges, spines, buildings or whatever they could use to keep afloat with. Must say, a sense of desperation to stay in the air I have not experienced before! At this stage much of the leaders and something like 30 other pilots were all bunched up in the same area, at various altitudes. With only a handful having sufficient height to move on.
Now we were presented with 2 options. Both sticking to the mountains (safety) and being under total cloud cover (not so appealing, just did that) or hopping in to the valley and sticking to the course line. Where there were spots of sun dotted throughout the valley (though it was known to hardly be working). I still opted for the latter, as just didn’t want go through the previous punishment again. The valley that holds the town of Belluno (pop35,000-ish), along which all our racing was done, is roughly 10km at its widest and only 2-3km at its leanest.
The short cut along the course line gave me and a handful of pilots (spread out over a few kilometres) a nice head start on the rest of the field, yet would prove to be my nemesis. One of these pilots that flew with me (an evenly rated wing), made a nice low save that I didn’t recover from (even though I came in above him), whom finished a commendable 6th for the day. Certainly experiencing plenty of learning here, which is fabulous!
Felipe finished 24th and I 31st.
Task 4 – was started and cancelled pretty much at the start gate, with massive over development on every ridge one could see.
Task 5 – Was yet again a very challenging task of 71.6km, with only 6 pilots in goal. Kudos to them, as majority of the field landed between the 17 and 34km markers. Again the course line was totally shaded out, with a few making the right decisions and topping up in the correct sections, before heading off on their death glides.
Felipe 20th and myself 57th, with 6km separating us….
Overall; Felipe 16th and Jan 46th