95 Kilometer task - Launch to FARMER to COULEE CITY to ALMIRA.
The day started off looking grim, with gusty winds off the lake. Soon though, it mellowed and we were able to build a long task to the East. The start queue was unregulated and it was obvious that everyone was going to try to get in the air well before the start time because the start was a 15Kentry cylinder with it's line 12K away from the launch. We had a good start with the armada of R10s lumbering a bit ahead. The climbs were spotty at times and very rough in places, but there were also the occasional 1000'/min. smooth big thermals that make me smile. . .
After making it to Farmer we headed to the 'choke-point' at Coulee City to keep the group over the roads. Then it was a X-wind glide to goal. I flew a lot with Keith Mac today and we always felt behind and slow, but in retrospect we did some things right.
It looks like I made the top-50 today (42nd place at the moment - but scores are still coming in) and that was my goal since I'm on a serial class wing and flying among the elite in our sport. My Avax XC3 is getting good reviews from those who are flying with me, on their comp wings - "it goes good." From my standpoint, it is a dream to fly with no bad habits or scariness. I'm loving the handling of the wing and it's performance is good enough that I'm rolling out of climbs with comp ships and gliding well enough to stay with the gaggle. Speed bar is fully usable and feels very efficient to 3/4 bar. Beyond 3/4 bar the speed increases a bit, but the glide does suffer. The speed is very good at trim and on bar. I finished about 30 minutes behind the leaders with a 2:36 and the winners were 1:53 on this 95Km. task.
So end of day one and the top-5 are:
- Nick Greece (USA)
- Andre Rainsford (South Africa)
- Jack Brown (USA)
- Dean Stratton (USA)
- Frank Brown (Brazil)
Jack Brown is blogging HERE
Nicole McLearn is blogging HERE
The next few days look great (higher, lighter winds, and cloud to mark lift) so I'm looking forward to some good tasks and fast flying.Tim
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