Yeah, I suck. Sunk out after 38 K. Good first four days, couldn't keep my head together for the last two. Dad should be at least seventh.
Wil
Friday, January 9, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Monarca Task 5
Today was another day of high pressure at Valle De Bravo. However there were no high clouds to filter the sun, which meant the inversion was higher, the thermals were stronger, and the edges were much sharper. I had an excellent game plan for the day and was feeling good about the task.
On launch I had one aborted attempt as I believe I was on the edge of a cycle. The second launch was fine and I headed out to start my climb. The air was certainly very textured, but I felt that it was nothing I couldn't handle. I'm flying Dad's Omega 7 which is a large and has a weight range of 100 to 130 Kg. I'm at about 113 with 6 Kg of ballast. So far I had felt the wing was extremely stable and reliable even in rough conditions. hmmph...
After gaining enough altitude I started my glide towards the pinon. I made it around the corner just fine without event, took a few little tip collapses, once again I felt that the air was perhaps rougher then it had been in the previous tasks. Once across the pinon I went deeper into the terrain towards the wall to climb up. I began to circle in a strong established core. I was well below the wall height and probably about five hundred feet above the ground several hundred feet in front of the wall. I was facing upwind right on the edge of the thermal and I was pulling pretty hard on my right brake and weight shifting to bank it back into the core. for a few seconds I teetered on the upwind edge, then I spun the glider to the right. As soon as it happened I immediately realized my mistake and instinct took over before my mind could interfere. The right side of the glider was deflated so I quickly braked the left side and continued to watch the glider. It accordianed a little bit and I lost a bit of the left tip as the right side began to reinflate. I checked my altitude with a quick glance and had flashes going through my mind of other gliders being over controlled into a cascade resulting in a reserve toss. I didn't want that to be me, so my hands went up. I was well aware of the possibility of a cravat and knew I didn't have altitude to waste. I quickly made the decision that if that were to happen I would huck imediately. The glider was ready to restart, but both tips were tucked in. As I gained airspeed I started to check the surge and both tips popped out. I took the diving glider around to the right to face away from the terrain and re-establish myself in the thermal.
The whole event didn't scare me too much, but it definitely shook my confidence and I started to completely re-evaluate the glider I was flying. I'd been on the edge of spinning other gliders before, but usually weightshift was always enought to load the glider and I rarely pull that much brake to begin with. However, spinning your glider is a serious mistake!
I continued on towards the start, but wasn't having much fun. strong cores kept ripping through and slowing me down. I kept blowing tips also. eventually I caught up with the lead and had a pretty good start. The glide out to start was mellow and I began to think the day was starting to change. On the way back several people took a line to veer back towards start, but I felt I needed another climb before getting that low to the terrain again. So I veered a little bit left and thought I was about to hook into a thermal. I was completely ready to handle turbulence and control the glider. But that didn't stop me from taking a full frontal near heavy traffic. Once agian a rush of adrenaline and flying instincts took over. The recovery was easy, but I was now extremely uncomfortable in the air. I needed to climb to get away from the terrain and back to launch, the next turnpoint, but I didn't want to chance another collapse. I worked up my nerve and rejoined the gaggle to climb out. Then I went on glide. The line I took back to launch went over the wall and behind the pinon. I needed to speed bar to get to the next turn point, but I'd lost my nerve. A comp pilot should not take wacks when he's ready for them. I decided that my head was not in the right place, I was not ready to fly this glider light in high pressure, high energy conditions. So the solution for me was to tag the second turnpoint, as I was already there and land. As soon as my feet were on the ground and I watched the gliders overhead I knew I had made the right decision and felt much better. I hope there wasn't any reserve tosses today and that many pilots make it to goal safely.
I'm not worried about losing my position in the comp. I learned far more about myself as a pilot, and that's worth much more then a few ranking points in a game that is supposed to be fun. Hopefully Dad's flight was much better. He probably killed it, but I'll let him fill you in when he gets back.
Buenas Tardes,
Wil
Thanks Wil!!
