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The forecast showed the winds decreasing during the day, so it was
finally possible for us to go back up Mount Emu and get a second round in on the
last day of the competition. The prognosis was for a blue day out in the Kiewa
Valley, southwest winds at seven knots at 4,000' at 2 PM, and climbs to maybe
9,000'.

It was clear from the valley that it wasn't clear, that is that there was a
lower inversion (as forecast) before 2 PM. There were a very few minor wisps of
cu's far to the south as the inversion began to break up slowly before we
launched.

The early guys off got very low, one landing, but two others got back up high
over him. This was not a good start. I launched about fifth, twenty five minutes
before the first start window opened. It was obvious that we were all going to
wait for the last start to let the day get better. By the time I launched there
were good cu's to the south, but none over our course line.

The lift was still poor and the pilots ahead of me were struggling. I got low in
front but worked a weak one that turned on to 400 fpm to 6,200'. I headed toward
the entry start circle to the north, found another one that later proved to be
very popular that let us climb to 7,500'. 

Pushing further north to get to the edge of the start circle and now following
Julia, we found lift just at the edge and climbed up to over 8,500'. The lift
didn't last but it was good enough that we could take the last start gate at
7,400' and climb back to 8,000'. Julia had problems with her flight instrument
and had forgotten the size of the start cylinder and had left on course ten
minutes before the last start time. I could see her low and far out in front.

It was a quick run north down to the turn point twenty kilometers away. There
were a few pilots ahead and a few who stayed behind in the lift just after the
entry start circle. I did two climbs and got back to 7,000' at the turn point.
Coming back along the ridge line before heading toward Feather Top, over by
Bright and Mystic Hill, was even better and I kept finding good lift. I was near
the very front and going fast.

The plan was to go back to Mount Tawonga (or is it York?) and then cross the
valley after getting high. I climbed back to 7,000' five km north of the peak
and headed south to get up on it. As I looked ahead I could see that no one was
getting up on it. They were all way below me. There had been no lift on it when
I went north over it.

Two and a half kilometers from it I still saw no one getting up in front of me.
A few pilots were down wind of me having drifted back behind the ridge but were
not much higher, if at all.  Out in front three km I could see Julia very
low (maybe 2,000' below me) crossing the valley to the west to get back toward
the course line. This was where we had planned to cross.

Seeing her go so low there was no way I was going to hold back on the ridge line
like some pussy  (actually I just figured that she just doubled my odds of
finding something on the other side of the valley). Julia was out in front of
everyone and I was just behind her in second place. Rohan was below me and
closer to the hill side on my left as I turned right to head for the hills on
the other side of the valley.

Lukas Bader, Steve Blenkisop, and Nick were right behind me. They watched and
followed as I raced to the west side to get up on the upwind side of the hills
there. I was watching Julia in front of me and way below.

I went from 6,700' to 4,200' crossing the six kilometers to get up on the
windward side of the hills on the west side of the Kiewa valley. I was watching
as Julia also got on that side, but she was way down and finding nothing. She
was not helping. When I got on the windward side of the ridge line facing into
the sun, things got only worse for me. I was falling like a rock in turbulence.

Nick, seeing this, turned around and raced back to the other side of the valley.
Lukas and Steve continued on a bit further south of me but ran into what I did.
Steve turned one way and went down. Lukas the other way and was able to
maintain. Rohan, who had started out lower crossing the valley, stopped and
worked 200 fpm in the middle of the valley.

I had flown south up the ridge line looking for the lift that had to be there
and when it wasn't I turned around and headed down the ridge line to get out of
the trees before they ate me. I watched Julia below jump back over to Kiewa
valley and then I lost track of her as I was more concerned about saving myself.

I headed back to the east to get on the lee side and back into the valley. I
could see Rohan now high above me circling and I went under him. Julia, in the
mean time had gone further north to the lower portions of the ridge line and
continued to work her way east staying up barely in the Kangoona valley as Steve
went down.

I found only poor incoherent lift under Rohan, and drifted downwind to the south
for the next fifteen minutes before landing at the Ceccanti Winery, which made
for a very nice wait and retrieval.

Julia was able to slowly work her way back up getting a couple of ridges further
east. Rohan got up high enough in the middle of the valley to jump way east into
a bowl and find a boomer. Nick continued up the eastern ridge line back to the
take off at Mt. Emu and then at near 10,000' further south over Mt. Bogong and
got under the clouds that we saw earlier far to our south.

Jonny tried to cross where I had and had to go back twice before getting high
enough to cross over.  Len Paton and a crew who were six kilometers behind
me as I came back from the first turnpoint found good lift and climbed to 9,000'
coming back to the south, and were able to jump across the Kiewa valley getting
to the other side with 7,000' and working their way into the hills to join up
with Julia and later Nick at Feathertop.

Three Airborne REV pilots won the day. Jonny first overall, Rohan and then Nick
(he's flying an Airborne glider, not his usual Wills Wing).