Up to minute info on the 2007 Worlds

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Oz Report

Jamie Sheldon

Other Canadian blogs:
Scott Gravelle
Brett Hazlett
Canadian team

Scores:
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Track animations

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Rain, Rain, go away

It is coming down like you wouldn't believe.

A task tomorrow is very very doubtful.

The last two days

To say that I am exhausted would be an understatement. A few years ago, I remember doing 9 tasks in a row at the Flytec Championships in Florida. Conditions at that time were better and the tasks were a little shorter. This is the World Championships. This is where we go long and the wankers don't make it.

It is a humbling experience. After doing well at the Flytec this spring, I hoped to do well here. What I failed to realize is that every country brings their best. Some of the best aren't even here. The caliber of pilot is amazing.

3 days ago, they called a rest day. This was in the rules. It was also put to a vote, but it was a set up. The task committee set a 285km task on the day the vote was to be held. With people knowing they would not get back home until after midnight, it was a sure thing that we would have a rest day.

2 days ago, a "non" paragliding task was called with two turnpoints and a last leg into the wind. No one made it. Some were very close. I was behind at the start do to some poor planning. I left the start 6 minutes late but figured I could catch the stragglers. I did and then some.

Getting downwind of the first turnpoint, I flew 7 kms straight upwind to tag it. It wasn't a big deal as there was a marked thermal downwind of the turnpoint on course line. At this point, I was slowing down. The climbs weren't a problem, it was some high cloud that was shading the ground and cooling things off.

The next thermal got me to well over 3000 m (11,000 ft) and I went on glide. There was a group climbing on the edge of the shade and I went straight for them. It was the lead gaggle. Attila, Gerolf, Michi, Brett. I actually arrived higher than the top of the stack. I did 3 circles and realized that there thermal was dead. Everybody moved on. The group split. The shade was running NW to SE (course line was NNE). Half of us went NW completely off course line, while the other half went into the shade.

The sun did not work, neither did the shade. The shade however got people to the turnpoint and past while the people who went to the sun either missed the turnpoint or just got it.


Yesterday....
What a major screw up. Somehow I ended being one of the last few people to launch. There is a rule that says you can line up on launch 15 minutes before it opens. I moved out into the line at 7 minutes before... not early enough. I was still on the ground 20 minutes before the first start opened.

I got a crappy little climb over the airport that got me to 1800m. From there, about 5 of us went on glide to toward the start circle. It was a long glide and we finally found a climb at 1050m, basically 1000 ft off the deck. The climb was slow, but got us back to 1900m. But at this point, we were 1.6kms outside the start.

So I left the thermal and headed back into the 20 km headwind. Got the start on time, but after turning around, I was down to 999m before finding a climb. That is 600ft.

From then on, I was alone and the going was slow. I was afraid the day was soft, so I took every climb I could get. Half way down the course, I realized that the day was actually strong and picked up the pace.

Did a 27km final glide and kept having to speed up as the numbers got better and better. I ended up being one of the last few guys in goal. 5 Canadians made it. One didn't make it due to logistical issues.

I think the comp is over. Here is what we woke up to:


And this is what it is doing right now:

Long day, flew like crap

So the longest task ever called in a comp.

3 Canadians make it. One is not me. hahahaha.

I was on the ground 2 hours before most people. No thermal to be found. I had some bad luck and ended up being in some transition air. Basically, the air mass was drying out and the cu's stopped popping. The heat needed time to regenerate. I, unfortunately, was low to the ground when this occurred.

It is a funny thing to be angry that I only flew 210kms today. For a lot of people, that would be a personal best. I am sure that many people who made goal had a personal best today. I applaud them.

Here is another video I took today out on course line. Check out the clouds! This was just as I left cloud base moving on to the next thermal.

Everyone in goal!

Along with everyone else... haha

After missing goal for the first 3 days, it was finally nice to get there. I am still not happy as I was really slow. I got stuck in a blue hole for about 20 minutes. This was after having a bad start and working hard to catch the lead gaggle. Going low was faster for the first half of the course. The second half was better up high. But when you are already low, it is hard to get high with no lift.

About 50 kms from goal, I was worried about landing. I was down to 1000 ft over the ground and was desperate for lift. I went into patient mode and took any kind of lift that came my way. It was a long hard slog to get out of the hole I was in, but soon enough I was at cloud base and nearly on final.

One more 1000 ft climb and I had the numbers to make it in. I must say that Ross is flying really well. In Florida he was gaggle adverse, but seems to have settled in quite well here. At one point, I said to everyone on the team that the start gaggle looked like a swarm of wasps. It is funny that the staggered starts and starts circles are supposed to make things safer. When there are 50 guys in the same thermal, it feels a little freaky.