My flight today was pretty much the opposite of Wil's. When I took off I was rested, confident, well fed, and ready to race. I found the conditions sporting but manageable. I didn't start well but was able to catch up by the first turn point. Being heavy on the Boomerang is a huge advantage if you're able to fly accelerated with the trimmers open. Aside from surfing up the side of the pinon a couple of times I flew the entire race pretty high and fast. I'm still not closing well but I feel I'm getting a little better. About the last 18 months or so I consistently fly the course with the leaders only to be left behind at the end. Today I once again let the leaders get away but this time I was only a couple of minutes behind them. I think I've finally realized that you have to make a major mental gear shift if you want to close out the race with the leaders. Haven't seen the scores yet but I think I came in ok.
As you can imagine there was quite a discussion about where you are in the weight range of the glider. Wil has been flying brilliantly all week being in the lighter half of his weight range. He had a couple of strong deflations and managed to find some really ratty air and things just started adding up to a point where he just wasn't have a good time anymore. He showed alot of maturity by respecting the fact that he just wasn't feeling it and then landed. That said when you jump into the water here in mid day conditions it doesn't matter whether you're at the top, bottom, or in the middle of your weight range. All of the reserve tosses this week have been by gliders loaded to the top. My glider has balled up completely twice this week, I've taken 3 frontals, one accelerated, and had my glider start to spin twice. Probably about a 1000 tips and countless assymetrics...... It's all part of the game we play. It's not if - but when it will happen. Wil handled his glider recovery perfectly but was understandably shaken which is perfectly natural all things considered. This is stuff that can't be taught - you just have to experience it first hand and move on......
On launch I had one aborted attempt as I believe I was on the edge of a cycle. The second launch was fine and I headed out to start my climb. The air was certainly very textured, but I felt that it was nothing I couldn't handle. I'm flying Dad's Omega 7 which is a large and has a weight range of 100 to 130 Kg. I'm at about 113 with 6 Kg of ballast. So far I had felt the wing was extremely stable and reliable even in rough conditions. hmmph...
After gaining enough altitude I started my glide towards the pinon. I made it around the corner just fine without event, took a few little tip collapses, once again I felt that the air was perhaps rougher then it had been in the previous tasks. Once across the pinon I went deeper into the terrain towards the wall to climb up. I began to circle in a strong established core. I was well below the wall height and probably about five hundred feet above the ground several hundred feet in front of the wall. I was facing upwind right on the edge of the thermal and I was pulling pretty hard on my right brake and weight shifting to bank it back into the core. for a few seconds I teetered on the upwind edge, then I spun the glider to the right. As soon as it happened I immediately realized my mistake and instinct took over before my mind could interfere. The right side of the glider was deflated so I quickly braked the left side and continued to watch the glider. It accordianed a little bit and I lost a bit of the left tip as the right side began to reinflate. I checked my altitude with a quick glance and had flashes going through my mind of other gliders being over controlled into a cascade resulting in a reserve toss. I didn't want that to be me, so my hands went up. I was well aware of the possibility of a cravat and knew I didn't have altitude to waste. I quickly made the decision that if that were to happen I would huck imediately. The glider was ready to restart, but both tips were tucked in. As I gained airspeed I started to check the surge and both tips popped out. I took the diving glider around to the right to face away from the terrain and re-establish myself in the thermal.
The whole event didn't scare me too much, but it definitely shook my confidence and I started to completely re-evaluate the glider I was flying. I'd been on the edge of spinning other gliders before, but usually weightshift was always enought to load the glider and I rarely pull that much brake to begin with. However, spinning your glider is a serious mistake!
