Florida Ridge - Day 5

I have not felt well for a couple of days and I was really hoping for a day off today. Although the forecast included scattered thunderstorms, I knew we would fly. The forecast did not look good for racing; very little lift (<200> 15 mph). We staged our gliders and waited. Dave and Steve played wind dummies and promptly sank out. We waited some more. Dave, Steve, and a German comp pilot towed up and sank out. We waited some more. Some of the British team when looking for alligators in the drainage ditches, one pilot packed up and went fishing, and the rest huddled under gliders and tugs for shade. We waited.

Finally we spotted cummies forming to the southwest, then to the northeast, and then to the southeast. The high cirrus was moving away and ragged clouds began to form wherever it was blue. Davis and Jack towed up and managed to hang on for awhile. When I saw clouds form directly to the west, I suited up. Jack, Linda, and I were towed up at roughly the same time. Linda found a climb just as the sky started popping. I couldn't find her climb and finally decided to land and get another tow. I got punished coming into the tow field; rocketing 200 feet up and down while on approach. I finally dove into the field, rounded out, and flared into a gust. I zoomed so high that I was drifting backwards when I landed on my butt. Yikes.

I was now the last open class pilot on the ground and more cirrus was moving in blocking the much needed sun. I hooked in behind Rhett and started rolling down the field. I came off the cart in a turn but immediately got the glider level and repositioned behind the tug. Bad things can happen when the glider starts in a turn down low and I was not going to let that happen.

Rhett dropped me near a decent thermal and I climbed while drifting downwind towards goal 45 miles away. Ahead of the me sky looked great, but above and behind me the clouds were dying or gone. I moved north whenever I was high enough to run. The entire field was ahead of me but out of sight. I hooked up with James on his Phantom and Nigel for a couple of climbs but spent most of the trip by myself.

Once I got into the sun the climbs became more substantial and marked with clouds. A convergence line set up to the west of the big lake and things were easier once I reached it. I bounced under that line of clouds into goal.

I was slow but hopefully not embarrassingly slow. Linda gave herself a birthday present by making goal. Mark showed up with a gift at goal. While I was breaking down I saw Rodger fly overhead at cloud base. Rodger had the flight of the day in the sport class flying just short of 50 miles.

We awoke this morning to an approaching thunderstorm. I snapped a few pictures before the sky opened up.