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.

Florida Ridge - Day 4

Although it would probably rain or blow up into thunderstorms we setup for an early 34 mile task to the Lake Placid airfield to the north. I got into line as soon as I was ready and Steve towed me downwind to a wimpy little climb. At first I wasn't happy being dropped off with only 300 feet over best glide back to the field, but as I slowly climbed and watch other pilots land back at the field I changed by opinion. Once near cloud base the lift improved and I had no problem moving from cloud to cloud in the pillow-soft lift.

The sky to the north along course line started getting dark and then speckled with showers. I was ready to take the first start gate but no one in my gaggle wanted to go. No problem, it wasn't looking promising downwind anyway. I pushed back upwind and joined Kevin and Wolfgang in a little climb. Just as we reach cloud base it started to sprinkle and then rain. Kevin went on course line and I push back upwind. It continued to rain and I could see rain to the west as well. At that point I decided I had enough and took off to the east to find a dry place to land.

I landed in a light rain in a sugar-cane field next to highway 74 that had a bridge across the ever-present ditch/canal along the edge. A few minutes later I watched Paul land on the other side of the road in a pasture field adorned with small trees. I called in to inform Cheryl that I, a member of the safety committee, just landed because I thought the conditions on course line were unsafe. Cheryl informed me that the day was stopped 10 minutes earlier.

Meanwhile a Starling was constantly scolding me for intruding on his space. I could get within a few feet before he fly to the next bush only to return when I moved back.

Ron zipped out and picked me up and then we threw Paul and Olav onboard before heading back. It was a good thing we stopped the task because the radar of the course line was painted yellow and red with strong thunderstorms. A group of us drove into La Belle for Mexican food and retired to our tents for a loud and brilliant light show into the night.

Florida Ridge - Day 3

I was the first or second pilot to launch today. I got dropped off upwind but quickly drifted back in weak broken lift. Paul was dropped off above me and we both floundered awhile before pushing upwind. I was watching the altitude above best glide back to the Ridge drop lower and and lower. I kept watching Paul to see if bumped into a climb or turned back. I was down to 400 feet above and turned back just as Paul did the same. I had a better line back and made a pass over the nursery as Paul was landing. A 1200 fpm monster yanked me upward and for a moment I thought I might get up. However, after a 1000 foot gain, the rowdy climb turned into a trashy washing machine going down. I zipped over to the field and landed just a few feet from the end of launch line.

Although I was the first to launch I was also the last (open class flex wing) to launch. I was clipped in behind Lisa and we began to roll. Just as the glider started "jiggling" in the cart the tug slowed to a stop. Luckily the glider settled into the cart and I rolled to a stop. Since the prop was still turning, I assumed Lisa saw someone on approach but later learned she didn't have full power and properly aborted. The ground crew pushed me back to the start point and clipped me onto Russell's tug. The big engine on that beast yanked me into the sky and just as the start gate alarm went off. So much for an early start! The tug plowed through a strong climb at 700 feet but I shot up and to the right. I was reaching for the release when the weak link blew. It took a couple turns but I centered the thermal and climbed to cloud base downwind of the Ridge.

It was a struggle plowing upwind to the south. I knew I was late so I pushed hard to reach the start gate 6 miles away. I made cloud base over the starting line at the last valid time. Not the start I wanted but still acceptable. I kept pushing against the strong south wind and made slow but steady progress. I started missing climbs that I just knew should be there. I finally noticed that the wind had shifted from the south, to the south west, and then to the west. Duh.

I flew over George at the first turn point, rounded the turn point and headed to the next turn point north of La Belle. The sky over La Belle was dark, low and ugly. There would either be lots of lift or none. I turned back for a relatively weak climb to stock up. There was lots of lift over town, but almost none further north. I glided down to 1200 feet and was shopping for LZs when I stumbled into a weak climb. George flew in over me, worked together to center the thermal, and both climbed to cloud base. I lead out for the 2nd turn point bopping under some dying clouds. George found a little climb but I pressed on.

It didn't look promising ahead. There were already gliders parked along the road at the turn point and a couple other pilots diving over the turn point and heading back. I was very low by the time I got the turn point and drifted down wind looking for salvation instead of heading south on course line. I bobbled in some weak broken lift until I had enough altitude to push south to where George and Nigel were circling. I didn't find anything at 900 feet so I dove across a "tiny restricted" pasture so I could land next to the road. Then the "unplanned" part of the day unfolded.

