7 years ago (2017-05-25 17:11:43) :
     With half the field having landed out, for whom will the Great Sky God of Discards smile down on today? With ever changing leaders - who will be the biggest lead out point bagger today? The last few pilots are just reporting back so we should know very soon - keep watching this space.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 17:04:20) :
     Benedicte is another of the great givers in our sport. She helps organise comps for women (

7 years ago (2017-05-25 17:03:29) :
     Benedicte Saury landed just before the last turn point and has just reported back smiling after a great day.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 16:57:19) :
     For Marc Wensauer it was a good stable day but a really tough job to get into goal.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 16:55:54) :
     For Russell Ogden it was a well set task, with a diffcult final glide, but great fun, really happy with the Enzo 3.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 16:52:09) :
     For Alexander Coltman, winner of the Avon Club Arborial trophy for landing in a tree six times in a year, 'when we got to Albertville and turned round into wind, I thought nobody would make it, so many did which just shows the pilot quality here'. At least Alex must have felt at home with all those trees around.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 16:48:18) :
     For Idris Birch, it was great until the last bit, which was mission impossible but we made it.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 16:46:55) :
     Unfortunately Yvonne Dathe, the last pilot in the air, has landed just before the end of speed.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 16:45:41) :
     For Felix Rodriguez Fernandez, 'the beginning was good, climbing everywhere, we followed the mountains to Albertville, then after Albertville it was strong, we were always fighting against the wind. I came into goal with 50m to spare so the last bit was very stressful. Well done to the task committee for an excellent task.'

7 years ago (2017-05-25 16:43:48) :
     Skipping round the beer jugs in the goal field there are lots of happy pilots in goal today. For Guy Anderson, whom we last saw fleeing from a Brazilian hospital wearing only a straw hat, 'it was 'boisterous, windy again, great fun and lots of opportunity to catch up, unfortunately I didn't manage to'.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 16:42:22) :
     Well done to Laurent Caetano and Federico Nevastro who have just made goal. Yvonne Dathe is the last one in the air but at 140m above the ground and with 4km to go.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 16:37:17) :
     Talking of the X-Alps Aaron Durogati, Maxime Pinot, Semih Sayir, Clement Latour and Andreas Malecki landed just before goal to sneak in a bit of X-Alps power training carrying their 30 kg packs back to HQ.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 16:29:36) :
     So far 62 pilots have made goal - half the field. Three pilots are still flying, tree lover Federico Nevastro, Annecy flying instructor Laurent Caetano and X-Alps competitor Yvonne Dathe

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:43:57) :
     Felix Rodriguez Fernandez world acro champion has just been given the microphone in the landing field and is saying something very complicated in Spanish.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:40:31) :
     Half the field are in goal already, It's amazing how fast they can fly when there is a beer tent to land beside or on (but I'm not saying who).

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:38:19) :
     M

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:35:40) :
     Clement Latour who was the first pilot across end of speed unfortunately didn't make goal

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:31:58) :
     The order across end of speed was Yassen Savov, Ernesto Hinestroza, Felix Rodriguez Fernandez, Stephan Kruger, Jonathan Marin, Marc Wensauer, Joachim Torn, Julien Brung, Charles Cazaux, Torsten Siegel and Jean Marc Caron

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:27:27) :
     Pilots are coming into goal thick and fast.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:24:32) :
     Felix Rodriguez Fernandez has just landed in goal to loud whistles

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:23:58) :
     Up until a pilot reaches the end of speed section, the figure shown, is the distance in kilometres from launch towards goal, i.e the distance they have flown so far along the direct route to goal. AFTER the end of speed section, their TIME around the course is shown with a bar through it. Once they reach goal, their time points are validated and the bar is removed

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:23:32) :
     On our Fast Retrieve Leaderboard pilots who made the end of speed section but did NOT make goal, have a bar through their time indicating that they will get full distance points but will NOT get time points.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:23:11) :
     Clement Latour, Yassen Savov and Ernesto Hinestroza have taken end of speed

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:22:21) :
     Yassen Savov is in 7th place but he should be able to make goal.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:20:41) :
     Jose Rebelo is in front but needs a climb

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:20:16) :
     Ernesto Hinestroza is just behind is higher and is on 8:1 so can probably glide straight in

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:19:46) :
     Clement Latour is in the lead but he needs a climb or more buoyant air than he is currently getting

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:16:27) :
     Honorin Hamard is following his favourite club's logo and going 'straight to goal' (via the end of speed).

