US pilots clean up at the Ozone Chabre Open 2026

The Ozone Chabre Open came to a close at the weekend and perhaps fittingly it was the American pilots who triumphed, just before the July 4th celebrations. David Gridley (USA), Mark Graham, (USA) and Nick Giguere (USA) were first, second and third respectively in the overall class.

First woman went to another American, Chelsea Mckenzie. Dutch pilot Kim Paauw was second woman while Anna Hadders (SWE) was third. Meet director Jocky Sanderson described it as a “triumphant” end to the event, “with 124 happy pilots flying six days, with five tasks.”

The Ozone Chabre Open is a week-long international, stress-free competition for pilots flying wings up to EN-C. “Providing a learning environment for experienced XC pilots new to competition, the week includes task briefings and de-briefings as well as a number of social events,” say organisers.

Now in its 19th edition, the event is organised by local club, Chabre Vol Libre. It is sponsored by Ozone as well as Cross Country magazine. This year’s edition was a memorial edition for Jez Coombes, one of the co-organisers of the competition who sadly died in a non-flying accident last year.

The tasks ranged from 28km to 79km. They were all held in the Laragne region of southern France which is known for its limestone cliffs, booming thermals and high cloudbase as well as good landing options.

Results:

Overall

1 David Gridley (USA), Niviuk Artik R 2, 3,230.3
2 Mark Graham (USA), Ozone Delta 3, 2934.5
3 Nick Giguere (USA), Ozone Lyght, 2,803.9

Female

1 Chelsea Mckenzie (USA), Ozone Lyght, 2,524.9
2 Kim Paauw (NED), Phi Maestro 2 light, 2,281.9
3 Anna Hadders (SWE), Ozone Lyght, 2,117.2

See all the results, including Rookies, Sport, Teams and Recreation.