XC News

Here is another update from Caico, Brazil. While I was writing the last report, Chrigel flew the biggest FAI triangle here in Brazil (180km), this is quite special, as we came here because of the strong wind to make big distances. While Chrigel was fighting the wind to get back to Caico, C. Erne took advantage of the light east breeze and flew 350km to the west.
On Monday the wind was forecasted to be weak again (weak means under 20km/h), that is why we tried to repeat Chrigels FAI and extend it even more. However, the conditions were more tricky than yesterday and after some nice rides from one cloud to the other against the wind, we finally took a bad line, got a 1 to 2 glide ratio down to the ground. Adrian went with the wind, but decided to call it, because the conditions were not good with backwind either.
For Thursday the wind was supposed to pick up again. That’s why everybody was motivated and ready at 7:00 at the airport. Pädel and Andy were the first ones on the tow, but did not climb. The two Brazilians were shortly after, went up and we never saw them again. Jan and C. Erne followed and climbed to. While Chrigel had nice take off conditions, I tried to launch in quite strong conditions and was dragged all over the place… Ten minutes later I finally managed to get in the air and connect with Chrigel. After 40km we could connect with Jan and C. Erne and continue in survival mode. Pädel and Adi tried to catch up, but both had to land. The conditions got better and our group progressed well. After some while Chrigel and I lost the others and continued alone. The east wind was weak again and we were quite slow. But as a team we did well, pushed and helped each other to find the best thermals. At 15:00 we passed Quixada and decidet to continue, even when our average speed was low. Finally the conditions got magic and we catched one last weak thermal just before sunset. Together we followed a dirt road and touched down after 412km. We speeded up a lot to pack our gliders, but we had to take our mobile phones to check if we did not leave some things behind. The retrieve worked excellent and Dio arrived 20min after our landing! On our way back we picked up C. Erne who finished again with BP of 353km. Thanks to a fast driving style we were back at our hotel at 1:30.
Today Chrigel and I stayed in the hotel to recover, while The others found their selves under a 8/8 cloud cover at the airport. Nonetheless everybody managed to climb out before 8:30! Again, the weak morning conditions took a toll and everybody but Patrick and Jan had to land. Currently they are at 385km and still flying!
The next days look like we will get more wind, but we will see…