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:15:26) :
     Honorin Hamard is first round the last turn point, his Olympic Marseille logo is working for him today.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:14:16) :
     In the lead we have Honorin Hamard and Pierre Remy on Enzo3s and Aaron Durogati and Maxime Pinot on Boomerang 11s

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:08:46) :
     The lead out points (or Glory Points as Yassen Savov calls them) today are going to be very interesting. The lead out point baggers over the last four tasks have been Luc Armant, Honorin Hamard, Ulrich Prinz, Maxime Pinot, Nicola Donini, Clement Latour, Pierre Remy, Yassen Savov and Julien Wirtz

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:04:55) :
     As Jules Croibier told me this morning 'It's great the level of pilot in this competition, it's really exciting but really difficult to keep up, it's difficult to make your own choices, the gaggle goes much faster than you can on your own'.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:02:40) :
     This has been a day of different leaders, they push out, get low and then somebody else takes over. Jose is currently at 931m, those behind are are 1500m.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 15:01:14) :
     Jose Rebelo is a phenomenal XC pilot. He did some big distances in Quixad

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:57:52) :
     Jose Rebelo is currently leading the procession to the tower opposite La Rochette

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:56:33) :
     Looking at the overalls so far, Pierre Remy and Julien Wirtz are the best placed at the moment today.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:52:40) :
     Soheil Barikani is really pushing forward but he is a lot lower than the others - 990m compared to 1600m

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:52:00) :
     They have made the transition and are on the hill above HQ

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:45:07) :
     Soheil Barikani is storming ahead, he's got his 3 km lead on his new Boomerang 11.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:43:50) :
     Three pilots have come out of the mountains and are flying in the valley: Soheil Barikani, Marco Busetta and Yoshiaki Hirokawa

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:41:52) :
     They are making really good progress towards the tower on the hill to the west of La Rochette - Tours de Montmayeur

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:36:36) :
     Marco Busetta from Sicily is up with the leaders. He's a paragliding guide on Sicily flying Mt Etna. There's a very interesting article about flying volcanoes where Marco lives, in our partner Parapente Mag in Sept 2016.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:32:55) :
     Charles has dropped back from Thomas and Soheil, he's got a good climb and is now at 1674m compared to Soleil at 1356m and Thomas at 1453m

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:31:14) :
     M

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:29:55) :
     It looks as if Olympic Marseille supporter Honorin Hamard is leading the second gaggle. We can see the Droit au But (Straight to goal) logo of his favourite football club on his wing.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:27:19) :
     They are all following along the chain of the Grand Arc.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:25:58) :
     The three leaders have got a 2km lead. They are all about the same height of 1300m.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:24:57) :
     Philippe Broers our cameraman is flying with them getting the action. He was flying with the three leaders and has now turned to get the next gaggle of 60 pilots flying past.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:23:19) :
     Soheil Barikani is with Thomas and Charles. He has done some amazing flying in Iran. He is used to flying high (he has been up to 6360m without oxygen) and in strong wind and strong thermals in his home country of Iran. He's obviously a very versatile pilot!

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:19:45) :
     Keen sailor Thomas Gury is with Charles

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:17:37) :
     Charles Cazaux is in the lead, he's been in the top 10 twice so far in this competition, he was world champion in 2011 and won the Super Final in 2009

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:12:36) :
     The leaders have made the crossing and are back on the Grand Arc again

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:10:52) :
     You can see some of the action from the last few days on world cup TV, our amazing flying camera man Philippe Broers was one again in the air filming

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:08:17) :
     It looks as if we'll see some new faces in the top ten today. Those who have been consistently in the top 10 so far have been: Luc Armant, Charles Cazaux, Aaron Durogati, Thomas Gury, Alexandre Jofresa, Russell Ogden, Maxime Pinot, Ulrich Prinz, Pierre Remy, Yassen Savov, Torsten Siegel and Julien Wirtz

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:03:54) :
     They are all climbing at the moment to make the valley crossing with no one really leading so far. Yesterdays lead out points winner Yassen Savov the 'Great Sky God of Ironing' is with them.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:00:48) :
     There is a beautiful article about 'Tonton Xav', our much missed Xavier Murillo, in a recent issue (July 2016) of our partner Parapente Mag.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:00:24) :
     When the second pilot in each team comes into goal that's their position in the team rankings. The score depends on at least half the team doing well - both the first AND the second pilot in each team need to be fast.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 14:00:04) :
     Each Paragliding World Cup partner can have a team. Each team can have up to three pilots and one female pilot per team. Points are given based on the position of the 2nd person in the team, i.e only the second person in each team scores. This simple, but incredibly effective idea, was the brain child of Xavier Morillo. No need to do lots of complicated mathematics adding up all the team pilot's scores.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 13:58:47) :
     The team competition has also been interesting to watch with Ozone and Gin dominating.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 13:58:03) :
     The first thirty have just got the third turn point

