Worlds 2009

17th FAI World Hang Gliding Championships

Tweets from Jamie

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naughtylawyer: Things got very west and gusty on the Chabre, so they've finally cancelled it. Small hope for tomorrow.

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naughtylawyer: 66km triangle back to camping. We're back at Chabre after driving halfway to Aspres earlier. http://twitpic.com/2im6x1

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naughtylawyer: Headed to Aspres today but got stalled by clouds and light rain. http://twitpic.com/2ikush

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naughtylawyer: Another short one for me. Air was too rough for my delicate sensibilities so I went out and landed in even rougher air :-/

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naughtylawyer: We have a task!...zigging and zagging for 120km then back to the camping goal field.

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naughtylawyer: Aspres launch today...yippy! But things are looking every bit as stable as previous days :-(

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naughtylawyer: Lower north launch again but conditions looking too much like yesterday with quite a bit of west in the wind. 68km task to Poluimoisson.

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naughtylawyer: Day canned :-( launching conditions not safe.

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naughtylawyer: Window opening and closing. Launch conditions iffy and many nasty dusties rolling through picking up gliders http://twitpic.com/2hq5hu

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naughtylawyer: North launch, nice looking sky with lighter wind. 105km task with goal out there somewhere ;-)

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naughtylawyer: Task cancelled...just a bit too windy.

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naughtylawyer: Windy on launch today. Safety committee watching, no one unloading, just waiting on the rebreifing at noon. http://twitpic.com/2hfk7d

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naughtylawyer: Day 1 of the British Nationals. 125 km task all around the area. Looking like a good day so far!

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naughtylawyer: Probably 50 here already and likely many mote to come.

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naughtylawyer: Elio, Andre, Davide, Zippy...many more.

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naughtylawyer: Jommy and Carlos here! ;-))

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naughtylawyer: Antoine, Blay, Alex, Wolfi, Mario...

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naughtylawyer: Manfred and Christian next with another 15 or so coming shortly.

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naughtylawyer: OB first in!

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naughtylawyer: First ones coming in low.

The Brits Blog
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Worlds Official Blog

Italy takes the Gold
Podium finish ... L-R: Jonny Durand, Alex Ploner and Thomas WeissenbergerChampagne moment ... World Champion Alex Ploner with the Gold Medal winning team Italy at the awards ceremony in Laragne this morningMore pictures of the opening ceremony in this Flickr set

World Championship Winners!
Gold: Alex Ploner (Italy), Icaro2000 Z9Silver: Jonny Durand (Australia), Moyes Litespeed RS 3.5Bronze: Thomas Weissenberger (Austria), Moyes Litespeed RS 4And in the Team competitionGold: ItalySilver: AustriaBronze: FranceCongratulations to all, and congratulations to the new World Champion, Alex Ploner. We've had a BLAST! Full results on www.chabre2009.com

Friday 3 July: Task 8: 154km
10.30pm: Results coming very soon... waiting for one last guy to download then it's all official...8.30pm: Alex Ploner has just been into the download room, above. He got to goal in 4hrs 1min.See more goal pics in this Flickr setManfred congratulates Alex Ploner...Manfred explains what happened to him...But who cares? Manfred's been World Champion three times already, and now he gets the girl!7pm: The drama doesn't stop here. Just when we thought it was all over Manfred Ruhmer appeared to congra

Wives and girlfriends
Victoria Beckham and Man United ... you can keep them. From launch on Aspres, July 2 2009. More WAG pictures here...

Thursday 2 July: Task 7: 113km: Stopped
All the photos from take off and goal are in this Flickr setJonny Durand wins the day10pm: Jonny Durand (AUS) won the day. One point ahead of Antoine Boisselier (FRA). Jon took 2hr 5min 4 seconds, while Antoine took 2hrs 10 mins 20 seconds. No lead out points for Jonny as he took the second start gate and raced through the rest of the field. Pic shows him crossing the line at Ribiers, with the last turnpoint, the ruin at Mison, in the background. Congratulations Jonny! Read about it and watch th

