Wild and Woolly

We did receive some rain yesterday but the worst of the storms passed to the north of Dansville. This morning winds were calm and it was still humid with overdevelopment.  By grid time the wind shifted westerly and by launch time had reached into the low teens (mph), with gusts in the low 20s, remaining so until early evening.

Erik Mann [RD this contest] was the first competitor to make it back to the field and his first words upon landing summed up the day: “that was a wild and woolly ride!”. It was a real mixed bag and the stiff westerly winds were a big factor. I heard everything from 6kt thermals, blasting down cloud streets, and wave to tales of groveling low, rotor, and the numerous land outs.

The Club and Sports Class tasks were identical except for the first turnpoint radius – a 3 hour TAT to Monterey-Alfred-Hammondsport-Swain and return. Daniel Sazhin [borrowing RO] wins the day in the Club Class Nationals with a speed of 38.48/32.98mph over 154.61/132.53mi. In the Sports Class Regionals, Jake Barnes [PP] takes the top prize with 46.96/39.42mph over 163.17/136.99mi.

Half of the competition landed out. Kudos to all those pilots as there was no glider damage. For a while the retrieve phone was ringing off the hook. It was FLSC member Judith Galbraith’s first time on the job, but she handled it well and I hope we didn’t scare her away!

Also, shout out to Patrick Cernuto [JRS] who stuck it out on task for 4.5hrs in a 201 Libelle and made it back. Pat was finally pushed out the nest - this is his first contest where he isn’t in the Sports Class – and he showed he’s up to the challenge.

Janine