Philippe Michaud <<philippe.michaud.79>>
writes:

Hard to say what was best about the Open.

I came and stayed at Quest air for the first time. I had never been in any sort
of meet, never went cross country in Florida, and I had never flown more than 50
miles.

When I left, I had flown 6 days out of 7 (we kind of took the last day off), I
had been 22 hours in the air and I had travelled 330 miles across the sky.

We flew cross-wind, up-wind, down-wind tirelessly, pushing ourselves to go
higher, farther and faster. On a blue day, we went for a 110 miles goal. I made
85, and climbed to 8000'. A personal best. On a day where, not having a task
like this, we would all have taken a pool day. The day after, we had a 92 mile
task. I made goal in 5h30. A personal best once more, and on consecutive days.
My first goal ever.

I had a poor start to the week. But everyday I got better, and I improved. If
you are seeking to become better at anything, what you need is a challenge.
Trying to keep up with the amazing pilots in the meet, in this celestial race
was a huge one for me. I could not have imagined a better way to learn and
progress. They shared so much. Knowledge, advice, passion, but most importantly,
friendship.

What was the best about the open? The question should be, what wasn't.