Friday, August 16
    After the night rain the sky is slightly cloudy and the wind is blowing exactly as it was yesterday, from the North. The selection of starting ground for today is again Čierťaž and only a few minutes past 10:00 a.m. a team of 5 Finnish racers are building their wings by ramp no. 2. He is who is prepared is never surprised.



    In contrast to yesterday, the sun is shining and it is relatively warm on the slope. Even the cloud bases are forming higher and some sections of the opposite crest of the Low Tatras are clearly visible today. Before noon, the first wisps of cloud begin to form over the starting ground and the brisk northeast wind is rushing past the mountain.



    At the 12:30 briefing a 60 kilometer long discipline is announced, which differs from yesterday's only in that on the second leg of the route a second turning point has been added, which is the television broadcast tower of Skalka Nad Brezno. The window is open today from 13:30 to 16:30.



    Just 40 minutes after Jano Jagose's start pistol goes off, Polish racer Jan Zak gets up on ramp no. 2 and along with Jozo Kunik they begin looking for risers over the slope. On their maximum climb, however, they barely reach 100m above the start and with the exception of three other daredevils, everyone waits it out.

    "Number one is up, number two waits!" is heard shortly after 15:00 on the organizer frequency and the alternating launches from both ramps begin. The wind, as opposed to yesterday, is considerably weaker and the take offs all the more dramatic for it. Each of the two ramps chooses a "bushed" pilot, but thanks to the relatively soft cover of young pines, there are no serious injuries - broken trapez-bars not inclusive.




    Conditions en route prove to be more difficult today than yesterday and the section between Pobrezova and Brezno signifies the end of the line for most racers. Only three pilots make it past Brezno - the victor of today's discipline , Hungarian racer Endré Kovács, lands at the 22nd kilometer, with another Hungarian, Tibor Borbely 1.5 km behind and Bohuš Kolesár 800m further back, in third place.




    No one makes it to the first turning point at Polomka and the point gain for today's discipline is slim once again. Juraj Sladky still holds first place in the overall placing with a lead of 19 points, Antti Nummelin moves up to second place and Ukranian Pavel Yakimchuk moves down from second to third place. The point differences at the top are very small.

    And before all of the racers turn in their flight protocols and place pins in the map indicating their landing sites, a huge pot of halusky (traditional Slovak potato gnocci-type dish) is prepared for the pilots, under the professional supervision of Miro Jančiar. They are so good that they are completely eaten within half an hour.