We are right on the edge of a cold front located over the Massif Central and the region Rhône-Alpes, and which is likely to descend over our region during the coming night.
Possibility of thermals developing on the East of the Durance valley. Before midday cumulus are expected, giving altitudes of 1800m in the valleys and 2500m on high ground, with Vz of 2.5 m/s.
Thermal activity should remain moderate - ranging from 2400m over the valleys and 3200m on high ground.
In the evening, after 17h00 there is a risk of cloud bank (cirrus and alto-cumulus) at around 6000 to 7000m.
The most recent analyses show the cold front arriving before 17h00 on our region with the possibility of storms developing.
Task : 197,6 km
St Auban
Savines
Aiguines
Vaumase
Rocher St Jean
St Auban
Take off is scheduled for 12h30.
The cold front is approaching but we are optimistic that the three-hour
forecast will allow the pilots to complete the task. It will,
however, be "on a knife-edge" as far as the weather is concerned...
12h The sky is dark and menacing to the West. The wind is getting
stronger.
The satellite images look quite good, however. As "Yaya"
says, "it's going to be ok ... just!"
12h30 The south/south-east wind is strong for take-off, it could be
the wind that will save the task, by pushing the front away from the
Durance
valley.
13h10 Decision. The task will start at 13h15, after a final
consultation with the weather centre which has confirmed... no thunder or
lightning for at least two hours. Let's hope they are right.
13h30 GO (Didier) passed the Vaumase 6 minutes ago and is slope
soaring at 1370m on Authon, while 3M has made a difficult but courageous
decision to abandon the task, he feels too tired. He is going to
come and land in a few minutes.
13h35 At 1500 Didier climbs to 1700 in several seconds. He is followed
closely by Tilo and Olivier who are also now soaring on the slope by
Authon. Mario (DE) has come back to Ruth.
13H37 Didier has passed to Auribeau.
13h39 GO has left Auribeau at 2000 in the direction of the Blayeul.
Tilo is at 1850 and Olivier a bit lower by Authon.
Mario is ....on the Pylones, and Laurent (EL), Jurg (CD) and Fridolin (H)
are in the same sector.
13h44 Didier is by Chabanon at 2200m. He is climbing, climbing...
13h50
Didier is about to pass the first turnpoint. He's climbed to a good
altitude at Morgon (2500m).
14h GO has passed the first turnpoint (and has fallen 500m at the
same time). Olivier and Tilo are flying wing to wing close to
Savines and they are going to wave to Didier as he glides past in the
direction of Aiguines.
Meanwhile... quite a few pilots are enjoying themselves around La Bigue,
le Blayeul, Authon etc...
Estimated
arrival for GO between 14h50 to 15h00.
14h15 They are going to have to get their skates on for the first
turnpoint... there is a storm brewing and lighting flashing near the
airfield in Gap.
GO has passed the Trois Evêchés.
14h20 Didier approaches Coupe.
Here at base we are preparing the finish line, while several pilots who
didn't manage to get away at the start, are still gliding in the vicinity
of Saint Auban.
14h30 GO is approaching Beyne. Olivier (EW) has climbed very
well and is just 5km behind him on the Mountain Coupe. Tilo is
following too, he is by La Javie.
14h35 The suspense is total.. Olivier is gliding faster than Didier,
getting closer, closer...
14h40 Olivier has pulled ALL the stops out. He is about to overtake
GO with 200m advance altitude too. They are together at the
turnpoint at Aiguines. Yes ... Olivier has overtaken Didier...
Short pause while we go to the finish line to cheer the winner!!
14h55 a few drops of rain on the airfield... there is a strong wind sector South/South-East
15h
EW crosses the line after a neck and neck with GO who arrives just one
minute later. We couldn't have had a more exciting end to the week!
Y (Moustique) arrives third and the following pilots in quick
succession... the task was calculated perfectly in light of the worsening
weather conditions. Bravo !!
Delogging is already underway for the final results...
17h
Publication of non-official results (there is one hour (on the last
competition day) during which any pilots may "protest").
SO.... OLIVIER DARROZE wins the Grand Prix de France 2008 with Christophe
RUCH in second place, and Mario Kiessling third.
Congratulations to ALL the competing pilots,
who, it's true, would have preferred a few more really good gliding days,
but whatever, that is the sport of gliding and six tasks over six days is
pretty good!
And to finish, a huge THANK YOU to all those
who participated in the organisation and the success of this sporting
event.
M E R C I !!
During the night we had more rain and another
cracking storm (in the North it was even worse.....) but on awakening the
sky is back to blue and promising....
