Task 1 was a short race (60km) down the ridge, up across the lake to the Pic de Morgon, back south to the village of Seyne and then into goal at St Jean.

The climb out at the start was easy and we seemed to wait forever for the start to open at heights of 3600m! When the start did open it was a fast dash down the ridge to the first turnpoint. Turning back along the ridge into a poor air caught out many of the racing pilots who were pushing on low. Some of us went down here. Those that stayed high, or at least level with the top of the ridge, had a good run back.

By the time the field was crossing back over the lake there was a small gaggle of 5 gliders well in front of the rest. Luc Armont won the day, leading this group now consisting of 4 French pilots (one landing short of goal I believe). First Brit was Chris Harland in 5th place, and first serial wing was Alex Coltman in 8th (and first champs pilot) with Julian Robinson just behind in 9th as first sports wing.

Report by Jon Chambers

Day 1 was a welcome introduction to the incredible Dormilouse Ridge and the surrounding beauty of St Jean Montclar.

A 60k task was set to introduce competitors to the Ridge and the incredible rock of Morgins that overlooks the lake.

The early birds took the startgate at around 3200 meters and raced down the Dormilouse towards the Tet de la Strop. Taken at pace the return leg became a nightmare fight into wind, with strong thermals and nasty rotor. Half the front gaggle got flushed down the mountainside, including Mark Watts, John Ellison, Craig Morgan and Jon Chambers.

Neil Roberts gritted his teeth and fought through the rough to connect with the mountain, while Kai Coleman sensibly flew back to a previous thermal.

The good money was with the altitude gaggle who stayed high and back, taking turnpoint in space and gliding happily back along the ridge.

Racing to the huge rock of Morgins, with your eyes on stalks as you take in the vastness of this mountain. Again altitude paid on the return leg to connect with the main ridge. Neil Roberts made a nifty move to catch up with the main gaggle but not quick enough to watch the first guys taking goal. First 5 in where French pilots led by Luc Armant (including Chris Harland, currently a French pilot) First five Brits where Alex Coltman, Julian Robinson, Mark Hayman, Neil Roberts and Toby Colombe

Report by Neil Roberts

A technical 77km task was set with multiple turnpoints around the valley. With everyone high for the start the dash to Seyne was fast but once we turned the turnpoint the route to the next was somewhat lacking in thermals. The first group got very low here. Most stayed in a weak climb that eventually drifted back to the ridge. A few pushed on further, those who were unlucky landed, but a few connected to a working ridge. Benoit Bayon got the jump on the whole field here and took the turnpoint 5mins ahead of the rest.

Coming out of the second turnpoint there was one main gaggle with Benoit and Mark Hayman ahead. The climbs here were awesome, with base at 4100m. The crossing to Pic de Morgon worked well for the gaggle who were rewarded with another screamer back to the stratospheric cloudbase. Benoit and Mark had been less lucky hitting it out of cycle, after the crossing back south Benoit went down and Mark was swallowed by the gaggle.

Staying high, the lead group more or less stayed together for the run down the ridge and back north into a now strengthening wind. The final glide looked very marginal from the final turnpoint but somehow we all squeaked in - by now a smaller group had broken away and Luc Armont had again led the charge to goal to win the day.

Exhausted but jubilliant pilots in goal celebrated what had been a very hard fought and technical task.

With high cirrus coming over to shut the sky down, it looked like it would be difficult for the later gliders to make the last into wind turnpoint. In the end it was the stenghtening wind that was the biggest problem and the task was eventually stopped. With many pilots in goal the task will of course still be scored.

Report by Jon Chambers

Day 2 was a more adventurous 78.6k race around 7 turnpoints. Very technically demanding with lots of transitions across the flatlands. The lead gaggle got low in a difficult valley while once again the steady money was with altitude.

Adrian Thomas and Neil Roberts defending a 1st and 2nd position in the British Championships opted for the altitude route, which paid eventually as they glided over the main gaggle to take the front of the game.

Pilots were being dropped along the route with multiple low save stories. French pilot Benoit Bayon had an incredible lead on all of us at turnpoint 3 as he was higher than us and on his way to Morgins.

We had to let him go and concentrated on climbing, to incredible heights of over 4000 meters, which paid dividends on the long transitions at the later parts of the task. Unfortunately leader Benoit had a terrible glide back, getting nothing all the way to the ground.

Once again the speedy local French pilots got the jump on us for the final run into goal. Luc Armant again took the day. First British pilots in were Craig Morgan, Mark Hayman, Neil Roberts, Adrian Thomas and then John Ellison.

Report by Neil Roberts

Blue skies in the morning, a few fluffy clouds in the afternoon, a little bit of NW'ly wind. Day three and task three of the British Open. After yesterday's tricky task, the task committee were keen to set a more straightforward task but with increasing difficulty later.

Finally a 70km tour of the area was chosen: a start 5km in front of launch, a race down the ridge, out to a turnpoint in the flats and then back to the ridge to the classic Morgon turnpoint. From here a push West to a turnpoint where the lake splits then several possible routes to get to the final turnpoint a few kilometres south west of the goal back at base in St Jean.

The start was classic: smooth 3-4 m/s climbs out of launch and pretty much everyone was on the edge of the cylinder at cloudbase (3300m) when the gun went. Bar out to the first turnpoint 5km from the ridge, bar back to the ridge and time to make the first decision: climb or glide? The lead gaggle elected to straight line it, but pilots who chose to climb first found they had a stress-free glide to the second turnpoint.

Next decision: when and how high to leave the ridge to take the turnpoint out in front? Once again, climbing high first took time but gave a comfortable glide out and back. Several of those who pushed on low struggled to reconnect with lift on the way back and a few big names landed here.

Next up: the Morgon. The usual classic climbs above launch whisked the gaggles up to 3500m but the glide across was sinky so pilots arrived at cliff height. Here the lead gaggle were lucky: a perfect cloud over the turnpoint and a convergence line leading to the next. Racing to base in smooth 4m/s climbs, no-one dared enter the clouds as it was patrolled by sailplanes! Luc Armant lead the way, gliding high and on bar, with fifteen pilots following. From here it was an easy glide in, just a few turns in the 4m/s convergence lift over St Jean, before racing in to goal. Luc Armant (Ozone Mantra R10) maintained his lead to the end, Steve Nash (Nova Triton) was one minute behind him, and Craig Morgan (Mac Para Magus) was third.

Later pilots didn't get the luck of the convergence line and flew back to St Vincent les Forts or on to lower ridges. A few went down, but many persevered and got in to goal an hour or so after the leaders. At the time of writing 39 pilots have made goal.

The local pilots are taking about tomorrow as the day of the year so expect a longer, more technical task after today's splendid blast.

Report by Tom Payne.

We went up to launch a bit earlier today: thunderstorms were expected in the afternoon. A provisional 40km task in the flats was set but canned before the window opened due to concerns about the already-tall clouds. This turned out to be the right decision: a few moments later the first crack of thunder was heard and the whole area was plunged in to shade by the spill out from a distant CuNimb.

A few pilots elected to fly down quickly, many took the chairlift back down or walked. With three excellent tasks already complete, there was no pressure to squeeze another one out in dubious conditions. Better weather expected tomorrow.

Report by Tom Payne.