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Event info

Bulgarian National Championships in Sopot from 2nd to 6th of September. This is a low budget competition with only the most necessary services. Attention - retrieval is not guaranteed! Retrieval will be organized just like weekend flying - we will be using hitch hiking (every pilot should fly with a big folded sign saying "Sopot" in Cyrilic alphabet in case of hitch hiking back) and also moving with our cars with the help of our friends and wives.

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Flying site

Sopot is the most famous flying site in Bulgaria. This little town is situated at the southern foot of Stara Planina, the longest Balkan mountain chain. Its length 560 km and it crosses Bulgaria from the western border to the Black sea.

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  • 50 Pilots max allowed
  • 10 Countries presented
  • ✅ All wing types allowed
  • 🏆 FAI Status = CAT 2 🏅
  • left before start of event

Prize funds and scoring categories

  • Overall
  • Female
  • National
  • Team

Contacts

Event info

Bulgarian National Championships in Sopot from 2nd to 6th of September. This is a low budget competition with only the most necessary services. Attention - retrieval is not guaranteed! Retrieval will be organized just like weekend flying - we will be using hitch hiking (every pilot should fly with a big folded sign saying "Sopot" in Cyrilic alphabet in case of hitch hiking back) and also moving with our cars with the help of our friends and wives. Tracklogs could be downloaded individually and sent by e-mail.

Flying site

Sopot is the most famous flying site in Bulgaria. This little town is situated at the southern foot of Stara Planina, the longest Balkan mountain chain. Its length 560 km and it crosses Bulgaria from the western border to the Black sea. Sopot is in the middle. There is a great valley, called the valley of Roses, next to the mountain chain to fly various tasks. To get to the main take-off is very easy. The cable lift takes you from the landing zone up to the 850 m height, where you can practice thermalling, aerobatics or just go out for XC flights. Other take-offs are easy to reach too. Besides there is plenty of space for landing in the valleys. All this makes Sopot a very attractive place for the XC fans. Also there is another advantage of local people's friendly attitude to the paragliders. They are always ready to give a helping hand.

Flying conditions
Sopot flying conditions are excellent in summer, with wide and powerful thermal triggers of 5-6 m/s. The high season for XC flights lasts from April to September but even in low season it’s possible to make good flights of up to 50km and more. During the day the thermals are normally usable between 11 am to 6 pm. On sunny winter days (very common for Sopot), there are inversions and the air is rather stable which is good for beginners. But it may be very unstable with cumulo nimbuses, during the second half of May and occasionally in June and July. Luckily they're not so fast developing like in the Alps and you can escape them by zig-zag flying or go to the valley if they are rather tough. The major part of the Rose valley has got a local light east wind which being combined with a main west wind is perfect for out-and-return flights and makes it possible to set very interesting competition tasks.

Routes
Main task routes are set either to the East or to the West along Stara Planina chain, but there are tasks set to the valley as well. The good day allows to set 100 km there-and-back or triangle tasks. The best main Sopot take-off record was a 207 km flight made by Nikolay Yotov to the town of Sredets. Also Nikolay has made a 201 km flight from Voiniagovo take-off in Sopot area to Gorno Yabalkovo.

Main take-off
Main Sopot take off is really large and spacious and can host up to 150 pilots and stuff. It is located on a grass mountain rib at 850 meters height. Pilots, viewers and stuff are able to get there easily using an chair-lift. It works from 9.30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. (4.00 p.m. in winter). A one way ticket costs €2.5 but It is required at least 8 people to rise 20€ to turn on the lift.
The slope is steep enough and clean from stones and bushes for an easy launch. Top landing is possible in case when it’s required.
The area has got East - South - West exposures. In the course of a normal day you may expect E-SE wind in the morning, South wind at noon and S-SW wind in the afternoon.
Take off and start zones are surrounded by plenty of thermal triggers.