Our two "Meteo Masters" are optimistic... things look good.
The beginning of the day should be a bit damp due to the rainfall
yesterday and the night before. The airmass will dry up
progressively.
Estimated altitudes 2500/2700m over the valleys and 3200/3500m over high
ground.
Vz 2 to 3m/s
Cloud cover: 4/8 Cu at the beginning of the afternoon developing to 3/8
with possibility of cirrus at the end of the afternoon.
Task :310.7 km
St Auban
Castllon
Aspres sur Buech
Jausiers
La Motte du Caire
Rocher St Jean
St Auban
Take-off 13h15
13h an alternative task (C) has been
devised, by simply changing the departure line: they will now start
from "Vaumuse", which will increase the kilometers to 310.8 km.
13h15 briefing on the grid to revert back to the first task (A) and to
delay the take-offs by 15 minutes and describe the zone of release (quarry
sector where a few cumulus are developing).
14h45
CD, EW and DE are gliding together, through the centre of the valley, by
Cousson (at about 1800m), while EQ has been searching for mushrooms at
1100m on the slopes and is taking advantage of the wind on the crests to
climb back up gradually to ...1500 m... 1800m.. 2000m...
"P'tit Louis" is passing 2100m with 1.4m/s above Veyne.
14h55 : six minutes ago Mario and
Olivier were just North of Barême while Jurg (Haas) was climbing rapidly,
faster than the others on the slopes of St Andre (North of the lake).
15h EQ (P'tit Louis) announces over the radio that he has found wave at
2500
between Beyne and Coupe. It looks as though Mario has taken an
option to the South whereas Olivier is gliding towards Jurg who has to
abandon his position to him as they advance towards the first turnpoint.
15h15 Mario is the only glider to have reached the turnpoint. He has
made the right decisions for the moment....
15h30
Mario now has 13km advance over Oliver, Christophe, Klaus and Louis.
It looks as though CD (Jurg) is no longer very high (1200) on the
Crêtes des Serres ... we're keeping an eye on him...
15h40 Mario has reached
the second turnpoint more than 20km in front of Olivier, while further
South, Jurg, Andrea and several others are still near Castillon but at
comfortable altitudes.
16h20 Mario is at the entrance to the valley of Barcelonnette, 26km
from the turnpoint (Jausiers).
16h30 Now he is gliding at 200km/h at 2600m to the North of
Barcelonnette, with +2m/s on the vario. He must surely have
tightened his seat belt, with the stick in one hand and the other keeping
his hat on his head!!
16h32 2800m with vario of +3...
Estimated time of arrival for Mario in St Auban... in fifteen or twenty
minutes... we have got some buckets of water ready to cool his wings down
when he arrives!!
Andrea (Ferrero) is obviously enjoying the proximity of Digne, but
is advancing slowly and surely.....at 3300m.
SP is passing the Col de Bayard at 2500m...
16h45 Mario is 40km ahead of EW,
and opts for the valley of Bayons, which, tactically speaking, is quite
courageous...he will have to make a turn right downwind in order to turn
la Motte, then return to the col de Jouère which might well be (maybe...)
somewhat higher than he is! We'll keep an eye on him ..
EW has passed the turnpoint in Jausiers at 3150m.
17h on the dot ... Mario crosses the finish line with something like ten
minutes advance on Olivier. Super! Followed several seconds
afterwards by Christophe. Due to the considerable turbulence (again)
the arrivals were quite high and not as spectacular, but safety comes
first.
For the overall results we should have a tie for second place tonight...
Suspense...!
8h 15 Over the Lure mountain the clouds are
black and menacing. Many of us were woken during the night (about
2h30) by thunder and lightning - and then the deluge (13mm of water in a
few minutes). But it passed over quite quickly.
The grid will be set up on the hard airstrip.
First important activity of the morning is to decipher the weather
forecast, not an easy task because of the storms that will be local but
exactly where is difficult to say..
Forecast analysis, work on pcmet, etc.
The bad weather is moving north. If we get a window, the best area
will be to the South East of St Auban, and probably no further north than
Gap.
The day will almost certainly end with storms all around.
So, a difficult job for Nicolas and Norbert. They are calculating,
imagining, discussing, recalculating, anaylsing. It is a worrying
task, and to succeed in finding a circuit that works with the weather as
they did yesterday is not going to be easy. Bravo to them both!
9h30 Temperatures for today: 23° at
midday, 24° at 14h and 26° maximum at 16h00.
Maximum altitudes 1950m at 16h00.
