http://soaringspot.com/2011tsss/results/flex/daily/day1.html

http://westcoastbrit.blogspot.com/

The forecast was for southwest winds on average through the boundary layer at
fifteen knots. The RUC and the NAM disagreed rather dramatically on the lift
forecast, maybe it was the front that was supposed to come through. The winds
were supposed to die down by five o'clock. The NAM called for zero lift at one
o'clock and the RUC called for 500 to 600 fpm.

The morning starts out very coastal with the air full of moisture and cu's every
where. It is hard to tell the cu's from the air. It's all very swampy. We wait
for things to clear up.

The launch opens at 12:30, but no one is ready to go and the sky isn't ready
either. We wait and wait. I snooze in the car. Finally Dan Bereczki is getting
ready. I suit up ready to go on the second tug. Two tugs, six competitors.

Dan gets off in good lift. I get pulled up in zero lift and finally pin off at
1,100' AGL in the first lift we hit. It's real weak and in fact I turn in 100
fpm down. Dan comes over to join me and loses all his altitude.

Stephan is pulled up high over us as we're down to 700' AGL. Stephan is in lift
to our east only half a kilometer away so we go over and join him and start
climbing out at 100 fpm. I climb to 1,800' AGL and notice that Chris Zimmerman
has been pulled up and is climbing south of us. Dan has lost the lift and
landed. Ben has landed to fix the length of his hang strap. Stephan and I join
Chris and climb out at 50 fpm.

Stephan loses the lift and Chris and I find 200 fpm and circle our way out of
the five kilometer start cylinder at a little before 2:30. Chris is just above
me and I've climbed up to him. With Ben behind and Chris and I alone and
together I decide to stick with Chris. This is after all a competition between
pilots.

Chris is flying a new Wills Wing Falcon 3 - 195. He flew a 170 last year. I
notice that he his climbing better than he did last year in the weak lift. Last
year I just climbed right through him, not this year. Chris' Falcon is an Attack
Falcon with a Mylar leading edge and the competition control frame with the
carbon fiber control bar (but Steve Pearson said he didn't need a fairing on his
cross tubes, unlike last year) . I've got an aluminum control bar and not the
streamline down tubes. It looks like Chris has a VG (I've got one) and the
glider looks very tight and smooth. Very nice looking.

Chris and I head out. My glide is a bit better on the smaller glider and we
spread out looking for lift. The cu's that we had in the morning are gone and
there are only a few scattered ones around. I'm hanging a little high in the
glider and it is a bear to pull in. Way way too much bar pressure if you want to
fly faster than 28 mph. The VG does not in any way reduce the bar pressure which
is the feature I like on the Wills Wing T2C 144. I'm straining to get the glider
to fly faster.

I get to the lift above Chris and stay in it longer. From now on he will be
below me. Chris leaves the lift early and finds better lift to the east just
slightly downwind of the course line. I come in over him and hang with him as
long as I can, climbing to 5,400' AGL.  Chris is too low to stay with so
I'm in front off on my own.

The drift has been right down the course line to the northeast toward the
turnpoint fifty three kilometers from the start. I can see this on my map view
on the Flytec 6030 as I turn in the thermals. But the rose on the 6030 is
displaying a west wind at 10 to 15 mph.

I head north to get to a cloud just on the west side of the northwest course
line. The cloud is working at 200 fpm but as I climb up to only 4,600' I see
that there are no cu's ahead on upwind side of the course line. Or what I think
is the upwind side (actually, as I stated, the wind is right down the course
line, but I'm a little confused about that due to what I see on the wind rose).

With no cu's ahead I look back to the east to the nice looking clouds which I'm
feeling are too far downwind, but which are in fact just slightly downwind of
the course line. I'm not seeing any indicators of lift "ahead" so I head north
east and then east as I get low thinking that maybe I can get to the clouds and
maybe I'll have to land.

Down to 700' AGL I go over a hill side and a bare spot. There is a bit of lift
there and a big landing field further east. I hang on and notice half a dozen
buzzards around. I follow the lift and keep checking with the buzzards. The lift
averages 250 fpm as I climb out to 6,000' AGL. Half way up Chris Zimmerman who
stayed under the nice thick clouds since I left him comes in under me. I want to
stay with him this time so I hang in weak lift as he climbs up.

We are just south of the turnpoint. I head out in front, but don't find any lift
under a local cu. We find some lift in the five kilometer cylinder and I climb
back up to 4,400'. Chris is far below so I head out alone to find 1000 fpm down.
Every time I've seen this during the task there has been a thermal nearby. I
keep flying north and hit the thermal. It's 300+ fpm.

I lose the lift through inattention as Chris comes in low below me. I see some
wispies out to the northeast over a large cultivated area with a couple of
tractors working the fields. I head out at 4,600' AGL, definitely lower than I
am comfortable with given the lack of local cu's.

I head across the cultivated fields and find nothing. I'm looking at what my
landing options are as I run out of field. At the downwind side of the
cultivated fields I find 100 fpm down to 1,100'. There are half a dozen black
vultures in the neighborhood and they are working the same weak lift I'm
working.

I work 100 fpm and notice on my map page that I'm drifting right toward the
goal. I resolve just to stay in the lift no matter what until I can glide to
goal.

Chris comes in low underneath me and joins me in the weak thermals. I can see
his shadow. I hang in the 100 fpm for twenty minutes. As we drift toward a wood
lot Chris is too low and has to land ten kilometers from the goal. I continue
climbing and get to 3,600' AGL at nine kilometers from the one kilometer goal.

I go on glide and despite hitting 800 fpm down make it with 800' AGL.

Ben and Dan start late and make it to just short of the turnpoint. I haven't
seen the rest of the results yet.