Monday, July 8, 2013

Another beautiful soaring day for Day 6

They are on their way for Day 6. The Club Class has an AST of 289 Km in the southern sector, first Southeast, then due West, then backtrack East until just South of the airport, then back home via a turning point for arrival on Runway 11. The flat southern part of the course is due to several prohibited areas that are active again during week days. Cloud base is high, approximately 6000 ft, but the wind is also high, in the 15 knot range. I expect the 289 Km task to take them around 4 or 4.5 hours. Because the day is expected to end a bit earlier than yesterday, and not wanting to do the last two legs -- that represent about 120 Km almost due upwind -- in a dying sky likely to turn blue around 5 PM, Sarah left as early as possible at 13:54 PM , just 4 minutes after the gate opening time and between 10 and 30 minutes before all other competitors... except for one... the French EA (Magali De Cachard), who stands in second place overall just ahead of Sarah, and who left about 40 seconds behind her today. Whether this is going to lead to an improvised collaboration for the difficult return late in the day upwind and probably in blue thermals; or a case of leeching to secure an overall position; or just a coincidence; we will have to wait until tonight to know for sure... But needless to say, with just 5 days to go including today, the competition is getting "serious," if not intense already, among the top contenders. The last 4 days, all forecasted to be flyable, are going to be interesting, for sure...

No comments:

Post a Comment