Vz: 2.5 to 3 ms/m (maybe)
Development of Cumulonimbus (from 3 to 11 000m)
Briefing : 11h
New briefing : 13h
Local saying for the day "Black to the west.... we'll do our
best!"
Briefing : 11h and... à 13h...
12h30 The conditions are still bad but all is not lost.
Gridding
up has been delayed for another half hour and everyone has their eyes on
the clouds and the blue inbetween....
It's raining not far away (between Lure and St Auban)
Gridding up scheduled for 13h30
Our "sniffer" (Alain Poulet today) has had a hard time getting
higher than 1350m....the wind is getting stronger and the windsock is
going crazy...
13h30 The gliders
are gridding up on the airstrip.
A lot of doubt about starting take-offs, the conditions in the south are
extremely changeable at the moment. Telephone conversations, more
analysis of satellite images and dialogue with the sniffer (there are
three congestus between Manosque and Mirabeau).
In short... uncertainty reigns!!
Meanwhile, back at base, our special "TEAM COUSCOUS" is busy
preparing tonight's meal. It smells REALLY good!
A circuit has been very very carefully prepared, with special attention
being paid to maximum altitudes, in light of the turbulent weather, with
priority being given to maximum security.
Task
112,3 km
Malijai
Marcoux
Valensole
Sommet Vaumase
Rocher St Jean
St Auban
Briefing outside on the grid at 14h45 Take off: 15h
A
final 15 minutes "delay" was welcome because a brief shower
passed over from Lure and shed a few drops on the gliders' waiting wings.
We are expecting Roger to announce the start...
The start is announced at 16h07.
Conditions are very different according to the location where the pilots
are.. they are struggling between 1300 and 2000m.
DW has not managed to maintain his altitude and has landed. His
compatriot Andrea calls him to ask him his position... "on the
terrasse at the North building" (big smiles over the radio).
16h30 Bernd Gauger has passed the first turnpoint... bravo!!
16h40 A "gaggle" of gliders (LG, VV, GO, EW,Y) plus those who
have no tracker are by Aiglun except Louis (EQ) who is by Cousson to the
South West, right on the circuit trajectory and higher than his colleague
pilots.
16h55 Approaching the second turnpoint, Tilo (VV) appears to be ahead of
the others, but not very high (maybe he wants to see what is on at cinema
in Oraison??)
Return to the Vaumase with forty km/h of wind behind them, the arrivals
are going to come thick and FAST FAST FAST....
Arrivals were very demanding in the turbulence. All the pilots were
very prudent...
17h16 Y, GO arrive on the finish line almost simultaneously.
3M is trying out all types of different outlandings... today he chose a
field a little closer than yesterday (Les Mées)!!
Check the results for the end of the day.... there is still room for surprises in the overall ...
The sky is overcast at 8h30 but as we look towards the south east it doesn't look hopeful for later, although the task setters are optimistic...
The setting up on the airfield has been delayed for a while, because the wind from the South is setting in, and will probably be accompanied by some stormy showers.
On the weather forecast we are keeping an eye on the bad weather that is currently stretching from the Gulf of Gascony to the Jura and the Northern Alps.
Thus we are expecting stormy showers at the end of the morning, and the gliders will ballast in the hangars and remain there for the moment.
It looks as though after this unsettled weather has passed, a "convecto-dynamic" system will set in and some possible gaps for gliding will develop during the afternoon, enabling a short task.
The organisers know they will have to keep a close eye on the risk of storms developing.
Just for information : at 10h45, a
fierce storm broke over Manosque (just 35 km from St Auban) - streets
flooded, extremely heavy rain...apparently it won't hit us...
A second briefing is scheduled for 12h30.
12h15 : It looks really dark over the
mountains ....as though we are all going to have to head for shelter...
12h30 : It is raining. Briefing has been rescheduled for 13h30.
Everyone is doing their utmost to imagine
what the weather might do... using the Internet, visit to the Meteo France
centre here on the spot, we also sent a plane up to check what might be
happening above the clouds.
Meanwhile, the pilots and crew are watching gliding videos on the screen
here in the North building..
Finally the task is announced:
Task: 121.1 km
St Auban
Vinon aéro
Puimoisson aéro
Thoard
Rocher St Jean
St Auban
The gliders will take off from the
airstrip to avoid them getting into too much mud!
The circuit has been carefully and intelligently thought out, and the
pilots agree that it is perfectly acceptable, given today's weather
conditions.
Just before the start line opens, 3M has landed back due to ballast leak
problems.
