Wednesday evening was another busy one for Club flying…online of course. Our Condor racing events are gathering popularity and six members lined themselves up on the virtual grid to take part this time – Dan Hender, Matt Howard, Geoff Lawrence, John Davis, Phil Morrison and Ben Watkins. The task was the club 50k again (NHL – TIV – WEG – NHL) however a few changes were made to help make it more competitive. The keys to the expensive gliders were confiscated and competitors limited to Club Class which meant most flew the humble Standard Cirrus. A maximum start height of 3000ft and a minimum finish of 1500ft was imposed and to mix things up a bit we winch launched to start.
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| Waiting to start at North Hill (John Davis) |
The launches were true to life with some getting away, straight away and others landing back for a relight, but eventually everyone was airborne together. It quickly became apparent that the conditions were tricky. Cloudbase was a reasonable 4000ftQNH but thermals were weak low down and cycled quickly. Most pilots experienced at least one long glide to a thermal that vaporised in front of them.
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| On task (John Davis) |
Eventually only three gliders turned the first turnpoint with the remainder either landing out or suffering technical hiccups with the wiggly amps. Matt was in the lead and turned Tiverton first with Ben following behind. There was no clear line of energy between Tiverton and Wellington and the lead pair split their strategies with Matt going South and Ben North. In the end the sky to the North won and Matt landed out near Willand leaving only Ben and Phil to complete the task.
Plans are afoot to establish regular competitions on designated days of the week with the potential for additional ad-hoc contests in between. If you want to get involved or would like some help getting set up get in touch via the DSGC Condor Racing WhatsApp group - email Jill for details. - Ben Watkins (first-time blogger)
Plans are afoot to establish regular competitions on designated days of the week with the potential for additional ad-hoc contests in between. If you want to get involved or would like some help getting set up get in touch via the DSGC Condor Racing WhatsApp group - email Jill for details. - Ben Watkins (first-time blogger)
