On Jun 7, 10:27 am, BB wrote:
On Jun 6, 2:35 pm, wrote:

what was the
soaring conditions like yesterday? I was sitting at my desk all day
drooling over the satellite picture, METAR reports and soundings.
some folks flew in Ames, IA down I35 from you and reported weak lift
to about 6000 MSL.

Fantastic. Really, a wonderful midwestern soaring day. Light NW winds
and a good cu field starting at 6000' MSL and rising to 7000' as the
day went on. The call was a 280 mile turn area task with 4.5 hours.
The clouds lined up nicely on the first upwind leg, with long, long
glides in abundant but not very strong lift. On the second long
dowwind leg, thermal strength increased; it was reasonable to stop for
no less than 5 knots, and I found one 7 knot thermal (after getting a
little low looking for those 5 knotters). The third leg back upwind
got a little softer, typical for late in the day; there were still
strong thermals but they were further in between. The day started
dying right around the 4.5 hour mark, so some had to do a little
scratching on the way home, as you might expect for 6 pm. All around a
great time. Task call was perfect.

The Saunders - DJ team spanked the rest of the field by 6 mph,
finishing 1-2 has they have for most of this contest and many days at
Hobbs last year. When the traces come out, there will be much
scrutinizing to see how they did it. It's hard to beat a field this
strong by such a wide margin on an easy day with a long task.

The only downside was quite a few scary landings, the result of a
finish line, many pilots finishing the timed task at the same time,
limited space on the airport, sink on final glide putting many in a
low energy situation, and downwind rolling finishes conflicting with
regular landings. Lots of held breath, but thankfully no damage.

John Cochrane BB

Hi John - How's today looking ?
See ya, Dave "YO" (the open class guy who bugged out last week
on account of work issues plus lousy weather)...