After the Worlds

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I must confess, it took me a couple of days to get used to being back here in Hamburg. It was just great to see good friends, I was so happy about that. Some say that the Worlds at Tegelberg were, as a competition, a disaster. As far as the weather is concerned, I think they are absolutely right. A competition without a single task is of course the worst that pilots and organisers can imagine. On the other hand, would like to express my respect for the way the organisers and also the pilots dealt with the situation. They all had taken time off. The pilots had put a lot of effort into preparing themselves for a world class comp. They had spent a lot of money. The organisers had put a lot of effort into organising the comp, they had been working very hard for a year. And then, we waited day after day for conditions to improve. They did not. That would have been a good reason to become depressed or angry, at least to be in an extremely bad mood. I know that pilots and organisers were very unhappy. But still, they kept their spirits up. The organisers planned activities for us during the day and in the evenings. I talked to several pilots who thought that this had been very helpful for them. The organisers were always cheerful and friendly, although they must have been devastated. And so were the pilots. I think that showed a lot of personal strength. My compliments to all of them.

Right the week after the Worlds, the German Open at Hochries, not far from Rosenheim, took place. The weather was not much better, it did not allow for more than two (short) tasks, 55 and 51 km. The sensation was that Natalia Petrova from Russia was first, followed by Corinna Schwiegershausen. Two women in first and second place, how good’s that?! You can find the results here.

By the way, Rebi posted some funny videos of me explaining how hanggliding works and what I think about the Tegelberg region on her Worlds Blog. She is really dangerous with a video camera in her hands 😉.

To keep you entertained: Davis posted a video of Tim Travers hanggliding. It’s magic, also with very nice vocals accompanying it. And this trailer for the Worlds shows what flying there could have been like.

Needless to say that I miss flying a lot...

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