I launched about 15 minutes before the start. Most pilots had launched earlier, but I'm not in the flying shape I was last year and my longest flights this year have only been around an hour. Between the weather and doing mostly tandems I haven't had a chance to do a lot of thermal practice at home. So I launched later and actually started off really well. Hit a few good thermals, got to 1900 meters but the thermals started drifting me over the back. I didn't really want to go back there since we'd been warned about not being able to make it out, and I'm glad I stayed out front even though it meant I didn't get as high.
There were 2 reserve deployments that I know of, as well as a pilot who landed in a tree. The winds started picking up quite strongly from the north (forecast was for southwest?) which made the air quite rough. I'm so glad I got to work on my bump tolerance yesterday...in fact I found today less rough although other pilots said they found it worse today. I'm really happy with how my wing felt in the air, I feel I'm getting to know it quickly even though I've only had a few flights on it. The trick today was probably launching earlier and getting high, although by the time I landed I'm not sure pilots on anything less than the "new" EN-D rated wings could get very far. It will be interesting to hear the stories at the welcome dinner tonight!
I was feeling pretty bummed when I realized I wasn't going to make even the first waypoint today. Then I decided to just stay in the air for a while and fly around when I saw the 2nd reserve deployment. After landing I heard about the tree landing, and then some good pilots had come to land at the same LZ, so by the time I'd packed up I didn't feel so bad. I had a great launch, landing, came home in one piece and had fun in the air. That's a successful day to me, and I'm learning more about this site every day. 6 more days to try for goal!
Task today: follow the zigzag :)
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