Oz Comp 1

I just finished up my first comp of my Oz season winding up to the worlds.
Thought my peeps back in region 9 would like to hear about it. Maybe some
insight into strategies for speed or XC distances.

This past week was the Australian Nationals based out of the town of
Deneliquin. The region and flying reminds me a lot of Texas (basically
Florida on steroids). All flat, very dry, very desolate. Wide open spaces
with only sheep, kangaroos, and a few emus to dot the paddocks below.

This year has been wetter and cooler then usual which is fine by me. First
day was post frontal with beautiful skies but wind velocities that had us a
bit unsure. We waited all day out in the dust before calling off the day.
I have a cool picture of the cloudspeckled sky if anyone is interested.

First task we flew was sort of downwind dog leg. Conditions were consistent
and tons of pilots made goal. I was doing some flight testing with a new
prototype vario/gps that looks wicked cool but apparently doesn't get the
best GPS reception. Most times I could get the direction arrow but could
only get distance about 30% of the time. With 2 backup GPS's presumably
logging my exact course I wasn't too worried. On a long final another pilot
slipped in under me a few k's out. Great for me because it meant I had
someone to race, and I also had confirmation of exact courseline. I raced
into goal directly over Attilla Bertok, using him as my compass. It was a
cool view watching his sail change wrinkle and flutter patterns as we wound
up the speed. I don't know many gliders that don't flutter at 70. It was
cool watching that upclose with the sage ripping past in the background. My
backups gave me bad love on that flight and it took a week of convincing to
get proper credit for my goal finish.

Second task was my best of comp. Not because I flew anything special. It
just worked out that opportunity presented itself and I was able to
capitalize on it. The task started slow for me. I towed about the same
time as Curt and Dustin (too phenomenal teammates). We were together in the
air but I just couldn't seem to dial into the broken thermals. There was
some high pressure and inversions messing things up and I just didn't have a
good feel for how to get the most out of it. I ended up chasing around bad
lift and couldn't seem to get high in the stack. Most of the field left for
the first start gate while I was only about halfway up the thermal ladder.
I wanted to go but hung back to top out and just hit the next start
opportunity 15 minutes later. Going out on course from that point was
relatively uneventful. I had some pilots to fly with but nobody who stood
out as someone to team up with. The further on course we got the stronger
the lift grew. I was happy about that obviously for speed, and also I felt
more dialed into what was going on. Flying my own flight rather then
chasing I was able to time my presence in the strongest phases of the
thermals. Climbs got higher and I only hung out if the lift was over 600.
If it petered into broken 4's, I was gone. 3 or 4 800+ bangers in a row and
I caught the leaders. It was obvious that conditions had softened so I had
no problem with throttling back. Grouped up with the top guys there isn't
the anxiety to push ahead unnecessarily. Working with about 10 really good
guys we covered the last 2 legs of the course. I was lucky to find the core
first a couple of times and get on top of the group. Before the last
turnpoint my 5030 (with new firmware) was telling me I was close to making
final "around the corner." A couple of high pilots we caught went on final
glide and I jumped in about 4th or 5th. Gliding almost 20 miles to a goal
is cool enough, doing it while racing in 3D with a handful of your best
mates is even cooler! I was getting a great glide compared to some guys
below me so I cruised into goal a bit high to watch the show. A nice
thermal over the field and I was able to climb back out from just a few
hundred feet. Thermals over landing fields make me nervous so I take the
free ride up. When I landed about a half hour later Davis (like a fool)
followed my approach but was a bit longer. He seemed to forget that me and
fences have some love/hate tractor beam thing going. I landed short of one
and he ended up having to bunny hop one right before flaring. With my late
start I had the second fastest time on the day. So close to winning a day
but not quite.

Third task we flew zig zag to the Toqumal sailplane field. I shifted
between groups and didn't fly very well that day. I made goal but not with
the fastest guys. Again I got to race some guys into goal which is one of
my favorite things. Picking the right speed to gain on a person but not too
much altitude..its tricky and great gear is a HUGE advantage. I have
noticed that with my cleaner harness and instrument setup I seem to realize
big gains in fast glide. At 45 to 50 I still glide great and above 70 it is
still respectable. My biggest issue is the higher speeds are taking up too
much bar travel now. Up to about 55 the bar doesn't get much past the
sternum but to get over 70 I have really stuff it and then the body looses
its clean angle. Last year I trimmed my glider to the slowest hole to
maximize climb. But after this glide I moved it back to the middle.

