Task Report 2008              The Laragne Chabre Pre-Worlds 2008:                                               

Blue skies and a forecast for a westerly wind kicking in. The decision was made to go to Aspres (W & S launches) in case the wind turned west before all the pilots launched, which would have been a problem at Chabre. The task was set at 129.5km, from Aspres to Laragne via turnpoints at Charance (Gap), La Batie Neuve, Dormillouse and Digne-les-Bains. Only seven pilots made goal, led by Scott Barrett, Australia in 3hrs 28mins, followed by Gary Wirdman, UK, 3hrs 49mins and Klaus Peter Wilming, Germany, 3hrs 53mins. The field was spread wide, with a couple of difficult sections, one close to Chorges, near the huge lake, Serre-Poncon, and another between the third and fourth turnpoints. This decked many pilots along a couple of isolated valleys between Seyne and Digne. Retrieve drivers were working late – so were the scorers! Team positions after the first task are: UK first, Germany second and France third. See the Blogspot for all the inside news and up to date photos and video interviews.

Day 2, Friday . The wind is here.

The forecast was for a fairly strong north wind, but there was a possibility it would drop enough to set a task.  Nearly 120 pilots and 20 organisation staff set off for the lower north take off at Laragne-Chabre.  It soon became clear that the wind was not going to drop very soon.  In fact the gusts were stronger than expected.  The day was cancelled

Day 3, Saturday.

It is still rather windy, but the forecast is more confident that the wind will drop and turn from north to west.  The decision was taken to go to Aspres La Longeane, once again.

A task is set going from Aspres to St Genis, on to Gache and then up to Tete de Boursier, near Tallard, and then back to Laragne for 70km.  It was a long wait on launch for the wind to turn west, but finally the first start gate opened at 16.45. The early launchers took advantage of good thermals, then the clouds dissipated and those who launched last landed first.  Further south, the clouds were growing rapidly to storm proportions.  The task was stopped at 18.42.   There were already more than 50 pilots at the goal field, and the remainder of the field were recovered fairly swiftly.  The storms just missed Laragne town itself, but there were several deluges just a few km away. The 15minute score back factor for stopped tasks came into play, which caught out a few pilots who thought they had made goal.  In fact, pilots are scored only to where they were 15minutes before the task was stopped.  Although gold medal holder, Attila Bertok (HUN) was fastest round the course, he missed out first place in the task to Andreas Olsson (SWE) who stacked up leading points.

The overall leader board has not changed, with Scott Barret (Aus) in top position, followed by Gary Wirdman (GBR).  In the team rankings, France moves to second place behind UK.

Day 4, Sunday

A classic Laragne day dawned, and with much enthusiasm we departed for Chabre top launch.  Two provisional tasks were noted on the task board as we watched the cumulus developing very rapidly.  The shorter task was selected, with the window opening at 12.30 and first start gate at 14.00.  But the weather gods were against us, and with storms imminent in the not too far distance, the task was cancelled at 14.00.  All pilots had launched, and most flew to land at the camp ground at Laragne.

Day 5, Monday

Although the forecast showed only a slight risk of storms in the mountains, the local organisers knew it would storm, and probably earlier rather than later.  The Meet Director tried for an early start, with a briefing on the hill at 11.30am.  Three tasks were considered, with an eye on the cloud development.  Early build-up to the north persuaded the task committee to select a 105k, task going to the south and west, returning to Ribiers.  The wind on launch was switching, and very light, making for difficult launching conditions.
Unfortunately, after about two thirds of the pilots had launched, and just 8 minutes after the first start gate, a huge cloud built up over the Montagne de Lure, spreading north rapidly.  The task was stopped.

Day 6, Tuesday

With a southerly breeze forecast we went up Chabre, but with early storms forecast, which could erupt anywhere in the area, the Task committee was always going to find it difficult.But opted for an 80km cats cradle out in the valley. With excellent launch conditions, the entire field was mostly in the air within an hour.  The first start gate was scheduled for 13.40, but already the clouds were building. The pilots flew north towards Serres, then returned towards the second turnpoint south east of take off. Meanwhile a huge stormcloud built over Laragne town and the task was stopped at 14.22.  Pilots fled to the nearest landing fields, at Laragne and at Vaumeilh, near Sisteron.  Another disappointing day.

Day 7, Wednesday

The weather forecast suggested a reduced risk of early storms than previous days but with an increasing south/south westerly wind. On Chabre launch a good southerly breeze under the low inversion gave us good launch conditions. The task commitee set an 80km route around the valley in case storms developed, with a goal at the Ribiers landing field. Under a better looking sky the window opened at 12:25. As the inversion broke and gliders in the air started to climb, there was a flurry to launch.

After three days of stopped and cancelled tasks, due to storms, finally we had a good day.  With 26 pilots in goal at Ribiers, the task was deemed a success – short but challenging.  There were some difficult stretches as the course turned south twice into a strengthening southerly breeze.  Scott Barratt (Aus) was first in goal, giving him a substantial lead in the overall results.  Balazs Ujhelyi (Hun) was second and Carl Wallbank from the UK was in third place today.  There was an international mix of pilots in goal, from Denmark, Sweden, USA, Mexico, Spain, Netherlands, Russia and France. 
The first female in today’s task was Julia Kucherenko from Russia, followed by Daphne Schelkers of Netherlands.  In the overall rankings, Daphne is leading Julia.
The team competition has become fierce, with Britain barely holding its lead over France.

Day 8 Thursday
It was raining when Team Leaders arrived for the morning briefing, and a cold front is forecast to speed through the area during the day.  A jam (music) session is planned for 8pm this evening with a film to be shown after.  Tomorrow’s forecast looks good.

Day 9 Friday The Final Day

The wind was blowing from the North, but the sun was shining and the wind was forecast to drop, so Chabre lower north was chosen. The wind dropped and pilots were launching quickly from 13:15. A 100km was set via Col St Jean, Gache, Montagne de Lure , Malijai , Valensole and then into goal at Puimoisson.The first start gate is 14:30 and the sky is blue.  By the time of the last start gate, the first pilots were back from the first turnpoint.