7 years ago (2017-05-25 13:52:08) :
     They are all skimming the eidelweiss on the slopes around the third turn point at the moment.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 13:50:40) :
     Richard Gallon began flying in 1985 in Hilaire du Touvet. Overall winner of the Paragliding World Cup in 1993!!!!! Founder of Paragliding World Cup partner AirG in 2009 and the SAT Team. He's an amazing pilot who needs no introduction. Richard is a legend in tenacity as we saw when he was battling it out for first place in the St Andre 2016 Paragliding World Cup and his Stabilo line broke, but determined as ever, he still managed to make it into goal in 4th place.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 13:46:30) :
     The leaders Thomas Gury Richard Gallon are neck and neck to get the 3rd turn point

7 years ago (2017-05-25 13:43:53) :
     We have had such great weather here and it's set to continue contrary to Technical Delegate Ulric Jessop's holy cheese global weather theory: The bigger the cheese, the more it rains. Ulric himself lives in the south of France where the cheese is 2 cm in diameter and has the appellation 'crottin' which means 'droppings'. Here in Coeur de Savoie you could fit several 'crottin' into the holes in each of the cheeses! Thankfully Ulric's holy cheese global weather theory has been wrong all week.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 13:38:36) :
     Today's task has well and truly seperated everyone out. Well done to the task setters Laurie Genovese and Andreas Malecki

7 years ago (2017-05-25 13:34:06) :
     It's been lovely to see Aaron Durogati's 8 month old son Arno here cheering Dad on. Ozone obviously set a trend for giving names. Following the Ozone (Enzo, Zeno) trend of always using the same 4 letters, Aaron called his son Arno. Let's hope a future baby number 2 doesn't get called Arno Light (Z-Alps).

7 years ago (2017-05-25 13:31:01) :
     This Paragliding World Cup is a great foretaste of this summers X-Alps race, with five of the competitors here lying overall: Aaron Durogati (1st X-Alps pilot), Stanislav Mayer, Michal Gierlach, Benoit Outters and David Liano Gonzalez

7 years ago (2017-05-25 13:22:52) :
     Stanislav Mayer is one of todays leaders. He's an avid adventure athlete. He has done very well over the last few years in endurance competitions like the X-Pyr (2nd in 2016) and the X-Alps (12th in 2015). Everyone is really looking forward to watching Stanislav in this summers X-Alps.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 13:17:09) :
     Yoshiaki Hirokawa is out in front. When I asked him over breakfast what he liked about flying in the alps he replied 'the croissants and the cheese'.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 13:15:49) :
     The leaders have just passed Grand Arc

7 years ago (2017-05-25 13:14:14) :
     At launch Laurent told me that he finds the level of pilot here exceptional. He has learnt that the gaggle is always right, best to stay in the gaggle, however he is obviously doing a bit of trail blazing today.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 13:11:37) :
     Laurent Caetano will be very at home, he has flown off a lot of the 4000m mountains here: Mt Blanc, Dome d'Ecrins, Dome de Miage, Grand Capucin, Aiguille Verte.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 13:10:11) :
     Maxime Pinot, Felix Rodriguez Fernandez, Laurie Genovese and Laurent Caetano have gone further into the mountains.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 13:07:31) :
     Everyone is heading for the hills today

7 years ago (2017-05-25 13:06:37) :
     There is a big gaggle climbing on the hill to the east of HQ. Thomas Gury, Semih Sayir, Julien Brung and Louis Gerin-jean have broken away and gone for the transition ahead of the others

7 years ago (2017-05-25 13:01:26) :
     The very presidential Goran DIMISKOVSKI is one of the great givers in our sport, somebody who has often sacrificed his own flying career to work relentlessly behind the scenes to make a competition work. A big thank you to Goran from all the pilots who are about to fly over his head on their way to Albertville

7 years ago (2017-05-25 13:00:28) :
     Goran Dimiskovski, President of the Paragliding World CupA, has also just landed. Like a lot of Paragliding World Cup pilots, Goran is level headed in difficult situations, very organised, always looking and thinking ahead, qualities which have also make him a world class Mr President. There's a thought, would the world be a better place if only paraglider pilots could be presidents?

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:58:34) :
     We've had a few pilots back already Ludovic Robert from Reunion Island, who broke his brake line. There is an interesting interview with 'Ludo' Ludovic ROBERT and an in depth article about Reunion Island and the Paragliding World Cup there last October (2016) in the January 2017 edition of our partner Parapente Mag.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:56:42) :
     We've had a few pilots back already Ludovic Robert from Reunion Island, who broke his brake line. There is an interesting interview with 'Ludo' Ludovic ROBERT and an in depth article about Reunion Island and the Paragliding World Cup there last October (2016) in the January 2017 edition of our partner Parapente Mag.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:54:43) :
     If they are low the wind will be behind them. If they are high the north wind will be against them - a tricky choice.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:53:37) :
     Now they have a long leg north east up to Albertville

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:53:15) :
     The top eighty have all just taken the second turn point. For what was supposed to be a slow day they are flying really fast.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:53:09) :
     One of the three and a half Welsh pilots in the comp, Ceri Brown, has just taken the lead. Ceri took a bit of time out from competing, 'Coming back after 16 years was an eye-opener with regard to the technological development of the sport. The performance of modern paragliders is fantastic in comparison to what we used to fly.'

