National slalom course at Savines le Lac

The FFPLUM Sport Division is continuing its effort to establish slalom in France on a lake site, with a second training edition held from 14 to 18 June 2021 at Savines-le-Lac (Hautes-Alpes 05) on Lake Serre-Ponçon, with 20 pilots from the French team as well as trainees.

Held back by the Covid-19 situation, this edition, postponed to 2021, uses the 2019 set-up with take-off from the CROTS microlight strip. This site offers a set-up well suited to slalom, with interesting prospects for formats such as discovery courses or competition.

We had several objectives to address. The first, of course, was to let members of the French team maintain their performance, for some to try new machines and/or for others to progress in a competition-type set-up offered after the first phase of the week devoted to training.

One of the major objectives was to work on the equipment side of slalom, which will allow the international competition to be organised in the best possible conditions. This covers the quick and safe installation of the pylons, recovering pilots from the water, the positioning and responsiveness of the safety boat crews, the sporting aspects and, finally, one of the important and decisive issues in the discipline: timing the pilots’ passes. This is now handled by the FFPLUM using the Photofinish camera, which from now on guarantees the integrity of the timing.

The last major objective was to start developing the discipline of slalom by opening it to beginner competitors selected by the Sport Division. 11 pilots were welcomed in the second part of the course, with initial training on the first day and then Open competition mode on the second day. Including beginner slalom competitors alongside French team members was a rich experience for both sides.

The highlight of the 2021 national slalom course was the competition on the last two days, between the French team members and open to beginners.

🥇 : Alex Matéos

🥈 : Jérémy Pénone

🥉 : Marie Matéos

4th : Jean-Emile Oulha

5th : Boris Tysebaert

6th : Thomas Migneaux

7th : Cyril Planton

8th : Gaetan Magnan

9th : Yann Leudière

10th : Antoine Taillefer

11th : Thomas Golze

12th : Mikael Merle

13th : Maxence Duguet

14th : Nicolas Dauba

15th : Brice Avellaneda

16th : Mathieu De Oliveira

17th : Timothée Stangel

18th : Jean-Baptiste Winter

19th : Cléo Levasseur

20th : Mael Megret

To carry out this kind of competition training successfully, the FFPLUM mobilised a technical staff led by the Sport Division, with the National Technical Directorate on site, Noël Mazaudier head of the Sport Division, Didier Eymin head of the Paramotor Division, Pascal Vallée team leader in charge of the course and competition, Pascal Burel and Bruno Oulha in charge of scoring, Fréderic Collovray race official in charge of logistics, and Dominique Deschamps head of mechanics. We must also add and thank our local partners and service providers: the DSAC South-East, the town of Crots, water safety, the timing carried out by Michael Georges and the use of the microlight strip provided by Thierry Simmonet.

The next slalom site to be tested will be organised in the Paris region next September, but before that, other appointments are in our diaries: the regional competitions, the 2021 French Championship at Mondreville, the French team course at Chambley and the Mondial de l’ULM show at Blois, organised by the FFPLUM on 3, 4 and 5 September 2021.

Mohamed Azzouni

National Technical Adviser