I continued on towards the start, but wasn't having much fun. strong cores kept ripping through and slowing me down. I kept blowing tips also. eventually I caught up with the lead and had a pretty good start. The glide out to start was mellow and I began to think the day was starting to change. On the way back several people took a line to veer back towards start, but I felt I needed another climb before getting that low to the terrain again. So I veered a little bit left and thought I was about to hook into a thermal. I was completely ready to handle turbulence and control the glider. But that didn't stop me from taking a full frontal near heavy traffic. Once agian a rush of adrenaline and flying instincts took over. The recovery was easy, but I was now extremely uncomfortable in the air. I needed to climb to get away from the terrain and back to launch, the next turnpoint, but I didn't want to chance another collapse. I worked up my nerve and rejoined the gaggle to climb out. Then I went on glide. The line I took back to launch went over the wall and behind the pinon. I needed to speed bar to get to the next turn point, but I'd lost my nerve. A comp pilot should not take wacks when he's ready for them. I decided that my head was not in the right place, I was not ready to fly this glider light in high pressure, high energy conditions. So the solution for me was to tag the second turnpoint, as I was already there and land. As soon as my feet were on the ground and I watched the gliders overhead I knew I had made the right decision and felt much better. I hope there wasn't any reserve tosses today and that many pilots make it to goal safely.
I'm not worried about losing my position in the comp. I learned far more about myself as a pilot, and that's worth much more then a few ranking points in a game that is supposed to be fun. Hopefully Dad's flight was much better. He probably killed it, but I'll let him fill you in when he gets back.
Buenas Tardes,
Wil
Thanks Wil!!
My flight today was pretty much the opposite of Wil's. When I took off I was rested, confident, well fed, and ready to race. I found the conditions sporting but manageable. I didn't start well but was able to catch up by the first turn point. Being heavy on the Boomerang is a huge advantage if you're able to fly accelerated with the trimmers open. Aside from surfing up the side of the pinon a couple of times I flew the entire race pretty high and fast. I'm still not closing well but I feel I'm getting a little better. About the last 18 months or so I consistently fly the course with the leaders only to be left behind at the end. Today I once again let the leaders get away but this time I was only a couple of minutes behind them. I think I've finally realized that you have to make a major mental gear shift if you want to close out the race with the leaders. Haven't seen the scores yet but I think I came in ok.
As you can imagine there was quite a discussion about where you are in the weight range of the glider. Wil has been flying brilliantly all week being in the lighter half of his weight range. He had a couple of strong deflations and managed to find some really ratty air and things just started adding up to a point where he just wasn't have a good time anymore. He showed alot of maturity by respecting the fact that he just wasn't feeling it and then landed. That said when you jump into the water here in mid day conditions it doesn't matter whether you're at the top, bottom, or in the middle of your weight range. All of the reserve tosses this week have been by gliders loaded to the top. My glider has balled up completely twice this week, I've taken 3 frontals, one accelerated, and had my glider start to spin twice. Probably about a 1000 tips and countless assymetrics...... It's all part of the game we play. It's not if - but when it will happen. Wil handled his glider recovery perfectly but was understandably shaken which is perfectly natural all things considered. This is stuff that can't be taught - you just have to experience it first hand and move on......
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Monarca Task 4
Well day 4 was a very different race day than what is typical for Valle. Despite an excellent forecast, 30 minutes before the start saw about 100 pilots groveling around in front of launch and not getting up. Seeing the great forecast the task committee went big and called an 84k race to goal. Wil and I both launched about 30 min prior to the start and struggled with the crazy gaggle around launch and then just decided to leave low for the Pinon. We made it ok and were able to eventually get up on the crazy thermal mesa for the start. The inversion was so strong, along with some high cirrus filter, that the day never really turned on. It was a struggle from the get go. Wil and I tagged Divis togethert and then got separated. I got stuck in some major gaggle suck while flying with several of the top pilots. I looked over to the 3 kings and saw Wil and a few others getting much higher and couldn't understand why we were wasting time over Maguey when they were doing so much better. Sometimes the gaggle gets a mind of its own....
I didn't see Wil again until almost to the Llano turnpoint about half way through the race. He was killing it with Dave Prentice and a couple of others. We were first and second to the Llano turnpoint, a great race so far. After that it became very difficult. Wil headed from the turnpoint on a long glide but at this point the serial class gliders were at quite a disadvantage and from that point it was pretty much the comp gliders that were still in the race. I managed to make it back to launch and get up with a few others and by this time the high cirrus had moved out and we were hoping that the day might finally turn on but it just never came together..... I managed about 67k with Brad Gunnescio making it the furthers along the course at about 73k. No pilots in goal today. Wil flew 56k and did very well given the glider he was flying. Don't know how many were ahead of me today...
