Friday May 4, 2001
    Friday's weather was again beautiful with an ideal southeast wind direction, as if by special order of the organizers. But after 10 a.m. a surprisingly rich cloud cover began forming directly above Stranik and the wind dramatically increased.




    As it turned out in the end, Marcel Konecny hadn't been so distraught yesterday as to no turn in the GPS report documenting his struggle, but it was just that the organizers inadvertently didn't include his flight in the day's results. Marcel took 7th place in the corrected over all placing following Petra Krausova, Tomas Markvicka and Petr Borgulu. At the briefing he was rewarded for his heartiness by a material prize, along with Tomas Lednik, Karel Vrbensky and Petra Krausova.



    Today's announced discipline became a goal flight along a broken up route of a total length of 45 km. The first turning point was the small lake below Ladonhora, the second then the smokestack in Turzovce and the goal line was this time set up on the northern edge of the city of Cadca. Already during the briefing tens of tourist pilots hung motionless in the strengthening wind several hundred meters above Stranik and after a while several of them even, involuntarily, backed behind the hill, disappearing never to return deep in the valley behind Stranik.



    The start window was opened at 12:30 and its duration shortened to an hour and half. In a relatively strong wind with pulsating thermics, the take-offs occasionally turned to tough battles with billowing canopies, and up in the air the wind torn thermics made some people queasy. But for all that, getting up off the slope was completely free and within forty minutes following the opening of the start window all 68 racers were in the air and repeated trips to the start were unnecessary.

    Almost immediately the first part of the route headed perpendicular to the wind and even if it was only 7 km, the difficult strong wind situation above the first turning point thoroughly separated the wheat from the chaff. 17 pilots altogether were forced to land at this spot.



    After 3 p.m., several storms began to form, fortunately off the route and the race did not have to be cancelled. The down pull of the wind on the long second leg of the route was once again antagonistic and only 8 pilots managed to get around to photographing the second turning point in Turzovka. While Marcel Konecny turned Turzovka at an altitude of almost 2,000 meters, and during his closing flight to the goal landed 1.5 km before the goal line, Mirek "Radar" Stehula greeted the villagers of Turzovka from a height of barely 100m, but with the use of favorable risers and wind pull, on the last segment of the route was the only one to make it to the goal. Jirka Prochazka, who came in third, was lacking 7 km to the goal line.



    The 36 km flown by Tomas Lednik was sufficient for his maintaining the lead position in the race. Similarly, Juraj Kleja solidified his overall second place and came to within two points of Tomas. In contrast, Michal Orolin finished at the 19th km of the route and dropped from 3d to 5th place in the overall placing.

    The pilot of the day, however, was without a doubt Mirek Varvarovsky, because overcome with joy at his 17 km he ordered lots of gulash and sends many greetings to Evicka and the Kids, who watch the daily race reports, and says that he will certainly bring home, if not 1st prize, than at least the T-shirt he got along with his registration fee.