If your enjoying the films I have been making and have not donated yet to the JOnny cause now is a great time. All small donations help and I appreciate all that have already donated in the last couple of months.

You can send money through paypal below. Please if you have already donated there is no need to send more. I get email everyday from pilots all around the world wondering how they can thank me for bringing them to the comps. This is it..

Many many thanks.

Today is windy and it has been cancelled one more day to go.

Some of you may have been suprised when you saw this name in the World championships doing so well.

Gianpietro Zin is Italian of Origin but lives in France. I was very suprised myself during the course of the Worlds seeing how well he was flying. I had never flown or herd of this pilot in my life.


Pierro on takeoff with Kathleen Rigg.


I had time to catch up with him here in the Pre Europeans to ask him some questions. Currently he is in 6th place here and was in the top 10 most of the Worlds untill he landed 300m short of goal on the 2nd last day.

Pierro which is the name he goes by most is not new in the sport and has just been away from competing whilst building his family. He is now back on is turning heads at these recent comps.

Everytime I see him he is smiling and is always a pleasure to fly with in the air. I asked him when he started to fly and he said he was 11 years old when he had his first flight.

This means Pierro has been flying for 30 years now and is not new on the block. It s great to see guys like this coming back into the sport and competing and doing well. I hope there is more pilots like this out there that want to come back and show us they have not lost what they had.

Congratulations Pierro on your great results.

We were promised another good day so a 160km out and return was called as the first task. After some discussions about bringing pilots back through the canyon of no landings on final, the task was changed.

We ended up with a goal about 20kms away to avoid this situation. The task was shortened to 140kms. The wind was crossing a little from the east so launch was a bit slow.

Once in the air it was rough and pretty much one main gaggle right over launch. I think there must have been 80-90 gliders in the thermal. It was quite dangerous I thought mostly because it was rough and many pilots did not have full control.

There was only 2 starts and I was not so high on the first start and really did not want to fly with such a big gaggle all day. I opted to wait for 20 mins for the next start and did much better.

I glided to the first turnpoint 15kms away then hit a good thermal on the ridge straigh after the turnpoint. I then pushed a little hard and got low which cost me about 10 mins of ridge soaring.

Finally got up and back to base 47kms from turnpoint 2. I kept pushing hard trying to catch the leaders as I could see them in the distance. I was never sure it was them untill I got close to the last turnpoint.

I had not seen anyone coming back so I knew it was them on pushed on low down the ridge. I made another mistake by not getting high before doing the last turnpoint. I passed the lead gaggle when I was 2.5kms from turnpoint so I was only 5kms behind.

Things were looking good but when I returned to the ridge I was much lower and had to work to get back up. I eventually got up and took a short cut across the valley for some clouds.

This got me back close to them again as I came in underneath them but much lower. 20kms out from goal I came in only 250m below them but they left for final and I was not confident from my height.

The final was scary as we still had to cross over a big forest into a headwind. I topped up before heading off as I thought they might get stuck before goal. I will arrive 12 mins later but will beat them by 8 mins..

Balazs will win the day starting with me and coming in 4 mins before me in a time of 3hrs 06 mins. Martin and Primoz will be first in on the 1st starters taking 3hrs 18mins. It will be very close for the first place now as Blay was 20 mins slower than me and Martin and Primoz might beat me for the day.

Only time will tell and It seems that we will not fly tomorrow at this stage due to strong winds. It is possible that we wont fly saturday either if the wind stays up.

Below is todays video.

We woke up to clouds low in the valley and when we arrived on takeoff at 12pm clouds were still below us. We were told that it would be a great day so they set a 126km race task.

The task took us over many beautiful places as we had 4 turnpoints before landing back in Villamatana.

Some of the Beautiful terrain we crossed today.

I had a bad start with most of the top pilots apart from Primoz who started on the mountains with a gaggle of about 40. It took me half the course just to catch up to the lead gaggle.

I was on top of the gaggle between 2nd and 3rd turnpoint and was pushing hard trying to make a break. It did not seem to be working as they guys that were hanging back just kept coming in higher above me.

As we rounded the 3rd turnpoint I was below a handful of guys and I pushed hard and fast along the ridge. I got a good limb of 3m/sec which caught me up to them. When the joined me I left and raced off down the ridge and found a 4m/sec thermal.

Blay was the only one to follow me and we climbed high and left them behind. We dove out for the last turnpoint and got drilled and after rounding the turnpoint we had to dive back low on the ridge. We were much lower than we wanted and I got a bubble that blay was unable to circle in.

I climbed up above the cliff and some of the guys that hung back came in below me and above Blay. I climbed til I reached my final height and dove for goal. I could see Primoz who had hung back got really high and he flew straight for goal.

He was low 6kms out from goal climbing when I went passed him on final. I won the day in a time of 2hrs 37min and Primoz was 2nd nearly 4 mins later with Blay about 1 minute after him.

It will be close scores at the top now probably only 50-60 points separating the top 4. Tomorrow looks like it could be the last day as the weather is supposed to get windy.

Here is todays video.

The day started off very slowly with a delayed briefing at 12pm at the camping. The weather looked better as the day went on so they sent us up the hill to wait with the gliders on the car.

After about 45 mins they decided it was good enough to fly and they would set a short 74kms task with 4 turnpoints. We had briefing before we even set up today which is something quite new.

The window opened and there was only 45 mins to the first start. I waited for a bit cause it was very crowded and I wanted to see how the pilots were going. They started to climb so I jumped in and pushed everyone off.

