Bogong Cup

There was a strong west wind today in the forecast and this time the weather services were correct.  Task committee picked a route that kept us in Kiewa Valley on a relative short task of 90k.  Before the start the lift was sporadic and often broken but there were clouds and haze domes to help pick it out.  3 starts a half hour apart.  It didn’t blow in consistently on launch so there were long periods of waiting and watching.  All that waiting around means restless pilots.   A virtual gang of Moyes Boys clustered around my glider looking for any chance to get in cheap shots about this or that.  I could have gotten annoyed but it makes perfect sense after my glider out climbed and outglided one of their top guns head to head a few days ago.  Their fear becomes more obvious with each superficial joke.

 

Waiting for the start was not easy.  I tried the valley, chasing clouds and wisps but that didn’t always pay off.  Scottie Barret joined the hunt with me and we made the best of it.  He is climbing very well in the tight broken stuff.  Most of the pilots took the third start and a few charged ahead assertively.  I was a bit low so I hung back in some strong stuff before pushing ahead.  The route to the first turnpoint follows the ridge as it slowly gets lower and lower.  Timing is important and some of the hard chargers got burned.  With a strong west cross (90 degrees to courseline) they got blown back while trying to work mediocre lift.  I think for my own personal reasons I found the day (or the laziness of the gaggles) frustrating and often had to push low.   I was tight here and there but with some occasional company it was working well enough.  After the first turnpoint I got stuck low on the ridge for a painfully long time until I was able to team up with a few other guys and jump to the next finger.  Once there we jumped in and out of small cores until very high.  Plenty high for the straight upwind glide to turpoint 2.

 

With such a west cross I thought the east side of the Kiewa would be on fire.  As the low guy of the group it seemed like the time to push the pace again.  For the first 10k or so it worked very well pushing hard.  I only lost a hundred meters or so here and there.  The downside was I had gotten below ridge line, but I was still maintaining.  The next gap was not good to me and my entire reserve got blown.  I had been hanging out too low and had to squeak through one of the gaps.  My heart sank when I saw how much higher the valley floor had risen to my level on this other side.  I had raced to the deck. 

 

It may seem sad to come up short so close to goal but it really makes sense given my position in the meet.  I could hang back and play the out pimp game but that only benefits total score.  Instead I get the opportunity to push hard and see all the places where it pays off big, or worse, burns you bad!  Haha.

 

Kev