Tuesday's task was about a 75 km race to goal, with two turn points. A two kilometer exit cylinder from Burnt was the start. From there we flew about 30 km toward the town of Grants Pass which a 5 kilometer cylinder had to be tagged. from there it was back toward Medford to Cemetery with a 1 kilometer cylinder. On to Donatos and from there to Emigrant Lake Dam which was goal.
I launched about 45 minutes before the start and actually enjoyed gaggling with the other gliders as lift was abundant and most pilots were able to get into a decent thermal rhythm. Pilots were able to circle close as the air was predictable and friendly. The start was great as everyone was able to get and stay high. I took the usual route to Rabies and took a climb to about 7,000' msl. Heading west toward Grants Pass I worked on staying in the convergence that follows the spine from Rabies to Grants Pass. What's great is there are several forces at work here as the mountains that separates the two valleys pulls air from both sides. this creates convergence lines that pilots are able to exploit. Along the convergence, spikes of thermals climb at different places along the spine. Pilots then circle in these thermal spikes to get higher and are able to glide further. This day we were able to climb to 8,500- 9,000 msl where nice friendly cumulus clouds were marking the thermal tops.
About half way to Grants I was able to thermal to cloud base with a few other pilots. The lead gaggle was long gone with the hot paragliding ships they were flying. So there were a few of us to chip away at the course at a moderate speed and I am just fine with that. You get to look at the scenery longer ;-). After making Grants there were two choices to make. Pilots could cut the corner and go direct to the next turn point or you could follow the same route you took to Grants and do a dogleg to Cemetery. One of the pilots I was flying with decided to cut the corner. I decided to take the route I took to Grants as I knew it was working and there were cumulus clouds dotting the ridge. Ultimately it didn't matter which route you took as most pilots, if not all, made to Cemetery.
Hopping clouds was awesome as we seldom get to do this in Colorado.
Tagging Cemetery, the course took a southeasterly direction toward Donatos and on to Emigrant Lake. Interestingly, they had Donatos as a turn point, from there pilots had to stay below 6,000' msl as it is a landing corridor for the Medford Airport. If you climbed about 6,000' msl you violated controlled airspace and we would be penalized 3 points per foot over the limit. This restriction lasted for about 5 kilometers, and then it was ok to go higher the 6,000' msl.
Usually Donatos delivers a nice thermal, but today wasn't the case. There was quite a bit of wind in the valley which may have affected thermal development. I saw a few pilots landing near Donatos and I thought I was going to be one of them. I made a straight line to a ridge pass Donatos and was able to ridge soar up the side and hook a thermal that got me high enough to continue on course. I was flying with a couple of pilots, Lisa Dickenson and Sam Crocker. We worked together for a ways, but conditions made us split up to find our own thermal sources.
Halfway from Donatos to Emigrant Lake I thought I was finished because I made it to the top of this ridge looking for a thermal. In the process I searched a little behind the ridge and once turned back into the wind I had little penetration. Loosing altitude I decided to go behind the ridge and head out into the valley. Great, rotor territory, not great. I was losing quite a bit of altitude as I was heading to the flats I spotted a decent landing zone by Interstate 5 and frontage road. I was also waiting for the rotor washing machine to up the ante a little, but never felt it. I think I was just at ridge height as I was heading to the valley and never got too low to feel it.
I luckily found a leeside thermal over a dry field and was able to climb back up about 1,500' and again back on course. Lisa was higher and had passed me and she found a thermal in the middle of the valley which was just barely strong enough to get us to be able to make the final glide to goal. I left a little earlier then her, and I got very nervous because I sunk to a point I didn't think I would make goal. I went to a small ridge to try to get a little bump to make the final glide, but there was nothing there. Well, it was time to go for it. We had a decent tail wind. With a 1/4 speed bar I headed to goal and made it with about 200' to spare.
What an awesome flight. I am posting a few pics from the day.
Rain today, but hopefully we'll be able to get another couple of days in. Tomorrow and Friday still look iffy, but Saturday looks good.
Results:
Rat Race
1. Brad Gunnuscio
2. Torsten Siegel
3. Cody Mittanck
Sprint
1. Frank Drews
2. Matt Dynan
3. Darren Payne
Full Results
http://flyxc.org/2014RatRaceSprint.html
Cheers
No comments:
Post a Comment