The 2009 Hang Gliding Worlds, day twelve, task six
More later, but for now the preliminary word is that fifteen minutes before the start gate opened Manfred and Antoine went west down the Chabre ridge past the last clouds. I had launched earlier and had already gone down the ridge and come back to the clouds and thought better of venturing further down the ridge to try to stay up where there were no clouds. I was hanging out in the last (west most cloud) for an hour before the start window opened.
Manfred apparently didn't make the first turnpoint thereby losing the World Championship to Alex Ploner who came into goal soon after Jonny. Nene won the day. Dustin was third in and Zac soon after him.
With a forecast (XCSkies/GFS) of 10 knots of north northwest winds the organizers send us to Chabre north lower launch. But when we get up there they change their minds and send us to the top, which has both south and north launched. The north winds are light here (but apparently quite strong at Aspres).
We get to the hill in time to drive up to the top launch instead of having to repackup at the lower launch and get a head start. I'm set to be the first to launch from the far launch and it looks like it will be a north launch.
The task committee calls a big task, over 150 km, to the north into the mountains, then to the east past Gap, and in the mountains except when going past Gap, then south into the mountains and finally back to Camping Montéglin.
I set up on the north launch as the launch opens just after it was coming in good. Jeff O'Brien is set as the first to launch on the north side on the near launch. The wind is not coming in on the north more than a trickle, and as no one is pushing I wait. It's coming up better on Jeff's launch and he is off. He soon finds himself at 500' over the LZ struggling to get back up. It will take him half an hour to get over launch.
After half an hour of unlaunchable conditions on the north side the wind turns around and is coming up on the south side. I haul the glider back up, but let two pilots launch in front of me. The first one runs a long ways and gets off but it doesn't look great. The second one has a stronger launch and that convinces me that I can go.
I have the strongest launch of my meet running hard and far and getting off with the maximum of control in a very light breeze. I'm pumped.
The lift is right there and soon I'm floating around in the smooth Laragne lift at cloud base enjoying myself as I wait an hour for the first start time.
There are plenty of pilots around in this area about five kilometers to the west of launch at the last cloud, and only a few have taken off for the western ends of the long ridge line. When the hour strikes at 2:30 PM we are off racing 18 km to the north to the first turnpoint on an east west ridge line.
The glide goes on forever and as we come up upon Beaumont, a north south ridge, half way there, the pilots split into two groups. One on the lee side of Beaumont and another further north on the upwind side. The pilots out in front are on the upwind side but those behind headed to the lee side as they didn't see the guys in front getting up. They did but after we made that choice.
The lift is rough, unlike over Chabre, but not too bad, and I'm so pumped I don't worry about it. We climb high enough to race to the ridge with the turnpoint.
The lift is strong and rough there also, but again there are forty to sixty pilots around so I'm more concerned about not hitting anyone and I don't worry about the rough air. We get up fast and make the turnpoint. I leave with Mario and Shapiro and head to the north of the west east course line heading for Aspres launch.
The turnpoint is northeast of Gap, forty km away and the idea is to run the mountains and clouds along the north side of the course line in faster conditions. As we approach Aspres there is a gaggle about two kilometers from it but they are going up at 100 fpm. I take a couple of turns and then dive toward Aspres.
Just then Dustin gets on the radio and says that the air is dangerous in front of Aspres as the launch is on the lee side. Too late for me, but Jeff has stayed back and found better lift as the weak thermal improved.
I get trashed hard with about five other gliders about a kilometer in front of Aspres in the lee. It's hard to tell if this is lift or just turbulence. Finally I've had enough and head east and south to try to find something pleasant to get up in.
I have to go all the way back across the valley south of Pic de Bure to find good soft lift and take it up high. I then run into the mountains on the south side where I meet up again with Mario and Shaprio. After we get almost to base Mario heads back to Pic de Bure and Shapiro and I go with him. Dustin is just at the end of this range before Gap and O'Brien is not far away. We don't hear from Zippy.
We run the south ridges south of Pic de Bure to the end of the ridges just before Gap and find good lift there getting to cloud base, and maybe a little above. Then it is a long glide in an area where we know that there will not be any lift to get to the second turnpoint, a launch on a hill side northeast of Gap.
There is no lift during the glide and we come in at launch height but don't find anything. There are three or four gliders circling out in front of launch but it is basically zero lift there. Jeff gets a few hundred feet and heads south. I head south without those few hundred feet and don't find much lift and land. Jeff finds lift and climb up Colombis to the south and keeps going.
He lands in the mountains about twenty kilometers to the south after getting below the peaks in the lee. Belinda is driving so we go pick him up. Jeff O'Brien has gone further but pushed too hard and landed east of Sisteron going to the next turnpoint.
Dustin and Zippy made it to goal. See Jamie's twitters above for the action at the goal.
The final results will be up on the web tomorrow.
http://OzReport.com/1246653955
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