I took a lot of video today, but it was all crappy. So shaky. I will try again tomorrow and see if I can post something. Here is a picture of my focus mask that I got at WalMart for $5!

Worlds, task 2.

Short again. What is frustrating is that people I was with, within 100ft made it in while I hit the deck.

63 kms short of goal. Landed in a cotton field:



The task that was called today was even longer than yesterday. 183km or 115 miles. Once I was out on course, the day seemed better than the previous day. I decided to take the first start as yesterday, I was late and ran out of time. I landed about 30 minutes earlier today. It was weird. At about 70 kms from goal, everything went soft. Instead of going into survival mode, I raced off to a gaggle climbing in the distance. I didn't realize that the ground we were over was 600 ft higher than we started so my margin was smaller than I had thought.

One low save at 100ft and then 10 minutes later I was eating dust in the cotton field.

Worlds, task 1.

Ugh.
Great way to start a post eh?

Great day for a lot of people. Me, I was on the ground when the first start ticked over. I had to re-launch. It worked out somewhat in the end as I flew 122kms of the 143km task. A little short, but it could have been much worse as I could have landed just north of the airport.

Brett was in. Ross got in as well. Scott was 5km short. Both Mark and Jon landed near the start.

I am tired. Will blog more later.

And so it begins again

Another summer, another competition. This time, however, it is the pinnacle of our sport. The World Championships.

We are in Big Spring, Texas. It is basically in the middle of nowhere. 40 minutes East of Midland and 4 hours west of Dallas.

Last Friday, Brett came over to my place and we short packed our gliders.

Canadian team logo:


Packing the gliders:


Our rental car with the gliders loaded at the Dallas Airport:


So I went for a flight to day (practice day) to make sure that all my gear is sorted. Everything is fine. For the first time, I set up my gear to be able to take some in air photos. Unfortunately, the camera was on video mode. Here is a short little clip that show the airport that we take off at. It is only 6 seconds long:

138kms of racing.

Finally, today we got the typical Florida racing conditions. Thermals at 300-600 fpm with some peaks at 700-800. Inter thermal speeds of 75-80 km/h was typical. I ended up missing 1 or two climbs and got slow.

Scott and Mark caught me at the first turn point and we flew to the second turn point together. Between the second and third, things got really soft so we slowed down. I think that is where we lost Mark. Scott and I continued on to the third turn point where we go a slow climb. As the conditions seemed to be shutting down, we slowed and took the climb a little higher than we normally would.

As we headed for goal, there was a gaggle that I thought was downwind of the course line. I figured that we would find lift upwind of them and I was right. Unfortunately, the climb wasn't as strong as the one they had and so we ended up coming in together. Scott waffled between following me on a more northerly line and going to the gaggle in the climb. That cost him some precious altitude and he landed about 20 kms short of goal. Total bummer.

I was 20th for the day. Racing does not seem to be my forte... or maybe there are more people who are better than me at racing than I am better at light conditions.

The RS4 is going incredibly well. The sink rate is awesome. For the first time, I have been able to keep up on climbs and even climb through people that normally climb through me. It also glides with the best of them. Fun Fun Fun.

Later.

today.

Made goal again today. The forecast for lift was worse today than it was yesterday. Lots of high level cloud was coming in. I was pretty pessimistic on the day, but Kevin Carter towed up and said there was lift. So did the tug pilots.

The tow was one of the roughest tows I have had in Florida. The first one resulted in a broken weak link. I had enough time to drop my feet and flare. Broke right off the cart.

Second tow was so bumpy that I thought there was something wrong with my glider.

It was slow slogging again. Lift was a little more solid, but still weak. Before the turn point we got rained on and then simply got low. From the turn point to goal was basically downwind. We used it to our advantage. We drifted at 250m for 15 minutes, sometimes in 50 ft/min down. We were literally circling down slowly. The sun came out and things started to liven up, but then it went away. We climbed to 300 m and then we were back down to 250m. The sun came out again and it all turned on. The thermal turned into 2-3 m/s and we climbed to 1000m. During the 15 minutes of groveling, we drifted 10 kms closer to goal. At about 25kms out, I saw Mark was above me as we thermalled up together. As I topped out, we left on the final glide and hit some strong lift on the way in, ensuring that we would make goal.

Mark came in about 7 minutes after I did. Gerolf won the day. It was nice to have 2 Canadians in goal today. Terry arrived to pick us up just as we were finished packing up.

So far, the preliminary results have me 6th into goal today and 4th overall. Things will change tomorrow as the French have yet to pin in. I know Didier beat me in.

The rest of the Canadians were sprinkled just before the turnpoint about 30 kms out on the 70km task.

Scores are here:

http://flytec.com/Events/2007/Flytec_Championship/scores.htm

Later.

One of the few in goal.

