East Coast Championship Day 7

I thought we only had a 50% chance of flying on the last day of the East Coast Championship.  First light was more of a yawn than a dawn as slate gray clouds masked the sun.  The forecasts looked marginal with a moderate humid south breeze blowing apart low (2500 feet / 760 m) weak thermal.  The wind alone would have killed the day in previous years, but this year we had a new grass strip perpendicular to the main runway that faced almost directly into the wind.

The sport class task was straight downwind to an airfield at Massey, while the open class would continue on to a small airfield in Townsend.  The sport class pilots could leave the 10 km (6.2 mile) start circle anytime they wanted, but the open class pilots had to wait until 2:00, 2:15, or 2:30.  That effectively meant no one in the open class would launch until they could safely blow across the start line immediately after tow.

Rick's flying "project"

Rick, a good pilot that wasn't part of the competition, launched first and reported decent climbs so us lemmings started launching.  I was 5th or 6th to launch and broke a weak link around 300 feet (90m) for what appeared to be no good reason.  I had enough altitude to make an approach but had to dodge Larry who was coming back in after sinking out and the jump plane loaded up with skydivers.  I landed nicely but had a long hot sweaty walk back to the tow line.  (Did I mention it was 93 F / 34 C?)  I got a full tow on the second go and quickly found light lift which drew together a few more pilots.

Hugh, Larry, and I drifted through the start circle at the top of lift (2400 feet / 740m).  We drifted along in a series climbs and hooked-up with Rich.  We caught up with another larger gaggle when I found a sweet 700 fpm (3.5 m/s) climb.  We then had Dave, Steve, Mitch in out group.  Dave, Larry, and I lead out for the next climb while Steve followed and Mitch and Rich hung back.  I was the furthest west on the spread and lost altitude to Dave and Larry to my right.  I quickly faded back to the right to stop my losses but was too low to get into the next climb.  Meanwhile, Rich, who also flew further west, found a strong climb that took him high enough to reach the turn point.  Rich ended up winning the day, while the rest of the group landed just a bit further than I did.

Charlie and David pulled up with the car just as I was finished packing the glider.  David did a great job as a driver this week, arriving every day before I finished and on one day arriving even before I did.

After downloading my flight data for scoring, I took a refreshing dip in the pool and got ready for dinner and the awards ceremony.  As usual, the food was excellent.  We stuffed our faces as we relived our flights from the previous week.  David hosted the awards ceremony which meant the pace was fast and entertaining.

Larry placed first in the open class, followed by me, and then Rich.  It should be noted that Rich dominated several days at the meet and showed he has "arrived".  Nick won the last day in the sports class but didn't stockpile enough points to unseat John who won the sports class meet.  The day's scoring and the final standings are available online.

I want to thank Adam and Sunny for once again hosting a great competition.  The East Coast Championship is a fantastic low-stress hang-gliding vacation that shouldn't be missed, especially for pilots new to the competition scene.  You owe it to yourself to join the fun.

Flights: 1, Duration: 0:49, Distance: 38 miles