Fourth task the weather looked very unpredictable. Forecasts were for a
strong inversion and low climbs, increasing winds, and weird cloud cover.
When I got in the air there were only a few gliders in sight anywhere. I
saw some guys downwind so I just went for it. Loose scrappy lift, slow
climbs, and phenomenal downwind drift rates. The sky was mostly overcast
with the high clouds that had moved in. A couple other guys joined me and
we struggled between 1700 and 2500 feet while hurtling from the field at 25
mph. No good roads to speak of below, just open terrain and a fight for
survival. That junk petered out and my 3 buddies bolted cross wind from
under 2k. That direction was towards a road so I conceded that going with
them cross wind and decking it wouldn't be that bad. I really wanted to
make goal but couldn't spot any pilots in the air. It didn't look good and
at least I would land with a group and score a ride. The first pilot in
that group flew head on into a boomer at 500 fpm! KABOOM, the situation
went from hopless to game on in about 2 point 2 seconds. About that time a
handful of gliders appeared from downwind to join us and get a different
start time. I immediately recognized several top pilots in that group. We
charged hard for about 4 thermals together but I was slipping to the bottom
of the group. Flying other people's lines and not climbing well enough I
was having trouble keeping up. Luckily our fast pace put us ahead of the
cloud line and into the blue. Climbs got higher and higher but I lost this
lead group. Luck handed me a freebee in the form of a dust devil and the
only well developing Cummi for miles. The climb got me close to cloud base.
I could see the group low in the distance struggling to find a good thermal.
I mistakenly hung back in my lift to try and top it out higher even though
the climb rates had slowed down to 2-300. I figured I could get high and
glide in over the big group. Bad call. By the time I glided after them
they had found the strong core and were climbing very fast. It takes a long
time to cover the big glides between climbs and by the time I got there they
were several thousand feet over my head. In retrospect I should have left
as soon as my climb slowed down knowing that the would find a good core
eventually and waiting to see it visually made me too late. That point
marked a transition through another phase of the frontal boundary and no
thermals. I crossed into 80% overcast skies and found a fat, light
convergence thermal. With the 25 mph tail it was time to take the slow
climb and use the drift to get me closer to goal. The sky ahead looked
hopeless and I was alone at this point. At one point I spend almost 30
minutes in a thermal that only gained me about 1,000 feet. It didn't matter
though because it got me 10 miles closer to goal! It fell apart at about
3.5 grand and my final glide was telling me I could make goal by 200 feet.
Oh well, just over 3k and 20 miles to go! Go for it! That was one flat
glide! Any thing other then sink and I flew slow to milk it. Steadily the
arrival altitude on my 5030 crept slowly higher. Good news there. Bad news
was the small tree covered ridge line blocking my path to goal. It couldn't
have been more then 3 or 400 feet high but at 7 miles from goal it was in my
way! Oh yea, wind hitting a slope makes lift. I don't do that much and it
took me a minute to realize that with the ripping tail I would easily glide
over the hill. As I got within 5 miles of the field I could make out the
gliders in the distance, and I could also CLEARLY make out the details of
the terrain below. It seems that the organizers gave us the wrong altitude
for goal and that 300 foot error was causing me great stress. How low could
I glide before pulling a U turn into the wind? Luckily the goal field was
very long, and very dark red. The GPS coordinate was at the far end of the
field against a line of trees. I cruised over the fence with maybe 1 or 2
hundred feet but all that hot baking clay quickly tripled that altitude.
Now a proper finish to the coordinate and safe approach was no prob. I
turned into the wind, parked, and elevator ride down. Breaking down in the
increasing wind was a bitch.

Fifth task was a good one for me. I got with a good group at the start and
figured out the flavor of the thermals real fast. They were fat and strong
with short lived embedded cores. Every time I found a hot core I slowed her
down up on a tip for a couple of 360's before flattening back into the big
circles. A couple of those each thermal put me on top every time. Midway
through the course we met up with Oleg and that trick was even working to
stay even or above him! That was definitely the high point of my week.
Even staying close to that Thermal Wizard is near impossible. To stay with
him or above I have never dreamed of. With just 20 miles to go I goofed up
and ended up alone over a forest. Scratch city, instant survival mode with
few options for good lift. I had to just fight to stay in the air. The
wind blew me off course to the point that goal was no longer getting closer,
but further away. I was stuck between 1 and 2k forever. I finally got my
ticket 10 miles cross wind of goal to 3.3k. After that one I darted
straight upwind in the lift line. Using the scraps to keep my sink rate
minimal while eating up ground I had lost drifting. When the line fizzled I
darted straight cross again. One more of those later and I was plowing
straight up wind towards goal just a few miles out. The end of the day
frustration and hunger drove me through good lift I should have stopped and
turned in. Instead I continued on at Mach 1.2 hoping for a bigger gift of
thermal luck. I decked it in a strong head wind 1.5 miles downwind from
goal. I couldn't help but think what a tool I was for having to struggle
upwind on a downwind task day. Haha. It just shows that you have to stay in
the air at all costs. Even if it gets you far off course sometimes. I was
very happy to get that close on another 100+ mile day.

Day 6 was total overcast. We fought in 10fpm up with big gaggles. The
whole group was flat turning it any chance they could get. Lucky for me
there were some short lived cores hiding out there just out of sight. Not
content with the flat stuff I searched for the hot shots to crank up in.
Every couple minutes I could find one to jump up higher in the group with.
Soon I got to sit on top with Oleg and a few of the top French pilots. We
all led the group for a couple of thermals as we drifted to the first
turnpoint. From there it was hopeless. The wind had clocked around and
increased in velocity. The scrappy light lift was useless for making
headway and the best any of us did was glide a few K's into that wind.
Gliders were scattered up and down the road from the start to the first
turnpoint.

I learned a lot this competition and hope to share that knowledge with
anyone curious. Flying in groups is the best way to learn what is possible,
and what you are capable of. With so many other pilots you learn to
understand how the atmosphere breathes, how it undulates and pulses. How
to recognize where you are in the big picture and make the most of it.

We flew 6 tasks and except for the last one, averaged about 100 miles a
task, and about 3 hour course times. The air was great except for the few
times it got a bit churned. Hopefully I will continue to dial in and race
well at the World Championships that begin this week in Hay.