Well, it has been an interesting 2 days.

Lift has been non existant. Tasks have been hard. Normally, my impatience would get the best of me, but for some reason, I made it into goal two days in a row.

Yesterday, I was last into goal by 2-3 seconds. It was a fairly long slog. We were low all day and played between 500 and 800 m (1500 ft and 2800 ft). It was slow going and the key was to stay with the gaggle.

The task started with a huge death gaggle with about 50-60 people in it. People swarming everywhere, just trying to get an edge.

The task was a dogleg to the south, basically down wind on the second component. It was divided about half and half. The highest I got all day was near the start. About 1100m (3300 ft). After that, it was a real chore to get to 900m.

Short glides, long climbs, and at the same time punching upwind. We mostly had 1-2 m/s thermals so it was slow going. 3 m/s for half a turn was a treat.

I stuck with Mario Alonsi and another French dude. The gaggle thinned out with every passing mile. Until there was just 3 of us. We were about 20 kms out with a 17:1 glide. I knew I needed at least another 200ft to make it in. We stopped again at 10kms out and we got to within a 16:1 glide. I knew it would be tight, but I also knew that there wouldn't be much more lift.

At about 5 km out, we stopped in a zero and I started losing more than I was gaining (while drifting toward goal). I decided that it was make it or break it and left. The numbers got better as we got closer. The two French guys dove into goal over my head pimping me by a few seconds. Got to the goal field with only 150 ft. Enough to turn into the wind, do one S turn and go in on final. I was 8th out of 9 guys (last one in) as one guy took the first start gate.

The rest of the Canadians did fairly well, getting out on course and making some distance. I am not sure about all the details.

Terry from Toronto was visiting us from Naples, Florida. He drove up to see what the fuss was all about. He drove straight to goal to pick up any Canadians that made it. I am so grateful for the ride. Thanks Terry.

Later

Wind, wind and more wind.

Last night was the coldest night I have ever experience in Florida. Some said it was colder than it had been all winter. It is actually colder here than it is at home... go figure.

The wind blew all night and shook my tent like crazy. It stopped sometime last night, but once the sun came out, so did the wind. The day was called off today after 2 60 minute extensions. We are here, after all, for a hang gliding competition.

So there is a new pink dragon fly. Here are some pictures of the touch up pain that someone so graciously provided to Bobby. Not sure what those things are hanging from the downtubes... *wink*

And the Lord said, let there be rain.

At last nights pilot's meeting, it was announced that there would be tornadoes, rain and wind.

This morning, it started with wind. Then thunder, lightning... Then torrential downpour. And just as hard as the rain started, it stopped. Like someone turned off a tap.

Here was the result:




This is how I tied my glider down to the steel cables in the field. haha, if the tornado wanted to take it, so be it... I wouldn't care as I would be running for my life anyway.


Looks like more wind for tomorrow. Tuesday is looking good.

Setup and Fly

So we opened my box and pulled the new glider out of the bag. It is something that I have never done before. I have been fortunate for the last few years to have Brett here to open it all up and setup it up.

After piecing it together, I noticed the sprogs were out of whack. The glider was not balanced at all. So I asked Jonny Durand to have a quick look at it and he agreed. Since all the French guys had right turns in their gliders, we also changed the right tip.

Went for a quick lunch and took it out for a test flight. It flew straight, but the pitch is pretty light. I will see how it goes for the first couple of days before I make any other changes.

Here are some pictures of the new glider (mostly for Brett's consumption... haha).













When I go to sell the glider, I can simply say that the only parts that are aluminum are the Keel and the downtubes! Carbon is so cool.

It is too windy to fly today. This was just demonstrated by Glen Volk as I sit here. His takeoff was nice and rough, but then again, I am sure he will go far today. Scott and I broke our gliders down as there is no point having them beaten up in the wind.

Later.

Plane ride

It is so nice not having to travel with a glider. Nothing to carry, just my harness and we are on our way.

Rob, Scott, Ross, AJ and Emma picked me up at around 9am this morning. The airport was pretty uneventful as it seems that the way has been paved for taking hang gliders on planes from Calgary. We met up with Mark in the terminal as he was connecting from Vancouver. Customs and security seemed to be a breeze and the gliders showed up on the tarmac unscathed.



At the check-in counter, we were asked where we wanted to sit. Together seemed fine, but I asked for a window. Once we got on the plane, we found out we were all in row 8. Scott in the aisle, Rob in the middle and me with the window.

Excuse me miss, I asked for a window!

It worked out quite well. There were a bunch of empty rows and so each of us moved and had a row to ourselves. I laid across 3 seats and had an nap for about 1.5 hours. It was nice.

I was planning on reading the articles for the paper, but sleep and TV were more important. Ah well, we will see tomorrow. Nothing like doing things at the last minute.