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:44:40) :
     There is a big gaggle out in the middle of the valley but from the goal field they don't look that high

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:42:02) :
     The lead gaggle are just coming out into the main valley to make the first transition across the valley.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:40:51) :
     Alexander Coltman is one of the leaders today, according to his Skywings Pilot profile Alex started flying in the 1990s and gained some early notoriety in the Avon club for landing in trees!

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:35:30) :
     It's also worth bearing in mind that whether the trackers work or not is frequently out of our partner Flymaster's hands and depends on the local GSM network.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:35:05) :
     In the event of a task being stopped or cancelled, a siren is used via the trackers and works much better than the old system of using radios.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:34:45) :
     Level calls are now also all done anonymously via the live trackers which gives the Meet Director and the Technical Delegate a very clear picture of what is going on, who is giving which level, how high they are and where they are on the course line. This gives a much more accurate picture about how all the pilots feel about the conditions than when it was done by radio.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:34:06) :
     The detail in the tracklogs is incredible and lets the Meet Director and Technical Delegate identify and sanction aggressive flying or those not adhering to thermalling etiquette.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:33:46) :
     So, if during a section of no coverage there is an accident, e.g Pilot A witnesses Pilot B throwing his reserve, and radios this information, a few minutes later when Pilot A comes back into coverage, we can see where they both were a few minutes earlier even though Pilot B's tracker is still not on line, and send out a rescue to the precise location of injured Pilot B. This exact scenario happened at the 2016 Super Final.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:33:15) :
     One of the many unique features of the trackers we use in the Paragliding World Cup is that they can be interrogated by Retrieve Maestro Chris Trow from a distance.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:32:46) :
     When pilots fly through an area with no coverage this doesn't mean that there is no tracklog for that part of the course, as soon as they get back into coverage we get the track and there is often a 'catch up effect' which makes it look as if they are flying really fast as their tracker moves to their new position.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:32:33) :
     For those who have felt that the live tracking is a waste of time because there are so many black holes with no coverage along the course, it's maybe worth remembering that their entertainment value is a bonus over and above the safety aspect they provide:

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:32:14) :
     On the live leaderboard quite a few of the live trackers are off line and I know this is really annoying. From PG forum:'It is so disappointing that the live tracking is pretty much useless. All the worlds dedicated comp pilots would like to be able to watch this race but it is just a waste of time as it is. A real shame.'

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:29:20) :
     Now they need to go south across the valley to the second turn point.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:28:25) :
     There seem to be three different routes Andreas Malecki and Hugo Laronze to the east,Andrii Chugaiev and Jean Marc Caron leadign those in the middle and M. Umut Akt

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:24:00) :
     First to the first turn point - Kaoru Ogisawa

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:20:52) :
     They are now all flying along the same ridge to the first turn point just inside the Bauges.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:18:27) :
     The window is open and 100 pilots have all taken the start together

7 years ago (2017-05-25 12:11:01) :
     The pilots are all waiting together on a ridge to take the start in five minutes.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 11:21:15) :
     They are all off and getting nicely established above the ridge.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 11:20:34) :
     Louis Gerin-jean is off - time to get in front of the live tracking Francois and Valu - parents of 'The son's of Aerogliss'. Antoine Gerin-jean is off too.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 11:14:37) :
     Task setting committee maestro Andreas Malecki is off to sky test his own task.

7 years ago (2017-05-25 11:12:57) :
     Aaron Durogati twice Super Final champion is off closely followed by Semih Sayir

7 years ago (2017-05-25 11:11:11) :
     One of our top ladies Laurie Genovese is off on her way

7 years ago (2017-05-25 11:10:00) :
     Joanna Di Grigoli who as a teenager sold her violin to finance her paragliding career much to her Mum's horror, is launching

7 years ago (2017-05-25 11:06:48) :
     Tim Rochas from PraLoup in the south of France has just launched

7 years ago (2017-05-25 11:05:48) :
     One of the lead out point baggers in this comp Maxime Pinot is off

7 years ago (2017-05-25 11:03:31) :
     British champion Alexander Coltman has just launched

7 years ago (2017-05-25 11:02:55) :
     Veteran Gin pilot Kaoru Ogisawa has just launched hoping to do a bit of speeding on his Boomerang 11 today