Yesterday we had our first valid task—a ~65km zig-zag along the main ridge with a big 40km out-and-back to the flats.
The task was an elapsed time individual start rather than the typical single-start-time race-to-goal. That's because the shape of the launch area—a long ridge, has multiple places to tank-up, but no one spot big enough to hold 120 aggressive PWC pilots waiting for the clock to tick over.
In general I don't like individual starts—most comp pilots hate them. Because you don't know when anyone started the race impossible to tell how you are doing or to get the competitive juices going by challenging the pilots around you.
That said, this is a World Cup and _every_ pilot is good, the vast majority far better than me. So I was able to make it feel like a race by just picking a glider a thermal ahead and deciding to catch them. It didn't really matter if they were ahead or behind me on time, they were flying well.
Despite high clouds and a sky that looked not-lifty to me, there seemed to always be something gentle and smooth (this is _not_ Valle) when you needed it.
In fact the part I thought would be hard, the push to the flats, was pretty easy. Gaggling with these PWC pilots is a bit of a mess. People are aggressive the way a Boston driver is aggressive, or a pit-bull with a baby in it's jaws. And they turn however they want which means that a gaggle of 30 gliders might suddenly decide to switch direction for a better core.
You have to be on your toes. The flipside is that you can trust the skills of most pilots so even when they get really close and cut you off, they generally see you and aren't going to collide.
That said, the scariest stinkiest slowest thermal of my life was over a sewage treatment plant on the flats. It really smelled like a shitter and it was light so we spent a looonng time in there. I was thrilled to leave, but on the wa back to the main ridge, I had to stop in the loo for another 20 turns or so.
The day had one critical transition back up the ridge to goal. I figured bouncing along terrain would be easy, but the sky was filling in with high grey clouds and all the lift was dying. This encouraged my to push my fancy new Boom5 (it likes to be pushed) and speed along as fast as I was comfortable.
But with little lift on the ridge I soon found myself 7km or so from goal and about 100 meters off the deck with a lemon tree grove between me and a safe landing field.
I decided to try one more thing—a run to the next finger which had a little sunlight on it and a turkey vulture soaring (but not going up) in the hope that _something_ was building.
There was the proverbial rabbit fart and I clung on for a few turns and maybe 50 feet. At which point Martin Orlick squeaked across the finger and joined me. Together we did the drunken-butterfly-of-desperation lift search pattern and eventually worked our way back up to base.
From there it was one more thermal and a long 10:1 glide into goal (did I mention how much I like the Boom5?)
Of course given the individual starts, no one knew how they'd done.
I was hoping for a top 50 finish (I had been flying slow and patient in light lift, and didn't feel especially fast). I was shocked when I saw the results: 12th place and first American in goal!
So why is it feeling a bit like the Japan PWC? I started that one out pretty well too (not as well, but hey, goal on the first task is nothing to sneeze at) and then bombed after.
Well today was a lot like the first day with many people, myself included, bombing out shortly after start. But a few pilots clung on and the skies opened. They are still flying as I write this.
I expect the day will be valid, if low scoring. With some _luck_ I may find myself top fifty in the cumulative, but I'm falling...
- jeff