My glider is here which is a relief. Ran into Jonny and he said that all the French team gliders have a right turn. So either mine does too, or I might be the lucky one who got a straight one.

Well I think it is time for bed.

Later.

I am leaving on a jet plane.

I was thinking about this today. I am very glad that I don't have to travel with my glider tomorrow. One less thing to worry about.

So the latest thing is that I am finally going to put some stickers on my glider. After all the years of support, it dawned on me that I should show my support in return. Scott Gravelle (his blog here) came up with the initial design. Of course, it is a rip off of the real Muller Windsports logo. I popped the pic he sent me into Adobe illustrator, retraced it, moved the bird to the center and smoothed out the bird. This logo is going on top of my glider in place of the normal Moyes bird.



Pretty cool eh? We will be applying them to our gliders in the hot hot sun. Forecast for Friday is a hot 30 degrees. Big change from home. Forecast

Pre Flytec

So after much humming and hawing ( <-- is that a word?), I decided to go to Florida. You could say that I was a little frustrated not having made the World team, but so be it. Texas is hot and you are in the middle of nowhere with the only form of entertainment being the 24hr Wal-Mart. So it isn't the greatest spot to hang out, but I still wanted to go. I have decided to go back to what I know best. Paragliding. Heading for the Rat Race comp in Oregon in June and will be doing the Nationals in Golden in August. Should be a good time, although, I don't know if I remember how to fly one.

Brett went and got himself a job, so I will have to find a new buddy to go with to the Groveland gas station at midnight to get Almond Hersey chocolate bars and orange juice. I guess the habits will have to change this year. Brett will have to find a new buddy to go to Wal-Mart with him in Texas at around mid-night for pineapple fruit snacks and Almond Hershey bars. Well that and aimlessly wandering around the place in search of something interesting to buy and look at.

I should be picking up the latest and greatest in Florida. A Litespeed RS4, with every option you can order. Carbon sprogs, carbon battens, carbon outboards, carbon basetube, carbon inserts ( <-- on back order!), Zoom frame, and a smoke inlaid sail. This glider should weight 7lbs less than a standard Litespeed RS4 with the Zoom control frame.

So last night, I decided that all the sweat from last year's Flytec meet and from the Pre-Worlds needed to be removed from my harness. I stomped on it in the bathtub with half a cup of Tide HE detergent. It smells fresh now and is drying in my bathtub. Hopefully, it will dry in time in this rainy weather we are having in Calgary. If not, it is going to be nice and soggy flying for a couple of days... haha

I will post pics of the harness in the tub later tonight.

Getting ready

So Scott, Ross and Rob came over on Sunday to short pack their gliders. They hung out on my drive way and pack them all away.

Here they are packing:













And here is the end result:


















And finally, here is my harness drying on a broom stick... Nice and clean. Smells so fresh!

Day 2 - Pre-Worlds. Big Spring, TX.

No task today. Washed my glider down while waiting in launch line. Some big rain storms very close to course line so the safety committee shut it down at 1:45.

Day 1 - Pre-Worlds. Big Spring, TX.

All 5 Canadians made goal today. Got to be a record.

The task was a 70 mile task down wind and to the North to a town named Brownfield.

It was a strange day for me today. The launch window opened and nobody moved. After about 15 minutes, I decided that I didn't want to get stuck in the line up and launched. By the time I was off tow, there were about 50 gliders in my launch line lined up. I was very happy to be in the cool air instead of the 40 degree heat on the black runway of the airport.

I got to cloudbase straight away but then spent the next 30 minutes dropping out of the sky. When the first start opened I was at 5000 ft grovelling for lift. I got back to cloudbase for the second start and was on my way.

It seem like there was a blue hole on course line for the group I was with all day. Every time we tried to go straight toward goal, it was blue in front of us. We kept pushing west to where the clouds were, but that just slowed us down. We ended up getting stuck in a down cycle near Lamesa. From there, the blue hole continued to be right on course line.

When I finally said screw it, I was 20 kms from goal with about a 16:1 glide. Wouldn't you know it, the blue hole was lifty and I ended up with an 8:1 glide at 12kms out.

Brett was second today. He is in good position to defend his Pre-World Champion title.

Later.

Pre Pre-Worlds

Wow, what an ordeal. I have a whole new respect for Brett, or anyone who regularly flies with a glider on commercial airlines. Travelling with a hang glider is a nerve racking experience.

Scott and I went to the airport about 3 hours early to be sure our gliders would get on the plane. We were told no many many times. It was determined that the gliders would not fit down the baggage carousel and not the 8ft elevator. The check in lady was nice. We by passed everyone in line at customs, but just our luck, their network went down as we were at the desk. Once things got going again, we tried to go through security with out gliders. The security would have nothing of it.

