http://www.guarnieritrophy.it/index.php?dest=delta&sub=result&task=delta_task_1&lang=en

The weather turned good with light winds on Sunday and a cloud base of over
10,000'. Thirty to forty pilots showed up for the day and a 128 km task was
called which took us up and down the valley in the Dolomites back and forth
between Fonzaso and Belluno.

Click to see the big picture.

The launch window opened at 12:30 PM and the race started started at 1:30 PM.
The fastest time was about three hours at about 40 km/h which is a normal speed
for hang gliders. There were lots of slow areas and large areas shaded by the
cumulus clouds.

While the predominant glider at the competition was a Icaro 2000 Laminar Z9 or
Z8, the Wills Wing pilots were 1,2,3 on the podium. The fourth finishing pilot
flew an Airborne C4. A significant number of pilots got to goal, but didn't take
the last turnpoint, which was across the valley.

The cu's started forming before noon to the north in the steep mountains, the
Bellunoese Dolomiti. They continued through out the day sometimes getting a bit
vertical and casting large shadows. The whole area is extremely beautiful with
the mixture of clouds and steep mountains for the whole course.

There was a bit of carnage in the LZ. These competition pilots just have a
terrible time landing even with a nice head wind and no turbulence. One combat
pilot was completely out of control and landed just between two parked gliders
on the side of the LZ. He wasn't even headed down the LZ.

Another pilot in his Z9, had his hands about a foot from the base tube and came
in lying down and landed that way taking out a downtube and injuring his arm (I
saw it later in a sling). There were numerous other bad landings with minimal
control on the part of the pilots. They were often flying too slowly.

The pilots of the Para and Delta Club at Feltre put on a great (if short)
competition, with plenty of sponsorship. We had lunches provided both days. A
big dinner on Saturday night. An awards presentation on Sunday with a buffet,
and an embroidered tee-shirt. As well as a competition. All for 40 Euros.