Sopot area competition flying sites

Sopot
• Take-off: Sopot, 1450 m ASL. (N 42.687330°, E 24.749962°)
• Landing: Lift station landing field, 570 m ASL (N 42.664133°, E 24.748157°)
Beklemeto
• Take-off: Beklemeto south, 1350 m ASL (N 42.748882°, E 24.614745°)
• Landing: Hristo Danovo village, 580 m ASL (N 42.719383°, E 24.608513°)

Additional flying site for 13th FAI World Championship

Dobrostan
• Take-off: Dobrostan, 1100 m ASL (N 41.909584°, E 24.930376°)
• Landing: Gornoslav village, 240 m ASL (N 41.92569°, E 24.96426°)


Additional flying sites for free-flyers

Govedarnata: Sopot, Elevation 1027 m (N 42.6655°, E 24.7798°)
Ravnec: Karlovo, Elevation 1278 m (N 42.6627°, E 24.8307°)
Ravni vrah: Karlovo, Elevation 1949 m (N 42.6748°, E 24.8937°)
Voiniagovo: Kliment - Voiniagovo, Elevation 384 m (N 42.5871°, E 24.7094°)

Selection and entry fee

20 BGN or 10 EUR. Entry fee covers:
* FAI sanctioning of the competition
* Livetracking based on pilot's smartphones
* Retrieval coordination
* Scoring

The entry fee will NOT cover:
* Lift tickets
* Fuel fees of the retrieve vehicles
* Lunch packages, water and etc.

Prize fund and scoring categories

Scoring categories in this competition are:
Overall
Female
National
Team

There will be no money prizes.

General schedule

Friday, 1st September
18:00 - 20:00 Registration

Saturday, 2nd September
09:00 - 11:00 Registration
11:00 - 12:30 Transport to the take-off
12:30 - 13:00 Pilot's briefing (Safety briefing)
13:00 - 18:00 Competition flying

Sunday, 3rd September - Tuesday, 5th September
11:00 - 13:00 Transport to the take-off
13:00 - 18:00 Competition flying

Wednesday, 6th September
11:00 - 13:00 Transport to the take-off
13:00 - 18:00 Competition flying
20:00 - Prize-giving ceremony

Daily schedule

Typical daily schedule is:

11:00 - 13:00 Transport to the take-off
13:00 - Daily briefing
13:00 - 18:00 Competition flying
18:00 - 19:00 Tracklogs are sent to the scorer
19:30 - Provisional results are published

Accommodation and Activities

ACCOMMODATION:
In Sopot there are many guest houses and private rooms. Typical price is 5 - 8 EUR per person.

ACTIVITIES:
There are a few swimming pools in the area. You probably won't be needing more activities, since in beginning of September weather tends to be good and we should be flying on most days.

How to get here

Sopot in Bulgaria

Libya
Sopot Bulgaria

Plane

Sofia International Airport - regular flights to many destinations. You can easily arrive to the city center from Sofia Airport.
There is a underground station at the airport. That is the most convinient way to get to the center or to the Bus/Train station.
After you pass imigration and custom control you exit from the Arrival Hall and enter the public area of the airport. Turn left and walk to the far east end of the the terminal and there you will see the signs for the metro (underground) station. This is the last station so you have only one option (Metro line 2).
To get to the Train/Bus station you have to transfer to Metro line 1 at Serdica station. Tickets are sold in the station and the price is 1BGN ( if you have a big bag - like a paraglider, you have to buy 1 more ticket for the luggage).
The journey time to the Train/Bus station is around 30min

Bus

You may as well come to Sopot by bus directly from Sofia or take a bus to reach Sopot from Karlovo if you come from this direction. In Sofia you have 2 bus stations: Central Bus Station and Serdika bus station in front of Sofia Central Railway Station.

From Sofia to Sopot
From Serdika bus station in front of Sofia Central Railway Station there is a bus to Karlovo/Sopot leaving at 12:00 and arriving to Sopot at 14:35
Web site: http://www.union-ivkoni.com
Tel: +359(2)989-0000
Tel: +359(2)989-1111

There is a bus leaving Sofia at 14:30/16:30 on Sunday.
Web site: www.kastelexport.com
Tel: +359(335)99144

From Karlovo to Sopot
05.30 - 23.00 (about every 30 minutes)
Web site: www.kastelexport.com

Check Central Bus Station (near Central Railway Station) for buses to Kazanlak. Some of them go via Karlovo, some take the highway to Plovdiv and go via Banya (10 km from Karlovo). There are buses every hour from Banya to Karlovo.

From Sofia Central Bus Station you can take a bus to Plovdiv (60 km from Sopot/Karlovo).

