Day 2

Contest Day 2, Tuesday 

The tasking committee has a reliable plan - set the tasks for both classes to the west and northwest, because the nasty weather in Iowa - just south of Albert Lea, persists in blocking the sun.  And the committee managed to design a task that had most pilots return to the airport before the shade from Iowa blanketed the ground and stopping useful lift by late afternoon.  The first two legs of the task had climbs to 5k agl and higher with 3-8 knots indicated on the vario with small enough cumulus clouds to mark the cores, allowing good enough speeds.  And then, bands of high cirrus from Iowa won out and the late starters finished with good luck finding the day’s last thermal or found the dirt.  For myself, this writer, I found the dirt with the airport in site while on final glide. It matters to have a hard deck, because pressing on may have found the cyclone fence surrounding the airport, or the rolling terrain at the airport’s perimeter. 

Chris Esselstyn won the day in the 15-meter class, and Jeff Banks repeated in the sports class.  The weather masters see Iowa’s nasty weather pushing north, so we at Albert Lea will hope for a quick return to soarable weather in the next couple days.

The CM