The Winners podium for Race 2 at SGP Vinon
The thirteenth series of the FAI Sailplane Grand Prix has arrived at Vinon-sur-Verdon, where the Association Aéronautique Verdon Alpilles is hosting the French round from 30 August to 5 September. Vinon at the foot of the Southern Alps has long been a proving ground for mountains soaring and. Twenty pilots from across Europe are competing for points toward qualification for the Series 13 final in Chile.
Race 1: Kiessling Sets the Pace
Racing opened on 30 August with strong conditions across the task area. The day began under blue skies before cumulus development spread through the afternoon, with cloud bases reaching 3,500 m over the mountains. The organisers set a 275 kilometre task running north from Manosque Pont, out to turnpoints at Jausiers and La Cluse, back through a report point at Pontoise Farm, and home to the finish at Vinon. The start line opened at 12:50 UTC with a ceiling of 1,600 m.
Mario Kiessling, flying a Ventus 3T, took the win after a well-judged route choice on the run north. Rather than following the direct line down the middle of the Durance valley near Sisteron, he worked the west side via the Chabre ridge, picking up lift that gave him an edge over pilots who had taken the more obvious line. That decision paid off on the run home: Kiessling covered the final leg to Pontoise Farm at a sector speed of 233 kph, more than 22 kph faster than his closest rival, and crossed the finish line with 121 metres of height in hand. His overall speed for the task was 128 kph, completed in just over two hours.
Didier Hauss, flying a JS-1, had led after the first leg at 109 kph and stayed with Kiessling through the middle of the course, but a final glide of 211 kph left him 34 seconds behind at the finish. Erik Borgmann took third in a JS-3, touching the finish line at exactly the minimum height of 315 metres despite spending around forty percent of his flight time thermalling, finishing just 59 seconds off the lead. Kévin Faur and Conrad Hartter completed the top five, both within a minute and a half of the winner.
The result set an early tone for the week: with speeds this close, positioning on the course and the timing of climbs mattered more than raw glider performance.
Mario Keissling won Race 1
Race 2: Didier Hauss wins the day
Didier completed the 319.57 km task at 134.4 kph to win the day and put him in the lead with 18 points. Patrick Puskeiller took 2nd place gaining his first 8 points. Mario Keissling came 3rd gaining 7 points ant putting him in 2nd place after two races.
Good weather
The rest of the conest week is set gor doo weather and a full 7 races should be run.
Full results and live tracking at sgp.aero/france-2016
Eric Borgmann
