Saturday
After yesterday's rough conditions, the day's forecast suggested good thermals and convergences though clouds might be lacking in places. With the sky developing later than predicted and the wish to avoid changing grid ends, gridding and launching were delayed a number of times with gridding finally set for 1:15pm with the first launch just after 1:30pm. Pilots found conditions variable which saw a wide range of results from one landout, a number of landbacks after partially completing the task and some task completions.
As it was the last, gliders were derigged, final scores calculated and winners announced.
The competition was run by multiple volunteers with thanks to all.
The 2027 event is currently scheduled for the same time and place.
Friday - a wave day to remember
The weather gods again toyed with the contest pilots by changing wind direction pre-launch for another dose of runway gymnastics. With that settled, launches to 3,500ft AGL were agreed to enable pilots to contact the wave which was visible by launch time. Once airborne, strong lift and sink in excess of 15kts was reported along with some extreme turbulence in places. One of the major complaints was the inability to keep out of controlled airspace despite using high speed, airbrakes and wheels do...
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Thursday - task setters nightmare
With the weather conditions predicted to be largely blue with lift potentially in places at times, the task setter called it a nightmare day to try and set a fair task so called no task. Local flying was possible and there were visible signs of wave later in the day but all pilots stayed on the ground. The highlight of the day was a BBQ lamb meal provided by one of the local gliding club members followed by a blackberry and apple crumble.
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Wednesday - task set
The weather forecaster did provide both an optimistic and pessimistic forecast. A task was set based on reasonable expectations. After a runway end change due to the wind not being as forecast, pilots were launched into a soft looking local sky. Conditions turned out to be very challenging with a number of land backs, land outs and engine starts with the result that no one completed the task. Despite that, some pilots had an enjoyable day which was completed with a chicken dinner at the airfield...
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Tuesday - finally flying
Having waited out the weather, today was flyable but deemed untaskable. A number of pilots took the chance to go local flying.
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And we wait!
Once again the weather Gods have not played ball. Typically, if you want rain organise a gliding competition. Currently we are now waiting for a storm system to go through which will hopefully pass by Tuesday. The rest of the week then looks promising..........fingers crossed.
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