Scoring Sunflowers
Webcam on Chabre: https://www.skaping.com/sisteron-buech/montagne-de-chabre
Wind meter on Chabre: https://www.balisemeteo.com/balise.php?idBalise=35
Tracking: Flymaster
Here we are for the 18th Chabre Open.
The week before the comp was hot, hot, hot. We flew nearly every day with some nice distances and conditions thrown-in.
The forecast looks good for the next couple of days, and then... we'll see.
Let's hope for some great flying.
You can watch the tasks live at
lt.flymaster.net/bs.php?grp=6828
Day 0, Practice Task, Saturday June 28
9:30 Safety briefing and ready for the practice day.
Weather forecasts (most of them) agreed it would be a light wind day, which means the wind on launch will start North, turn East, South and West; typically with some dust devil activity. It was right.
We went up Chabre greeted by the North (bad) wind. It turned south slowly and the 43km race to goal via 5 turnpoints was set.
A few launched early, but the fickle wind on launch made it a slow start. Once airborne, the thermals were smooth and sweet. Quite a few pilots got to the start on time, climbing to 2600m before going to Orpierre (good climb) and Beaumont (really good climb). Crossing to St Genis seemed long but there were climbs to be found going to 3000m. From there. 3000m was probably 500m too much as the glide through the next turnpoints and goal were mainly buoyant.
65 pilots in goal suggested the task was undercalled, we'd like about 30% - but hey, fantastic. First in goal was Rafal Noga (Ozone Photon) followed by Gerard Van Rijn (Ozone Delta4) and Marijn van Rijsewijk (Ozone Swift6). Top woman was Anna Hadders (Ozone Lyght). Well done everyone.
Tomorrow we start for real
Day 1, Sunday June 29. Task1
Nice to say, the forecast looks good. Light winds starting from the NW then around to the West.
We all go to launch to cook and await a big task. Blue sky, very little cloud and thermals coming up the face. Looking good. And hot, of course.
An 88km race to goal at Chorges was set via Col St Jean, Chabre, Beamont, Col de Cabre and La Rochette.
Conditions on launch were good and all were off in 40 minutes. We had some lovely groups high for the start, then a stream of gliders to Col St Jean and back to launch. Good climbs but a lot of blue. At Chabre the big cloud offered plenty buoyancy to 2700m then the glide to Beaumont was long but smooth. Toward Beaumont the climbs gathered again and some cloud evasion required. At the sail plane ridge climbs were tricky and easily missed. Height there gave the choice to go direct to Veynes or Via Aspres; only a couple of souls took the direct route gamble, but did benefit.
The crux was at the Veynes valley which swallowed a few and beamed the rest to 3000m. Charance at the end of the valley gave enough height for the 18km glide to goal (Though I guess some may have got sink). Eventually the task was stopped at 17:10 due to big development starting to encroach.
42 (wow) pilots made it to goal. First was Maarten Schuurmans (Ozone Photon) followed by Henk Alberts (Ozone Delta4) and Solal Eglar (Niviuk Artik6). Fourth and first woman was Anna Hadders (Ozone Lyght). Well done everyone.
Day 2, Monday June30, Cancelled
The forecast today was for afternoon storms but the time of them is never guaranteed.
A task was set to Race to Camping via Col St Ange, Orpierre, St Genis E, Towards Sisteron and back.
The launch window was set to open at 12:15, but just before that we cancelled the task due to big development. The majority of pilots took off and the clouds grew as expected and by 13:00 everyone need to land. It was followed by thunder and some rain. Maybe it will cool down a little.
Tonight We'll get a talk from Russell Ogden and Cameron Dawes from Ozone.
Day 3, Tuesday July 1, Task2
The forecast today is fairly positive. Looks like a Bergies day but the task... who knows?
We went to Bergies and set a Race to goal via 4 turnpoints, essentailly over La Platte, Ubac, Hongrie, Le Poet to Ribiers landing.
Take off was delayed for 15 minutes which made launch a lot easier and the climbs good. Start was very tricky with climbs few and far between. The field were quite spread out. Nice climbs along the route to 2500m and the airpace was not active today. La Platte never fails to climb, and Ubac too. The glide to Hongrie was long, and towards some huge development towards Italy. A bunch of pilots were scrabling on Hongrie when the task was stopped due to said clouds. Furthest distance today was Miguel Gutierrez (Ozone Proton), followed by First woman Anna Hadders (Ozone Lyght) then Gerard van Rijn (Ozone Delta4). 40 pilots were between 35km and 41km. It was a great flight despite being stopped.
We enjoyed Pizza and Paella in the local village of Ribiers with Henry and Patricia playing and singing through the night. The dancing was spectacular.
Day 4, Wednesday July 2, Cancelled The forecast was for storms, some said earlier, some said later.
We set the task, a short one from launch at Chabre, down the ridge then to Orpierre, St Genis and down the valley towards Sisteron then into goal at camping.
Just before the start it was cancelled due to huge development to the west. About half the field flew down which really helped the retrieve team.
In the evening we had a talk with Jocky and Mark and Brian: Some info on the scoring system, then a more detailed look at T1 with tips and tricks on how to go faster.
The forecast was similar to day3 but with a little more North wind. Risk of storms made the task shorter.
We went to Bergies and set a 36km race to goal at camping via one turnpoint on Ubac. Take off time was set and not changed, and off we went. First climbs were a little slow but good enough to cling to.
Drifting to start the climbs were not so good, spreading the pilots. The beginning was tricky, not so high and slightly broken thermals. Further on course the thermals were better under a blue sky. The end of the ridge showed us a cloud and climbs to 2400m. Ubac was a glide, but in to camping was harder. Slight headwind, some went in the valley, some hugged the mountains. Some made it to goal, some didn't.
61 pilots in goal. First in goal was Miguel Gutierrez (Ozone Proton), followed by Rafal Noga (Ozone Proton) and Gerard van Rijn (Ozone Delta4). First woman was Clara Waszink (Nova Mentor 7). Well done everyone.
Day 6, Friday July 4, Cancelled.
The forecast was for stronger winds from the North West and a lower chance of storms. We went to Bergies.
A 47km task was set to Malajai via a couple of turnpoints keeping the field in the Meouge valley.
Start was at 13:00, but the task was cancelled acouple of minutes earlier.
What a week. only 3 tasks, but also the practice task and we flew every day.
All of the results are on the results page.
Task reports by Mark Graham