A Pleasant Surprise

Today started on a wet note with a 6am downpour. The forecast called for gradual clearing and weak, but soarable, conditions by mid-afternoon. The CD and advisors planned for a late, short day with 2hr (Club) and 1.5hr (Sports) TATs to Nunda-Avoca(Club)/LoonLake(Sports)-Seven Gullies-Swain and return. This, for the most part, kept people within gliding distance of Dansville.

With lots of moisture still in the air, no sooner did we get some sun on the ground then the clouds blew up and overdeveloped. This pattern continued into early afternoon. We gridded slightly later than normal and it took a few tries before the sniffers “stuck” and the fleet was launched. Tasks opened late at 2:30(Club) and 3:20(Sports). Finally, the drier air moved in and things started popping, even better than expected: 5-6000ft cloudbase with thermals 3-6kts, and some nice cloud streets. Overall, we have a happy bunch of pilots this evening.

There are repeat day winners in both classes: Daniel Sazhin (Club) with 52.82/45.27mph over 109.01/93.44mi and Jake Barnes (Sports) with 60.60/50.88mph over 92.67/77.80mi. But the best news is that five pilots made their first contest completions: Reigh Walling [GA], Julia Karasinski [VB], Lucas Abate [Team H with George Hanke], and Mikolaj Karasinski and Lukas Furdal [Team F2]. Congratulations all!

Janine