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• Results

The XCSkies/GFS forecast was for nine knots of wind at 4,000' out of the northwest at 2 PM. It looked like it was going to be straight in at launch. The early wind readings at launch showed 14 km/h gusting to 24 km/h.

None the less the organizers thought that the winds were turn west later in the day (although XCSkies didn't show this at 5 PM, in fact it showed north northwest at 12 knots then). So they sent us to Aspres which has a southwest facing launch, and the other day provided wind coming straight in on launch.

Well on this day the winds never stopped coming over the back from the north and on launch they were always blowing from the northwest, the right, when they were blowing at all and then when the winds stopped for a few seconds every couple of minutes (only on our launch to the far right of the three launches) they trickled in. The launch to the far left never had launchable conditions.

So launch conditions were sucky. Only a few pilots launched. Manfred first later Jonny and Jeff O'Brien. They closed the launch multiple times then stopped the task, which cancelled the day. Maybe ten pilots launched.

Jeff was able to fly back to Camping Montéglin after catching a weak thermal at 700' at the sailplane port east below Aspres and topping out in it at the "volcano," way to the southeast. Manfred and Jonny got high way down wind to the east from launch and then headed toward the start circle and first turnpoint at the center of the start circle twenty km to the west (into the wind).

Manfred made the turnpoint and then flew back to the Camping.

Cu-nimbs developed to the east in the Alps and came over Laragne after 7 PM.

The winds remained north at 29 km/h on Chabre all day. Perfect for a task there.

Correction: while the winds were perfect the two times I read them (morning and late afternoon), and while I received a report from a pilot who was listening to the wind talker that the winds were right on north at 29 km/h all day, the record shows otherwise. See here.