With a forecast of weak thermals and a low base, the omens were not great and, when a high layer of cloud blotted out the sun, the day seemed doomed. However we waited it out, the cloud moved away, and the race was on! A racy ridge run task seemed suited to the conditions, but the thermals were stronger than forecast although the cycles did require some determined scratching at times. There were plentiful and strong thermals around the last turnpoint, and pilots launched themselves on the final long glide into goal to bring the event to a close with this surprisingly excellent task.

Results

Competition Results

Pal wins again!
Well done to today’s winners: Pal TAKATS, Mette KRUM and team Gin.
Pal’s strategy was to defend his first position – looking out for Luke Nicol and Kuba Sto who both tried to attack and take the initiative today.
‘I was looking out for my closest competitors and just tried to stay high, do smart moves with the cycles. Attacking hard at the right moments paid off. Some of my closest competitors got ahead and low.
I let the others go first and observed to see how they got on. Today was tricky reading the clouds, so I played the safer game of coming back to the mountain and climbing.
The conditions were more demanding today and the best so far.’
At one point Pal remembers seeing 7 for at least a short time on his vario which took him all the way to cloudbase!
At the end, Pal took a straight line to goal and came back directly to the mountain above the campsite cutting a corner, while the leaders went back to take-off.
Pal told the srs.live news hounds: ‘It was a big mix of watching and keeping track of my competitors, the terrain and the sky. The less you are busy with the glider, the more information you can collect and the better decisions you can make.
It was a lot of fun! One day left to go!’

Results

With a bad forecast in the mountains, we moved to Lijak, where the Slovenian mountains meet the plains, with a view over the Adriatic Sea. A task was set, optimised to encourage pilots to fly in the flats instead of batting up and down the ridge but, as the start opened, a thick layer of upper cloud blotted out the sun, leaving the pilots scrabbling to keep airborne on the ridge. As the sun gradually penetrated the cloud, things livened up on the ridge and it was full speed bar time as we flew up and down the ridge before tackling the final crux of the race, which required pilots to climb high enough to glide out to the final turnpoint in the south and back to the goal. 101 pilots made goal!

Results

At the start the field split into two groups: the main group, remaining in the vicinity of launch and a much smaller group who moved north onto the main crest, ready to fly to Krn over the high ground. When the start opened, all the pilots converged on the Krn bowl, taking strong climbs and soaring along the impressive cliffs before flying over the edge and on to the first turnpoint on the Polovnik ridge. You had to climb high on the ridge to push easily onto Stol, where it was possible to climb again before tackling the double turnpoint there. With sufficient height, it was possible to take both in a single glide, although many opted to return to the ridge to top up between the two turnpoints. After that, it was possible to take either side of the valley or glide directly down the middle to collect the next turnpoint before jumping onto the north side of the ridge and moving back to launch before the most southerly turnpoint. A booming climb over launch made the glide to the turnpoint fairly routine, and some fairly lifty lines made the return easier than expected. But the sting in the tail was the final turnpoint located high on the treacherous Mrzli Vrh ridge which lived up to its reputation by decking a large number of the leaders.

Pal Takats found his way through to win the task.

Results

For the first day of the Naviter SRS the conditions were on! Cloudbase was about 2100m before the start and most of the pilots were positioned in the middle of the start cylinder. We went off at 13.30 and tagged the turnpoint in the valley to then connect to the main ridge above the campsite. The leaders went to the end of the ridge, flying past the good climb halfway along the ridge and got themselves stuck. Meanwhile the pilots climbing halfway up the ridge got high and followed Krn ridge to the back, then connecting to Krasji Vrh waypoint. Here everybody topped up to cloudbase and went off to Stoll ridge, which was booming. Most pilots came back to Stoll ridge after tagging the furthest waypoint, but some daredevils turned straight down the course line. From there it was maxing out at the home ridge at the campsite to try and go on final glide. This glide was into the seabreeze and caught some pilots out. But for most it was a glide to goal, with not much height to spare. Except for the winner of the day, he was in orbit.

Results

Well done to today’s winners: Pal TAKATS, Magdalena JANAWAY, and team Ozone.

