2010 Chelan PWC - Day 7 - Task 6

77K Out and Return task from LAUNCH to BREWSTER SCHOOL to CHELAN BUTTE to SOCCER FIELD

The day started slowly and lift was weak at the Butte. The start gaggle, once again was an unorganized mob, roaming for any available lift. There were two groups heading North from launch. Those that I flew with, crossed to the rim & the flats before turning North. The other group headed over the Chelan airport & to the high ground on the West side of the gorge.

Those of us who crossed to the rim were, soon, desperate. I found myself circling in zeros waiting for someone to get established in lift. Finally my zeros became 150'/min and everyone came to me. The lift continued to bloom to 600'/min. and the race was on. A few of the pilots I flew with dirted at the rim; others bombed out prior to making it across. For the next 35K it was climb/glide/repeat until approaching the Brewster area. I found myself getting low and dove into a spot that seemed likely to produce lift. This was my last act - before landing on a dirt road next to the wheat fields South of Brewster.

The group that proceeded along the West route made good time until reaching Brewster where they found broken thermals and strong winds from the SW. Many of both groups dirted South of Brewster. The few that made it back to Chelan had trouble hitting the 400M cylinder around the Chelan Butte. There were 7 in goal today. Josh Cohn scored well enough to cinch the podium.

Top-Ten are:
Josh COHN USA Niviuk Ice Peak Eagle Paragliding
Nicholas GREECE USA Ozone Mantra R10.2 Eagle Paragliding, Flytec
Yasushi KOBAYASHI JPN Gin Boomerang proto Fly Gin 
Ayumu MIYATA JPN Gin Boomerang 7 Aerotact-JPA
Jack BROWN USA Ozone Mantra R10 FLYAboveAll
Len SZAFARYN USA Ozone Mantra R 10.2
Ulrich PRINZ DEU Gin Boomerang 7
Dean STRATTON USA Ozone Mantra R10.2 Flytec & Eagle
Andre RAINSFORD ZAF Ozone Mantra R10.2
Carlos Daniel GOMEZ VEN Gin Boomerang

My new Gradient Avax XC3

Five of the Top-Ten are from the USA - a great showing for the first PWC on US soil in 18 years.  Congrats to Josh, Nick, Jack, Len, and Dean.  All the top-ten pilots deserve respect for enduring the long rough tasks assigned during the Chelan PWC.  I really had a great time.  Doug and Denise Stroop did a great job of running a fun, friendly comp and I hope they can be convinced to do it again.


Results are HERE
My Flight is HERE

My performance during the first two tasks was fairly good (in 44th place after two tasks) but the last three tasks were not my best effort.  I made some serious mistakes that put me on the dirt before really getting into the meat of the tasks.  I finished the comp in 66th place.  With any luck I'll learn from the mistakes I made and improve my flying before the Sun Valley Nat's in August.

Fly Safe
Tim

2010 Chelan PWC - Day 6 - Task 5

120Km task from CHELAN BUTTE to 50K arc to CHELAN BUTTE to GONAM PEAK and back to SOCCER FIELD.

 

The task today was simple, cross a 4k exit cylinder around the Butte, fly out to the East 50K and then return to cross a 3k cylinder around the Butte, fly to Gonam Pk then to the Soccerfield.  It is conceptually an easy task to visualize and fly, but it gave fits to some who couldn't figure out a way to program it into the computerized GPSs that we use to navigate.  I had three GPSs on board today, my trusty Garmin 76S and my Flytec 5020, and a new Flymaster B1 NAV.  The Flymaster was the only GPS that allowed the task to be programmed directly.  The others I just set reference points and used their indications to provide range information for the turn back to Chelan Butte.

The 50k radius and restricted zones

I launched early and flew for an hour or so before the start.  The lift was weak and fickle.  At times there were 80-90 pilots all between 5500 and 7000' roaming around for any lift.  When one wing began a turn the collective would gravitate towards the area crowding into one big massive (and unproductive) rotating swarm of frustrated pilots.  To make it even more fun, every once in a while there was a pocket of particularly snotty air to put somebody into a rockin' & rollin' recovery among the throng of gliders trying to avoid him.  Eventually I got high and boated around with 10 minutes to the start.  I found a nice core and racked it up in the tight thermal for a few hundred feet, all by myself and before everyone attacked my thermal, I rolled out in perfect position for a nice run at the start cylinder.

