The forecast was for twelve to thirteen knots out of the north
northwest at 6,000'. The surface winds were forecasted by the regional BOM to be
light northeast. There was a chance of thunderstorms in the mountains. The wind
forecast was for lighter winds than the day before when we called the day.

The lift would be good and the cloud base at 6,000' to 7,000' which is more in
line with what we've been seeing this week. The 6,000' winds were actually
forecasted to pick up to fifteen knots by five o'clock.

Given the wind direction (north northwest) and speed (at launch seven knots), we
headed once again for Mystic hill next to Bright. The sky was full of scuddy
looking clouds at middle heights with some higher cirrus. The scuddy clouds were
mixed with cu's so there was a bit of visible lift. We could also see dust
rising from the road coming up the hill.

Given the mixture of clouds and shade on the launch the paraglider pilots were
not barreling off the hill. Many that did didn't get up.

Grant Heaney was the first hang glider pilot to launch followed by Phil
Schroeder. They found lift over the ridge to the left. The rest of us followed
and we climbed out. I got to 6,000'. I was the last of the competition crew to
launch and as I climbed up I saw Scott and other pilots much lower over Clear
Spot. This area was going away from the task, although there was a nice cloud
over them it didn't look like they were climbing. The task line was straight to
Mt. Porepunkah.

I headed right over Bright and toward the southern flank of Mt. Porepunkah. I
can see cu's there with black bottoms and I figured I could get up there and
come back and get a later start time. Starting at 6,000' I didn't find any lift
until I was down to 2,500' on the hill side under the cu's. The lift was weak,
less than 100 fpm at first, but I had nothing to lose and it wasn't turbulent.

I stuck with it and after ten minutes it got stronger and I was able to climb to
7,400'. I was also drifting back toward the start cylinder which was only 1.4 km
away. It was easy to get the new start time at 2:15 PM and head north high
toward the peak at Mt. Porepunkah.

There were scudy cu's to left of the peak and blue sky over it. I was heading
into a fifteen mph headwind. I was sinking like a rock and not getting very far
forward so I veered toward the clouds to the left. I came in under them at
4,000' (after only gliding for seven kilometers) and started working the lift.

What I wasn't aware of was that Scott Barrett had been watching me on the Mt.
Porepunkah hill side from his vantage point over at Clear Spot. When he saw me
getting up well, he came in under me by about 1,500'. Soon thereafter Andy came
over, but I missed them entirely.

After two nice smooth thermals even in the high winds, I found this next thermal
to be distressingly turbulent. It wasn't worth staying in at 120 fpm and I
didn't want to go further into the hills which were on the lee side of the
winds. I decided to land.

I headed out over the Ovens valley and under other cu's to see if there was a
chance for non-turbulent lift, but the air continued to be unpleasant. I found a
nice big field near the Berry Farm to land at.

Meanwhile Scott and Andy got up where I had earlier and Scott got a 2:30 start
time. They headed over Mt. Porepunkah and found lift out in the Happy Valley.
Andy missed a thermal and landed out there after Scott and Andy left a thermal
that was too rowdy. After getting the turnpoint in Happy Valley and going into
it two kilometers Scott made it back to Mt. Porepunkah which allowed him to get
back up and make it to goal at Mt. Beauty air field to win the day. The minimum
time set for the task was one hour and he took an hour and ten minutes.

There was significant cu-nimb development in the mountains and out on the flats,
but nothing that caused us any concern.

Scott won the competition. I think I was second.

I liked the AAT format and hope that we can use it more if we can integrate it
with GAP (and get the Australian AAA rating for the competition). The format
allows for a lot more creativity from the pilots. I'll see what I can do to make
that work. Wesley may have some ideas after talking with paraglider pilots.