Photos from Wed 1 July
Photos from launch on Wednesday

World Championships photo competition
More photos from yesterday and Monday taken by Getty Images sports photographer Michael SteeleCross Country magazine is running a photo competition during the World Championships. To enter, simply send your three best photos (high resolution, jpgs, non-Photoshopped or manipulated) from the competition to: assistanteditor@xcmag.comInclude your name, address, email and short caption. Prizes include a basket of XC Mag goodies, plus publication in the magazine.Photos must be un-published and taken d

Spaghetti night at Chateauneuf de Chabre
Tuesday night saw the competition field head to Chateauneuf de Chabre for spaghetti and dancing. It was another funny evening - one of many. Photos of the night are all hereTo download a high resolution version (for free) that is suitable for printing:1 Click on the photo you want2 Click the icon 'All sizes' at the top3 Click 'Original'4 Click 'Download the original size'5 Print it from your home printer or email/take it to a photo shop

Wednesday 1 July: Task 6: 89.4km: Cancelled
2.30pm: Pilots all over the sky above Laragne. All landing at the camping field for an early bath. It's all over until tomorrow.2pm: Task cancelled. Big storm development over the mountains to the north (Pic de Bure) mean the task has been cancelled. Many pilots in the air will probably head home to the landing field in Laragne. What a massive shame.1.30pm: OK, sounds like it's a big rush to get in the air. No wonder after yesterday's slow launch. Get up while the going is good. Aspres is also a

Tattoos on launch: 2
The second in an occasional series of bird tattoos spotted on launch. More pictures from today's launch here

Phil Lardner
Phil Lardner has taken the World Championships by storm, scurrilously blogging his way to newfound fame in the hang gliding community and – according to his own well-founded reports – beating the Oz Report, the best known English-language hang gliding blog, at its own game. But who is he?According to his profile he is 41, single, lives in Bray, Co Wicklow, Ireland and likes beekeeping, astronomy and hang gliding. His hang gliding CV shows he has held a number of responsible posts over the ye

Tuesday 30 June: Task 5: 130km: Stopped
5pm: Tom Payne watching from Geneva posted a good question:'How does the scoring work when a task with multiple start gates is stopped with no pilots in goal? If you score it up to the point that it was stopped then pilots who chose a later start gate will have had less time on the course.'The answer according to the scorers is that the task will be scored on distance only, and to 20 minutes before the task was stopped: so as far as the pilot got at 3.24pm. And yes, that means people who took a

Video: Task 3 winner Christian Ciech
Christian Ciech on winning Task 3 and who he think might win the World Championships...

Video: Meet Team Guatemala
Team Guatemala on flying at home, and the comp.

Monday 29 June: Task 4 cancelled
More photos from launch in this Flickr setPlaying the waiting game on Aspres16.00: The task has been cancelled - the wind was just not coming round to the west as hoped. Pilots won't even be able to fly home.15.40: After some time of unlaunchable air, pilots are taking off again. Conditions are slowly improving. About 12 pilots in the air (Manfred is still up at base, waiting). A couple of unlucky ones have landed. The cumulus development is not looking too threatening at the moment.Manfred

Video: How not to land a hang glider part 2
A second video of the looping glider pilot who threw his reserve yesterday.First video here

Sunday 28 June: Task 3: 166km
Some more launch photos are in this Flickr set8.15pm: Zac Majors (USA), above, in download. He crossed the line third. How was it Zac? 'Awesome out there.' Team mate and Task 1 winner Jeff O'Brien wasn't so lucky today - he didn't make goal. How was it? 'Rough.'7.45pm: Ciech, above, in to download. He completed the course in 3hr 9min 55 seconds.Bruce Kavanagh (GB) in to download: 'Incredible day. The second turnpoint was just out of this world.' Everyone liked Pic du Bure today.Christian Ciech b

Video: Manfred Ruhmer on winning Task 2
Manfred Ruhmer talks about his win on Task 2 and why he's come back to competition hang gliding

Video: Here's........ Jonny
Australian team pilot Jonny Durand makes videos every day:

