The results are found here: http://soaringspot.com/BSI2008 (flex wing) and http://soaringspot.com/BSIR2008 (rigid).

David Glover, meet director, blogging: http://2007worlds.blogspot.com/

Jeff O'Brien blogging here: http://hang6.blogspot.com

This place gets more incredible each day. Edouard, the tropic storm, came this morning, and when I looked out the trailer at around 7 AM, the there was Edouard filling half the sky from northeast to southeast. Like this (8:30 AM):

Big Spring is just to the west of the cloud at the bottom of the panhandle.

The soaring forecast said that there would be plenty of lift and no cu's where we were throughout the day with Edouard staying just to our east. But already the clouds from the tropic storm were over our heads at 11 AM. Hoping for the best we called a mere 105 mile dogleg task to the west. We hoped to outrun the clouds (it seemed like it was already too late) by first going straight west, then a 45 mile southwest leg just to make for a difficult task.

Now we thought that we would shorten the task to just 60 miles, if it looked bad, but we somehow forgot to do this.

We got out to the tarmac and it was completely shaded. In fact the shade was almost every where. There was a little blue to the west, and some to the northeast. There were thick clouds overhead and covering almost the whole sky. Still the task was on.

The rigids got pulled up first and when they stuck, the flex wings went right away, with no delay. Amazing. We were soaring in conditions that looked completely non soarable.

The lift was light though. But what do you want when it appeared that there should be none? I pinned off at 2,000' AGL and starting working 80 fpm. The idea was to just stay up and see what could happen. The wind was 10 mph out of the northeast, so were were quickly drifting away from the airport and climbing slowly.

For the next forty five minutes we yo-yoed back and forth between 1500' AGL and 2000' AGL going back and forth to the airport and then drifting to the west. A area free of thick tropic storm clouds formed to the north of the airport in an area that we couldn't get to and cu's started forming there. It was the promise of better conditions, but we weren't able to go that far upwind. It was completed shaded where we were to the west of the airport.

This kind of flying (in light lift) really concentrates the mind and is very intense. You are doing everything that you can to stay up and stay in the game. You have no idea whether you will continue to be able to stay up or not. You watch all the other pilots around you are any clue of better lift. I love the intensity.

After forty five minutes we found better lift (200 fpm) in the same place that we had been flying, with all its shade and we climbed to 4,000' AGL and started the task at the second (and final) start time. There were spots of sunlight on the ground to the north so a few of us headed in that direction.

Working both spots of sunshine and lots of shaded areas we found good lift (much better than the first forty five minutes) and climbed to over 8,000' MSL. The wind was blowing strong out of the east northeast.

I was flying with Jeff O'Brien. Dustin was way behind (don't know why). Jeff Shapiro was to our south. I couldn't see too many other pilots. There was blue sky about fifty miles to the west but we were getting plenty of lift in the shaded area and the few sun spots.

I lost Jeff and hooked up with Derrick Turner and we worked thermal after thermal, being careful to get high (over 7,000') and half way to the Andrews turnpoint we found 350 fpm to 9,000'. The lift was even rough at times. This was so strange as it was so dark and the cu's were so far away.

Twenty miles before the Andrews turnpoint (60 miles out) I left some lift just because it was too rowdy. I had had enough of that. There looked like there would be lift ahead as were were getting to the edge of Edouard and there were cu's in the blue ahead.

I raced over to them now for the first time a little lower than Derrick and they were working. There were now lots of cu's around us and ahead. Derrick was just over me and working the cu's also before the turnpoint. It looked like we had it good (although it really had been good in the shade).

Seven miles out from the turnpoint I was over 7,200' finding bit and pieces of lift and on glide to get the turnpoint. But as I got close to the turnpoint suddenly the sink decided to show up strong, much stronger than it had been at any point of the flight.

I raced and got the turnpoint but now I was flying over the town falling at over 1000 fpm. I wasn't sure that I would make it to the other side. I saw Derrick turning just on the other side of town and came in under him at 1,300' AGL. I had started the glide at 4,000' AGL and just fell out of the sky.

I didn't find what he was turning in. The wind was blowing 20 mph out of the east northeast. I went chasing the thermal and found myself quickly over an area full of oil wells cross crossed with invisible power lines. I was down to 1,000' AGL and working anything I could find. I would do anything to keep from landing.

I spent the next 20 minute drifting 7 miles under 1,500' AGL working lift that averaged 50 fpm, with lots of sink when the lift wasn't slightly positive. I was positive that I was not going to land. There were cu's overhead and their shadows were moving fast. They were forming and dying in five minutes. It looked like I should be able to get up, but I was low and just barely hanging on.

Finally I did find something to climb up in, while I was drifting away from the course line, to where I was 10 miles to the north of it. I wasn't aware of this at the time as I was not looking at the arrow on my 6030 as I was too concerned about falling out of the sky. I sure didn't see it when I made the turnpoint. And when I was low and drifting I was only looking at the altitude numbers to see if I was getting a net gain from all my circles.

I thought that I was following right along the highway to the goal, but I was following another highway to the west northwest instead of west southwest. Finally after I got high again, I realized that I was going the wrong way. Dustin would take a similar path fifteen minutes after me as that's where the clouds were. I was just going in that direction because that was where the wind was blowing me.

These cu's were on the edge of the tropic storm. Here's what it looked like at 6:30 PM:

The little crescent facing to the northwest was where we flying. You can see the cu's in that area.

I got up and headed for the cu's to the south west to try to get back on the course line and to follow the cu's to goal. Unfortunately I just wasn't patient enough in the lift that was weaker than it looked like. I landed out in what looked like nowhere, but fortunately it was only a few miles from the next main road that crossed our task path. Dustin later right over my head.

This task was the most intense flying so far (even though each day has been very intense). The conditions were impossible, but still it was soarable. Folks made goal (see the results). We flew over completely shaded ground. I flew low over unlandable area. The focus was very tight on this day.

And only a 105 mile task on a day where you normally wouldn't even go outside to fly.