The British Championships returned to the world famous site of St-André-les-Alpes in Southern France for the second and final round of the 2010 season. The venue delivered as per its reputation: reliable, epic XC flying but not without incident. With 150 pilots from 18 different countries (61 Brits) this was to be the largest and one of the most successful competitions of the year.
Day 1 - 62.1km race to goal
With a forecast of increasing wind, a classic St André zig-zag was set in the protected area around launch. The 8km start cylinder gave two options for the start, and it was to be the pilots who made the into-wind jump onto Mont Mouchon before the gun who would be best placed with a buoyant cross-wind glide to the first turnpoint whereas those starting at the antennas were faced with an into-wing leg that frustrated several. Once into the race, the first leg of the task was epic with strong climbs and fantastic mountain racing. However, the increasing westerly wind began to make itself felt and the second half was much trickier, with a few forced to double back and climb again even on the final glide. 2009 French Champion Pierre Remy (Ozone Mantra R10) won the day with an incredible average speed of 36.5km/h and Emile van Wyk finished in the top ten on his Gin Boomerang GTO. Finally, the task was stopped with about 30 pilots in goal due to the strengthening wind.Day 2 - no task
Very strong winds all day meant no chance for a task. Instead we ran an hour-long question-and-answer session with the top British pilots before dispersing to enjoy the area.Day 3 - 81.7km Race to goal
The winds had subsided leaving just a light SW'ly and so the classic out-and-return task to Allos to the NE was set. From the start pilots scooted along, taking strong climbs and gliding high and fast to the first turnpoint (the landing field in Allos) in almost a straight line. Heavy sink near the turnpoint flushed those who had not topped up before taking it, and many of the lead gaggle were left grovelling. Higher pilots were able to tag the turnpoint and get back over the previous ridge, saving several minutes and a lot of stress! The return from Allos would turn out to be the crux. The SW'ly meteo wind reinforced the valley wind and pilots who got low struggled to make progress. Meanwhile, those taking the high ground raced back to St André in style. Russell Ogden (Ozone Mantra R10) won the day in just under two hours, and 84 pilots made it to goal.Day 4 - 88.3km race to goal
This day would be the most controversial of the competition. The forecast was for stability in the flats but some thermals in the mountains. Therefore, a large triangle was set, keeping pilots in the big mountains where the thermals were likely to be strongest: north to the start of the Dormillouse ridge, then south to south end of the Montagne de Coupe, before flying back to St André and goal. The terrain was epic and a myriad of route options available with no obvious "correct" one. Every possible route was flown, and every route worked - of course some were faster than others. The plethora of options quickly dispersed the gaggles but it was once again Russell Ogden who found the fastest path to take the task win. 87 pilots got to goal, as well as wind technician Idris Birch on his ancient Gin Oasis, but the day was marred by no less than five reserve deployments and two tree landings scattered around the course. Luckily, there were no serious injuries.Day 5 - 68.4km race to goal
High cloud was expected later and pilots were feeling a little fatigued from two days of full-on alpine flying so a short but interesting task was set using turnpoints in the valley bottoms to keep the options open. The lead gaggle pushed on hard but with, once again, with no obvious route to follow they were forced to think at every step. The high cloud arrived shortly after the leaders landed in goal, but the thermals kept working and 100 pilots earned their goal beers. Russell Ogden was fastest for the third time in a row, but the lion's share of the lead-out points went to Luc Armant (Ozone Mantra R10) who had done the bulk of the work.Day 6 - 86.4km race to goal
Once again, a new task for the area was set that would prove to be very interesting. After five days without cumulus, they were forecast for today and formed in much greater numbers than expected. The start was SW of launch, the first turnpoint NE, and the penultimate turnpoint was to the S before the classic finish. Drawn on a map there was once again no obvious route and no one on launch had a clear idea of how they would fly the task. The first leg was relatively straightforward with the pilots who chose the Cordeil having a much more fun than those diving onto the ridge at Lambruisse. The turnpoint on the edge of the big mountains to the NE did not provide any great difficulties, but the principle leg heading S to the penultimate turnpoint would prove decisive. With the cumulus clouds developing horizontally there was a lot of shade and a few big names bombed out after the Côte Longue. Neil Roberts was the man who made it through first, taking his first 1000 point task win with Emile van Wyk once again finishing amongst the top competition wings on his Gin Boomerang GTO. At the end of the day, despite the tricky conditions, 60 pilots made it into goal.At the end of the penultimate day, Russell Ogden was dominating the Open, Emile van Wyk had extended his lead in the Serial Class, but the title of British Champion was undecided. Jamie Messenger had slipped down into third place due to a couple of bomb-outs and the title was split between arch-rivals Neil Roberts and 2008 Champion Craig Morgan. Craig had the edge, but after eleven tasks Neil was only seven points behind. The final day of St André would be critical, but the forecast was uncertain, and as only 1000-point tasks count for the Champs no-one really knew if Neil would get the opportunity to catch Craig.
Day 7 - 76.6km race to goal
There were two forecasts. The first said it would be far too windy, the second said that it would be OK where we were. We went up to launch in the hope that the it would be the second, not the first, that was correct. A carefully planned task was set, keeping pilots in the areas expected to be most protected from the wind. The start of the task was a blast, until pilots ended up on the Lambruisse ridge. Here it was windy, and behind it was even more so. The task was maintained with the leaders making fast progress. Wave bars started to form in the Durance valley and once they began to form near St André the task was stopped. Marking back ten minutes, the leader was Nicolas Treins (Ozone Mantra R10) who scored just shy of 400 points for his efforts. Most pilots landed safely in the Thorame valley, a few flew back to base, but the day did not count for the Championships and so the positions at the end of day 6 became the final positions.Open overall
Russell Ogden convincingly won the Open, ahead of rising French star Martin Bonis (Ozone Mantra R10). Mark "Wagga" Watts (Gin Boomerang 7) flew like a man possessed to seize third place ahead of an exceptionally strong field. Emile van Wyk dominated the Serial Class - and most of the competition wings to - in a tour de force demonstration of what a skilled pilot on a Gin Boomerang GTO can do. Swiss pilot Michael Küffer took the 2nd place Serial Class and the Sports Class crown on his Niviuk Artik XP, just ahead of Julian Robinson (Gradient Avax XC2). French XC hound Bertrand Bellet (Gradient Avax XC2) claimed the Sports Bronze for a truly multinational Sports Class podium. The female winner was current French Champion, Christine Metias (Gin Boomerang 7).Championships overall
With twelve good tasks flown in fourteen days and all but one counting for the Champs, this was one of the hardest fought Championships in years for the 66 British pilots who attended one or both rounds.Hardcore racer Craig Morgan seized the silverware for his second British Championship title in a year with no discards, adding consistency to his blistering speed, whereas traditionally consistent Neil Roberts demonstrated increasing boldness with his first task to finish a mere sliver behind in second. Jamie Messenger took third place. Emile van Wyk not only held off Serial Class challenges from Kirsty Cameron (Advance Omega 8) and Richard Bungay (Gin Boomerang GTO) but finished 7th overall putting numerous competition wings to shame. Kirsty proved her increasing skill and maturity as a pilot, not only winning her third Women's British Championship, but also teaching most of the boys a thing or two about flying! Julian Robinson won the Sports Class and Juan-Sebastian Ospina (Axis Mercury) was awarded Best Newcomer.
Results
