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!