Friday, July 12, 2013

Day 10 is on

They are in the air. All start gates are open. The Club Class is on a 197 Km speed task in the Southern sector. The wind is about same as yesterday, but the top of the lift in blue thermals is just a bit higher than yesterday, nearing 4500 ft.
The height of the finish ring has been raised by 100 ft for the Club Class today. I am not sure that this will change much, since it still is 400 ft AGL at 4 Km, which is probably too low to make it back to the airport in a 20 kt wind. The major twist for today is that the start gates for all classes are closed at 15:30, meaning that if they cross the line after that time, their start time will be taken as 15:30. This is the solution chosen by the organizers to get them away from the airport before the arrival of the Tour de France and associated low-flying helicopters in our close vicinity.
It is a blue day, and the last day of the contest, so we can expect gaggles again, and probably some intense games of start gate roulette.

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