2011 Swiss F3F Hang Gliding Championship in La Roche

Seventeen weather-resistant pilots made their way to La Roche in the canton of Fribourg, including several top pilots from the F3B, F5B/F, and Dynamic Soaring categories.
In addition to the Swiss championship title, pilots were also competing for the third spot on the national team to represent Switzerland at the World Championships in October 2012 on Rügen.
The forecast for Sunday called for winds of up to 40 km/h from the southwest, as well as the possibility of isolated rain showers. The wind blew at the predicted strength, and Mother Nature took full advantage of the opportunity to let it rain that morning. So we stood on the mountain until around noon, letting the rain drip onto our heads and hoods. At 12:00 p.m., however, we were finally able to get started. Stefan Böhlen kicked off the 2011 German Championships. The wind fluctuated between 4.5 and 6.5 m/s and was blowing at a relatively favorable angle (i.e., 90 degrees) to the slope. The times in the first round all ranged between 60 and 80 seconds for the 10 courses, until Reto Blumer “shocked” everyone with an extremely aggressive run—including some good air—and a time of 53 seconds. With this run, he also achieved the “thousand.”
The second round went to Stefan Bertschi with a 0.03-second lead over Niklaus Huggler.

The wind steadily picked up, and Round 3—with winds between 10 and 13 m/s—was the fastest. Stefan Bertschi once again won this round with the fastest time of the day (45.81 sec.), ahead of Niklaus Huggler (46 sec.). The slope (many thanks to the farmer who very spontaneously allowed us to use it) proved to be relatively treacherous. The right-hand turn was a real blast—with the right use of altitude and the snap-flap, you could accelerate wonderfully out of the turn—but if you took the wrong line on the left, all that nice speed was gone again. To make matters worse, the wind shifted slightly to the right as the afternoon progressed, which made the return leg from left to right painfully slow at times.
Starting in round 4, the wind died down a bit again, and the best

Times ranged from 50.50 (Round 4) by S. Bertschi to 53.81 (Round 5) by S. Böhlen and 53.47 in Round 6 by M. Meissner. After 6 rounds of flying, the scoring office began evaluating the results, and “a little later” (due to technical issues with the Excel spreadsheet used for scoring), the rankings were announced. The winner was Stefan Bertschi, followed by Andreas Böhlen (his first F3F competition!) and Niklaus Huggler. Congratulations to these three. Congratulations also to all the other participants, for some of whom this was their first competition of this kind. The last open spot on the national team went to Martin Kopp. Thus, Switzerland will be represented at the World Championships by Reto Blumer, Martin Kopp, and Stefan Bertschi.
A big thank you goes to Alexandre Mittaz, who helped out at the bases practically all day, as well as to Ruedi Schaub and Hansruedi Zwingli, who both—despite losing their models early on—braved the weather and also contributed to the smooth operation at the turn markers.
Last but not least, a big thank you to Reto Blumer, who organized the 2011 Swiss Championships.

The F3F category (slope gliding) has been an official FAI category since 2010, even though competitions have been held internationally for a long time.

The first World Championship will take place on Rügen from October 6 to 13, 2012.

Unlike the F3J and, above all, F3B categories, F3F requires less equipment, as winches are not needed. The flight task is also—or so one might think—relatively simple. The pilot has 30 seconds to gain altitude and must then fly a 100-meter course—defined by turn markers on the left and right—10 times. In the end, the fastest pilot wins the round. Unlike the speed discipline in F3B, the pilot is on his own during the course, meaning he has no helper to call out the turns. Simple, but—as always—the devil is in the details, or rather, in the execution. In my view, there are the following four factors for a successful run:

• The ability to read the slope—that is, where is there the most lift under the wings?
• Anticipating the turns. Every extra meter flown before turning doubles on the way back.
• The correct turning technique. In good conditions, you should accelerate during the turn; in poor conditions, you should lose as little speed as possible.
• You also need a bit of luck with the weather. It’s simply faster to fly in a thermal bubble than in a downdraft.

Of course, the model itself also has some influence, but this is often overestimated. Above all, it’s important that the model is properly tuned and that the pilot is thoroughly familiar with its flight characteristics. This means: It’s better to have a slightly older model that has proven itself over many flight hours than the latest model from a prestigious Eastern European manufacturer that has barely been flown in yet. A new—

You can certainly gain your first competitive experience with a 2- to 2.5-meter glider (Erwin, Spider, Typhoon, etc.).

Anyone interested in learning more about the F3F “scene” in Switzerland should visit the website www.f3f-ch.blogspot.com. There you’ll find all the information about upcoming competitions. The 2012 Swiss Championship is scheduled for next May. ■

*Stefan Bertschi/(R. Schaub)*