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| North take-off |
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| Briefing Tent |
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| First gaggle to take off |
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| 2 Pilot enjoying their instant noodle lunch! |
130 pilots in the air. It was windy to say the least. As the window opened there was a bit of a kerfuffle as most top pilots were eager to get in the air. Two large gaggles formed and I held back 20 minutes to let them climb out, before taking off. The wind was blowing 22km slightly NE and as I was mercilessly hoiked off the ground on the first attempt to launch and dumped before being able to turn and run, the second attempt was well executed and I slowly joined the other 90 or so pilots already airborne.
Task was a start gate several kilometres from take off followed by a "downwind dash" to the goal field 90 KM away past Chaves.
Slow at the start and then braving the elements for the flats, I was 3kms behind the last gaggle at the start gate. The wind picked up as I took a blow-out corkscrew thermal from a quarry, orientating me towards a rocky ridge which venturied down into a river gulley before opening up the other side into the Chaves valley. The connection with the ridge was a bit of a fisty-cuff with the wind picking up to some 30K, pinned to the face, I could all but squeeze the bar to crab forward 2km/hr. As soon as I lifted the bar, I was flying backwards, not much, but nevertheless. Two Enzo's and an Icepeak then flew over my head from behind the ridge I was crabbed to in a lee-sider and pushed forward in front of me about 50metres higher to land in a downward sloping field on the other side of the gulley.The Icepeak and one of the Enzo's got out, the other landed with me in a burned field of charcoal stalks.
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