The expected awesome weather for the first day didn't turn out to be sooo epic. It was pretty hands on most of the day. BGunn did an SIV course on his 2 line wing over launch. Jimmy might have gotten that on video. it was rowdy in a snotty way and not so much fun over launch. crossing the river to the rim was fine if you went really high cause the rim wasn't working for at least an hour after I got there. So I surveil soared sweeping around hovering and looking for any kind of lift. It eventually got going and out I climbed only to be at least an hour behind the whole field of pilots minus the others who got stuck with me. serves me right for crossing lower then I know I should.
The task was an entry cylinder of 15k around the first turn point at the farmer grain towers, then off to the east to Coulee City & finally onto almira. a solid 94k under challenging thermalling conditions, no clouds and snotty spunky punches until u got past the first turn point. Seems like the leaders were on course for about 2hrs. I made in 3hrs because of getting a solid rim job and stuck several times in slow lift trying to get to 3000m just to be solidly established high in the sky. Coulee City thermals got me in great position to cross the coulee and then again for a long glide into goal in an area that everyone else had to do several climbs before they could punchit. Nick Greece got in first to win the day! Hooray for the USA!
It was good flying, but not the supa Chelan classic epic we are hoping will materialize several times in the course of this next week. It was sporting enough to cause one pilot to throw a reserve which got munched by his sat'ing glider and he ended up slamming into the ground. Luckily the field was freshly plowed and he ended up with separated ribs, later walking out of the hospital. A very lucky man indeed. Needless to say it was a HANDS ON day and there was no time to take pictures. Of course I was so far behind everyone that my pictures would have been boring landscapes and I would be relentlessly chastised for taking them instead of focusing on flying.
results posted here: http://www.fastretrieve.com/PWCA/2010/6.html
live leader board and some tracking here; http://www.paraglidingworldcup.org/
Cheers and blue skies to all!
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