Wednesday 27th May 2015
The final day of Round 2, and again the weather was looking shabby. Low cloud base, not much sunshine. But the circus headed off to Whether Fell again. The wind was very much off to the SW so our local pilots Kevin Gay and Trevor Birbeck gave us the low down on which parts of the ridge would work even though the wind was hitting it at 45 degrees.
A 60km flight to "anywhere" was called with an early task finish time due to the approaching bad (worse) weather. I opted to go to the launch area where Gordon And Dave Matthews had rigged - it certainly seemed a smoother, safer spot than the "lipped" take off where most were rigged. After kind assistance from Mark Woodhams I got the glider over. The wind felt good. I was ready to go. And off I went, first off the hill again. Brave or stupid. One of the two. You chose.
I struck it lucky. Gliding straight to the part of the hill that had been pointed out as working, I hit a steady 2 up climb and was soon dragging the whole BOS gaggle off the hill to join me. Quickly up at the low cloud base at 2800', the sky was filled with the hazy spectres of gliders in the mist. Some pilots were questioning whether we could task, but seeing that we had left the hill lower yesterday then I thought it was game on. Just stay out of cloud! Before long pilots were bumbling over the back, gliding towards thge windward facing rising ground the other side of the Hawes valley.
It took me some time to get going, having heard pilots getting low and landing out early. Gordon called on the radio that he had activated the task by flying 10km - was he still flying? Eventually I went on a glide from 2400', watching Wayne Thompson ahead of me head earthwards which out a climb. Passing over the river, the club class pilots seemed to be landing in a field together. Without enough height to reach the rising ground I glided down track, hoping to make as much distance as possible. Paul Harvey and Darren Brown were down at about 7km and as I flew low over their heads I thought about joining them in their field. But on I went. Paul said he just saw me disappearing low behind the trees, downwind....
As I bumbled down the valley my landing options were decreasing. The field I had spotted had power lines, so I eeked out the glide to the only field available before a road and trees. With a quick turn up slope and a hard flare my lovely wing looked after me once more, stopping quickly and predictably, much to the bewilderment of the sheep in the field. And that was it. A hefty 7.6kms. But points is points, and enough points mean prizes. One day!
A great competition - well done Martin and Jenny and the BHGC. Thanks to the local organisers and to Rebekah for the fantastic retrieves. We only hadTthree tasks, but flying everyday. Its my best season so far, with some good scores going in, and I am currently lying fifth in the UK. Full results here. Roll on BOS 3!
A 60km flight to "anywhere" was called with an early task finish time due to the approaching bad (worse) weather. I opted to go to the launch area where Gordon And Dave Matthews had rigged - it certainly seemed a smoother, safer spot than the "lipped" take off where most were rigged. After kind assistance from Mark Woodhams I got the glider over. The wind felt good. I was ready to go. And off I went, first off the hill again. Brave or stupid. One of the two. You chose.
I struck it lucky. Gliding straight to the part of the hill that had been pointed out as working, I hit a steady 2 up climb and was soon dragging the whole BOS gaggle off the hill to join me. Quickly up at the low cloud base at 2800', the sky was filled with the hazy spectres of gliders in the mist. Some pilots were questioning whether we could task, but seeing that we had left the hill lower yesterday then I thought it was game on. Just stay out of cloud! Before long pilots were bumbling over the back, gliding towards thge windward facing rising ground the other side of the Hawes valley.
It took me some time to get going, having heard pilots getting low and landing out early. Gordon called on the radio that he had activated the task by flying 10km - was he still flying? Eventually I went on a glide from 2400', watching Wayne Thompson ahead of me head earthwards which out a climb. Passing over the river, the club class pilots seemed to be landing in a field together. Without enough height to reach the rising ground I glided down track, hoping to make as much distance as possible. Paul Harvey and Darren Brown were down at about 7km and as I flew low over their heads I thought about joining them in their field. But on I went. Paul said he just saw me disappearing low behind the trees, downwind.... |
| Nearly! Sheep spot landing competition |
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| My landing field with Wether Fell in the back ground |
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