Santa Cruz Flats - Day 5

Today was a very difficult day for me. East winds sent us to a local airstrip where we could avoid the rotor put off from the hotels golf course. We set up quickly and started launching around 12pm.

Todays taks was a downwind dog leg to the east. Rather than our typical exit start cylinder, where you have to stay within a given cylinder until the race start time, we used an entry start cylinder that you have to stay out of prior to the start time. This works if you don't have a waypoint to use at or near the launch area.

I launched early, maybe about 10th. It was turbulent on tow, and when I pinned off I found nothing but sink. My sink alarm screamed at me until I was back on the deck only a few minutes later. I got back in line to launch again, but now I was at the very back end and had to wait in the heat until everyone else launched.

On tow we flew through some lift and I saw Chris circling to the north. I pinned off, veered to the north and circled in light lift. Chris went on glide to the south, but I could not see what he was flying to, so I stayed with my light climb hoping it would turn into more.
I was low and did not have enough altitude to really start searching for lift. So I stayed with my climb and hoped it would turn into more. It didn't and I now found myself downwind of where I wanted to be, and still below 4k'.

I looked on the course line and saw a field that looked like a good thermal generated. I pulled on vg and flew towards it. Arriving around 800' AGL, I looked down and saw another glider already landed in the field. Great, someone else clearly thought this was a good field, and look what it got them.... I searched and searched, but was soon on the ground commiserating with the other pilot.

Chris flew quite a bit better, and made it near the first turnpoint.

Ben, Alex, and James rocked it and made it to goal in good time.

Tomorrow!

B