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Event info

The FAI Category 2 cross-country paragliding competition will be flown between 4-10 August in Central Balkan mountains, Sopot, Bulgaria.

The 150 euro entry fee (140 euro early registration till 30.06.

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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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  • 100 Pilots max allowed
  • 9 Countries presented
  • ✅ All certified wings allowed
  • 🏆 FAI Status = CAT 2 🏅
  • left before start of event

Prize funds and scoring categories

  • Czech Overall (all certified gliders)
  • Czech Woman
  • Czech Sport (max. EN-C)
  • Czech Standard (max. EN-B)
  • Open (Overall)
  • Open (Women)

Contacts

Event info

The FAI Category 2 cross-country paragliding competition will be flown between 4-10 August in Central Balkan mountains, Sopot, Bulgaria.

The 150 euro entry fee (140 euro early registration till 30.06.2018) includes transport (cable lift and retrieve from tasks), GPS-ing, mountain rescue stand by, map, prizes...

The competition will be held according to the CZECH NATIONAL sport rules.

Tracking will be done primarily via the Airtribune app for smart-phones. Pilots will be required to have a suitable smart-phone and data sim. Tracking via personal GSM/GPS trackers is also allowed.

If you are planing to buy a local data sim - the best coverage in the area is with "Vivacom" operator.

The competition HQ for registration and GPS scoring will be at Skynomad Paragliding Club - Sopot

For more information please refer to the Local Regulations in the attached files!

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

100 pilots max
60 places are reserved for Czech pilots
Unfilled places will be served on a first come-first served basis.

The Entry fee is 140 euro if payed till 30.06.2018, after that date the entry fee is 150 euro.

Entry fee is to be payed to:
IBAN: CZ3320100000002701407494
BIC/SWIFT: FIOBCZPPXXX

Bank name: Fio banka, a.s.
Bank Address: V Celnici 1028/10, 117 21 Praha 1, Czech Republic
Name of holder: Hanna Dlasková
Address: Loužnice 80, 468 22 Loužnice, Czech Republic
Transfer reason: FAI licence number
Note: name and surname of pilot


The Entry fee includes:
• transport to the take-off and retrieve on the main route for all the registered pilots during all competition days,
• upload of turnpoint’s GPS coordinates,
• GPS tracklog download and scoring
• Live-tracking services via Airtribune app
• color maps,
• ID card,
• free access to all competition events and parties
• mountain rescue standby

Prize fund and scoring categories

Categories for Czech Open:

Czech Overall (all certified gliders)

Czech Woman

Czech Sport (max. EN-C)

Czech Standard (max. EN-B)

Minimum 5 pilots in each part, flying on certified gliders.

Additional Categories:

Overall

Overall Women

General schedule

- Saturday (4 August) - training day and registration
14:00 - 18:00 - registration
18:30 - mandatory safety briefing
- Sunday (5 August) - competition flying
08.30 - briefing and task comity selection
09.00 - transporting of competitors
11.00 - briefing at the take off
12.00 - 18.30 - competition flying
17.30 - 20.30 - gps consignment and compilation of landing declaration
21.00 - unofficial results, 09.00 next day - official results
- Monday (6 August) - Friday (10 August) - competition flying
- Friday (10 August)
21:00 - Prize giving and closing ceremony.

Daily schedule

09.30 - briefing and task comity selection
09.45 - transporting of competitors
11.30 - briefing at the take off
12.00 - 18.30 - competition flying
17.30 - 20.30 - gps consignment and compilation of landing declaration
21.00 - unofficial results, 09.00 next

Accommodation and Activities

Sopot and Karlovo offer a variety of accommodation places.

Most popular with pilots are the local guest houses which very often provide high quality accommodation for around 10 euro per person per night.

Most of the places are positioned very near the ideal center of town with access to the main shops and restaurants.

Some of the more popular places with pilots are - Skynoamd club (private rooms above the HQ), Rodeo restaurant and hotel, The Nest - a brand new accommodation 5 min away form the chairlift etc.

Camping on the main landing field near the chairlift is free.

For those looking for more luxury - the local towns of Banya and Hissar provide SPA hotels with mineral hot spring pools .

For the non flying days you can visit the city of Plovdiv (50 km from Sopot) - the second biggest city in Bulgaria and one of the oldest in Europe - full of rich history ... and descent night life.

How to get here

by Plane

There are 3 main airports - Sofia, Varna and Bourgas. Sofia airport is operating all year round and serves many regular destinations to/from most European big airports. Varna and Burgas airports are operating mostly from May to October because of the big touristic flow to Black Sea resorts.

Wizzair offers low-cost flights from most European cities to Bulgaria if you book in advance.



by Train

There are several international railways destinations to/from Budapest (Hungary), Bucharest (Romania), Belgrade (Serbia), Istanbul (Turkey), Thessaloniki (Greece), Alexandropolis (Greece), Moscow (Russia), Minsk (Belarus)

Timetable of Bulgarian State Railways (link is external)



by Bus

There is a well developed net of bus lines to/from most European cities - ask your local travel agencies. This is the cheapest mean of transport and is faster than the train (for example the 1300 km journey from Sofia to Prague takes about 20 hours)



by Car

Bulgaria is on the crossroad between Europe, Asia and Africa and there are many roads passing through: - E80 from Europe to Istanbul (Turkey); - E79 from Europe to Thesaloniki (Greece); E85, E87, E871 ...

Samara Oblast, Russia, 446561
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

SkyNomad Paragliding
SkyNomad Paragliding,
Vasil Levski str. N :13
Sopot 4330, Bulgaria
www.skynomad.com
Czech Republic Paragliding Federation
Renata Kuhnova
Czech Official
Renata.Kuhnova@seznam.cz
SkyNomad Club
Organizer
club@skynomad.com
+359899982566
+359899982557

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Tasks and results

Task 1

05 Aug, 2018

73.6 km — Race to goal

Replay:
Comp. results:
Tracks:

Task 2

06 Aug, 2018

84.6 km — Race to goal

Task 3

07 Aug, 2018

114.7 km — Race to goal

Task 5

09 Aug, 2018

90.2 km — Race to goal

Task 6

10 Aug, 2018

64.2 km — Race to goal

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