Friday 11.08 - Day Six - No task and price giving

    Again post cold front conditions though this time the wind is stronger. Despite some moments of south wind at the take off, the organizers take the safe decision of no task today. So the competition remains with the last overal results:
Jouni Makkonen (Finland, Gradient) is first, Joachim Skondras (Greece, MAC) is second and Vitaly Ermakov (Russia, Gradient) is third. Godfrey Wennes is fourth with the new Omega 7 prototype. Among serial class (up to DHV 2) Rumen Zhekov (Bulgaria, Gradient) is first, Alexandru Cojocari (Moldova, GIN) is second and Ivelin Iliev (Bulgaria, ASA) is third. Among women Hana Matyaskova (Czech Republic, Gradient) is first, Renata Kuhnova (Czech Republic, Sky Paragliders) is second and Petia Bodurova (Bulgaria, Gradient) is third.
The final results and the competition database file.



Thursday 10.08 - Day Five - No valid task

    The increasing cloudness in the sky and the increasing SE wind confirmed the forecasted passing of ocluded front. A symbolic 26 km task was set but the main goal was landing next to LUK Oil petrol station for some photo sessions. The strong head wind prevented pilots reaching the first turnpoint but the spot landing was done well. In the afternoon the pilots visited the hot mineral water pool of Banya and in the evening there was warming up for the LOOP photo contest.


Wednesday 09.08 - Day Four - Race to Goal

    The best day of the competition started with blue sky and early cumulus clouds over the mountain. The forecast was for excellent gradient and moderate but decreasing west wind. A 94 km task along the mountain range was set: Sopot-Skobelevo-Karnare-Sopot. The take off was opened at 12:15 and the task at 12:45. There were many multicore thermals above the take off and space for many many gliders in the air. Such a colorful sky. Few big groups which started early joined at the edge of the start cylidner. Then fast race to the first turn point and even spreading of the pilots along the course. On the way back later in the afternoon clouds diminished and the conditions weakened but after half an hour they started working smoother and may be better. During the day the cloudbase reached 2100 m amsl and climbs up to 7 m/s.
    22 pilots in goal with Valery Tzvetanov (Bulgaria, Airwave) first, Sandor Barth (Hungary, MAC) second and Balazs Vertes (Hungary, Axis) is third.
This was the biggest successful task made ever in Bulgaria!
Task 3 results and more photos.


Tuesday 08.08 - Day Tree - Open Distance

    After the classic cold front from yesterday evening the day started with dynamic sky with lenticularices and large areas of middle clouds. The wind at Botev peak at 9 am was 8-10 m/s west, at the landing it was south and at the take off it was 1-2 m/s north. The forecast was for moderate to strong west wind and overcasted sky. In Sofia and west of Sopot it was completely overcasted but the organizers decided competiors to go up and wait at the take off because there might be a sudden clearing of the sky. At 11 am the wind on the take off was already changing from S and mainly from W but the higher unstability and the working tick cloud layers above the mountain weakened the possible rotor and turbulence. An Open Distance task was set toward East and Black Sea with possibility to fly over 200 km. The task window was open from 12:15 to 17:00 and the task deadline was 18:00 (a kind of insurance in case of unexpected weather development). The completely overcasted sky and the few bombed out pilots made people think that it's a waisted day but about 13:30 the miracle came. Vast clearing of the sky came from west and the best competiors used it to climb quickly above the take off and follow their dreams. The sunny window lasted about 40 minutes but the competitors continued climbing later even in a complete shade. Congratulation to the pilots who decided not to take off because of the increasing west wind. Later in the afternoon there was another sunny gap which was also succesfuly used. The difficulty to the furthest pilots came around Kazanlak where a dying congestus with heavy rain and strong north wind pushed pilots 90 degrees away from the course.
    Veselin Ovcharov (Bulgaria, Axis) is first with 60 km, Georgi Jordanov (Bulgaria, Gradient) is second and Jouny Makkonen (Finland, Gradient) is third.
Task 2 results


Monday 07.08 - Day Two - No Task

    There was a heavy rain during the night and as it continued in the morning the organizers announced that there will be on task this day. The other motives were the higher humidity and the forecast from more rain later. Part of the competitors went to the hot mineral water pool of Banya.
    Surprisingly in the afternoon the sky cleared and condition started working. There were various clouds and despite the fast moving of the higher clouds from SW, the lower cumulus clouds were calm and with high enough cloud base. The rest pilots in Sopot flew well on the yesterday task. Valery Tzvetanov made the first in Bulgaria jump with a paraglider from a paraglider. Petko dropped him as a bomber and climbed and landed on the Sopot take off alone with the tandem. Later there were acro tricks until the last pilots who landed quickly with big ears because of the coming frontal monster.
Here are some photos. - Skynomad Photo Gallery

Sunday 06.08 - Day First - Elapsed Time Speed Run

    The Day started with even layer of middle clouds, but the organizers ignored the depressing forecast of one server and bet on NOAA (good gradient and tick inversion layer preventing thunderstorms). At 10.30 the competitors went to the take off. At some places in the valley sunny spots appeared and the conditions started working - fat cumulus clouds formed (their base was about 400 m above the take off because of the last night rain). A standard 52 km task was set: Sopot - Vasil Levsi-Karnare-Sopot. The start window was open between 13.00 and 15.00.
    The most inpatient competitors who took off bombed out quickly in the shade. Those who waited for sunshine over Sopot climbed easily and continued flying the task supported by the following general sky clearing. The higher main wind was from South West and the lower local wind was from South East thus the wiser flew the task with back wind i.e. toward Vasil Levski it was better to fly higher, then to Karnare - lower and then to Sopot higher again. Those who were late with the take off moment had problems with the last leg because of the increasing of the local SE wind. Finally 9 pilots made the goal. First is Balasz Vertes (Hungary, Axis), second is Jonahannes Damisch (Austria, GIN), third is Ivelin Iliev (Bulgaria, ASA).
    The boss of the Hungarian Team (and member of the pilot committee) was having problems with his GPS - the first 10 km from his tracklog were missing so he got minimal distance points despite he finished among the first! In the evening pilots partied in the Club until waiting for the results.
Here are some photos. - Skynomad Photo Gallery
Results After Task 1

Saturday 05.08 - Registration and Opening Ceremony
90 pilots from 20 countries registered to the competition. The pilot committee consisted of: Peter Simonics (Hungaria), Godfrey Wennes (Australia), Orlin Dimov (Bulgaria). After the opening ceremony the pilots enjoyed stunning fireworks, and etno trans party with free beers & fire magics.

....
   The maximum number of competitors will be 150. The Sopot take off and most of the landing places are big enough. We will accept 170 registrations. Those above 150 still have chance for participating as there are usualy about 10-15 cancelations of registered competitors due to unforseen circumstances (job, family, etc.) The next step is the collection of the entry fee and it may free some more places for the competition.

  There are 153 registered pilots from 27 countries - Austria, USA, Canada, UK, Hungary, Greece, Croatia, Poland, Turkey, Macedonia, Russia, Norway, Sweeden, Finland, France, Japan, Korea, Bulgaria, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Israel, Czech Republic, Portugal, New Zealand, Ukraine and Mexico.

  The competition is becoming BIG and thus we ask pilots without enough mountain flying experience to come and participate as guest pilots.
  The guest pilot fee is 30 euro and includes the cable lift transfer, the retrieve from XC, map and more ;-)
  The guest pilots can fly the tasks but they can launch only before or after the competition start window (which is usually between 13:00 and 14:00)