A North to North West wind was forecast and lower climbs than on previous tasks, so we all headed slightly North of course line.  I was doing OK for the first few thermals, but started noticing that pilots who allowed themselves to get below 3000' AGL were struggling to find and get up in thermals.  I changed gears a bit and used the 300-400'/min. climbs to get me to 6000' or so before moving on.  Eventually I was working with a couple of Swing Stratus' a U4 and a Boom 7.  We made the 50k radius and I turned for Mansfield on the way back.  The NW wind at altitude had picked up and it was slow going to head West.  I worked the best lift I could to minimize drift and maximize speed, but the lift seemed to be spotty South East of Mansfield.  At one point I led out and must have gotten distracted while eating my energy bar, because when I looked back, the guys were going up and too far away for me to reliably get to their spot.  I drove on with the hope that I would also stumble onto lift, but it didn't materialize.  I landed South of Mansfield and had a retrieve in about 15 minutes.

The guys who were in the lead gaggle and second gaggle did a great job of getting back to the rim, but their struggles weren't over yet - The Butte was in shadow and not working very well at all.  About one half of the wings who made it to the rim ended their day without reaching Gonam Pk.

Xavier wearing his "more likely to be picked up
when hitch-hiking" T-shirt 

This task may be giving the scoring software some fits, like it did our instruments.  Xavier is French and has a distinctive way of thinking that doesn't seem to play well with computers - go figure ;-)

Rumor has it that there were 10-20 in goal.  It looks like Jack Brown may have won this one.  The live leader board is down at the moment so I'm in the dark too.

Results will be HERE when they become available.

I covered a little over 72K . . my flight is HERE

2010 Chelan PWC - Day 5 - No Task Due to Wind

A well deserved rest for those who flew long distances yesterday.   Some of the pilots who flew to goal had flights approaching 8 hours in duration.  Lots of respect goes to those who fought the fight and made it around the 150+ kilometer course.

I'm going to rest & regroup.  I'm taking a bit of time to relive the mistakes that put me on the ground only 32K into the task yesterday.  After the excitement of making goal on the first two tasks, and holding 44th place in my first PWC on a serial class wing, I've had two bad days of flying in a row and now sit firmly in 73rd.  We should have a good couple of days on Friday and Saturday, so I hope to improve my score with some successful flights.

Results for the Chelan PWC can be viewed HERE.

If you want to play "Where's Waldo" watch this video and try to find me -
Hint: 3:51 and 6:50

Tim

2010 Chelan PWC - Day 4 - Task 4

153K task from LAUNCH to WILSON BUTTE to BREWSTER SCHOOL to SOCCER FIELD LZ.


From the looks of the weather forecast, the task called seemed reasonable.  Unfortunately conditions on course were not as forecast, with stronger winds from the North and somewhat weaker climbs than expected.  The combination of factors put a lot of pilots on the deck prematurely and made the day, for those pilots who made it back to Chelan, a very long one.

The lift over the Butte, prior to the start, was a bit weak and fickle.  This caused the 100 pilots to roam hungrily for the best scrap of lift.  When the 1:15 start time elapsed everyone headed across the gap to the rim of the Columbia.  Once established on the rim, things went well.  It was immediately obvious that the North component of the wind was going to be a factor and most pilots flew well North of the courseline.  This strategy worked very well since some of the climbs around Mansfield became very weak, causing pilots to frisbie downwind into a position where all they could do was penetrate back into the wind to start the entire process all over again.

Heading across to the flats

The clouds were filling in well by now and it looked like great conditions.  Occasionally I encountered a snotty thermal, but generally lift was on the weak side.  My day was a short one as I passed through a couple areas weak lift looking for better, only to be decked 10 minutes later by some serious sink that just never ended.  I landed about at 32K - Mainly mad that I had squandered a fantastic looking day.

The day went better for most - 25 pilots made it more than 100K and 8 pilots made it to the Brewster School waypoint.  Once at the Brewster TP, it was a downwind leg to goal.  We had 6 or 7 pilots make it into the goal field but only one pilot, Jack Brown, made it before the goal close time of 8PM.  He crossed the ESS at 7:33pm and made it to goal just in time.  The other pilots were unable to get to goal by 8.

Jack in goal

Happy Jack

Thursday looks windy and we may get a bit of rest -

The top 5 on Wednesday -

Jack Brown
Ayumu Myata
Len Szafaryn
Nate Scales
Nick Greece
Scores can be found HERE

For those who would like a video taste of what it's like up here try this video or these..

2010 Chelan PWC - Day 3 - Task 3

Today was my character builder . . .
Some people think that everything happens for a reason, and others just think "shit happens".  I'm not sure which camp I'm in but today was my character builder.  I launched about 30 minutes before the start time and had plenty of time to get up & over for the start, but once in the air I never achieved launch altitude.  I gave it a good fight but the cloud had consolidated, putting much of the Butte in shadow, and a group of us just couldn't wish, hope, or cuss our way back to launch altitude.  So I've built some character - but let's face it, a guy can only handle so much character. . .

