29.1 km Task. Success on the second attempt!
We started early today, and things just weren't working out. It was very frustrating - 90 sprint pilots milling around the top of the mountain trying to get high and not doing very well. The course organizers had created a complicated course with lots of out of back and criss-crossing back over Woodrat. Made for less work on retreive, as the Race pilots had a monster course that would have made for a lot of retrieve driving.
I completely messed up the start, by being inside the start cylinder and not realizing I had to go out again before going to the first turnpoint. So I went all the out and back for nothing. Demoralized, I tried again, but didn't take the time to get enough height so sunk out in the baking hot lee of the Squirs ridge. A bumpy ride down to little Applegate valley resulted. I was surprised how much the hot valley wind was blowing, even at 2:30pm. 10 minutes after I had finished packing I was picked up by Paula, one of the fantastic retrieve drivers. She seemed to be having a great time, zooming around the country roads in her big Chevy!
Leonardo file - my bailout flight
Back at the main bailout landing field there was frantic activity, as we realized that if we could get up Woodrat again by 3:30, we could relaunch and still complete the task under the race rules. Six gliders in the back of track, I jumped on top, and another of the fantastic retrieve team put his foot to the floor to get us there. Now there is nothing greater than sitting on the back of V8 Chevy pickup being gunned down a country road on a hot summer day with the wind blasting you, the scent of towering fir trees rushing past, blazing blue sky, and a driver on a mission to break the speed limit the entire trip, just to get paraglider pilots to the top of the mountain. That is a dedicated volunteer team!
We made back to the top in a cloud of dust at 3:18. Glider out and ready to go by 3:25. No time for nerves, just get out and fly. Initially I was just glad to be out flying again, but then I realized there were still people actively flying the course, as conditions had got a lot better. Thermals were smoother, the valley wind hadn't overdeveloped, and it was much easier to get up. So I just started picking of the turnpoints one by one, flying completely on my own, but watching carefully the pilot scattered around the entire course for clues to what was working and what wasn't.
Leonardo File - Second attempt and made it to goal
The Burnt turnpoint was working perfectly - fly over, climb 700m in nice thermal, fly back past launch to tag the Squirs turnpoint, do it all again but fly over the valley to Rabies, find another nice 600m climb. It was all falling together so easily I almost couldn't believe my luck. However, I did see one pilot on a purple Nivuik dissapear down in the big valley behind Rabies peak, where I assume he landed.
I also finally got to experience the famous Woodrat convergence, where the westerly flow out of the Applegate valley meets the northerly flow from the Medfor valley. From Rabies peak at 1800m, I flew 9 km on half to full bar the whole way, only losing 200m of height! I arrived back over Woodrat launch at 5:25pm, still 500m over launch! Dream flying conditions.
The final leg was a straight full bar charge into a stiff headwind to the Longsword vineyard finish line, where I passed the goal line with twenty minutes to spare. What a day - paragliding perfection..
Because of the restart I had a slow time (the elapsed time includes the time taken to get back up the hill), but finished 18th today. Only 20 made it to goal out of about 80 starters.My estimate was that if only the time I spent flying the task would have been counted, I would have actually been top 5 in terms of speed around the course.
Results at Flyxc.org
We started early today, and things just weren't working out. It was very frustrating - 90 sprint pilots milling around the top of the mountain trying to get high and not doing very well. The course organizers had created a complicated course with lots of out of back and criss-crossing back over Woodrat. Made for less work on retreive, as the Race pilots had a monster course that would have made for a lot of retrieve driving.
I completely messed up the start, by being inside the start cylinder and not realizing I had to go out again before going to the first turnpoint. So I went all the out and back for nothing. Demoralized, I tried again, but didn't take the time to get enough height so sunk out in the baking hot lee of the Squirs ridge. A bumpy ride down to little Applegate valley resulted. I was surprised how much the hot valley wind was blowing, even at 2:30pm. 10 minutes after I had finished packing I was picked up by Paula, one of the fantastic retrieve drivers. She seemed to be having a great time, zooming around the country roads in her big Chevy!
Leonardo file - my bailout flight
Back at the main bailout landing field there was frantic activity, as we realized that if we could get up Woodrat again by 3:30, we could relaunch and still complete the task under the race rules. Six gliders in the back of track, I jumped on top, and another of the fantastic retrieve team put his foot to the floor to get us there. Now there is nothing greater than sitting on the back of V8 Chevy pickup being gunned down a country road on a hot summer day with the wind blasting you, the scent of towering fir trees rushing past, blazing blue sky, and a driver on a mission to break the speed limit the entire trip, just to get paraglider pilots to the top of the mountain. That is a dedicated volunteer team!
We made back to the top in a cloud of dust at 3:18. Glider out and ready to go by 3:25. No time for nerves, just get out and fly. Initially I was just glad to be out flying again, but then I realized there were still people actively flying the course, as conditions had got a lot better. Thermals were smoother, the valley wind hadn't overdeveloped, and it was much easier to get up. So I just started picking of the turnpoints one by one, flying completely on my own, but watching carefully the pilot scattered around the entire course for clues to what was working and what wasn't.
Leonardo File - Second attempt and made it to goal
The Burnt turnpoint was working perfectly - fly over, climb 700m in nice thermal, fly back past launch to tag the Squirs turnpoint, do it all again but fly over the valley to Rabies, find another nice 600m climb. It was all falling together so easily I almost couldn't believe my luck. However, I did see one pilot on a purple Nivuik dissapear down in the big valley behind Rabies peak, where I assume he landed.
I also finally got to experience the famous Woodrat convergence, where the westerly flow out of the Applegate valley meets the northerly flow from the Medfor valley. From Rabies peak at 1800m, I flew 9 km on half to full bar the whole way, only losing 200m of height! I arrived back over Woodrat launch at 5:25pm, still 500m over launch! Dream flying conditions.
The final leg was a straight full bar charge into a stiff headwind to the Longsword vineyard finish line, where I passed the goal line with twenty minutes to spare. What a day - paragliding perfection..
Because of the restart I had a slow time (the elapsed time includes the time taken to get back up the hill), but finished 18th today. Only 20 made it to goal out of about 80 starters.My estimate was that if only the time I spent flying the task would have been counted, I would have actually been top 5 in terms of speed around the course.
Results at Flyxc.org