Mid-afternoon comments

It is 5:15 PM here, and they still have about 100 Km to go, due upwind in an approximately 15 kt wind. The sky has turned mostly blue in the northern and eastern sector, but there are still a few Cu in the Southern sector where they are. The weather has essentially turned to the "a bit worse than expected" scenario that we had anticipated yesterday. Start times were as early as 13:45 PM and as late as 14:29 PM. Clearly different strategies for the day. Sarah left at 14:22 PM, at about the same time than most of the top contenders. It is going to be interesting to see how the different decisions will pay off with respect to risk management today, in particular regarding the current top contenders staying with, and jokeying within, the very small point spread among the top 8 in Club Class. I say very small spread and top 8, instead of 9 yesterday, because an incident during the roll-out after landing yesterday resulted in unrepairable damages to the glider of Swaantje Geyer, who was the leader of the Club Class, essentially putting her out of the competition, and leaving the remaining top 8 overall within a 79 point spread, a very small margin indeed by IGC scoring formulas.
I expect today will be a key day toward the "final stretch" of the next 3 days...
Some thunderstorms are now expected during the night and possibly morning, so it is still uncertain whether tomorrow will support a task, and there is the possibility of only 2 days of flying left. We will know more tonight. Stay tuned.