From Plovdiv to Karlovo
From "Avtogara Ug"/South Bus Station
Plovdiv, blvd Hristo Botev 47
Tel: +359(32)626-937
Departure:06.00; 06.30; 07.00; 08.00; 09.00; 10.00; 11.00; 12.00; 13.00; 14.00; 15.00; 16.00; 17.00; 18.00; 19.00; 20.00

From Burgas to Karlovo
Veliko Tarnovo - Banya (Plovdiv) - 08:00; 13:30.
Gorna Oryahovitsa - Karlovo - 06:00 - 9:55

You can alos arrive to Bulgaria by bus. For example there is bus line from Istanbul.
From Istanbul to Plovdiv
Cost about 20 euro
Departure: 09:00, 12:00, 20:30, 21:30 и 23:00
Platform 121
www.metrotourism.net
www.hunturturizm.com
www.ozvarolturizm.com
www.varan.com.tr

Train

To come to Sopot you can take a train to Sopot or Karlovo. Check Bulgarian railways official website www.bdz.bg for time-table updates. Here are some suggestions.

From central railway station in Sofia
Sofia (05:45) - Sopot (09:17)
Sofia (07:35) - Karlovo (10:01)
Sofia (08:48) - Sopot (11:44)
Sofia (16:10) - Karlovo (18:24)
Sofia (17:00) - Sopot (20:33)

From Plovdiv railway station to Karlovo
Plovdiv (07:43) - Karlovo (09:06)
Plovdiv (11:35) - Karlovo (13:06)
Plovdiv (14:00) - Karlovo (15:25)
Plovdiv (16:30) - Karlovo (18:00)
Plovdiv (18:00) - Karlovo (19:33)

From Burgas railway station to Karlovo
Burgas (05:35) - Karlovo (09:23)
Burgas (14:25) - Karlovo (18:45)

Car

Just keep your GPS navigator guiding you to the headquarters location: 42° 39.285'N 24° 45.386'E

Travelling hint to those who travel to Sopot by car:
Don't confuse Sopot town near Karlovo (south of Stara planina mountains on the road Sofia-Burgas) with Sopot village on the main road Sofia-Varna (north of Stara planina mountains).

Rent a car services:

"Top Rent-a-Car "


Web site: http://toprentacar.bg/en

Sofia Airport
140 "Mimi Balkanska" str.
Mobile.: +359 888 333 548
Phone.: +359 2 9815381

Varna Airport
Arrivals Hall
In Terminal
Mobile.: +359 887 205 813

Varna Downtown
17 "Tsar Osvoboditel" blvd.
Mobile.: +359 886 282 898
Phone.: +359 52 601 353

Bourgas Airport
Arrivals Hall
Mobile.: +359 882 425 516
Phone.: +359 56 872 309

Bourgas Downtown
Burgas Plaza Mall
Mobile.: +359 885 178 819
Phone.: +359 56 521 411


"Kepito"
Tel: +359 (0335) 9 22 37
Tel: +359 (0887) 528 431
Tel: +359 (0887) 657 668
Email: kepito@abv.bg

"Siona"
Evgeniya Yoncheva
Tel: +359 (0878) 82 28 30
Tel: +359 (0899) 25 00 66

Taxi

From Sofia Airport to Sopot
From the airport you can take a taxi directly to Sopot or to the Central Railway Station or the Central Bus Station. At the arrival hall look for the office of "OK super trance" taxi service. When you exit terminal 1 or 2 you will have the official taxi parking to "OK super trance" to your right.
The trip to Central Railway Station costs about 6 euro during the day and about 8 euro during the night.
Sopot airport taxi service
Taxi Service: "OK super trance"
Tel: +359(2)973-2121
Web site: http://www.oktaxi.net/cgi-bin/oktaxi.pl?code=main&lang=en

From Karlovo to Sopot
Not more than 10 euro.

Downloads

Waypoint files

Organizers

BNAC
Bulgarian National Aeroclub

Contacts

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Tasks and results

Task 1

02 Sep, 2017

65.5 km — Race to goal

Task results:
Overall results:

Task 3

04 Sep, 2017

81.5 km — Elapsed time

Task results:
Overall results:
Tracks:

Task 4

05 Sep, 2017

54.0 km — Race to goal

Task results:
Overall results:
Tracks:

Task 5

06 Sep, 2017

81.7 km — Elapsed time

Task results:
Overall results:
Tracks:
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