Saturday 27 June: Too windy: no fly
1pm: Sorry for lack of morning updates. Too windy today - so we didn't even go up the hill and the day was cancelled at 10.30am. 9.30am: Extended forecast care of Meteo France, which is producing dedicated forecasts every day for this competition, is sunny, with a risk of storms over mountains to the eastWinds5,500m at 2pm: NW 18 knots – 35 kmh1,500 m at 2pm: 10-15 knots, 30 kmh. However, the forecaster suggests winds will be stronger.Surface at 2pm: Moderate NWWind strengthening through the a

Friday Night Thriller: Fête de la Saint-Jean
A bonfire night opposite the campsite brought pilots and locals out en masse to enjoy Laragne hospitality and beer. The party was a local event – the Fête de la Saint-Jean is an annual bonfire night.Highlights included Team Japan showing in a kimono. He then danced with Team Russia and Team France in a spectacular show of international unity. When he and Team Russia leapt through the pallet fire, we knew a new threshold in international democracy had been breached – sport can do that.Meanwh

Pilot photos
All the pilot photos are in this Flickr setTo download the original high resolution image, in the Flickr set:- Click on the photo you want- Click the icon ‘All Sizes’ at the top of the photo- On ‘Available Sizes’ click ‘Original’- This will give you a photo that you can download and print off at 30cm x 20cm4.30pm: It's raining at the moment. Most pilots are either here:The hardest working pizza guy in Franceor here:Casino supermarket: The pilots' favourite ... open Saturdays, and Sun

Friday 26 June: cancelled
1.40pm: The task was abandoned but most pilots who had rigged chose to launch and fly down. Some had a lot of fun buzzing the launch. It's raining now over Laragne. Tomorrow is another day...12.40pm: The task committee worked hard and fast to plan a route that would avoid the storms, but to no avail. The skies above Chabre clouded fast, and the cumulus are towering on nearby ranges. The day is abandoned.10am: The field has gone up the hill. Looks like they will set an earlyish (and short?) ta

Thursday 25 June: Task 2: 125 km
Manfred's winning smileHe was this high when he got to the line6.30pm: There must be 30 here now. I heard someone ask for a vegemite roll, so some of the Australians have got in too. Results online at www.chabre2009.com later tonight. Check back tomorrow for some more of the same, as long as weather plays ball.6.15pm: For the Brits watching, Carl Wallbank, Gordon Rigg and Bruce Kavanagh are here. For Japan, Norihisa Wada is here too.6pm: We now have 10 pilots across the line. It's been so quiet

Thats Irish :-)

More Psychological Warfare...

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Calculated to distract!There's more than one way to distract a pilot from the serious business of winning a comp... Sometimes it can be very 'hard' to concentrate on the daily task briefing...Zhenya has a lot to answer for!

Don't Hassel The Hoff!

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The Hoff: as we remember him!The Dutch Open saw the arrival of an unexpected surprise guest Competition Director - none other than David Hasselhoff! It seems that The Hoff (moonlighting as Dutch Top Gun, Harm Darwinkel), tired of the interminable auditioning for American Pop Idol decided to take some time out from dashing the hopes of countless, talentless American wannabees, to come to Sigillo and M.C. the Dutch Open at Monte Cucco.It's amazing the to see just how well a little (or indeed, a lo

Hedging their bets

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Budget Travel: France's Hedge PilotsInternational fly-by-nights, the French team have been forced to swap their traditional pastime of bed-hopping for hedge-hopping. Following major cutbacks we can now confirm that times are hard in the French camp. In fact, long gone are the luxury hotels, evening massages and a team doctor to prescribe whatever a pilot fancied. Indeed it seems that the increasingly stingy FFVL won't even cough up enough clams to park the pride of their nation in an official ca

Psycological Warefare

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The English: Innate respect for all things foreign and culturalShedsie anoints the history of GubbioAs any seasoned comp pilot will tell you, the battle for supremacy in the air is fought not in the air, but in the mind. Psychology (maintaining a positive mental attitude even in the face of insurmountable adversity... like when you're at the arse-end of the field, can't see the lead gaggle for dust, and find yourself bombing out in the unlandable boonies), psychology is key to winning the day...

