Task1
The European Championship finally started today after a good kiting afternoon yesterday !
This morning we thought it's would be cancelled due to low cloudbase, but ww went up on the nortern takeoff which is located in Spain, and a 55km task was set.
Waiting for the start was okay but we had wind, that was always pushing us in the back, in the end the first part was pushing on the hill, and on the way we met good thermals, so got back to the take of was easy. Then the huge gaggle split in 3, one upwind, one in the middle and the last one quite on the back. It looked out that the middle was the much direct and efficient way to get the second turnpoint, but in the end we pretty much got it at the same time. Afterwards, there was quite a lot of shadow but under the clouds it was working really well and we got onthe plateau without turning. Then, and that was the key of the day, a big group went all the way upwind, what made a big detour to get the sunny side. Michi Maurer stayed in the shadow with a small group leaded by Felix who was the highest.
I saw then a glider climbing and decided not to go to the sunny side and jumped on this high flat. It climbed a bit but not really well and i let myself blowing down the plateau what was pretty risky. Just at the bottom of the hill we finally had an exploitable lift, where a group joined us from the back, in which Nanda was in. I left this thermal with glide ratio 8, and it was climbing all the way to the goal, where I arrived way too high, but secured in the first gaggle. Felix got there 5min before, but he is the only survivor of his group.
Results are out and it appears I'm third with the leading points. Nanda wasthe second swiss with the time points but Stef is in front with the leading points. Then came Sigeli, and Adrian. Too bad Michi bombed out, as well as Dominik.
Let's hope for good tasks to come!
See you
Yael
Philipp Bethge on Friday, 20. July 2018, 12:24