Wil wrote up an excellent post for the Blog but I manged to delete it somehow before it was posted.... I'll let him tell about his landing and adventure getting back to Valle......
Jack
My last prayer on that long glide was a bird who had just taken off on what looked to be an excellent line. I left some zeros I was circling in to chase the bird and it looked like he was about to hook into something good, but instead he smirked at me and began flapping in a different direction... jerk. So i peeled right and landed in a clearing. After flipping the now circling vulture off for a sold ten seconds I made a report on the radio. About five minutes after I landed I encountered some very helpful locals. I spent the next ten minutes trying to piece together two years of highschool spanish so I could communicate to figure out where I was. I landed on someone's ranch in a town of 100 people. I was guided to the center of town by and ten year old guide named Lupe, who was equiped with local knowledge and a donkey. Once in the center of town I grabbed a cervesa and fumed as I watched gliders overhead. Little ninos started to gather around and ask me basic questions that I began to understand as words filtered back into my memory. After that a few hombres showed up in a red gmc and they spoke some english. They had grown up there and were home for the holidays, they all lived in different places in the states. They gave me a few beers and we just chilled and made jokes for awhile.
Then a flying buddy showed up, Melanie from Jackson Hole. I was glad to see another gringo, as this was my first true mexican land out experience. I introduced her to my new amigos, but they were quite bashful, guess Melanie can be intimidating. They gave her a beer and dipped out, and by the time the retrieve vehicle showed up we were surrounded by curious little mexicans who were laughing and playing with us. I actually ended up doing a little fencing with some of the more rambuncious ones. haha. As we boarded the bus their heads drooped and their eyes watched us leave, I guess we must have been much cooler then we thought. Or they were simply sad their entertainment was leaving. Either way we picked up three other pilots who had more cervesa, and made it back to headquarters around seven o'clock.
Hopefully I won't drop too many spots, but it's alright if I do, because I got to fly like a rockstar today with the best in the comp for a good part of the race, which means I learned a ton just by watching them work their magic. Don't let Pops fool you, he flew a very smart race, especially at the beginning. Buenas Noches.
Wil
I didn't see Wil again until almost to the Llano turnpoint about half way through the race. He was killing it with Dave Prentice and a couple of others. We were first and second to the Llano turnpoint, a great race so far. After that it became very difficult. Wil headed from the turnpoint on a long glide but at this point the serial class gliders were at quite a disadvantage and from that point it was pretty much the comp gliders that were still in the race. I managed to make it back to launch and get up with a few others and by this time the high cirrus had moved out and we were hoping that the day might finally turn on but it just never came together..... I managed about 67k with Brad Gunnescio making it the furthers along the course at about 73k. No pilots in goal today. Wil flew 56k and did very well given the glider he was flying. Don't know how many were ahead of me today...
Wil wrote up an excellent post for the Blog but I manged to delete it somehow before it was posted.... I'll let him tell about his landing and adventure getting back to Valle......
Jack
My last prayer on that long glide was a bird who had just taken off on what looked to be an excellent line. I left some zeros I was circling in to chase the bird and it looked like he was about to hook into something good, but instead he smirked at me and began flapping in a different direction... jerk. So i peeled right and landed in a clearing. After flipping the now circling vulture off for a sold ten seconds I made a report on the radio. About five minutes after I landed I encountered some very helpful locals. I spent the next ten minutes trying to piece together two years of highschool spanish so I could communicate to figure out where I was. I landed on someone's ranch in a town of 100 people. I was guided to the center of town by and ten year old guide named Lupe, who was equiped with local knowledge and a donkey. Once in the center of town I grabbed a cervesa and fumed as I watched gliders overhead. Little ninos started to gather around and ask me basic questions that I began to understand as words filtered back into my memory. After that a few hombres showed up in a red gmc and they spoke some english. They had grown up there and were home for the holidays, they all lived in different places in the states. They gave me a few beers and we just chilled and made jokes for awhile.
