During the British Nationals Competition in Laragne at the beginning of August Gerolf gave a very interesting and unbiased talk on sprog heights and the ramifications of too low and too high settings. The talk hit home with a lot of pilots and over the next few days I spent a fair bit of time measuring gliders – with some ‘interesting’ results.

A short film by Markus Kinch on Round Three of the British Open Series which was held in SE Wales from 22-26 August.

The Winner of Round Three was Justin Needham

The Winner of the British Open Series was Bruce Kavanagh

A short film by Markus Kinch on Round Three of the British Open Series which was held in SE Wales from 22-26 August.

The Winner of Round Three was Justin Needham

The Winner of the British Open Series was Bruce Kavanagh

A short film by Markus Kinch on Round Three of the British Open Series which was held in SE Wales from 22-26 August.

The Winner of Round Three was Justin Needham

The Winner of the British Open Series was Bruce Kavanagh

Markus Kinch has edited the hang gliding & paragliding bit out of the 30 minute programme filmed last year (see last post).

Available to watch online until 9.59pm Sunday 31 August

Andrew Marr concludes his journey as he microlights and paraglides through the skies, getting a buzzard's eye view of the nation's untamed and untameable landscape. Along the way, he joins geologists, meteorologists, amateur photographers and festival goers to explore Britain's geology, the impact of the weather on our shores and the riches hidden beneath our feet.

Sam only came round for a herbal tea…… five bottles of wine later!

Well done to Gerolf who won the overall comp and to Grant who is the new Brit Champion.

Results – HERE

NATIONALS/LARAGNE OPEN - OVERALL – TOP 10

Task 1 – 107km
Task 2 – 71.6km
Task 3 – 123.7km
Task 4 – 106.7km

1 – Gerolf Heinrichs – 3543
2 – Grant Crossingham UK – 3206
3 – Jesper Hassing – 3056
4 – Gordon Rigg UK – 2997
5 – Walter Mayer – 2930
6 – Dave Matthews UK – 2901

A little behind with blogging as headed off on the long drive home as soon as I returned from Goal.....

Task 4 - 106.7km

TP1 – 19 Col St Jean
TP2 – 35 La Ghache
TP3 – 73 Oraison
TP4 – Pusimisson
Goal - Valensole

This was a great challenging last task which saw a lot of shifting of places!

1 – Jesper Hassing
2 – Gerolf Heinrichs
3 – Gary Wirdman
=4 – Walter Mayer
=4 – Grant Crossingham
6 – Dave Matthews
7 – Artur Dzamikhov
8 – Deniel Martin Mots

The day is cancelled again due to strong winds - more of the same forecast for tomorrow. Could it be a 3 task comp? RESULTS