Well, having nothing to lose appears to improve my flying.
Task 5 was a record setting 101km flight and I was certain that even if I didn't complete the task I would at least achieve my goal of finally putting my Freedom Clear Sport Sheath to use.
The flight itself was long and very interesting. We covered terrain and routes we've never (no one has ever) flown in the Valle area.
Some readers out there are thinking 100k, that's not so big. Heck in Manila, Australia they regularly set 200k tasks. 100k is a milk run in Serra, Brazil were Rafael, Frank, and Adreas recently flew over 400k.
But in Valle, where nothing comes easily and were every kilometer is earned, this was a long and complex task with plenty of transitions, upwind legs, and opportunity to dirt out.
A quick summary—I flew pretty smart. Sticking with the gaggle when needed, and pushing when I could. I came in 18th, and I was still unable to break the seal. The catheter came into use, but only after landing.
Task 6 was a short 56k flight around the usual turn-points with a twist. The organizers set-up the last bit of the flight to take us across the lake (nice view of 100 gliders crossing water from the town), then back across the center of town, and down to the lake LZ.
Since lakes rarely pop good thermals, this meant tanking up as much as possible before the crossing and then just gliding hard, hoping to make the turn-points and not crash down in the town's central plaza.
I thoughts folks would push it a little hard and was fully expecting at least one back-yard landing, but conditions were good and something around 80 pilots made the entire glide to goal with no incidents.
I came in 45th I think, but that's not as bad as it sounds as the 'lead' gaggle on this task was at least 60 gliders.
In the end, despite my worthless day when I jugged the start, I finished 50th overall, just about in the top 1/3rd. Not as good as it should have been (must write down correct start-time), but respectable.