Then a flying buddy showed up, Melanie from Jackson Hole. I was glad to see another gringo, as this was my first true mexican land out experience. I introduced her to my new amigos, but they were quite bashful, guess Melanie can be intimidating. They gave her a beer and dipped out, and by the time the retrieve vehicle showed up we were surrounded by curious little mexicans who were laughing and playing with us. I actually ended up doing a little fencing with some of the more rambuncious ones. haha. As we boarded the bus their heads drooped and their eyes watched us leave, I guess we must have been much cooler then we thought. Or they were simply sad their entertainment was leaving. Either way we picked up three other pilots who had more cervesa, and made it back to headquarters around seven o'clock.
Hopefully I won't drop too many spots, but it's alright if I do, because I got to fly like a rockstar today with the best in the comp for a good part of the race, which means I learned a ton just by watching them work their magic. Don't let Pops fool you, he flew a very smart race, especially at the beginning. Buenas Noches.
Wil
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Wil's Task 2
Yesterday was super unstable, clouds were popping off at dawn. Forecasts were calling for a more stable day, but Valle De Bravo is somehow impervious to outside weather.
I launched about thirty five minutes before the start, my usual time, and had another good start. The route was shorter but more technical, the start was about five K from launch so it was a bit of a cross country flight just to start the race. The second turn point took us out into the flats then the third was back to davis (DA VEEZ). from there the course line took us over the plateu and along a convergence line. I was able to glide 6 K and only lost 100 meters. It was cloud surfing at it's best. I ended up coming into goal 26th which put my overall placing at 25.
Wil's Task 3
Today was another different day, much higher pressure but I made it to about 11,500 feet, the highest I've gotton here. More wind today also. There was high cirrus coming in quickly so the task was shorter then the other two, 64 K. I had an amazing start, but it's difficult to keep up with new comp gliders... I held back several times today when I should have pushed, but my job this competition is to make sure that I'm in goal. I was pretty slow but I made it again. There was at least fifty pilots in goal today and I was probably in the high thirties. Dad's been killin it. I'll try to get him to blog something.
Gotta get my laundry and it's definitely time for food. Hope the cold snap breaks soon up there. It's been awhile since I've been up there, but i'll never forget what negitive temperatures fell like.
Buenas Noches
Yesterday was super unstable, clouds were popping off at dawn. Forecasts were calling for a more stable day, but Valle De Bravo is somehow impervious to outside weather.
I launched about thirty five minutes before the start, my usual time, and had another good start. The route was shorter but more technical, the start was about five K from launch so it was a bit of a cross country flight just to start the race. The second turn point took us out into the flats then the third was back to davis (DA VEEZ). from there the course line took us over the plateu and along a convergence line. I was able to glide 6 K and only lost 100 meters. It was cloud surfing at it's best. I ended up coming into goal 26th which put my overall placing at 25.
Wil's Task 3
Today was another different day, much higher pressure but I made it to about 11,500 feet, the highest I've gotton here. More wind today also. There was high cirrus coming in quickly so the task was shorter then the other two, 64 K. I had an amazing start, but it's difficult to keep up with new comp gliders... I held back several times today when I should have pushed, but my job this competition is to make sure that I'm in goal. I was pretty slow but I made it again. There was at least fifty pilots in goal today and I was probably in the high thirties. Dad's been killin it. I'll try to get him to blog something.
Gotta get my laundry and it's definitely time for food. Hope the cold snap breaks soon up there. It's been awhile since I've been up there, but i'll never forget what negitive temperatures fell like.
Buenas Noches
Monday, January 5, 2009
Monarca Task 2 by Jack
Day two of the Monarca was a 58K race to goal. Conditions were quite active with cloud base around 3000 meters. I managed an excellent start and flew with the lead gaggle for over half the race before falling a bit behind. I'm slowly but surely getting braver with my speed system.
A couple of gliders went into the trees today with no injury. Seattle pilot Meredith was one of them and probably has the world record for the number of tree landings. One reserve toss yesterday and two today I believe.
Wil flew well again today. Needless to say he's quite happy with the Omega 7. He's making good decisions, keeping his glider pressurized in sometimes challenging conditions, and having lots of fun doing it. He's really gunning for a top 10 serial class finish but the competition is quite stiff.
