Monday, July 1, 2013

DAY 4. Task 1. Portugal, Serra da Estrella, Manteigas BRITISH OPEN


Monday 1 July
White Rabbits !
Up to take off at 10h00 and briefing onsite. Distribution of live trackers and a task set.
Conditions looked good with convergence setting up nicely. A 97km task was set with turnpoints above the valley before heading out into the plains and the remote goal.
Sadly but a wise decision, the task had to be stopped, before the overcast skies turned to rumbling thunder in the distance.
Although no one made it to goal, minimum distance (45km) was achieved so the task will score.
I had an pleasing start, spiralling 3x360°’s just before the start-gate opened to avoid unnecessary lift. Once the gate had opened, I was hence able to fly along the course line directly to clock the first turnpoint ahead, whilst the main gaggle lost time having to skirt round the cloud suck.
Conditions switched off at TP3, cirrus came in the clouds beyond that grew. We could see a wall of rain and my guess was that the lead gaggle at that point called a Level 3.  Those who hadn’t already landed by then soon did, swiftly as a wall of rain could be seen in the distance followed after the stopped task. Retrieves were swift and efficient with a main drop-off point at one of the village bars where we were able to sample cool beer from the bottle at a mere 0,70c !
The mood is positive and pilots and happy with the « call ».
Downloads are still in progress but this evening, we have a BBQ organised of grilled Sardines. J

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