We thought all was lost and that we would have to endure a 40 hour drive to Texas. We walked back to the baggage carousel and asked why the baggage handlers couldn't just take our gliders down to the big X-ray machine. Aparently, post 9-11 security is much higher now.

Some baggage handlers, over hearing our plight, called down to find out if the baggage carousel was indeed a straight conveyor belt. Without hesitation, two guys grabbed Scott's glider and put it down the conveyor. Mine was next.

2 hours later, we spotted our gliders on the tarmac. We were hoping to see them put it in before we got on the plane as they weren't sure it would fit due to the extended range tanks that were put into the plane. As we sat there in our seat, we saw the gliders disappear below the plane and a large sigh of relief came from both of us.

I think the stress of flying with my hangglider took 2 years off my life. I don't know if I will do it again... haha

We spent most of Friday putting our gliders together and getting our gear settled. Today, we did more of the same and most people flew.

It is quite hot and humid here. Everyone seems to know that I don't do well in the heat. I am getting used to it, but I will likely lose 10lbs this week from all the sweating I will be doing. It is hard to keep hydrated as you constantly sweat. It isn't anywhere near as hot as Hay was a few years ago, but still damn hot none the less.

There is a large hangar here where gliders are stored. To get as many gliders in as possible, they are all put on their noses. Quite a site to see.

There are people here from 18 countries. The majority from the states. Launching should be interesting tommorrow. Two lines with nearly 100 people to get in the air with enough time to get to the start gate.

Back home

Here are some pics

The top six
















Oleg and his prize money t-shirt





















Brett's glider short packed and covered in 1 inch foam.

Bitter sweet day.

Today made me realize that in life there is a lot of deja vu. There was just one thing missing. It was uncanny how this year was a repeat of last.

The first two days were windy both this year and last. I didn't make goal on the first two days. Then made goal the rest (although yesterday was a weird day). Sitting here in the club house drinking Red Bull and vodka just like last year.

I miss Chris, but I think that he is in a better place. My thoughts are with Vincene today. I hope that she is doing well.

It is strange. I thought that coming to Florida would give me closure. I don't think you ever get that. It did make me realize that life is short and that you need to make the most of it.

I thought about quitting flying last year, but I think that I like it too much. It is part of who I am. It is how I get away from the rat race of life. My glider this year is so nice. It is nearly tuned to perfection. All of my gear (except my radio head set) seems to be completely sorted. Something that is rare.

I am looking forward to going home and sleeping in my own bed tomorrow night.

I will post some pics that I took tomorrow of the award cermony.

Brett came 2nd! The rest of us Canadians are far down the list... haha

Final days

So yesterday, an out and return was called about 50 kms to the north. There were thunderstorms forcasted and so the task committee had a tough time decided what to do for us.

It was another day of waiting at the start gate for over 30 minutes. The French were at their best and tried to jump the line early. The organizers finally put their "feet" down and told them to move them back.

The lift was light at times and strong at times. Getting to the turn point was easy as long as you stayed high. On my way to the turnpoint, I met the lead gaggle at 4.4 kms. So they were 8.8 kms ahead of me. As I rounded the turnpoint, the sky started to get dark. It got darker and darker and the lift started to shut off.

About 40 kms to goal, I pulled on full VG and went on glide hoping to find some remaining lift or buoyant air. I met up with Dustin Martin and Chris Smith. We climbed in 100 up as long as we could and then went on long glides. We found buoyant areas. Thermalling at full VG was kinda cool and allowed me to out climb both of them.

We all basically made it to within 19kms of goal. Much closer than I thought we would have made it. There was lightning and rain to our west, maybe 10 kms away. I kept thinking I should land, but the others were still in the air, so I thought it was ok. haha, they were all thinking the same thing.

As I was packing up, the gust front hit. It went from no wind to about 15 km/hour. Kind of a pathetic gust front by Alberta standards.

Today, no task was called as the weather was unpredictable. The wind was also strong and would push us to an area where there was a 50% chance of Thundershowers / tornadoes.

More later.

Another slow day

The forecast today was for a typical good Florida day. The task committee decided on an 80 mile task around the swamp. Something we seem to do at least once a year.

It is so funny, I went around today giving advice to people who haven't flown here about how soft the lift gets to the south and to not get low around the second and third turnpoints. You would think that I would heed my own advice.

I started well. Keeping up and then for some odd reason, I decided to get low and pull one up from 450ft off the ground after rounding the second turnpoint. Spent 30 minutes grovelling and finally getting to cloud base. Now that I was late, I didn't want to push, but in the back of my mind, I knew I had to in order to beat the sea breeze from the west. The sea breeze kills all the lift.

