The 13th Ozone Chabre Open was a great success with 124 pilots competing in 6 classes, flying 3 tasks plus a practice task. The flying season had been slow to start this year, with only a few good days between April and June: windy and stormy. But after a cracking pre-comp week, the competition started on 30th June with a 42km practice task, in good conditions, resulting in 55 pilots in goal. With Meet Director, Jocky Sanderson in control, the competition saw 3 great tasks over the next four days: 75km from Chabre to Chorges (45 in goal), 61km from Chabre to La Batie Neuve (54 in goal) and 40km from Chabre to Veynes (69 in goal). Over-development caused problems on Tuesday and Thursday, with one cancelled task and one cancelled day. Friday, unfortunately, was a ‘petit mistral’ and too windy to even consider going up to the take-off. But there were perfect conditions at St Vincent Les Forts, where pilots had a truly chilled flying finish to the week. There were no less than 34 Rookies (no previous competition experience) this year, and there were dozens of ‘goal virgins’ and ‘personal bests’ claiming prizes during the week – and not all Rookies! Top of the Rookie stack, though, was Ross Gallagher from New Zealand, who also came 2nd in the Sport Class on his Ozone Delta 2. With 17 women from 8 nations competing – the most for many a year - there were new names on the leader board. The class trophy went to Mirjam Hempel from Germany. There was some upset among the X-class (experienced) pilots, with a couple of early starts on one task, and missed goal on another. The lesson learned: fly to your instrument, and make sure it is programmed correctly! The overall winner was Mark Graham (GB) on his Ozone Delta 3, followed by Nicola Moeckli from Switzerland and Andy Brown (GB). In addition to an SIV talk, Jocky delivered several informative task de-briefs, highlighting how different routes served some pilots better than others. Following the arrow is not always the most efficient course, he demonstrated using track logs from that day’s flights, and showed how judging your final glide can be ‘make or break’, especially with half the field in goal! Much fun was had by all, with social gatherings most evenings and loads of prizes handed out at the Friday night prize-giving. This year’s glider winner was Carl Foster, ecstatic to be able to upgrade his Sport Class glider! For more on The 2018 OZONE Chabre Open , click HERE Congrats to all the pilots and cheers from all the team at OZONE. See you next year!