Tension mounts for the 2007 Paragliding Accuracy World Champions

The tension is wound up to full now, with 11 out of a possible 12 rounds flown. Tomorrow, Friday, is a rest day, and pilots, organisers, judges and jury will attend (and some will participate in) Trakai’s famous ‘Catch the Wind’ festival, held every year on Lithuania Independence Day. The final round will be flown on Saturday morning, with pilots launching in reverse order of their current place in the results. All is set for a spectacular finish. Spectators will be able to watch from around the world, as a live video link will be filming at the target. Saturday 17th February, from 9am (Lithuania local time) – click the link from: www.pagaukveja.lt Scores are also updated every minute.

Perfect winter flying conditions today, with sunshine and light winds. Just two rounds were flown, partly to allow pilots to recover from two full days on the ice and partly to keep the excitement high for a final round on Saturday. Many pilots and officials are recovering from a virulent flu bug too.
The first round in very light winds on the ground, and a sheer layer of stronger winds above, caught out many pilots early on. Some flew too ‘hot’ over the target and landed long. Some later competitors over compensated and landed short. And it was not only the inexperienced that put in surprise scores. The two Czech pilots, Thomas Lednik and Kamil Konecny both made their worst scores yet in the competition, as did Ukrainian pilot Volodymyr Yavorskiy, Slovenian, Dusan Gorenc and Latvian hopeful, Antons Jelisejevs. But it was seriously bad news for Bulgarian star, Tzevetan Tzolov, consistently in the top five this week, who dropped a 10m score.
Among the women, Funda Durusu of Turkey is battling with Katerina Pankova of Czech Republic, with Katerina gaining some points on round 10. But Funda came through on the 11th round with a stunning 4cm pad score. She enters the final round leading the Women’s championship and an impressive 38th overall.
Scoring was erratic in the 11th round too, with fewer very good scores. Matjaz Feraric’s lead is now unbeatable, chalking up only 11cm for today’s two rounds. But there remains a battle for silver, with the UK’s Andy Webster in the running. Martin Jovanoski of Macedonia lies in third place, with Czech team mates, Tomas and Kamil in fourth and fifth, with still only 2cm between them.
In the team ranking, Macedonia has moved up to fifth place, splitting Lithuania and Latvia. Slovenia holds its lead, but the Czech team has caught up significantly. The UK remains third but has done nothing to close the gap.