A high speed, 3 dimensional chess game pretty much describes the game we're playing. One minute you're at cloud base mashing as much speed as you dare, the next minute you're at trim speed concentrating on your next climb. Always shifting gears, constantly watching other pilots, evaluating your line against the lines of others near you, looking for birds, watching the clouds, constantly evaluating your strategy and changing it as the conditions change. Not only do you have to evaluate your own decisions, but the decisions of others as well. I write down the wing numbers of the top 15 pilots or so and have them right on my flight deck so that If I see one of the top pilots I can watch them more closely.
Today my final glide to goal was about 8 K. My 6030 said I had it on a 10 to 1 which is pretty marginal but I had two other wings racing me in so I decided to just go for it. I pushed as much speed as I could given the conditions and just barely cleared the tree line before the goal field. I had just enough altitude to make a turn into the wind at goal and loose maybe 50 feet before I landed! A bit too close for comfort but I did manage to keep just ahead of the other gliders. I have a ratchet block system set up with 4 mil speed bar line now which is helping my legs make it through these long flights....
US pilots are doing pretty good so far. Brad Gunnescio came in 3rd place today so should be top 5 overall with the next results after 2 tasks.
http://www.monarcaparaglidingopen.com/
A couple of gliders went into the trees today with no injury. Seattle pilot Meredith was one of them and probably has the world record for the number of tree landings. One reserve toss yesterday and two today I believe.
Wil flew well again today. Needless to say he's quite happy with the Omega 7. He's making good decisions, keeping his glider pressurized in sometimes challenging conditions, and having lots of fun doing it. He's really gunning for a top 10 serial class finish but the competition is quite stiff.
A high speed, 3 dimensional chess game pretty much describes the game we're playing. One minute you're at cloud base mashing as much speed as you dare, the next minute you're at trim speed concentrating on your next climb. Always shifting gears, constantly watching other pilots, evaluating your line against the lines of others near you, looking for birds, watching the clouds, constantly evaluating your strategy and changing it as the conditions change. Not only do you have to evaluate your own decisions, but the decisions of others as well. I write down the wing numbers of the top 15 pilots or so and have them right on my flight deck so that If I see one of the top pilots I can watch them more closely.
Today my final glide to goal was about 8 K. My 6030 said I had it on a 10 to 1 which is pretty marginal but I had two other wings racing me in so I decided to just go for it. I pushed as much speed as I could given the conditions and just barely cleared the tree line before the goal field. I had just enough altitude to make a turn into the wind at goal and loose maybe 50 feet before I landed! A bit too close for comfort but I did manage to keep just ahead of the other gliders. I have a ratchet block system set up with 4 mil speed bar line now which is helping my legs make it through these long flights....
US pilots are doing pretty good so far. Brad Gunnescio came in 3rd place today so should be top 5 overall with the next results after 2 tasks.
http://www.monarcaparaglidingopen.com/
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Here's a link to some pictures from the warm up Day at Monarca
http://s371.photobucket.com/albums/oo155/akparajack/
http://s371.photobucket.com/albums/oo155/akparajack/
Wil's First Task
Just got back to the casa. Riss, Bill Hughes, Glen from Oregon not sure of his last name, Me and Dad are all staying in the Casa. Today was the first day of the comp and boy was it intense. The start is quite the strategic/balls to the wall event in a real competition. I had a good start as me pete and brad hooked a core that pushed us above most of the gaggle right before 12:45. I launched around 12 and it was my smoothest launch yet. I was only layed out for about five seconds before i was gone. the other days there's been a knot i spotted when building a wall or a twig or something.
