On their way to what looks like a difficult Day 9

I posted an update this morning because I was expecting that we would sit on the grid for quite a while before I could post again. Indeed, we did. The original launch time of 1:00 PM got postponed, 15 minutes by 15 minutes, all the way to 3:00 PM. During this process, the task was first changed to task B, a TAT of 2:45 hr, then the task time was reduced to 2:15 hr and the radius of the second area was increased to 30 Km. Finally, the sniffer found enough reliable lift to give it a go.
Gate opening for the Club Class was 15:28. A few Cu had appeared early on in the Southern sector, but it is now totally blue. Max altitude seems to be just below 1100 m (3300 ft). The wind at the ground is about 10-15 kt, gusting 20 kt.
All of them left within a 12-minute window between 15:50 and 16:02, probably because of the expected gaggling that takes place on such a blue day but also because the 2:15 hr task will stretch the task past 6:00 PM, which is quite late given the expected convection of the day.
The challenge will be the return into the wind late in the day. One good news, if good really is the word here, is that the harvesting has been in full swing during the last couple of days, and about 30% of the fields now appear landable.

Back into full swing

We are back into full swing today, in great spirits after the great day yesterday. The weather, however, is far from what the predictions yesterday indicated for today. Likely a blue day, with winds of 15-20 kt, and max altitudes rising slowly to 1200-1300 m (3500-3800 ft) under a strong inversion. There are very slim chances of 1/8 Cu to the South, so their tasks have been set as flat triangles in that sector. For Club Class, task A is an AST of 233 Km, quite long in my opinion under these conditions, and task B is a 2:45 hr TAT. We will await for the convective evolution to hear the final call, likely on the grid.

The point spread at the top of the score sheet is very small, and the 100-point spread from the top is now down to 5th place, with rapidly increasing gaps behind that, but this is the kind of day where everything can happen. First launch is currently delayed to 1:00 PM due to the slow-developing convection. More news later on after the take-offs.

Another twist discussed at the pilots briefing this morning is the passage of the Tour de France tomorrow, bringing the cyclists, and associated helicopters, caravans, etc., within 500 m of the airport. This will result in the major road from Issoudun to the airport being closed between 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM, and may possibly affect the task possibilities due to the presence of low-flying helicopters. More on that later when the organizers will have discussed more with the Tour organization.

Looks like another Day win for Team USA !!!

I am just back from putting the glider in the box and checking the preliminary scores: Looks like another Day win for Team USA... !!!
Points at the top of the cumulative scores are VERY tight... The last two days of this contest are going to be very interesting and exciting.
We are rushing to dinner for an early to bed evening. Tomorrow is forecasted as a good day, so I expect a long task.
Enjoy the win. Talk to you tomorrow.

Mid-afternoon

One land out already. But the other seem to be doing OK, at least for now. It is one of those beautiful day with great looking Cu that can lead to high speeds, but with the very strong wind, 15 - 17 kt, getting low is "unfriendly" as the thermals are very chopped down low.
Since I haven't included photos recently, here are two taken on the grid this morning.

"Small" task for Day 8

Today is the day for the "small" task: a 3:00 hr TAT for the Club Class toward the North, West, backtrack North, then due South to home. The small task today is to give them a bit of rest after the Babayaga of last night (a WWGC tradition of introduction of the new comers into the "witch society," complete with bon fire, witch costumes, and broomstick), but also in anticipation of tomorrow's likely long task in what the weatherman labeled "the best weather of the contest." The other motivation for smaller tasks today is the possibility of thunderstorms at the end of the afternoon. The wind is also very strong, about 15 kt at the ground.

The start times today spread from 13:47 PM, 2 minutes after gate opening, to 14:27 PM. Sarah left in the last group with the two German Libelle, Christine Grote and Doerte Starsinski and the Italian LS1-f, Elena Fergnani. Ayala Truelove and her British teammates, as well as two of the French, Laetitia Moreau and Sophie Burgevin, left in the first group at 13:47. The third French, Magali De Cachard left 10 minutes after her teammates, while the Czech and Poles took their start around 14:01 PM. The three groups probably won't see each other on course, so it will be interesting to see which strategy wins the day.

The Club Class has the trackers today, so you can follow them on http://www.livetrack24.com/tasks/1072
Enjoy, and more news after the arrivals.

Another good day for Sarah

This was another good day for Sarah, who tied for fifth for the day. There were two landouts just short of the field, including the French Magali. Both of the two who landed out passed the finish ring 4 Km out high enough to make speed points, but not high enough to reach the field. For the first time this morning I saw combines in the fields starting the harvesting of barley, but at this point maybe only 5% of the fields have been harvested. Hopefully everything went well for both of them.
The true winner of the day was the British Ayala Truelove, who managed quite a feat by beating her two teammates by nearly 100 points and all the competition by more than 130 points. The day saw some dropping in the scores, so now the top 6 (8 yesterday), including Sarah, have opened a 130-point gap with their followers, and are all within striking range, with only 117 points separating them. This is VERY TIGHT competition. These women pilots are the world "creme de la creme" (as the locals would say) of feminine racing, and seeing such a competition is truly fascinating and exciting. Three more days to go, and everything can still happen at the top.... Stay tuned.

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.