Fribourg's Trophy F3J Jetschwil/Fribourg 2021

The third edition of the Fribourg's Trophy F3J took place at a new venue in Jetschwil, near Düdingen. Just like the local fondue, the weather was a mixed bag: light drizzle on Saturday and sunny, windless conditions on Sunday. Among the 20 pilots competing, some came from France or Germany. This year, the competition was intended to be a light-hearted event—a dress rehearsal for a promising 2022 edition!

For some time now, electric winches have been used exclusively for gaining altitude. In gloomy weather like Saturday’s or with light winds like Sunday’s, winch-assisted altitude gains are crucial. We saw some nice thermals form and some good gains in altitude toward the end of the competition—not very strong but steady in this autumnal atmosphere.

There hasn’t been an arms race in F3J for several years now, and this year was no exception—we didn’t see any new innovations. So we’re sticking with the Maxa, Pike Précision, Dynamik, and Explorer2 from previous years. Nevertheless, a “Cycone”—a German glider less commonly seen in Switzerland—caught the eye with its turbulators placed on the upper and lower surfaces of the wings and the stabilizer.

We are witnessing a handover of leadership in the “F3” technical committee: Ruedi Schaub, who has devoted himself body and soul to these categories (F3B, F3K, F3F, F3J), is passing the torch to the organizer of this competition, Markus Schneuwly. Schneuwly fully understands that in a competition, it is important to thank the farmer who is kind enough to provide the land and facilities, as well as the local authorities present, who recognize that our activities are quiet and environmentally friendly.

Two 15-minute fly-offs highlighted the competition and crowned Dominique Wettstein as the winner, ahead of Thomas Kuebler and Roland Kurtz, the top pilot from the qualifying rounds. ■

Thierry Ruef