Give the strong Mistral winds again today we hung out and waited for the weather forecast and Mandatory pilot safety meeting. Both turned out to be useful. The meteo forecaster was quite specific about the local weather and Klaus Holmann, a legendary sail plane pilot who has a local airfield just north of Laragne gave an even more specific weather briefing showing specific ridges (and parts of ridges) that worked in two prevailing conditions as well as how the topography shaped the winds.

The safety meeting got interesting when Gerolf spoke and addressed the issue of how the pilot can maintain their safety by using their VG ropes to increase the pitch of their gliders when they enter areas of rough air (as well at many other times). He indicated that full VG was really only appropriate for final glide in smooth conditions.

He also recommended not full VG at steep launches allowing the base tube to come out a bit.

We did get to march through town with youngsters carrying our flags and country name in front of each team. The town was very receptive and many people came out to watch the parade. It was lead by a drum band, which provided a salsa beat. I couldn't get the Brazilians, who were in the parade just in front of us, to dance, but that didn't stop me dancing in the parade.

After many layers of French officials spoke and welcomed us and the FAI called the Worlds to order, we got to eat in the town hall.

It looks like it will be blown out Monday and maybe Tuesday.