The task today was a 120K+ task from Launch to Brewster School to Bump in the Road to Gonam Pk to the Soccer Field LZ.  The radii of the turnpoints was 5K and 10K so the actual length of the course was about  100K.  There were considerably more cumulus activity today than on previous days and conditions looked great if you could get away from the hill & get established on the rim.  


I just got back to the room and the task has been stopped due to rain on the course.  See the photo below for an indication of how things were looking shortly before the rain began.  It sounds like the task will be scored using 17:10 as the stop time.  Josh, Jack Brown, Eric Reed, and Brett Hazlett were all close to the finish according to the SPOT page, check back for scores.

Scores will be HERE   I expect to get less than 10 points today, so my standing will drop considerably.

Tim

2010 Chelan PWC - Day 2 - Task 2

The weather today was well suited for the 119K triangle task.  This task was the final task of the 2008 XC Open and gave many pilots fits on their final glides into goal.  Today was no different -

The task was from Launch to Farmer to Leahy and back to land at the soccer field LZ.  The winds were generally light and, although a consideration in choosing a line, not too much problem - especially if you stayed high.  Climbs were strong and tops were around 11,000' with some cloud.

The pace was fast from the start but I had a weak start - a bit late and just low enough to automatically put me one climb behind from the beginning.  I pushed things a bit, trying to make headway on the leg to Farmer.  As usual, I got one of the best climbs of the day over the silos at Farmer and felt reinvigorated as I climbed above 10,000'.  The slog to Leahy was a bit slow as we searched for a good climb before heading into the (usually) sinky area around Leahy.  Today there were actually climbs near the 3k cylinder and soon we were on our way to goal.  I say 'we' because I flew with a lot of people today.  I only occasionally really felt like I was working with anyone and they with me - that meant it was slow going. . .

The photo shows what it looks like when you are behind, on a Serial class wing, in a PWC event.  I knew there would be some drama for those who pushed this course too hard, so I just flew my race and tried to make good decisions.  Unfortunately, I got tired and started doing dumb things.  My "final" glide into goal, for example, was started three different times and I still needed an epic effort to get to the goal field after making the ESS at 10K from goal.

Here's a piece of my track that shows my ridge soaring the last 3 miles to goal.  It was not the most relaxing 20 minutes of my flight.  I landed straight-in and cleared the finish line by 10 feet. . .

The top 5 pilots today -
Josh Cohn USA 
Dean Stratton USA 
Russ Ogden GBR 
Mark Watts GBR 
Jack Brown USA 


I've made goal 2 for 2 now and am very happy with my standing (unofficially) among the other Serial class wings here - Omega 8, GTO, Mantras etc.  Yesterday I was first among the serial class and today, I believe I was 3rd on my Gradient Avax XC3.
Results are out and I'm holding 43rd overall and 1st in Serial (unofficially).


More good flying to come this week!

Live leader Board is HERE

Results are HERE

My flight track is HERE

Tim

2010 Chelan PWC - Day 1 - Task 1

95 Kilometer task - Launch to FARMER to COULEE CITY to ALMIRA.

Live leader Board is HERE

Results are HERE

My flight track is HERE

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:

1. Nick Greece (USA) 
2. Andre Rainsford (South Africa)
3. Jack Brown (USA)
4. Dean Stratton (USA)
5. 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
  

2010 Chelan PWC - Practice Day

Looking back at the Chelan Butte launch, and Lake Chelan

Today was the practice day for the Chelan PWC.  Tomorrow is the first day and it looks like it will be stellar.

The conditions today were very nice for a lazy 60k out and return to Mansfield.  I launched and waited for the formation of a gaggle to cross with.  Eventually a group of R10's and Booms and various others joined to cross the gorge.  My new Avax XC3 did very well on the crossing and I had plenty of altitude to join the search for lift on the East side.

Once we made our first climb after the crossing it was an easy flight that even included unforecast Cumulus clouds at 11,000'.  The climbs were generally well-behaved with rates of climb over 1000'/min. at times.  The wind also cooperated to allow an easy return to the soccer field and ride to the check-in and orientation by Doug and the PWC folks.  My flight today is HERE.  The international flavor of this event is refreshing.  There are certainly some exotic looking wings and protos in this event so I expect to see a lot of exciting action -

The soccer field LZ in Chelan

My new Avax XC3 is really comfortable to fly and is already impressing me with the way it is hanging with much of the field.  There are many GTOs flying in this meet, as well as a couple Advance Omega 8s, so it will be a good measure of the XC3 . . .I just hope I get the most from my tools, by making good decisions and flying smart -

The weather looks great tomorrow so let's get it on!

Tim