Kobala Open 2019

Authors of the article: Rok Kukovec and Filip Ljevar

41st Kobala Open National Championship

As many as 26 pilots gathered this year for the 41st Kobala Open 2019 State Hang gliding Championship. This time the competition was held in the penultimate week of August. This year we managed to gather enough competitors for the lighter category - Sport Class. The first two days the weather was favorable. We managed to prepare two successful disciplines - 65 and 90 kilometers. On the first day, Ukrainian pilot Evgen Lysenko, who is also excellent on foreign soil, arrived at the finish line. Despite the changeable weather, he proved that the task was not impossible.

Another day of flight followed with much better conditions. Therefore, the discipline was a bit longer. Still, more than half of the contestants reached the finish line. They completed the fastest task in two and a half hours, and the slower one an hour and a half later. This time, Slovenian pilot Peter Kejžar was the first to reach the finish line. For the next three days the weather worsened and the bora hit us. Along with the wind, the predicted possibility of storms was also problematic. That’s why we didn’t fly for the next three days and waited in vain for a change for the better.
All pilots know what a storm cloud means. Pilot safety is still important in this sport. The discipline of the race forces the competitors to fly outside their comfort zone, so the conditions for the race must be even better than those for free flying. In free flight, it is less common for a pilot not to land at an official landing site, which is a bit more common in competitions.
We finished the competition on Friday, August 23, 2019, while we looked at the sky in the morning and saw that the weather forecast was correct. This was followed by the final event with the award ceremony. In the total sum of points, the match was won by Evgen Lysenko, followed by Peter Kejžar, and the honorary third place was taken by the annual organizer of this competition, Ivan Brovč.

As an organizer, I am especially pleased that more pilots took part in this competition than last year and that they come from all over Europe. A special feature was that a hang gliding pilot who came from Ukraine took part in the competition. I was also pleased that the pilots were ready to come to the competition in Tolmin from Moscow. I also find it encouraging that there were no injuries in the competition. Dear hang gliding pilots, including those with recreational hang gliders, you are invited to participate in the Slovenian national championship Kobal Open 2020 next year.

Authors of the article: Rok Kukovec in Filip Ljevar