Race & Rally Day 3

Enough with the winds!

Today we were expecting slightly lighter winds. The task was called 54 miles to the North to Greystone Airport, home of John Travolta. With a forecast of SW winds around 15mph, this looked to be a fun route.

After the pilots meeting we moved our gliders over to the staging area. It has been pretty chaotic in the staging line, with a fair amount of cutting. I was toward the back of the staging line, but unconcerned because I planned to suit up and move into the launch line as soon as the launch window opened.

At 12:30 the launch window opened and I moved up towards the front of the launch line. I wanted to get off early so that I would not have to launch in the stronger winds as they built through the day. I had to yield to a few pilots in the priority line (top 10 in the comp standings), but was able to still get off early by about 1:00. The tow was a little turbulent at tree level, but uneventful the rest of the way as I was towed upwind to about 2,000’. We hit some decent lift and I decided to pin off the tug. I immediately started climbing alone, upwind from Quest.

I had a fairly strong climb which took me close to 4,000’. I drifted towards the main gaggle of pilots who were flying back upwind towards me. About 10 of us worked this thermal, and then the next. The wind was strong; at least 20mph, and very West. This was pushing us off course line, towards wet areas. We were all struggling just to climb and then push back upwind, without ever being able to get more than a few kilometers on course from Quest.

Top of the Stack


I had been lucky, being towed into a good spot, with a good climb, and had managed to stay at the top of the stack. Still, as I punched back upwind to the West, I sank and sank. It was impossible to head on course unless we got much higher, or further West. The course line to the North was swampy unless you went around to the West.
Looking South at Quest

As I headed back to Quest I was cursing myself for sinking out and dreading re-launching. As I came over the field I noticed there were a lot of gliders on the ground. A lot of gliders. One of them was upside down and lots of people were standing around. I landed cleanly in a turbulent field and went back to the staging area. I realized at this point that there were only about 3 gliders left in the air after I landed. Everyone had gotten drilled by the strong sea breeze that had pushed through.

At this point the safety committee decided to stop the task as there had been some carnage on launch and conditions were deteriorating. It was a fun day still, and I was happy with my flying. It felt good to know that I was not alone in being unable to penetrate on course, and that the entire field was in the same situation.

There was a lot of discussion about whether we would stay at Quest another day, or drive North. The meet director took a pilot vote, which I found odd. It looks like we will be staying here another day to the disappointment of about 49% of the pilots. I wish the decision had been made without a vote from all of us. For me, I came out here to do a rally. I was looking forward to flying a new place every day, and seeing some new terrain. In that sense, I am tired of Quest and ready to move on. That said, if the best weather forecast for tomorrow is here, then it was probably the right call. Hopefully tomorrow will give us conditions that will let us start heading North. There are still 4 days left and it will be cool if we can get up into Georgia and fly some places that have never been flown.

I think that 2 pilots got about 6km on course, and the rest of those who flew will get the minimum distance of 5km for the day. Since many did not fly, and no one made it far, the day will be worth almost no points.

The two days flown so far have been fun for me. Today’s thermals were easier for me to find, and easier for me to core. I think this was probably due to it being a dry day. The humidity was low, and the thermals seemed to behave more like west coast thermals. The difference was dramatic to me and I was able to hang with the crowd much better today.

I managed to capture a short video of the gaggle before getting veering out of the core trying to fly one handed...