The Venue
Kruševo is a world class competition venue. It is located in southern Macedonia not far from the Greek border. It boasts easy to understand flying weather, big grassy take-offs with exceptionally easy launch conditions (usually light winds all day long!) and land-out opportunities that are more plentiful than just about any flying site in the world.
The flying area around Kruševo is called Pelagonia – it’s the biggest flat-land area in the country. Flanked to the north, west and east by three independent mountain chains, the south of Pelagonia opens up to Greece and is thus influenced by the mild Mediterranean climate.
The weather
The months of July and August are the most reliable time to fly XC for this venue.
Thermals start to become easy to use from about 11am and the thermals tend to die out by about 5pm or so. At this time of year, it typically rains about 4 times per month (usually short sharp showers) so like neighbouring Greece, it’s very dry (and great for XC flying!)
In July and August, the prevailing wind is north-west, but strong wind is generally not a problem here. Local east winds set-up in the morning providing exceptionally dependable flying conditions along the mountain chain through the morning. As the north wind feeds into the flat lands later, permanent thermic cycles become established. The sea breeze often wafts in from Greece later in the afternoon to provide some interesting convergence lines. The weather here is easy to understand and predict. You can expect to fly every day at this time of year.
Sun cream and a hat are definitely recommended!
The launch
The main Kruševo launch is big enough for about 10 pilots to launch simultaneously. Its big, grassy and also boasts plenty of shade. Launch conditions are generally light and tend to become good for thermalling from about 11am onward. Note, that whilst unusual, there are 3 other alternative launches (up to 40 minutes away) that are available for us to use should conditions dictate.
The main Ager landing
Kruševo is a dream venue for landing out. The huge flat valley means that valley winds are almost never an issue and the landing options are endless. We’ll also have the choice of several large goal fields to choose from.
Headquarters
The HQ will be at Hotel Montana Palace.