The first day is filled with a bit of chaos as the organizers try out an
Australian/Bill Moyes version of the standard Quest Air/Flytec/Big Spring system
for launching and staging folks. Attempting to do three lines spreads the ground
resources too thin (I've mentioned and written about this numerous times,
but no one ever listens to me) and there is no one to marshal the lines and get
everyone lined up in the right spots. The staging lines aren't filled by WPRS
order as they requested (which is very hard to do anyway and requires many more
ground resources). The setup area is next to the staging line (in fact in the
staging line) so that makes it so you can't have a proper staging line.


But who cares? Then, the three start times are set starting at 2:30 PM, but it's
already 1 PM, and no one is ready to get going. There is no pilot briefing and
there is supposed to be a half hour of open launch window for those not in
ordered launch. There is too little time for this to happen, and I just get
ready and get in the launch line in ordered launch (only the staging was
supposed to be ordered, but it wasn't).


I get behind a trike at 1:30 PM for my first tow on a Moyes LiteSpeed in a year,
my first tow on a flex wing in a while, and I'm off for the best tow ever behind
a trike. There are thick raining type clouds covering half the sky and cu's in
the other half. I find lift right away to 6,000' MSL (5,300' AGL).


The task is 160 kilometers to the west with a fifteen km start circle. The top
30 rated pilots have to take the 2:45 PM start gate, others are free to go at
2:30 PM and 3 PM. Then somehow between Tim Cummings and Gerolf Heinrichs, the
start times continues on indefinitely perhaps acknowledging the lack of time we
have to get everyone up for the three start times.


We wallow around the start time getting lower as more clouds come in to shut
down the lift. I see Oleg Bondarchuck heading south toward the sun light and
chase after him. I don't find anything but spot two pilots turning even further
south. I head for them and before I get there I find a good thermal. I start
climbing fast and Oleg, Mikki, Lukas Bader, Steve Moyes and others come in and
join me in the thermal.


We're high as the 2:45 start time opens and Mikki, Lukas, Oleg and I are the top
guys in the lead gaggle as we head out way south of the course line. The sky is
opening up in front of us with little semi-cu's ahead to mark lift perhaps. The
four of us fly together spreading out to find lift and hanging in weak lift,
which is mostly what we find.


Then 50 km out from the start I charge ahead thinking that the lift is dying and
these guys will join me, but they don't. There are some reasonable looking
clouds ahead so I was actually heading for something that I thought would work
well, but they were weak.


I get down to 1,300' AGL, but start climbing well, as I watch Mikki, Lukas and
Oleg one thermal ahead of me. It is slow going for a while with Jonny Durand
underneath me, but finally I find strong lift and get going again.


I spot Lukas, Mikki and Oleg out in front of me but low. As soon as one of them
starts turning and flashing his wings I race to join them in the thermal. It is
great to catch the lead gaggle once again. But I'm not alone in this. Others are
sneaking by as we climb up.


I leave a thermal one turn too late and these three get away from me again, as
we head for goal. Finally the lift gets good as we get into the blue and I find
700 fpm, the best lift of the day 175 km from goal. I can't pass this up, but
then I can't get down at goal and come in at 2,500' AGL in about the twelfth
position.


Apparently the lead gaggle was a little too slow, which I felt at the time, as
we were always climbing in weak lift and no one was willing to jump out in
front, not even Oleg who often does this. Of course he said that I was down to
500' at one point, so that might have slowed him down a little.


About a third of the field made goal. Gerolf and Seppi did not get much past the
start circle (at least the first time). This means that I'm ahead in the contest
between Gerolf and I for the Moyes LiteSpeed.