No Round Thermals

A stiff NW wind and lack of clouds were the factors in today’s flying. Conditions were about as forecast with the exception of the cu, which teased us for a few hours from late morning until early afternoon when the sky went blue again, just in time for task openings. The biggest complaint heard was the lack of smooth thermals with consistent lift. Most of the thermals were ripped up. It was easy to make one wrong decision and find yourself in trouble. Charlie Mampe [PI] summed it up, “Everyone stepped in it at least once. It was just a matter of how bad and how many times.“ There were several reports of low saves and a handful of landouts. One surprise: On the Avoca-Seven Gullies leg, a few pilots found wave near Dansville. Gregg Leslie [GL] thought “No more chopped up thermals for me!” and used the wave to get high enough to glide into the far end of the Seven Gullies circle and final glide home.

In Club Class, Charlie wins the day with 43.23/37.82mph over 130.37/114.06mi. Daniel Sazhin is still holding on to first place overall. John Seymour [SM] commands the day in Sports (49.54/42.26mph over 103.87/88.61mi) and leaps into the overall lead. Congratulations to newbies Julia [VB], Lucas [Team H], and Reigh [GA] who all completed the task. Patrick [JRS] said he learned from his mistakes on last Sunday’s windy task. He made it back in the Libelle, no small feat today. Uncle Hank noted that the Libelle is the only ship here that was on the original glider list when Club Class was created.

This was the last day of the Regional, three contest days total. FLSC treated us to appetizers and then CM Ann Lafford held the awards ceremony. John Seymour [SM] is champion, followed by Jake Barnes [PP] 2nd and Gregg Leslie 3rd. One more day for Club Class…Stay tuned…

Janine