Nigel floated into my field a few minutes later and George landed 1/2 mile down the road in scrub field. Ron showed up with the trailer so we could fit Nigel on our rig. We had not heard from Mark but Linda was waiting on the ground south of La Belle. Just as we were leaving a cloud of dust with a hang gliding truck in the middle showed up with Mark on board. We transferred Mark onto our rig and drove down the road to get George. We were tying down George's glider when we saw a pilot walking down the desolate dirt road towards us. It was Bjorn. We were not going to leave anyone stranded there so we tossed his glider on and squeezed everyone into the truck with me sitting in the center console in the front.

We didn't have anymore room for Linda so we needed a plan. I knew that Brian wanted to eat dinner in La Belle so maybe I could get dropped off in town, eat, and then get a body ride back. Brian didn't answer his phone so I called Rodger. Rodger said he would track down Brian and mentioned that Dave and Steve were driving in from Wallaby Ranch. So I called Dave. Dave was at least an hour away so I kept my options open, but was holding out for Brian. Brian called back and said he would come get us. So I asked Mark to pull over in La Belle and asked George to drop off my flight computer for scoring. Bjorn also offered to wait in town so we walked up to McDonald's for ice cream. A few minutes later Dave called saying he miscalculated his distance and was just outside town. Before long Dave, Steve, Bjorn, and I were sitting outside McDonald's on main street.

We made plans for dinner when Olav called Bjorn. Olav was still waiting for a ride and it was getting dark. Brian graciously offered to pick him up so we borrowed Steve's GPS while Dave and Steve went to check into their hotel. We picked up Olav just as the light was fading and got everyone back to the Ridge. We capped the evening off with yet another meal at the Gator Bait Pub. I don't think I could have made up a more complicated trip back home!

Florida Ridge - Day 2

The forecasts for today were mixed; some predicted light winds while others predicted moderate winds. The task committee picked a task for each forecast but by none it was clear the light wind forecast was correct.

Our task was a 45 mile trip to La Belle, south to an intersection, back to La Belle and then back to the Ridge. The sky was blue, the winds light, and the birds flapping. We had 4 15-minute interval starts beginning at 2:00. No one launched when the window opened at 1:00 but Olav, Bjorn, and Jack launched and discouraged further activity. Olav and Bjorn returned to the field, but Jack pushed on out of sight and eventually landed.

As the final start gate approached we started launched in earnest and surprisingly found workable lift. I worked my way to the edge of the start circle and took the last start. I was with most of the British team and Paris. We were getting close to the top of a climb near the first turn point when I pushed upwind a bit thinking I would find better lift. I fell off the edge of the climb and was soon 1000 feet below the rest of the gaggle that was just leaving. Crap. I flew the next leg behind the group but caught everyone on the way back to La Belle. We all wallowed in lightly sinking air before we all pushed on low.

I had a sweet glide northward and plowed into a strong climb near the turn point. I flew through the lift, got the turn point, went back and topped out with Bjorn. We started heading home and took a few turns we should have skipped. I finished 6th for the day, but 1st was within reach if I was more aggressive. Live and learn.

Rodger had an "outback" experience in the cane fields, Patrick won the day in the sport class, and we all spent the evening at the Gator Bait pub again.

Florida Ridge - Day 1

The wind shook the tents all night long and was still making the flags snap at sunrise. The fear of another blown-out day at the Florida Ridge was gnawing on my psyche. A quick check of the forecast on my cell phone from my tent gave me some hope as the computer models showed less wind later in the day.

Before we left the orchard where we are camping, Rodger showed us the Easter "surprise" his girls packed for him. Sweet.

The day's task was a zig-zag crossing downwind course to the south that turned out to have some crossing upwind legs after the wind veered more the the west than predicted. The sport class, that features Allen, Brian, Patrick, and Rodger had a straight downwind task to the same goal. We all had an open start window, meaning we could leave anytime after 2pm.

I launched second and left as soon as possible with Kevin, Paris, and Paul. We had long low-altitude glides with weak climbs until about the time we reached the first turn point. The climbs started becoming stronger and the were climbing higher. Unfortunately, the rest of the pilots were catching us. We turned into the crossing upwind leg to the second turn point and had to push upwind in the blue. It was tough, but not impossible since there was a lot of broken lift around.

The last leg was directly upwind, at least for me. I chickened out on the final glide over 3 miles of orange groves and took a safety climb that let 5 gliders get in front of me. (If I came up short I would have to land in the orchards, there was not bail out area.)

Most of the field, no matter when they started, landed roughly at the same time. I can not remember that happening before. I walked through the "inland beach" we landed in, broke down the gliders, took some pictures of the happy pilots at goal, and waited with George for our driver Ron. Mark landed back on course, but found another ride. We declined a ride that Jack offered so we could help Ron find Linda. Once loaded we drove a few miles away into a sugar cane field to extract LInda.

We had a good dinner at the Ridge and spent the evening at the Gator Bait Pub. All-n-all, a good way to start the meet.