http://soaringspot.com

The weather forecast was not great. The main issue was the
forecast for east northeast winds up to eighteen mph. Pretty windy. Also the
winds would be coming from across Lake Okeechobee, which would mean that the
lift would most likely be greatly suppressed near the flight park.

The task committee set a challenging task, quarter tailing to the first
turnpoint to the northwest, then downwind west along the highway, then cross
wind (slightly into the wind) to the north, a total of eighty kilometers. The
lift and cloudbase was supposed to be better as we got away from the lake to the
west, but still they weren't supposed to be great.

The first launches started after noon with start times one o'clock through two
with fifteen minute intervals. As the time to launch approached the blue sky
turned dark gray as thick rolling clouds filled the sky. Previously we had seen
lenticulars so were expecting high winds, but the winds were quite reasonable at
launch. But the dark sky shaded almost all the ground and made it appear as
though we would have a hard time getting up.

The wind was twelve mph out of the east northeast as I was pulled up to 2,600'.
All alone I didn't find anything until I was down to 1,200' just to the north of
the Ridge. I had launched about tenth so there were other pilots around to
provide assistance. Jochen and I were on the radio to help each other out.

The lift was weak and we climbed at only 150 fpm to cloud base at 3,300' five
kilometers downwind of the Ridge. It was already ten minutes past the first
start time and we had a long ways to go before we got to the start cylinder
fifteen kilometers out from the Ridge. It was almost completely dark and shaded
to the northwest, the direction of our first turnpoint.

An eight kilometer glide and we were down to 1,700'. There were a few pilots out
there in the dark with us so we were helped to find 130 fpm and drift to the
west. Still it seemed to be just a game of survival. Back to 2,900' Jochen
wanted to head out, but I quickly realized that we were going two minutes too
early and that we should wait for the next start clock. I told Jochen but he
felt it was too late to come back to the edge of the cylinder. I hung back and
took the 1:30 PM start time.

After getting the fifteen minute later start time I came in under Jochen who was
working weak lift (111 fpm) just west of highway 29. This became a popular
gathering spot as Curt Warren, Tulio, Jeff and Tom and other pilots joined us.

We all worked together and it took five thermals to get to the first turnpoint
only eleven kilometers away. All the thermals provided lift between at 100 to
200 fpm back to 3,300'. We were being pushed hard by the wind and just trying to
stay up. The next leg would be downwind.

After making the turnpoint on the east west highway I headed for some turning
pilots six kilometers to the west. I could see a pilot turning low then lose it.
It was Curt Warren and he landed just as we arrived at the lift that was just
beyond him. Down to 1,000' we found 98 fpm.

Tulio fell out of it and moved to the west to find better lift down low. I came
over to him to find 200 fpm and climbed to 2,500'. Drifting west and down to
1,400' I saw Mitch Shipley landing below me.  I found 136 fpm to his south
a couple of kilometers south of the highway and under cu's. The sky had opened
up quite a bit just before the first turnpoint and there was now plenty of
sunshine and differentiatable cu's.

Running out of cu's at 2,800' eight kilometers from the second turnpoint at
highway 31 I headed northwest to the last cu in that area as I saw a bunch of
pilots circling under it. It turned out to provide 300 fpm to 4,200', by far the
highest I had been all day. The was perfect for a chance to take the turnpoint
and then go cross toward goal.

A ten kilometer glide took me down to 2,200' thirteen kilometers from goal. I
climbed back up at 186 fpm but drifted in the fourteen mph northeast wind away
from the goal. At 3,000' I headed upwind only to lose all the altitude I had
gained and then some ending up in almost the same spot.

Back up again in 150 fpm I moved further north and found better lift with a
number of other pilots in the neighborhood. Joe Bostik was just above me as we
climbed out at 275 fpm nine kilometers from goal. I went on glide from 3,500
into a fourteen mph quartering head wind and got to goal with 700'.

Other pilots found much better lift or ignored the weak stuff that I found
necessary and made it to goal much faster. Dustin won the day. You can find the
results (such as they are so far) at the link above. Just click on the Rob Kells
Competition.

The forecast for tomorrow (and the next day) is very similar to today with
strong east winds. We'll see what we can come up with for a task.

Pictures.