East Coast Championship (Day 6)

No rain last night but I awoke under an unbroken slate grey sky. The forecast called for the temperature and humidity to increase during the day and it did. A small task to the north was called for late afternoon and on schedule the sun started breaking through around 1pm. The tug pilot's reports of zero thermal activity kept all the sweaty hang glider pilots on the ground but the crop dusters kept working.


We also had a dual fly-by to entertain us.

A few pilots launched and Davis even managed to hang on, although low. (Cloud base was around 2000 feet). About the time everyone was finally getting ready to launch, we switched towing direction on the runway. Chaos ensued and a few pilots were upset how priority launch was handled.

I launched and managed to keep in the air and even worked my way part-way to the start circle. No one was leaving so I worked back towards the field. I eventually got tired of looking up at gliders on tow that seemed miles above me and went back for another tow. The clouds were gone by the time I got back into the air and I started my dive for the start circle. There was a complex of farm buildings on course line and it looked like my only real chance for lift. Once I smelled manure, I knew lift would be next. About a dozen pilots collected in that climb. I headed on to quarry that I was sure would produce lift, but alas it didn't. I moved on to a field in the lee of some trees and found broken lift. Charlie, who came in below, landed and I was getting close. I gave the thermal one more chance before moving on. Linda and Mark cruised over a few hundred feet higher and connected while I sank out the bottom. I finally took my measly altitude and flew across some fields to land with Kevin, Paul, and Rich. Mark went on to win the day and Linda was second. You can check out the scores online.