The forecast for the day this morning was marginal but most of us had some hope of a good day. The sky was still totally blue when Connie, Dean, Jim, and I arrived at launch. It looked so stable and light that I withdrew my request to launch early in the alternative launch. As we set up our gliders a thick band of cirrus moved in an it looked like it might be too stable. Meanwhile the meet officials were getting high wind reports from other locations while we watched paragliders sled to the bottom. A task was called and the launch window opened. No one launched. We could see some towering clouds in the distance all around us, but nothing nearby. Finally the cirrus started to thin, the ground heated, and the thermals started moving through. After the task was shorten, pilots started to launch. The thermals were getting more numerous and stronger. However the wind was also getting gusty (probably from the thermals) and some of the launches were marginal. The pilots in the air were not getting extremely high and seemed to be spending some time trying to fly upwind. (The task was an upwind task since there is nothing but trees downwind of Mystic). After some conversations with pilots in the air and a couple shakey launches, the launch was closed and the task cancelled.
I heard that one pilot was already 1/2 of the way to goal by the time I left launch. Another pilot flew over the range to the Mount Beauty airport. Although it might have been my last flight in Australia for this trip, I didn't want to land in the bombout LZ in a strong wind. (Some local pilots were telling me it was not fun when the wind picked up.)
Many of the pilots invaded Bright and enjoyed the late afternoon chatting at tables on the sidewalk with ice cream cones in their hands.
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