Practice Day

Today was the official practice day for the contest and I elected to fly another 300 km FAI triangle instead of the practice task.  The forecast called for 7 kts to 7000 ft and cu.  The north and east looked better on XC skies, so I set my task in that direction.

Once again, the weather was playing tricks and as I was rounding the first turnpoint and headed for the second, the sky was starting to fill in.  There were still some solid looking bottoms ahead, so I kept going, and by the time I reached the second turn, I was averaging 122 km/hr.  But, the sun to the south along my planned escape route was disappearing quickly.  I was now 60 miles downwind with a bad looking sky on course and even worse to get home.

I deviated into the brighter spots downwind of course and was able to keep airborne and moving along.  Eventually, the sun was shining to the west as the sky re-cycled, so I headed into the sun and was able to climb back up and head towards home.  Once I was within glide range of home, I decided to carry to my last turnpoint since there were some cu on course.

I finished my task at 89 km/hr, a huge drop from the 122 before the sun went away!

 

Dave