With the sun shining and olive groves stretching out for as far as the eye could see, an 86km task was set taking the pilots on a tour of the plains to the north.
It was windy on launch but once the pilots were in the air everything was a lot less stressful. There were a few clouds on the course line, but it was mostly blue skies.
Today was a perfect introduction to the flying conditions here in Pegalajar. Virtually everyone got high immediately, climbing to the top of the forecasted lift at 2400 m. It was a classic fast racing day with strong climbs of 4 m/s all day long, even if you got low. However, it was anything but straightforward as there were strong thermals, but also strong sink, so choosing the right line was very important, as was knowing which thermals to stop and climb in.
With the route having several out and return sections, this allowed for faster racing with lots of markers.
As the pilots neared the second to last turnpoint, the lead gaggle realized that there was one pilot who was about 500m above everyone else. For those following the race on the ground it was breath taking. Andy Tallia was way ahead on the tracking, but not on the leaderboard. He had missed the second to last turn point by 4m. He came into goal with a 48 second lead. He deserved to win the day and fortunately a back up instrument showed him having taken the missed turn point.
Today was a day for heros. Xavier Laporte took off with twisted lines and had to top land at the start. Despite his late relaunch, he came a very impressive third.
Francisco Javie Reina Lagos ended up in a tree at the start, however, glider repaired, he launched 15 minutes before the start gate opened and still managed to get to goal in the top half of the leaderboard.
The first 102 pilots made goal, and thus all flew the same distance, and gained the same distance points. Today’s winner is therefore the one with a combination of the best speed points and lead out points.
Top 3 speed point winners – the fastest pilots round the course 02:17:12: Andy TALLIA flying at an average speed of 35.9 km/h 02:18:00: Baptiste LAMBERT 02:18:20: Xavier LAPORTE
Top 3 leading point baggers – those who were in the lead the most 167.9: Michael SOMMERAUER 165.0: Baptiste LAMBERT 164.7: Xavier LAPORTE
Top 3 in the task 1: Andy TALLIA 2: Baptiste LAMBERT 3: Xavier LAPORTE
Best newcomer: Kaver ROK (9)
Top 3 ladies in the task 1: Violeta JIMENEZ 2: Kari ELLIS 3: Sandra ANTONY
Top 3 teams in the task 1: Niviuk 1 2: Ozone 3: Northwest Paragliding
In the team competition the top two pilots in each team are scored and the second one gives the ranking. The highest placed second team pilot was Pierre Remy flying for team Niviuk 1.