As I was flying near cloud base, gliding at about 65 km/h, this T2 (John Haywood) goes wizzing past me (below me) going about 80 km/h. I was like what the hell is he doing? I looked west an realized that the sea breeze had already over taken the turn point that we needed to get to. I stuffed the bar and followed him. We round the turnpoint (I get only a single track point in the circle) and zip east toward the remaining clouds. We glide nearly to the deck (about 10 kms) and John finds some lift at about 850ft off the ground. Lucky for me, I am about 300 ft higher than him and find better lift. Soon, I am at 7000ft with a 9.5:1 glide into goal. John was about 3000 ft below me unable to find the core that I had found.

I point the glider east and head for goal about 20kms out. I knew that I was way too high, but didn't want to take any chances of not making it in. Sure enough, I hit a bunch of lift and come into goal on the moon 2000 ft above ground. Tired and happy to have made it, I land on my belly as I flared like a pansy.

Brett was 5th today and Mark was the last one to goal barely making it in. Good job by all. Scott was with Mark, but fell out of the bottom of the thermal about 10 miles out. Not sure where Rob ended up, but he nearly had a mid air with Glen Volk at the start circle.

It is time to pick up the pace! It seems to take me a few days to get back into the grove. The weather forecasts look great for tomorrow and the next day. Should be some fast racing to come.

Happy Birthday Moon.

Later.

3 canadians in... 1 just short...

So yesterday I was too pissed off to blog. I was in line waiting for a tow looking at my weak link setup. The one that connects the rope to the harness was looking suspect, but I figured it would last one more tow. Well I was wrong. I push of the cart, get above the tug and BAM! weak link breaks at 50ft. I had what seemed like enough time to dump the VG, get upright and flare. (I am sure I was higher, but drama is always good).

So as I am walking back toward the launch line, I noticed that my zipper is really tight down by my waist. Normally, it unzips and rises to chest level. Sure enough, it was blown. I guess my fat ass was too big yesterday.

I get back to the launch line and tried to zip up. I litterally seperated the slider and it wasn't doing it's job. The day looked really light and people weren't getting very high. I litterally gave up and decided not to fly. The local seamstress offered to cut my zipper in order to get me going, but when I looked at it, the zipper it looked fine and I was unwilling to cut it.

We take it back to her trailer for her to unstitch, but it turns out that Moyes did a good job designing the zipper. We get a new slider on in about 10 minutes without cutting anything. By this time, I really don't want to fly. So I call it a day.

Today was a much better day. The morning was very hazy and overcast. I didn't want to write off the day in my mind as I was eager to redeem myself. Things started to clear about 1 hour before we started launching. It started to look like the typical Florida conditions that we know and love. Decent climbs with a decent base.

The time to get to the start was extended by 15 minutes today. I was in the first dozen or so to tow. When I got to cloudbase, I had over 50 minutes to wait before the first gate. The start circle was only 5 kms today and so it was easy to sit on the edge. I actually followed Phil Bloom, Oleg and a few others about 8kms out from Quest (outside the start circle) to kill some time. It was better out there rather than flying around the gaggle of 40 pilots sitting right on the edge. Reminded me of a paragliding meet.

I timed my start perfectly and was at base when I crossed. It was easy going to the first turn point. It was nice flying with the leaders and getting back into the grove of flying fast. They slowly started to drop me until I was all alone after the second turn point. I managed to get myself to 800 ft and started to grovel. It took me 20 minutes to get out of that hole as I watched about 10 gliders fly over my head super high.

I managed to pick up the pace again and topped out what I thought was the last thermal at 21kms from goal. The numbers looked good. I had an 11:1 glide to goal. As I flew, my numbers fell apart. I was 7kms from goal and my glide was 16:1. I wasn't going to make it. I watched as though below me started to land. I was again at 1000 ft. I found a 50 up and worked it as I drifted toward goal. By the time I had my numbers again (8:1 to be safe), the thermal turned on and was going up at 600ft/min. I took the extra turns and left at 6:1. I stuffed the bar and hit about 100 km/h (ahh... haha fun). Came in to goal with too much height.

Later, Mark came in and a little after that Scott. Mark was talking to Bruce over the radio. He said he was close and we were expecting him to get in as well. Bruce landed about 10 km short and aparently twisted / broke his ankle. At this point he still isn't back yet.

Rob landed an 8th of a mile short. Litterally on the other side of the trees that enclose the field. Talk about close.

Brett was inched out by Oleg and came in second, 1 second behind.

Decent day over all.

Later.

Flytec Day 2, no task

It was windy! Set up my glider. Pushed it on a cart all the way to the other end of the field. An hour later, pushed it back on the cart to the tie down lines.

Hope to have a task tomorrow. The forecast for wind is less.

