Rat Race Task 5 - 49Km

Rabies Start 1K – Rabies – Flyair – Burnt – Squires – Rabies Peak – JVilleLZ – Dark Hollow – Donato

At last the weather was looking to be very good today for a longer task and they set one. Kudos to the task committee as it was a 997 point day – almost perfect! They also heeded the comments from myself and backup from Conrad and Rich Hass and gave us 1hr 20 minutes after the launch window opened to get everybody off launch and time to get established before the race started.

Everybody was getting high at launch for a long time but when I got to launch there was a huge sink cycle in progress. Almost all the pilots were sinking back down to launch level with the exception of a lucky few who had gotten over to Burnt to setup there. I decided to wait a little before launching. Good decision. Soon they were going back up and I launched. I got high pretty quick and decided to head out to Burnt also to set up for the start there. I hit lots of sink on the way over and decided to bail and head back to Woodrat to tank up. I arrived at my arch nemesis mid launch and had to work up from there again before the start to get high. However today I had that sucker nailed! Over the day I had to get climbs from there 4 times and all went really well. I found that you really need to turn tight on the ridge to keep on the lift band before the thermal let’s go near launch. All was good!

The race started and I headed out…Huge sink. I tagged the start cylinder but had to head back to woodrat area to tank up. the mid launch wasn’t quite working yet and I thought I would be better landing out and going for a relaunch. 15 others were of the same thought. I started to spiral down to the Lz to land but about 250 ft over launch i caught a thermal that I cored all the way up to over 6k! Oh baby…what a save! That set me in good steed for the day.

I tagged the Rabies first waypoint and got high and headed out to Flyair and back to Rabies again to tank up. It sure was rough in there in parts and I took a small collapse and at other points was getting tossed around the air like a rag doll. However patience worked and I got high again to transition to Burnt. As I thermaled up in the valley the lead gaggle were already on their way back from Squires. The were racing across the valley in a row and I was in the middle thermaling up. I was not amused when one pilot got object fixated on me and headed right for me. I had to eave the thermal to give me. Bugger him or her! No need for that at all.

It was a strong headwind and I arrived at Burnt ridge reasonably high but looked for lift. I found it got high and headed back to Woodrat to tank up before going to Squires. Arrived at mid launch again and worked it to get high.  So far so good!. Off to Squires and then over to Rabies to work the ridge lift band getting to Rabies peak. All was working well but now it was decision time. Do I get high at Rabies peak and go straight to Jacksonville or go back to Burnt and go from there. I decided to go back to Burnt as there were limited landing spots on the direct route. However, a lot of folks I spoke to later took that route and it worked for them. That saved some valuable time.

I headed back to Woodrat arriving at mid launch again and got high. On the way up I saw Ralph re-launching and he joined me for a short time.I headed off now to  Burnt to tank up and again big sink getting there. Found lift that got me to cloudbase and then headed towards Jacksonville. It was great being up around the clouds and soon the air smoothed out. This was the first time for me flying in this area..and I felt good! I got to Jacksonville not too high and could see quite a few gliders sinking out ahead. I passed over Jeff Speer and managed to get a nice little thermal that took me high. I let out a woo hoo as I started gaining height. I felt that today would be my turn for goal – especially since I had told Leann this flight was dedicated to her for her upcoming birthday. However my joy was short lived as the weak thermal died. I surfed down the valley for a few Kms and landed short of Dark Hollow.

The landing was fun! I picked a nice large yard with a house  that had a flag flying on it. Wind direction was not going to be a problem for setting up. I made my final approach and a thermal kicked off, wind switched and I was now flying very fast downwind. My wing was bucking and I managed to skid in to land only to get a big wedgie from my leg straps that then crushed my bollocks. Ouch!!!! That did hurt. After landing I looked up to see the retrieval van stop to give me a lift. Brilliant. I was tired but felt great I I flew pretty well today.

Looking forward to tomorrow. LeAnn’s birthday and hopefully getting to goal as a present for her!