I climbed out and eventually made it to the top of the stack just intime for the first start. I headed out on course with about 50 other gliders and soon found myself in the lead gaggle with Blay and Gerolf.

We did the first 2 turnpoints and flew back to launch to climb up. I got high first but only a few hundred metres over launch and did not want to go over the back leighside alone.

I flew back out the front where I saw Blay and Balazs climbing and only got to the same height I was just at 5 mins before. I then decided to go over the back and they others soon followed.

We got a reasonable climb about 13kms from turnpoint and then pushed on to a better climb the strongest one of the day. A huge gaggle came in below us now and were climbing well also.

Gerolf was on top and we all glided off for the 3rd Turnpoint. I went more to the left and Balazs followed me and we climbed back to cloudbase 2,600m 5kms from the 3rd turnpoint.

We crossed the lake and glided in just below Gerolf and Martin Harri who were climbing well on the other side. We did not get the climb they had and they pulled away from us.

We got stuck there for a bit and soon the 2nd gaggle caught us up and we finally climbed out. I went on final and made goal easy after doing the last turnpoint.

Gerolf will win the task in 1hr 31mins and Martin Harri 2nd a couple of minutes behind. I will come in 5th place 7 mins slower than gerolf. I think nearly 80 pilots made goal so there were many smiling faces after thinkning we might not fly.

I am now in 5th place about 130 points behind the leader who is Blay.
Matin Harri will be in 2nd and carl walbank in 3rd all flying Moyes Litespeeds.




Todays video.

Today was looking different from the other day so far with winds more from the east. We set up and a 129km task was set to the NW.


The view from the carpark.


The wind slowly started to pick up and become more cross from the left. Soon after the window was open they closed launch and monitored the conditions. After about 1.5 hrs they decided it was to windy and they day was cancelled.


The view from the top of launch.


Here is a short video of some of the pilots on launch.

With better weather they set a 133km task with 3 turnpoints. We launched and spent the next 1 hr in rough scratchy lift getting to no more than 500m above launch.

I was begining to think that they had over called the task a little as they conditions were not as they expected. I was not high enough to do the 1st start and also sunk out justt before the 2nd start.

I eventually went back to takeoff and did the 3rd startgate alone with many others. We raced carefully along the ridge to the 1st turnpoint and then back to launch. I did quite well and passed many pilots along this stretch.

Pilot Briefing.

I then crossed the valley toward the 2nd turnpoint and caught up to some more pilots and climbed to base.

We glided into the 2nd turnpoint and I got low and had to scratch a little there. 2 gaggles from behind got high and overtook us at this point. I eventually find a good climb and got high.

I did a long glide glide and came in below the gaggle on the next ridge 25kms from the 3rd Turnpoint. I went a different way there and passed the gaggle and was doing good all the way to the 3rd turnpoint.

I left for final with a few others that had followed me and I got drilled on a 8:1 and decided to go right to the ridge to climb. I never climbed that well and I saw the others in the valley gliding for goal.

Looking NW towards El Turbon from the 2nd turnpoint.


They all made goal and I was still stuck there trying to get enough height I eventually left again and got drilled and aborted final but the guys below me kept going and made it..Hmmm

I was doing something wrong yes I spent the next 20 mins climbing in a very slow climb with Martin Harri just to make sure we could make it. I saw nearly 2 gaggle go past us up high and at that point I decided it was to late to do well.

Gerolf landed below me and a few others did not make their finals. Blay will win the day taking the first start and leading the whole day winning in a time of 3hrs 05 mins. I ended up taking 3hrs 37mins and will place probably about 25th for the day ..

All I can say is Im glad it is not the worlds, I made to many silly mistakes in the last 15kms which cost me dearly.

Enjoy today videos below.

Today's video.

The Results will be HERE.

Well so many different pilots here and a total of 130 pilots make for big gaggles and many positions to loose. After a stable forecast the task committee decided on a 66km task with 4 turnpoints.

Day 1 task



The launch window opened at 2pm and the first start at 3pm. It is a open window and there were many pilots taking the early launch. I waited a bit as I did not feel like extra gaggle flying before the start gate.

The thermals were only going to about 500m above takeoff and it was rough and punchy. I was not in position for the first start and saw that many of the top guys did that start so I knew I had no choice but to do the 2nd start.

I did not have the best start but after doing the first turnpoint I soon found myself in front of the second starters. I kept leading all the way around the 2nd turnpoint and to the 3rd.

climbing out above launch.


I came in below the 1st start guys at the 3rd turnpoint but missed the thermal and was left scratching low. The second staters then came in above me as we did the 3rd turnpoint.
Primoz went far to the right over a area that had few landings and few options so I detoured more to the left.

He got a good thermal and got high but had to fly over the lake to the last turnpoint. I got low over the platau but managed to find a good climb and topped out 2kms from the last turnpoint.

I did the turnpoint and headed for the ridge as this is the best way to make it to goal as there is lift and less valley wind. I met Primoz and gacgu and we raced into goal. They both beat me across the line as I tried for a more straight line.

They hit more lift on the ridge and gained more height for the final. Many made goal and I think Gerolf will win the day as he did the first start and was only 5 minutes slower than us.

Was a great first day and even though it was a short task there were technical parts and many top pilots did not make goal. I think there will be a total of about 60 in goal.

Here is today video sorry there is no in air filming as it was a little rough with big gaggles and on course was no time to film. Just some takoff interviews and goal stuff.