The flight and task.

The results

Jeff Shapiro went early (before the mandatory start time for the top twenty pilots) and forty kilometers out got down to forty feet over the trees when he hit a thermal that almost pulled the wings off the Wedgie that launched into it out of the trees, and knocked a flock of cockatoos out of the nearby trees. He was landing and this thermal saved him at the last moment.

The rest of us were three thousand feet over him screaming up.

We had taken the mandatory start time, with Chris Jones and Lukas Bader. I was right behind those two. They found a good thermal in the blue after an eighteen kilometer glide. It was a second glide of twenty six kilometers to get over Jeff. That thermal showed 900 fpm on my 6030. I came up right in Jonny Durand's face.

I was still in the top five pilots pulling the gaggle with twenty pilots trailing behind. The winds were thirteen mph from the north east and we were heading south west.

I was able to stay with the top four pilots, including Jonny, for the next couple of thermals, by finding a better core than the guys above (who had to circle together and thereby go up slower). But finally, I didn't get the glide that I needed to stay with them next to West Wyalong, 100 kilometers into the flight. I lost sight of them at this point.

The RASP forecast for Forbes was for a blue day. But as we went far away from Forbes the cu's started. The cloud base rose and the predicted winds continued. We found a line of alto cumulus over Jeff, and it was on the other side of this anomaly that the cu's started.

With cu's ahead (and more to the west) we raced on assured that there would be lift. I was now hanging with Chris Jones and Ollie Barthelmes came and joined us. There were pilots now spread out all over the place, as the fastest four got ahead a few kilometers. I was getting to over 8,000'.

Forty five kilometers out from goal Chris and I went on a thirteen kilometer glide losing five thousand feet. I knew that we were getting near lift at the end of this terrible glide as the sink was really strong. Down to 1,600' AGL we found 500 fpm to 7,800'.

Now it was a thirty kilometer glide to goal. Ollie was in the lead. The 6030 showed 1,500' above goal all the way until about 8 km from goal. Then the big sink set in. There was a much better line to the left, and I watched a pilot to the left of me hit lift and climb up fast. But since the 6030 said I had goal with plenty of altitude I kept going.

The sink got worse and it looked like it might be close. I saw a small dust devil ahead and we all headed for it. Three kilometers out and at 800' AGL, Ollie, Chris, and I entered the dust devil. That was enough to get us to goal.

Dave Seib won the day. Attila landed short. Jonny is now in first place. At least I assume so, as the scores aren't out yet.