The English 'Stiff Upper Lip'

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A lesbian maid of KhartoumTook a nancyboy up to her room.As she turned out the light, she said:"Lets get things right. Who does what, and with which, and to whom?!"  Tony Stephens: "Take a walk on the wild side!"On a recent stop-over in Thailand, British Open Champion, Tony Stephens (no doubt aided and abetted by less scrupulous 'elements') decided to sample the delights of Bangkok and see what exotic thrills were to be had during a night out on the town.  Like kids in a candy store, T

We no speak Italiano!

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Party animals: Rob Groen, Camo and PhilKaraoki night at the Monte Cucco Hang Gliding Centre (run for your lives... run quite fast...!) saw some interesting (and some really painful) performances by pilots in various states of inebriation (thank God for beer - it makes us sing badly... and sound great!)Aussie pilot, Camo Tunbridge, clearly taken by one particular rendition went up to the DJ to enquire the name of the song:Camo: "What's the name of this song, mate?"DJ: "We no speak Americano!"Camo

Do Not Disturb!

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This seemingly innocent photo of a pair of trainers outside one of the bedroom doors at the Monte Cucco Free Flight Centre during the Pre-Worlds is in fact a secret signal to the Brazilian team, who share the room, not to enter while certain 'nocturnal manoeuvres in the dark' are taking place! Closer inspection (while listening at the door with a bunch of similarly drunken, giggling pilots) revealed Alex Trivelato's name tag sewn inside the shoes! Rock on Alex!Thanks to Camo (sleeping in the roo

Back to civilization...

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After something of a false start on 'the return of the blog', I am finally back home and wired up again to a reliable internet connection. The sleepy town of Sigillo, lost in the wilds of the Umbrian mountains are at the wrong end of an unpaved cart track when it comes to the Information Super Highway (the inter-web thingy that we all love, adore and have come to rely on for our daily dose of porn (come on, be honest now!)) Try as I might, I could not find a reliable connection anywhere in the t

Hang Gliding terms for non comp pilots

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Nose-in: The opening manoeuvre when indulging in cunnilingus! Wind Dummy: Someone who does a Nose-In at precisely the wrong moment!! Scorer / Good Scorer: The pilot who manages to score a home run with the highest number of batten bunnies during a comp (see Johnny Durand.) GAP System: a love triangle. Dutch Open: (see Hadewych van Kempen!) Speed Bar: A speed-dating joint where pilots can find beer and 'ladies of negotiable affection.' Giggle: This is a small gaggle

Wills Wing Bondage Harness

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Dustin Martin let slip that all new Wills Wing harnesses, that have just gone into production, are shipped with a selection of gay porn hidden somewhere inside. He also hinted that more main-stream pornographic material was laminated into the custom made carbon fibre back plates.We are asking all new owners of Wills' harnesses to take a close look at their new purchases and confirm this for us and email your discoveries to langer.report@gmail.com with anything you find!Although it's very thought

Email The Langer Report

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The Langer Report has a new email address to help you file all those important stories that are floating around out there. So please email in (relative) confidence to:Langer.Report@gmail.comand spill the beans on the grubbier side of international hang gliding!

Sperm Theory

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Jam(ie) sandwichNaughty Lawyer, Jamie Sheldon, lived up to her name and reputation recently when one of my numerous spies caught her indulging in a little threesome action with Carl Wallbanger and Rubber Johnny Durand - resurrecting a theory that has been doing the rounds for the past couple of years...

Runway Bride

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Les Best: The Pride of Oz!Big Aussie pilot, Les Best (Lez-B to his friends) had to radio for emergency clearance to bomb out in the airfield below Monte Cucco after a humiliatingly short sled ride. After scattering the pigeons on 'Runway 69', Les ingratiated himself in true Aussie style and got invited to a wedding being held in one of the hangers!Sadly, Les had to pull out early, leaving both bridesmaids and barmaids in tears when his retrieve arrived.

Surprise sprog measuring on launch

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Organisers sprang a surprise check on birthday boy Manfred's equipment and very surprisingly found that his sprog (singular) was unusually high rather than low! I can't imagine why!!Thanks to Israel Andradas for bringing this incident to light :-)

Outed!

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Former 'confirmed hetro', Swiss Nick (a.k.a. the Italian Stallion) has been outed as being a closet rent-boy. Roberto insists that he has only been renting out gliders... but rumours persist...

You haven't lived...