15h50 Start line opens
15h52 DW
announces "Straight to the Rocher"
The regatta departure is superb. They are all clearly visible
beneath the grey clouds and blue patches, in the centre of the Durance
valley. Just one, (VV -Tilo) has opted for the "Plateau de
Puimichel"...
16h05 Those in front are already at Oraison.
The weather forecast was excellent... bravo!
The gliders are gliding fast, fast, but also low, low... several are at only 800m by Volx but they are climbing again now.
3 M has landed out just by RIEZ...
17h
00 and a few seconds (3 to be exact) - LG arrives first, followed by SP,
EW, etc....all pretty close.
Haha! Maybe that will make a difference to the overall results?
Wait and see.
From the heights of the Rocher St Jean a lot of young supporters were
there to encourage Tilo (VV), who had not succeeded in turning at Thoard,
so he enjoyed performing a few admirable arabesques just above their heads
instead!
It appears, before delogging and maybe adding penalty points, that 5 pilots might take second place in the competition at this stage (the first two winners qualify for the next World Sail Plane Grand Prix which will take place in Rieti).
Suspense!!!
The sun is shining, the sky is periwinkle
blue, the birds are singing ... and the pilots are busy preparing their
gliders. Looks like a good day...
We'll take this opportunity to discuss "communication
techniques", here offering an experimental link to our webcam so you
can see what is happening "live" on the airfield!
How
to use the webcam (experimental) using Internet Explorer
http://cnvv.dtdns.net
Authorise popups
a new window will open
user
name:
client
password:
client
A
new window will open
enter: Visualization
select: Individual cameras
select: CNVV
authorize installation of the camera software
(and very soon the final and permanent version
will be available!
But we have now tried and tested... Eureka... it works!!)
- St Auban
- Briançon
- Vinon
- St Auban
- Col de Cabre
- Rocher St Jean
- St Auban
Take off scheduled for 12h45 - as you can see, the sun is shining, its just perfect today!
13h05 All the gliders are up in the air
Start line opens at 13h30
The start line is clearly visible from the airfield, and from the ground
it is a treat to see all the gliders head off in the same direction.
Bernd Gauger (LG) crosses the line just a little too early, and has thus
turned back to repeat the start procedure.
On the tracking (displayed on the screen here in the North building) we
can see the group of gliders engaging in the race....
14h10 (taking into account the 15 minutes time lapse between the screen and realtime) the competitors are crossing the Lake of Serre Ponçon FAST!! Oliver Darroze and Didier Hauss will get to the Guillaume without having made a detour via the Morgon.
14h25 less than one
hour after the start, EW and GO are at less than 17km from the first
turning point... their winglets will be starting to melt.....
14h40 the pilots have reached the first turning point and ... estimating an
average of 125 km/h... we expect arrivals to be around 17h00. But
before that, at about 15h45 we are expecting all the competitors to glide
over the airfield at a maximum altitude of 1700m - should be good!
14h40 All the pilots equipped with VPos have reached the turning point at Briançon.
It
looks as though EW has outdistanced GO by 10km and has gone for the option
to go to Vinon via the "Parcours".
1450 Olivier flies over the Barcelonnette side of the Lake of Serre
Ponçon at 169 km/h.
GO (Didier) is approaching "Morgon", with Y (Christophe) 5 km
behind, and EQ (Louis), DE (Mario), and VV (Tilo) about 11km behind Y.
15h Olivier has abandoned the "parcours" and is going directly
for Chabanon.
15h05 Now Didier has chosen the "parcours" whereas Olivier
is at 2900 and rising in Chabanon... Who has made the best choice??
Christophe and Louis have gone for the "Chabanon" option ...
15h35
Olivier's choice has been "copied" by many other pilots, and it
looks as though it was a winner.. right now he should be at the turning
point in Vinon...
In about a quarter of an hour, we will all be outside with our eyes
towards the (still perfectly blue) heavens, as the gliders all pass
vertically over the airfield (maximum altitude 1700m), in the direction of
Col de Cabre.
15h40 Olivier " I'm over the south quarry" (Volx)
15h49 He sends us a little 'coucou' as he glides over our heads, in
the direction of the "pylones", before climbing beneath a small
Cunimb (bravo Yaya for the excellent calculation of the time of
passage...)
15h54 Didier glides over our heads at ... 1100m... There is a
hangglider in the thermal on the Pylones...
16h08
EW is on the summit of the Vaumase at 2200m, and passes Gache. .this
option may be due to the altitude restrictions in the zone R71 (2200m)..
EQ and Y are 8km behind, and DE just behind them...