Morning wind

Woke up to overcast skies and fog this morning. There is about 1 hour before the briefing. The wind is about 5-10 mph. Seems like it is picking up. Looking at the forecasts, I think it will be another windy day.

Short Day

It is funny. When I first got here, I wasn't reminded of what was missing. We set up camp in another spot, not because we didn't want to be reminded of Chris, but because of convienience. It was just too damn far to walk a mile across the runway to get a forgotten item. We changed up the routine a little and it was good for the first two days.

Today, things changed... or maybe they stayed the same. I greeted a bunch of people that I hadn't seen since last year. Many "How you doing?" questions with that look of "concern" that wasn't really asking how I was doing, but more "how do you feel without Chris being here. Are you ok?" I always answered: "Doing good" which I am.

Today's task was the same as the last task we flew last year. The same one that ended in sadness. For what ever reason, the wind blew and let only one rigid wing finish the task. Everyone else fought the 15 mph cross wind (but it felt like a headwind as the climbs weren't strong). Everyone's track logs look like a sewing machine pattern... Thermal and drift downwind, fight up / cross wind, turn and drift downwind again.

A few people didn't get out of the start circle. A few more just outside. More yet got the first turn point. Some getting close to the second. When the task was called, I thought about how bitter sweet it would be to fly it. As I wrote last year, Chris, Brett and I flew together for most of the flight, probably the most we ever flew together during a task ever.

The reminders didn't end there. Brett and I decided to go to dinner at the Thai Lotus House. Last year we went many times. Otto remembered us very clearly. Always the three of us coming into the restaurant. Sitting at the same table. Otto sat us at the same table. Asked us some questions that I am sure he had been waiting a year to ask.

It looks like the wind might be stronger tomorrow. Tuesday looks like the normal Florida conditions will return.

Brett did well today as usual. He either won the day or was very close. The rest of us Canadians were either in the start or just outside. Tomorrow is another day! haha.

Later.

Heat

It's getting hot in here.

Wow, the heat and humidity really got to me today. I think that I had some mild heat exhaustion and of course the normal first day sunburn. Wonder if I will ever learn.

Got to fly the new Litespeed 4.5 late in the evening. Broke a weak link at 1000 ft when the tug got above me and I pushed out to climb. I get the pressure was just too much for the two year old weak link. haha.

Climbed with the glider and played with the VG. It has a bit of a left turn in it. Brett fixed it. Hope that it flies straight tomorrow. Really tired. Time for bed. Comp starts tomorrow.

Later

Weather

Looks like the weather in Florida has been pretty lousy for the Canadians that went down. I am hoping things shape up for next week when I arrive.

I leave on Friday afternoon. Nice long 7 hour trek to Orlando from Calgary. I have my Economics final exam tomorrow night... not looking forward to it at all.

Lost in the move

So my blog looks all different now.

When changing hosting providers, something got mixed up and I basically lost 2 years worth of competition blogs. Not overly happy about it. Decided that I would put my blog someplace where it would be backed up and couldn't get lost if I change hosting providers again. Sorry for the lack of pictures. I will see if I can find what was lost.

I will slowly add old posts that I have from years past that didn't get "lost."

Enjoy. The comp season is just about to start and I am pretty excited about going to Florida.

A Sad Sad day.

Friday was the last day of the competition. It was one of the best days we had for racing. I especially enjoyed it because Chris, Brett and I flew a lot of the course together.

The 3 Canadians did good. The 3 musketeers, the 3 brothers, the 3 best friends are only 2 now. As I sit and write this, so many things don’t matter anymore. Plans have forever changed and life will never be the same.

I had the privilege and honour of knowing Chris Muller for 16 years. We shared many experiences over the years. It was awesome to have flown with him, to have traveled with him, to have spent time with him…

He went out on a high and will forever be 29 years old.

See you again when my time comes. I hope that my life is as filled with experience as yours was. I love you bro and will miss you.

Decent Day

Yesterday started out pretty nice. The clouds started popping, lift was forecast to be above cloudbase, little or no wind. The task was the typical race around the swamp. Last year, we always did it counter-clockwise, but this time we did it clockwise.

Two days ago, they extended the time between the launch opening and the start opening by 15 minutes. Yesterday, we only had to go 6 km to get to the entry radius. This basically meant that we had to wait around for 45 minutes to start. Everyone and their dogs were at cloudbase just floating around waiting and waiting. The start opened at 1:45 and a large group went. I decided that I would take the next start. I didn't know what Brett, Chris and Johnny were doing because my PTT was messed up and didn't work.

The first leg took us south to highway junction. It was quite easy as we stayed really high. We caught some of the stragglers of the first start in the first 15 km of the course. As I was gliding into the turnpoint, I was trying to "skim" the outside of the cylinder. I watched the Compeo count down... .45km, .43km, .40km and then count up... .41km, .43km... I had missed the cylinder by less than 10 meters! So I had to turn around. I lost enough altitude with this manouver that I missed the next climb while the gaggle I was with topped out.

