Grant Crossingham and Paul Harvey won the Class 1 and Class 5 (Rigids) titles respectively at the British Hang Gliding Nationals and Chabre Open 2018, which took place in Laragne, France during the last week of August. Sports Class was won by Julian Todd on a Wills Wing U2.
Wendy Buckley was one of the retrieve drivers, and she wrote this report:
Four tasks were completed overall, and each day pilots launched from a different site, ranging from far-off Saint André-les-Alpes for Task 1, through Aspres up the Nasty Track for Task 3 to familiar-but-different North Chabre launch for Task 4.
The four flyable days were consecutive with two days canned at the end of the competition because of high winds. This left opportunity for some family holiday time, some free flying and a lot of climbing, and made for a rewarding and enjoyable week. The rain held off for party night on Thursday as well!
Class 1 victor Grant Crossingham performed consistently throughout the week. Ollie Chitty, who finished in second, was chuffed to have won Task 3 decisively. His advice at briefing the next day was “Follow Grant”. Maximum 1000 points were awarded to Grant for Task 2 showing that he made goal as did a number of other pilots. (Always good for the retrieve drivers when pilots make it back to the campsite goal!).
Third-placed Darren Brown was featured on French Television, FR3, probably because he launched off singing “I’m so Excited!”. He landed, still singing, in goal but the reports from the gaggle are that he doesn’t really know enough of the lyrics to keep it up while in the sky.
Class 5 winners. L-R: Tim King, Paul Harvey, Ricardo Marques da Costa
In the Rigids’ competition, Tim King had won the first task by a massive lead and Ricardo Marques da Costa of Portugal narrowly won Task 2, with Steve Gill in third place for Task 3 so the five-man class provided quite some excitement.
The sports class comprised five pilots, including one woman. Julian Todd won, followed by Nestor London from Colombia in second, who came up the ranking from behind with a great Task 4 result to stifle second place from John Cheale who finished third.
The competition family were subdued to hear that one pilot landed in a tree during Task 3 and it was poignant that the following two days were cancelled because of weather/safety concerns. Everyone was relieved to hear that the crash resulted mainly in a broken arm which was well attended to in Digne hospital. Photos of the smiling patient were posted to the competition Whatsapp group.
Sports Class winners. L-R: Nestor London, Julian Todd, John Cheale
Results
Class 1
1: Grant Crossingham, GB, Moyes RX3.5 Pro, 2,873 points
2: Ollie Chitty, GB, Moyes RX5 Pro, 2,714
3: Darren Brown, GB, Wills Wing T2C-154, 2,632
Class 5
1: Paul Harvey, GB, Atos VQ Race, 3,117 points
2: Tim King, GB, Atos VR, 3,018
3. Ricardo Marques da Costa, PO, 2,542
Sports Class
1. Julian Todd, GB, Wills Wing U2, 619 points
2. Nestor London, CO, Wills Wing Sport2, 589
3. John Cheale, GB, Wills Wing U2, 572