Once in the air I climbed up pretty quick and dashed over to the pinon to start getting in position. After the start i watched the comp wings work their magic and pull away but I picked a good line to the next lift and was able to hang with the lead gaggle for a few more thermals. eventually we made it to davis (DA VEEZ). The task of the day was a 72 K flight in the shape of a figure eight/double triange. after making it to davis i pushed out towards the flats with several gliders in front of me. i began to get very conservative with my altitude and many pilots caught up. luckily i found a good core near the turnpoint and found a magic line to it and to help start my glide back towards the three kings. once there i found a good core but this mexican on a white boomerang pushed me out. took another two climbs and glides into a head wind to finally get to base. during that time at least twelve other pilots passed me >:( anyways i eventually had enough alititude to start working back towards the second to last turn point. about 2 K from the cyllander i was thermalling with Trey from SB and went a little bit downwind to find better lift. didn't find anything so i decided to tag the turn point, then started cruising back towards the lift. unfortunetely i was getting drilled by sink and the lower you get over the flats the harder it is to get up.
I had my garmin fully zoomed in so that i could see my track log. i found where i'd first caught the lift in the area and spend a lot of time flying around the area working hard for five turns to gain thirty meters, only to lose all of it by falling out of the weak lift for a few seconds. I was about five hundred feet over when something organized finally came through. first turn i gained a few meters, then five, then six, then eight, then lost two, then gained fifteen! it may have taken me twenty five minutes but i worked that sucker almost back to cloud base, then i pimped off this other guy to finish the climb.
Having decided that being low was going to end my flight i flew extremely slowly and deliberately worked every possible piece of lift to stay around base. eventually four of us made the last turn point and jetted towards goal. i made it with like two thousand feet to spare :). my time was 3:32 and the winner was around 2:30. I think I was the last one in. but what matters is that i made it. and it was my longest flight to date! Later i talked to trey and pete, the two other young americans on serial class gliders, and they both went down where i almost did. I've decided that consistancy is certainly the most important thing and now that i have much more time in the air to make decisions it should be a much easier goal then before.
Just got back to the casa. Riss, Bill Hughes, Glen from Oregon not sure of his last name, Me and Dad are all staying in the Casa. Today was the first day of the comp and boy was it intense. The start is quite the strategic/balls to the wall event in a real competition. I had a good start as me pete and brad hooked a core that pushed us above most of the gaggle right before 12:45. I launched around 12 and it was my smoothest launch yet. I was only layed out for about five seconds before i was gone. the other days there's been a knot i spotted when building a wall or a twig or something.
Once in the air I climbed up pretty quick and dashed over to the pinon to start getting in position. After the start i watched the comp wings work their magic and pull away but I picked a good line to the next lift and was able to hang with the lead gaggle for a few more thermals. eventually we made it to davis (DA VEEZ). The task of the day was a 72 K flight in the shape of a figure eight/double triange. after making it to davis i pushed out towards the flats with several gliders in front of me. i began to get very conservative with my altitude and many pilots caught up. luckily i found a good core near the turnpoint and found a magic line to it and to help start my glide back towards the three kings. once there i found a good core but this mexican on a white boomerang pushed me out. took another two climbs and glides into a head wind to finally get to base. during that time at least twelve other pilots passed me >:( anyways i eventually had enough alititude to start working back towards the second to last turn point. about 2 K from the cyllander i was thermalling with Trey from SB and went a little bit downwind to find better lift. didn't find anything so i decided to tag the turn point, then started cruising back towards the lift. unfortunetely i was getting drilled by sink and the lower you get over the flats the harder it is to get up.
I had my garmin fully zoomed in so that i could see my track log. i found where i'd first caught the lift in the area and spend a lot of time flying around the area working hard for five turns to gain thirty meters, only to lose all of it by falling out of the weak lift for a few seconds. I was about five hundred feet over when something organized finally came through. first turn i gained a few meters, then five, then six, then eight, then lost two, then gained fifteen! it may have taken me twenty five minutes but i worked that sucker almost back to cloud base, then i pimped off this other guy to finish the climb.
Having decided that being low was going to end my flight i flew extremely slowly and deliberately worked every possible piece of lift to stay around base. eventually four of us made the last turn point and jetted towards goal. i made it with like two thousand feet to spare :). my time was 3:32 and the winner was around 2:30. I think I was the last one in. but what matters is that i made it. and it was my longest flight to date! Later i talked to trey and pete, the two other young americans on serial class gliders, and they both went down where i almost did. I've decided that consistancy is certainly the most important thing and now that i have much more time in the air to make decisions it should be a much easier goal then before.
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