East Coast Championships (Day 1)

I woke this morning to sound of distant thunder.  I thought about breaking down my glider, but decided it was probably already too late.  Luckily the storm only produced a weak gust front and moderate rain.  Several of us early risers drove out for breakfast and were greeted with sunshine when we stepped outside about an hour later.

We were given a short task since cloud base was predicted to be low, lift weak, and the wind blowing a bit.  I wanted to launch early to avoid the possibility of a sea breeze washing away any weak lift the soggy ground was producing.  I never really got a chance to sample the air since I was abnormally high on the tug immediately after launch.  I tried to get down, but just could not.  I released because I was afraid of pulling the tug's tail off the ground and forcing its nose into the ground.  (I later talked to the tug pilot and he thought he was towing too fast.)

After relaxing a bit and watching most other pilots sink out I suited up for another go.  I was dropped off near Davis and we slowly started climbing.  A small gaggle formed as we drifted away from the field.  We were got low near the start circle after our first glide.  We lost two pilots and I almost landed getting down to 550 feet (167 m).  However, I found a slow climb and made it all the way to 2700 feet (822 m); the high point of the flight.  Davis, Larry, and Paris left me behind, but I soon noticed all three struggling and then watched Davis and Larry land.  Paris had a slow climb drifting to the east away from course line.  I decided to stick to the course line even if it meant flying into the blue.  I had a another weak climb, drifted a bit, then had a rowdy landing at a nice farm with a huge corn field.

Paris managed to get back on course line and won the day.  Rodger won the sport class for the day.  The scores are available online.

Flights: 2, Time: 1:41, Distance: 13 miles