F3J Fribourg's Trophy 2019

This second international F3J competition held in Switzerland took place on May 18 and 19 in Fribourg/Pierrafotscha. The competition, which counted toward the Eurotour standings, attracted 58 competitors from five countries: Slovakia, Germany, France, the Czech Republic, and Switzerland. The competition brought together the best pilots and also served as a qualifier for the upcoming World Championships for some nations. We spent a long time watching the gloomy and windy weather leading up to the competition, but this weekend the weather gods were on the organizers’ side.

The big change was the option to use an electric winch, as in F3B, with no restrictions on battery size and 150 m of line. Although the option to launch by hand remained, no competitor chose to use it.

There was a lot of discussion about the winches, since they require participants to provide their own equipment and place the organizer under the burdensome obligation of testing each winch electrically before and during the competition. One French competitor noted that team spirit has actually diminished with the introduction of the new rules. The rules do not encourage new enthusiasts to join and invest in the sport. Many also believe

that the days of F3J are numbered...

In Switzerland, we’re seeing pilots from F5B, F3B, HLG, and… F3J coming together in the new F5J discipline. Pilots may have to choose which discipline to pursue!

The second new rule was the minimum wing loading of 20 g/dm², which means models weighing at least 1,700–1,800 g.

There isn't much variety in the models; Pike Dynamic, Perfection, Xplorer, and Maxa dominate the field. The qualifying rounds took place in light winds under mostly overcast skies. As always, while some riders quickly found themselves on the ground, the winners—

The intervals between rounds were still 10 minutes.

The much-anticipated climax of a competition is undoubtedly the fly-offs, which reset the scoreboard and pit the top 10 competitors in each category against one another.

I watched the juniors closely during the fly-off. One young pilot paid no attention to the others’ flights; he flew beautifully and calmly. He impressed me, and I immediately shared this with the team: “Jaroslav is already the junior world champion,” they told me!

A young German girl, Carolin, was being coached in English by the master, Jan Littva (who doesn’t speak German). Everything was going perfectly when

Jan asked the young woman’s father (a top pilot!) to handle her landing: the father took over and utterly dashed his daughter’s hopes... Two observations: F3J can motivate you to learn languages, but it’s also a team effort.

The wind suddenly picked up, foreshadowing a storm and rain. The three fly-offs thus took place in strong winds. Everyone opted for very spectacular short winches (3–5 seconds on the winch) with varying degrees of success. Nothing ventured, nothing gained—but you can also ruin your chances. Jan Littva took the top prize in the senior division.

An international competition requires a great deal of effort—finding sponsors, organizing the event, setting up the infrastructure, and securing support. It is not certain that the competition will be held again as early as 2020. We are looking for an alternative. Congratulations to everyone involved in organizing this event, with a special thank you to the volunteers.