Monarca 2011– Task 3 70.2Km

Launch – Piano (5K start)– Divisa – La Pila – Capulin (0.5 enter) – Capulin (6K exit) – Capulin (0.5K enter) – Torre

Ok, I have to admit up front,  I didn’t fly the task today! With all good intentions I got to launch with my wing and went through the usual routine of unpacking, clearing the lines, setting it aside, programming my gps and getting ready to fly. Problem was my touche was still a hurting and the thought of 3 hours in the saddle and a potential hike out put paid to my big ideas of getting off the ground today. I actually did fly today but more of that later.

The task that was called today was indeed a little strange to a lot of folks. Rather than a real route it was more of a task. It started with a 5K start cylinder around the Piano LZ as usual which has been a great way to spread out the field on high pressure days where it takes some time for the inversion to clear. Then it was off to Divisa and La Pila. But then it got strange. They set the next waypoint, Capulin as a 0.5Km enter cylinder, then a 6Km exit cylinder followed by another 0.5Km enter cylinder. This meant that pilots had the choice of flying in any direction they wanted to for 6Km before coming back to the same waypoint. A novel idea indeed.

I watched folks launch today and get high and then move out. It got a little stronger on launch around 12:00 but then dissipated. Folks didn’t seem to have any problems getting over to the mesa where they waited for around an hour until the start of the race.

I got a lift back to town with Oscar and JC and went for lunch to the café where they had internet so I could watch the Seattle’s folks progress via their SPOT updates.

Most didn’t have a problem getting to Divisa but then quite a few got stuck there. Jeff seemed to be flying a funny route indeed. It turned out he had forgotten to clear his route from the previous day and it was taking him to the wrong waypoint. He ended up landing close to where he dirted the day before. With hindsight, he chose to fly into the valley where there were better options to get retrieved.

Gilead, got to La Pila and then got stuck trying to get back up on to the mesa. Preacher and Mer got stuck on the mesa  flying back from La Pila leaving it to Frank and Dave to get to goal today. Congrats to them.

After lunch I went down to the LZ to get a massage and see if it helped my back. Best 50 bucks I spent this week! Pity it doesn’t work on the tailbone though. After the massage I walked back to Alas Des Hombres and got a ride up to La Torre. I wanted to see how sore I would be flying, This turned out to be a great choice as I was treated to some spectacular views of Valle De Bravo and had a great flight right into the middle of the lake. I will try to get a video snippet posted  later.

This gave me a little boost and raised my hopes to fly a task tomorrow. We shall see!