Comp Day #2 - Close... but no cigar!

Well, we went up to the Chabre's lower north take-off this morning and were greeted with a not entirely unexpected howling gail at the top. What did surprise us was just how cold the wind was, which caught many pilots and batten bunnies out in their skimpy shorts and pleasingly tight T-shtirs. This blog doesn't record the effect the cold wind had on Meet Director Heather Mull's nipples, but we imagine that they were no hardship to gaze upon! If anyone has any photos then do please let me have them :-)

To get the boring crap out of the way, the morning weather forecast looked like the Mistral was going to die down today and give us the chance of flying a task, and so we headed up the Chabre where a 118km task was set from the lower south take-off, first heading 13km up the ridge to Col St.Jean. The next leg was a 32km dash across the valley to a new turnpoint near Gache, followed by a 15km run over to Lure East. From there a 34km leg would have taken pilots over to Pumoisson and Valensole another 11km further on. Final goal was at Orason, after an 11km glide. Might have made a nice task, but by 3pm the winds had increased to a rediculous level and pilots had started de-rigging well before the task was canned.

Geoff and the Pip-Pin saga...
Dispite three days of non-flying weather to check out his glider and hardess, and generally get his shit together, Geoff arrived up at launch today only to discover that he had no pip-pins for his base bar. Well actually he did have pip-pins (he knew *exactly* where they were) but that somewhere just happened to be in a field south of Sisteron where he last de-rigged! What a tit! Aaaanyway, after running around like a headless chicken with gastric ulsers, Geoff managed to procure just one pip-pin from Bruce Kavanagh (UK) and another two from Johnny Durand (via Vicki Cain) and Chubba (sp?) Bertok - Attila's brother. While collecting the pip-pin from Chubba's car for Geoff I thanked him profusely for helping Geoff out of a tight spot and asked how he could repay the kindness. Lifting the floor matting in the trunk of his large car, Chubba revealed a small dark space normally used for the spare wheel but containing an empty Gimp suit on a chain and looked at me meaningfully. "Fair exchainge is no robbery" I said, grabbed the pin and a roll of duct tape and legged it! You might want to lube up, Geoff; it's going to be a looong Worlds for you!

Bruce and Abi
Interestingly, the pip-pin that Bruce lent Geoff turned out to be too short and kept slipping out of its little hole. We hope Bruce doesn't have the same problem with Abi who now appears to be firmly embedded in the British team (or is it the other way round!) Rumour has it that a virulent viral infection is running amock amongst Team GB. They insist that it's just a cold... but it makes you wonder!

The writing's on the wall!

Personalised number plates

Nurse Spank's ride turned up at launch today. Check out the personalised number plates that WAADA has provided her with! WAADA spares no expense when it comes to taking the piss!

Spanks personalised KY plates

The drug testing goons are in town and there is a very real danger that the HG Worlds will be targeted. As a service to their fellow sportsmen, the Irish team are able to supply bonefide drug-free urine samples for a nominal fee of €50 a squirt. Bulk (or Team) discounts are available! We hasten to point out that the urine doesn't come from any of us - we definitely buying in our test samples - but please don't be alarmed if your test results also show you as being pregnant and in your third trimester!

Drug free urine samples
For Sale!

Carol Tobler's Gorge
Swiss pilot Carol was caught skinni dipping in the Gorges de la Meouge this morning and has invited the whole camp site to join her tomorrow morning! Cameras are permitted... but clothes are not! Anyone with lurid photos of this or an other 'news', please drop in to the Irish team mobile home (second chalet on the right - just before the Team USA and Team Oz) and spill the beans. There's always free beer on offer for the best stories!

And finally...

Shattered after a day of self-induced stress, Geoff took to the bottle to wash away his tensions. Readers might like to note the open tube of 'hand' cream cum lube on his bed and draw their own conclusions about Geoff's style of stress 'relief!'

The Sleeping Beauty