The 2009 Hang Gliding Worlds, day nine, task four
The XCKies/GFS forecast was for seven knots north northwest winds at Chabre, with 500-600 fpm lift at 2 PM and cloud base at 8 to 9,000'. Also there was a local forecast for over development. The organizers sent us to the south launch at Chabre.
The launches were quite sporadic given the launch conditions with the prevailing wind over the back. We had to wait for the breezes to trickle up the launches from the thermals hopefully coming up the south face. Of course, the real thermals were a few hundred meters to the right and there was very little coming up the launch. Only one pilot launched from our lane for the first half hour (or it seemed like a half hour).
I got off at twenty minutes until the first start window opened. I flew to the right, got in the house thermal and climbed quickly to 8,000' from 4,000'. With ten minutes left before the start window I then flew north five kilometers toward Beaumont hoping to get to the edge of the start circle were about sixty to eighty pilots were working their way up or hanging out at cloud base waiting for the start window to open.
I found good lift but it petered out after a while (not like the lift to the right of launch) and I wasn't about to climb to above 8,000' like others had in time for the first start time but had to be content with 7,300'. It certainly was better than I might have expected.
Numerous other pilots still hadn't launched with the start window opened. This was unfair to them as almost everyone in the air took the first start time. It would prove to be even more unfair later.
Curt Warren, Christian Ciech, Jeff O'Brien and another pilot or two were even further north at Beaumont which was just outside the exit start circle, which gave them a better run at the first turnpoint to the west northwest of launch. Our team plan was to start at Beaumont, but a bunch of us didn't have the time or opportunity to get there.
I started with at least sixty other pilots heading west northwest to the first turnpoint. We were in the valley south of Seres when our plan had to be on the ridge line to the north and there was a dark cloud ahead of us. When I got to it I found 500 fpm that quickly turned into 950 fpm. I knew from previous looks at it when I was near launch that it was a towering cu.
I pulled out of the lift at maybe 1000' below the cloud base. Pulled on the VG and stuffed the bar. I just made it to the edge of the cloud in time to stay out of it. I was going up at 200 fpm the whole way no matter how hard I stuffed it.
Next came a long glide toward the ridge line to the west northwest to get up on it and toward goal. Finally the lead guys found a thermal but I went to the side of them to get under three pilots that looked like they had better lift. This lift turned out to be weak.
Instead of going over to the guys slowly turning to my north, I decided to head toward the ridge line and get up on its south face. That turned out to be yet another bad judgment as I didn't find the lift that I needed there while other pilots got high enough in the previous lift to get up on the ridge and find the lift there.
Running down the south side of the ridge didn't work out either. I found some lift but it was quite turbulent and wasn't getting me up at all. I'd gain 200' in a turn and then lose 200' in the next turn.
I ran out into the valley to the south as I saw a couple of pilots turning and found very weak lift being pushed back from the turnpoint in strong wind (13 mph). The winds up high were apparently mellow.
I worked my way back up from 3,000' to over 5,000' in light lift and pushed forward under cu's, but couldn't find the lift under the next pilot and was forced down in a big uphill hay field with bales. Eventually almost a dozen pilots would land there.
Jeff Shapiro had been unable to launch before the first start clock and took the fourth start time. It looked very much like the task would be stopped because there were cu-nimbs developing out in the valley around Laragne and near Chabre.
The task was stopped. Launch had been very slow and a number of pilots were not allowed to launch until after the first start time. I understand that there is a written complaint to the meet director (or perhaps a protest now).
The new CIVL rules state that you are not supposed to eliminate a day just because there is a problem like this (not all pilots having a chance to get the first start clock). This problem only becomes acute when the task is stopped. So how they will make up for the fact that pilots had difficulty making the first start time is a mystery yet to be solved.
Despite the task being stopped, numerous pilots completed the course and landed back at the Camping LZ. Pilots were able to make 75 km before the task was stopped (minus twenty minutes). At the moment the scoring shows 1000 point day, but as I recall from implementing scoring, if no one makes goal it is a 900 point day at the maximum.
http://OzReport.com/1246428558
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