16h15 Aïe.. EQ and Y are having problems having passed the summit
of Lure in the direction of Noyer sur Jabron (at less than 1200m on the
peaks of l'Ane)
GO has made progress (1400m at Ruth) and he is gliding towards the Vaumase.
VV is at Lure.
Some competitors have not yet turned Vinon (Aldo, Wolfgang) but it won't
be long.
Now we are going to abandon our keyboards to zip up to the Rocher St Jean
in order to take some spectacular photos for you...
Meanwhile
back at base EW has treated us all to yet another spectacular arrival.
Just a few minutes later DE arrives, followed almost simultaneously by Y,
EQ and E
And we have just heard that Jurg (CD) has landed out in Vinon...
Watching the spectacle at the Rocher de St Jean was marvellous... we could
see them arriving from far off, deballasting, breaking in a wipe swoop to
the East of the Rocher, just several wingspans away, and then speed
arrivals, seen from above... SU - PER!!
Monday 1st September
Weather
conditions : Good gliding conditions generally in the Southern Alps
Estimated altitudes of around 3000m over valleys and up to 3600m on the
mountains
Possible risk of showers on high ground
Scheduled task 338 km :
Start: St Auban (vertical terrain)
La Motte du Caire
Valensole
Prè de Madame Carle
Serres
Rocher St Jean
St Auban
Sorry about the lack of niouze up until now - our journalist was busy
snapping photos for us from the air and couldn't be on line at the same
time.....
Altitudes were at 2000m at the start, and conditions were superb. It
looked as though we were in for some really good task times if the weather
over St Crépin and in the Ecrins wasn't getting worse....
Here in St Auban a huge storm blew up at 15h00, and the heavy rain (5 minutes) really refreshed the atmosphere.
17h 05 EW and DE are just 20km from the finish line
Olivier DARROZE (EW) crosses the line, closely followed by Louis Bouderlique (EQ) and Mario Kiessling (DE). Magnificent arrivals ... and meanwhile, back in St Crépin (les Eygliers), Andrea FERRERO (3M) is looking for lift (he is at 3000m) ... good luck Andrea!
On talking to the competing pilots, the task was obviously very interesting and far from boring - with huge kicks (5.6 m/s average) and some pretty tough technical moments to master (in the sector St Crépin and the Pré de Madame Carle). It was impossible to pass the col de la Cavale because of the huge clouds billowing up behind it..
There were two
tactical choices to make in the second part: either plain gliding
under the Cumulus (option chosen by some) or ridge soaring for others...
interesting.
In short, a very interesting task.
Sunday 31st August
The conditions look good, as long as the line of
cloud moving up from the South doesn't thicken.
The daily task (255km) has been prepared, after a lot of thought, and
bearing in mind that the first official briefing will be at 18h30.
Also the weather conditions are still a little uncertain.
depart
Malijai
- St Crépin
- Barême
- La Motte du Caire
- Rocher St Jean (report point)
- St Auban
Take off scheduled for 13h00
13h30 take-off.. The "sniffer" ( a certain Eric Napoléon) has announced good conditions on the Puimichel plateau, with maximum altitudes of 2000m. An excellent spot for the departure line...(Malijai)
Start line opens at 14h20 Maximum altitude at start line: 1500m
The
weather conditions look good, with pure thermals.
3/8 of cloud cover over the mountains near the aerodrome (km25)
The VPos are working fine, and there is already an attentive audience watching the race in front of the screen set up in the North building...
15h30 2400m at 200 kmh at the Trois Evêchés for Olivier (Darroze)... the winglets will be burning...
15h40
Olivier and Laurent are about to turn the second turn point.
Less than 2 hours after the start, Olivier Darroze has crossed the arrival
line in style, with Laurent Couture close behind, then followed by Mario
Kiessling.
18h30 Official briefing
The Grand Prix organising team is very busy putting the final touches to the preparation of the championship: VPOS to configure and test, setting the the start grid, determining the start and finish lines, clearing the hangars (each competitor will be able to house his glider safely each night), learning how to prepare weather forecasts, and of course dozens of little domestic and administrative questions - everyone involved has plenty to do.
Having completed the necessary material checks (weighing-up, checking of instruments etc) and the administrative formalities, six of the fifteen competing pilots took off for an introductory flight (free circuit), enabling certain to discover the region and the aerological conditions.
The sky is a perfect "Provençal" blue, and the summer heat is still with us.
Gliding conditions were somewhat 'muggy' on takeoff but the breeze blew up quite quckly and the conditions improved rapidly - culminating in the North and in the Ecrin mountains with altitudes of over 4000m.