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Amongst the other fireside stories that surfaced the other evening at the less than spectacular Rio Verde camp site outside Sigillo was one little indiscretion from the alcohol-loosened tongue of top British hopeful, Wayne Thompson. While discussing the more important aspects of international comp flying, Wayne dismissed the not inconsiderable collective experience and wisdom of those pilots assembled when he topped all the other stories of the night (mostly bullshit, anyway) by coming out with.

Poultry in Motion

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Following the departure of The Langer Report's former fantasy frolic and everyone's favourite slut, Nurse Annecy Spank, after she absconded with Jeff O'Brien's green quacky-duck, Wasabi (see earlier posts) we have been adopted by Pirate Captain Pukkaud (alias "Choke, the Chicken") terror turkey of the Seven Seas. Far from being merely a sexy figurehead for the blog, Choke the Chicken actually fulfils a real-life practical role in the ranks of Team Chicken-Wings - viz... we've tied the turkey to

The Blog is Back!

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By extraordinarily popular, international demand (and I'm talking seriously wierd and kinky popular demand - you cats (and you all know who you are... you're reading this!) are a genuine bunch of wierdoes if this is the most educational, or informative blog you keep coming back to time and time again! (I may not have written anything for the past twelve months or more, but this blog is still receiving over 80 *new* readers every day according to ClusterMap.) But hey - it's great to have all you

Retrospective

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When I first started writing the Langer Report I had no idea it would turn out to be quite so popular - It was really just a piss-take on Ireland's doomed efforts in the Worlds and an excuse to have a little fun at everyone else's expense! But strange things have happened... if Manfred can be knocked off his perch then perhaps an Irish world champion isn't quite as mad as it sounds! Anyway, somehow news of the blog leaked out and The Langer Report exploded onto the world stage like a teen

Final round-up of photos

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I'm finally sobering up after one hell of a party... and reaching the bottom of the barrel for the photos and stories, so in no particular order...Monster Paiella at RibiersAttn: WADA - Flip, acid house party animal!Zippy gets a little pre-launch manipulation from ScottLate night visitorCarbon KatanaFashion victim!Phil & Cameron strike up an impromptu didgeridoo sessionon a hammock stand in the Mison restaurant!Lower... lower... harder... harder!Monica: Why Not? ...because Scott would probab

Looking up Katrin's highway to heaven!

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The new ramp on the high south launch of the Chabre was built by volunteers especially for the 2009 Worlds, and was made possible by a generous donation from the Colombians - Thanks guys!

Kiwis & Parrots

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While the rest of us were busy pulling birds at the Worlds, the Kiwi team were busy taking the bird in the mouth! I know I'm lazy when it comes to flossing, but this takes the biscuit!Meanwhile, nocturnal wildlife from the Guatemalan jungles was also spotted larking around the Laragne undergrowth!Kurt Meyer in tribal Guatemalan head-dress!

Training, Tactics & Dicipline

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As Irish team leader I took my job reaaaaaaly seriously (as if you hadn't guessed already!) After deploying Manfred's sneaky tactic of flying really badly in the first task (and then blowing away the field in the second) I prepared Team Langer to storm the leader board by covering all the bases. First to go was Shaun's excessive hair do - with that shaved off, he didn't need to use a helmet as his bullet head would be much more streamlined than some poxy carbon-fibre lid. I then decid

Ireland Storms the Leader Board!

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Ok, so the Worlds have been over for a few days and I normally leave these trivial matters to my junior editors (like Davis!) but perusing the daily comp results for casualties I see that top Irish pilot Geoff McMahon succeded in out flying the Hungarian world champion, Attila Bertok... or at least staying up a little longer while Attila went down in flames, coring the sink like a real pro! (Attila managed just 23.8km to Geoff's 39.9km) Way to go Geoff!!Geoff magnanimously reveals some se

The Irish School of Journalism

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This has nothing to do with the 2009 HG Worlds but I nearly pissed myself laughing when I received this photo today! Thank God for human error - it really keeps us sane in a mad world! Perhaps now, readers can get an idea of where I learned my journalistic skills!!This is the front page of a *real* newspaper in the west of Ireland!3rd July 2009.

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