A very tricky day today. The thermals came in long cycles, leaving the pilots alternating between waiting high for the start and scrabbling to stay up. When the start opened, we glided to the first turnpoint and back to the sunless ridge with nothing but survival on our minds. Some pilots found good climbs, but the lead gaggle opted to push on low on the ridge. Around the westerly turnpoint, things livened up, and climbs were plentiful, allowing the pilots to collect the turnpoint and return to the ridge. After that, the question was: Ridge or Flats. The ridge was good if you were above it, but those on the flank had a hard time, as cirrus almost completely blotted out the sun, leaving survival as the only option. As things improved, a race developed between those on the ridge and those pushing into wind in the flats in the weak conditions. The legendary lifty line around the goal drew us on and rewarded us with an easy glide over the last 1ten kilometres of the race. On the other hand, the ridge proved quite fast, but the finish was harder and the pilots in the flats had the easier ride to goal. What a day!

Overall Results

Well done to Tyr Goldsmith flying the BGD Tigra, who crossed the goal line three and a half minutes ahead of everyone else! However, Andreas Malecki holds onto his overall lead in the competition.
Team Gin flew fast and furiously, taking the top spot, putting their two teams in overall 1st and 2nd place, just ahead of Ozone in third place.
Vanja Eggesvik won the ladies ranking again today and is now in the lead as we go into tomorrow’s final task.
It was an amazing flying day with much stronger climbs and good lines marked by clouds. But the flatland leg past Bassano was quite treacherous with an abrupt change of conditions that left some pilots in front scrabbling to stay in the air. Those that survived were able to follow the ridge to the westerly turnpoint, before cruising easily downwind into goal.
Well done to the 91 pilots in goal.
The results for today.

Well done to today’s winners: Andreas Malecki, Summer Barham and Airtribune.

It was a Fast and Furious day with the winner flying at an average of 31 km/h!
Today promised to be even more difficult than the previous one with a thick fug of haze over the flats, but once in the air, it was clear that the thermals were much stronger and organised than expected.
The start didn’t really have many options, so everyone joined the party above the antennas above Bassano.
The 60 km route through the first two turnpoints was pretty much defined but, after that, the choice: ridge or flats, presented itself. Most pilots, including the winners, opted for the safety of the ridge, pushing out into the flats to take the turnpoint before scurrying back to the safety of the ridge.
After that, it was soar & climb along the terrain before the remarkably treacherous sinky final glide into wind to goal.

Well done to the winners Tom Hodgkin, Summer Barham and team Ozone.

A super stable start on Task 2 made it difficult to get into a good position before the start, which affected the rest of the race. The first section was a long, slow glide followed by strong ridge soaring, where Luke managed to pull ahead of the field and collect the lead-out points.
The return from the eastern turnpoint brought a big change of pace. For the first 10 km, lift was everywhere and there was barely any need to turn, but after crossing the main gap the lift became weak and slowing down was necessary. Luke stayed in front, but eased up at the valley turnpoint to allow the first gaggle to catch up and help with finding thermals.
The lead gaggle eventually caught Luke, and a group of around 10 pilots pushed on to the western turnpoint, including Aurelius, Tom, Marco, Luke, Arnold, Ross and Ulric.
The run back to the final turnpoint was fast initially, but once again required a change of gears as the day began to shut down and the ridge stopped working. Luke pushed ahead low, while the gaggle behind stopped to climb in weak lift before heading out into the valley on an optimistic final glide to goal.
Luckily, the last 10 km final glide was similar to yesterday’s conditions and lifted everyone into goal after a tense 30-minute struggle to stay airborne. Tom Hodgkin (team Gin) arrived in first place, 30 seconds ahead of Arnold Castro (team Ozone), 3rd Pal TAKATS (Zés kitchen), 4th Marco Sommerfeld (Gin 2), 5th Ross Desmond (Ozone), giving Ozone the team win.
Well done to Luke Nicol, 7th with 100% lead-out points.
A very tough day, well done to the top three ladies who all made goal: Summer Barham, Manuela Pfrunder, Agnieszka Zaborowska.
The 25 who made goal, definitely deserve their pizzas at the end of today’s 82 km task

The day got off to a difficult start, as thermals were very weak and broken and it was hard to maintain a good position before the start opened. So, when the time came we crossed the valley to take the start and turnpoint and never climbed particularly high before crossing back against the wind. After that, it was a battle to maintain on the ridge on the way down to the westerly turnpoint. Those that gained some height were able to push harder and got further ahead, but the conditions never relented, and everyone stuck on the ridge, only venturing out into the flats to get the turnpoints. On the final glide to goal, things switched and, all of a sudden, it was lift everywhere and the buoyant air brought everyone into goal well above the 200m height limit.