Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Day 1 - December 19

Gidday Everyone:

Let the racing begin! Today dawned with a heavy overcast and another day of cold winds - this time from the southwest. The weather man promised a soaring day and the weather gods delivered. it was not the boomer of a day we all hope(d) for but the flying was the toughest in my racing career.

We launched, then almost immediately went from the A tot he B task. The B task was Makaroa, Moven, Gen?-Station, West Control, Finish for 221 km. The launch went very quickly with only 18 pilots and 6 tow planes - talk about luxury. Most everyone ended up on the top of Big Ben in a great persistent thermal that went about 1000 feet higher than any other cloudbase in the local area. All 18 pilots came out of the blocks within about 1km along course line and 200 feet in altitude. Pretty tight. All pilots went immediately to Magic Mountain. Yours truly and about 8-10 others were able to get on top and got a good climb. As we came over the top and saw the Ahuriri Valley, we were pleased to see the other 7-8 pilots, who had gone aroundhte corner of Magic well down the mountain and struggling.

Everyone then crossed the Ahuriri Valley and set up for a climb somewhere around Ben Avon to get on top of the South end of the Dingle Ridge. Spying Giorgio Galletto (ITA) going for the ridge well below me, I followed. I figured if he is the "Mountain Rat" of Italy, then I was going to be the "Mountain Rat" of the USA. Giorgio got to the ridge maybe 100 feet below the top, I got there right at ridge height. After it took me probably 10-15 minutes to get away - while watching everyone who finished first climb away - it took Giorgio a Looong Time! Afer I had gotten away and made my way over to Makaroa, I heard Peter Harvey (I believe) wish Giorgio good luck, and Giorgio reporting back that he was just to low! Riveting stuff.

The rest of my flight was a little tough getting into the second turn, but coming out of that turn I was able to pick up a great convergence line taking me from the Lindis Pass area to the third turn without stopping. From there it was getting on the Ben Ohau Ridge and hoping it worked in order to get home. It was about this time that I began hearing the radio calls and switch-overs to the Omarama Airfield frequency. In the Grand Prix format, you immediately start counting to see where you stand. As soon as you get to 9 you know you are out of the points. I think I was something like 14th. Close but no cigar!

But the great news was I actually beat Sebastian Kawa (for the first time in my career) and Giorgio Galletto, among a few others. In a Ventus 1, this is a victory for me. Like I said, there is every possibility that World Champions will end up at the bottom of the score sheet on any day or even on the final overall scoresheet. Keep tuned!

The top four were: Schwenk, Jones, Krejirik, and Flewett. I am sorry I do not have the full list, but as the first finishers were crossing the line, I was ridge soaring the Ben Ohau range with a wind straight up the valley (yikes). Luckily I got a great climb to get home on the mountain named Ben Ohau, right at the bottom of Lake Ohau.

For the top finishers (in the points), the critical climb came in the Ahuriri Valley in the lee of the mountain Ben Avon. If you got out of there quickly, you were in to better air and got the speed up.

The problems with the internet feed were that they lost the satellite for 20 minutes. Sorry everyone missed the critical first km's of the task. But they promise to have it working at full tilt tomorrow.

That's it from a tired Team TM.

See Ya! Tim/TM


Entering, then changing the task.







Today's winner, Uli Schwenk (Schwabia/DE), gets interviewed for the webcast.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Tim,

I still say FANTASTIC flight. I did see the US flag lurking just behind the leaders. It's hard to pick a buddy to fly with...better luck the next time.
Did you have any water left for the final glide ?

Rick "FD"

Anonymous said...

Great race, well done on beating Kawa! Thanks for the write up.
Cheers,
Tim from gliding.wordjot.com

Duke said...

Great flying Tim! I too was watching via Airsports and found it very entertaining even though it was a virtual representation.

Hope the weather improves and good luck.

Tom

Anonymous said...

Tim,
Looks like some exciting racing today. Congrats on your achievement and personal best today beating Kawa.