From there I was in catch up mode. I did well and caught up with the gaggle I was with by the last turn point. Again, however, I was a little lower and didn't get the final climb. At the last turnpoint, the compeo said I had goal. I didn't believe it. It was nearly 30 km away and the clouds looked like crap. I took a really crappy climb for another 1000 ft, and the dang thing said I had it again. Being 20 km away at this point, I decided to believe it, only to watch my numbers fall apart. I stopped 7 km out for 500 ft and then raced into goal. Crossed the line with enough height to turn back into the wind and land.

We're sorry, we are experiencing technical difficulties, please try your flight again.

The title pretty much sums up the day for both Chris and I. Brett dun good yesterday and was fourth to cross the line.

There was a whole slew of weak link failures yesterday. Glen Volk came off the dolly, broke a weak link and cartwheeled on the ground. He was 2 ahead of me in line. So I had to wait for them to "clear the wreakage." He didn't break anything and was fine. Then the guy in front of me did the same thing! More "clear the wreakage" time. By the time I finally finished my tow, I was all alone as if I had been the first to launch.

My tug pilot dropped me off at exactly 2000ft. I really didn't think anything of it as I was in a thermal climbing slowly. At about 2500ft, I noticed that there was a guy 200ft above me, still on tow, still climbing...

We had nearly 45 minutes to kill before the start time. The radius was only 5 miles. I sat on the boarder at cloudbase for 20 minutes. I decided that I would take the early start today. With all the debacle with weaklink breaks, I couldn't find Brett or Chris in the air. I heard over the radio that they were going to take the second start. Hindsight tells me I should have waited. They used the markers from the first start and caught up in no time.

I unfortunately got very low after the first turn point. Before that, I was flying out in front with Nene and Phil and a few others. It was a completely different feeling to have a glider that performed as well as what those guys are flying. It made it "easier" to keep up. I guess the pace got too fast, I got low. Grovelled for about 30 minutes trying to get out of a hole. Crazy thing was that the day was so good that I did my final glide from the last turn point straight into goal. 20km away at 5800ft or a 11:1 glide. My instrument was telling me that I would come over goal at 230 ft at best glide given the current wind.

Chris on the other hand had a different issue. When he checked his vario/gps combination yesterday morning, it said that it was 1/2 full of power. Well, we are guessing that it was 1/2 full on the backups. Just before the first turn point, it went dead! Chris then had to basically follow people into the turn points, or at least what he thought would be a turn point! The whole time, he was also wondering whether he had turned on his back up!

Back on track.

Looks like the Canadian boys redeemed themselves a little yesterday. The forecast was for a day that was worse than the previous, but looking up at the sky, things were shaping up. There was more cirrus, so we knew it would be about timing.

They pushed back the Flex wing start time 15 minutes yesterday. I think that this was so that the Flexies wouldn't embarrass the ridgids too much.

Brett won the race on the ground running his glider over to the launch line up the fastest. It was pretty funny watching him position himself while others were arguing. Chris said that he was the last glider to launch but that didn't seem to make a difference as he was at the start on time.

It was funny, just before the start, as I topped out each thermal, I kept thinking, that I am in a good position, only to look to the East and see someone either further upwind or closer to the edge of the start gate.

Yesterday, I decided that I would fly faster and "keep up" with the other guys. The previous two days, I think that I was too worried about landing, instead of flying the course, and kept falling behind. The decision worked out well for me. The previous two days, I kept forgetting that I have a glider that is probably as good or better than most of the field giving me a little more room for error. The Litespeed is climbing well, and so far, I haven't lost anything on glide.

The shade showed up at the same time and same place as the previous day... right before the turnpoint. I was experiencing deja vu. Oh by the way, the task was in the same direction as the day before, only shorter.

At the turnpoint, I thought that I had fallen behind, so I started to push even though there was shade (impatience at it's best). This worked out for me as I got into the bottom of a climb that the rest of the gaggle I was with didn't. We had a bit of a tail component coming into goal, but I still waited for the vario to tell me that it was only a 7.5:1 glide into goal.

My final glide was from 14 km out and I did it at about 100 km/h. That was when I wasn't blowing up from either PIO or the turbulence. Two guys beat me in because I couldn't keep the glider going straight. Something that I will have to work on, or God forbid raise my sprogs...

Chris and Paris had a race into goal neck and neck. It was right to the ground. I heard that Brett came in over Chris's leading edge and was planning on flying in front of him and pimp him at the line. He then had second thoughts as he wasn't sure when Chris was going to pull up, or worse yet loop over the goal line!