Back from Alsace, where I spent three days with 40 pilots from Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Germany, and France for a round of the Eurotour/F3F World Cup, the RC-Network FAI Vosgen.
Friday, the competition got off to a good start after the briefing around 10:00 AM. We were at Battriekopf, and the conditions were quite good. We completed five rounds in conditions that became increasingly soft in the afternoon. We stopped flying around 5:15 PM, as the lift became a bit unpredictable.
Saturday, we met up at Schweizel for a day of free flying. The wind, very light, kept shifting. Around 2:00 PM, the organizer decided to declare the day a "Day Off."
Sunday, we met at 9:30 AM on the Schweizel slope to try for more rounds. We completed the first round, but were forced to interrupt the second round as the weather was becoming truly threatening, and it wasn't safe to remain exposed without shelter as the storm and rain approached. The radar echoes clearly indicated that we were going to get soaked!
The organizer initially decided to return to the parking lot temporarily, but ultimately decided to hold the awards ceremony as the weather wouldn't allow for flying again in the afternoon.
The awards ceremony was cut short as the downpour intensified.
Markus Meissner (Switzerland) took third place after a strong final round. Simon Eggimann (Switzerland) finished ahead of him, and to prevent our Swiss friends from dominating the podium, I won this edition of the RC-Network FAI. I didn't win any rounds in the competition, but I managed to minimize the damage in the poor or average conditions and achieve respectable results when I had relatively good ones. I flew five rounds in Odin and one round in Wasabi 2, with flying weights ranging from 3.2 kg on Friday to 2.7 kg at the lightest.
This competition remains a highlight of the season due to its central location in Europe. A huge thank you to Jacky Kugler, Tobias Reik, and the entire organizing team. The atmosphere on the slope was fantastic, the region is beautiful, and the food is amazing—to top it all off!
See you soon for the rest of the season!
Full results: https://f3xvault.com/?action=event&function=event_view&event_id=4106
Photo album on Google: https://photos.app.goo.gl/cSmf8wzqMgg9JY3F7