32.881678,-111.854982,Francisco Grande, Casa Grande, Arizona,
USA

http://soaringspot.com/scfr14/

Jonny Durand writes:

Day 2 100km triangle with about twenty pilots making goal! Kraig
wins the day ahead of Robin with Chris Arai in 3rd just in front of me. Five
Moyes Boys in the top six today.

The task for open class and Swifts and Jim Yocom on an ATOS VR:

In the morning it looks like we'll get to over 8,000', with light or no winds,
and no cu's. We up the task length and call for an earlier start to give us more
time to complete the task before every thing closes down around 5 PM. The task
committee sends the pilots along the freeway, but first to Casa Grande mountain,
to the range just north of I 10. Then back to the flats for the weak lift before
heading over town and back to the hotel.

The sport class pilots have an out and return also, going to Meyer, which we
will also fly over, and over and back over Casa Grande mountain, which should
help out.

My forecast said that there would not be a strong inversion and pilots get up
right away starting at 12:30 PM. Launch goes very quickly and with no wind and a
two kilometer start cylinder pilots stay pretty close and work the good lift to
first 6,500', then 7,000', then 8,300' just before the first start window at
1:50 PM.

Most of us are high and we head out to Casa Grande mountain. There is a bit of
lift before the hills, and when we get there the lift is not great but pilots
seem to want to hang in it. I spot a small cu' high overhead on the south end of
the range and decide to go for it. After a bit of a search I hook into 900 fpm.
I quickly become an attractive nuisance and the guys now below me race to the
south. There are a few above me who came in high to the mountain and watched
what happened below.

I leave at 8,700' following four or five pilots who are higher and head along I
10 shading to the north to get back on the course line. The guys ahead find 600
fpm in the flats and we all get high again. It looks like an easy day.

Way to the south we can see cu-nimbs making a line from west to east, the edge
of the hurricane. There are also high clouds spreading out to the north from the
development to our south.

Another strong climb with the lead gaggle just over my head and then it's time
to head into the mountain range to our east. The edge of the 10 km turnpoint
cylinder is just on the south end of the range. There are bits of lift going
into the mountain and I don't spend too much time working them as there are cu's
over the range. I find a little over 300 fpm (it was much better out on the
flats not under cu's) to back over 8,000' as I work the range with a few other
pilots just overhead. I think I'm with Chris Arai.

We head off to the northwest to the next turnpoint at LaPalma out in the flats.
It's a sixteen kilometer glide without any lift to the turnpoint and I'm down to
3,600' before I find the weak lift just past the turnpoint. Half a dozen pilots
are higher and working this weak stuff as well as similar stuff in the
neighborhood. The shading from the overdevelopment from the south is suppressing
the lift.

I think I'm low but then Larry Bunner and another pilot come in at 2,000' just
below us. They are able to find weak lift and dig their way out of there.

I move from weak thermal to weak thermal between 4,000' and 5,500' until I
finally find a consistent core at 250-300 fpm. There is a bird down low turning
and three more come in under me. As I climb up Mike Glennon comes back to join
me in the better lift and we climb to 7,400' which is plenty to get into goal.

Plenty of pilots at goal. Most are breaking down as there may be wind tonight.

Sport class pilots make it back to goal also.