Today was a good day. Not because the weather was 75 degrees with a cool breeze, and we were in a boat on the water at sunset. We finally got access and the ability to post on the WGC website! So, go on WGC 2024 Uvalde and you will find the landing page. It will have a link to live tracking right away. When you enter the rest of the site, you will be able to see some basic information, all the documents the pilots saw before the WGC, the schedule from the beginning of the contest to the end, all the contestants sorted by class or by country, a Facebook and an “X” button to go right to those social media sites WITHOUT having an account there. All the past reports we have done are now under one roof called “Contest Reports”. We still need to upload all the pictures we have taken over the past week. There will be a link page in the next day to give you all the links you may need to participate in the WGC. The two weather reports we receive every day will be under the heading “Weather” as well as the Skysight HD Satellite Viewer. The weather reports we still need to find out how to get them up, but it will be done tomorrow. We are trying to add a You Tube link to take you to all the interviews Paul Remde have been doing before and during the contest. He has done a great job bringing you right into the decision-making process of the pilots. We will still make posts to WGC Facebook, SSA Facebook, SSA website, X, You Tube and the WGC website. Our goal has always been to provide you with the information wherever you normally search for it. Now for the flying.
The weather was better than forecasted up north, but down south later in the day, it was a little worse due to blow off from some storms. When we were watching the flights, someone said one of the ships was 5,600ft up in hill country. We raised a question about the altitude, and they corrected us by saying they were at 15,600ft. Nice leg!
The 18 Meter Class went on a 3:15 hour Assigned Area Task south to Callaghan, northeast to Los Angeles, northwest to Commanche Caves and southwest to the finish. With the seabreeze and some blow off from the storms, coupled with the better climbs in the hill country, it made good sense to make distance in the north. However, you never want to put all your eggs in one basket. Most of the leaders did exactly that. Going a little into the first area and making the most miles in the last area to the north. Final glides were mostly stress free and the top 5 pilots were separated by about 50 points. The next 5 pilots were only 30 points apart. In the end, Uys Jonker (South Africa) finished in third with Simon Schroder (Germany) in second. Winning the day was Stefan Langer (Germany) with a speed of 154.39kph (96mph) over the 506km (314mi) task. Great flying Stefan!!
The 20 Meter Class had the best airmass of the group. They were sent on a 3:15 hour Assigned Area Task north to Menard, west to Eldorado and south southeast to finish. With a maximum distance speed required of only 164kph, you had to plan on maximizing the distance in all the circles to be sure you did not come under time. The weather conditions in the hill country can be really strong. Pete Alexander and I learned from Adam Woolley and Pasi Pulkkinen last year when they maxed out the turn areas while we went 8km less than them. We lost the day because we did not realize the task was under called until it was too late in the first area. We will not make that mistake again. Thanks boys! The leaders did not make that mistake and had a great flight with the highest altitude being 5,000m (16,500ft). With that kind of altitude, final glides were stress free. In third place was the team of Negro & Bano (Hungary) with Sarah Arnold and Karl Striedieck (USA) finishing in second, just 7 points out of first! In first place, flying 150.04kph (93mph) over the 531km (330mi) task was the team of Bouderlique & de Pechy (France).
The Open Class was sent on a 3:15 Assigned Area Task northwest to Queso, southeast to Taco, northeast to Burrito and to the finish. This task sounded more like a lunch menu at Taco Bell than a race. The Open Class had the opposite problem than the 20 Meter Class. It would be better to make the distance in the north area since the southern turn area later in the day was expected to be weak. That is exactly what the leaders did. The altitudes were lower than the 20 Meter ships since they were in the hill country earlier. Maximum altitude for the Open Class to the north was just under 4,000m (13,100ft). Finishing in third place was Laurent Abouliin (France) with Francois Jeremiasse (Netherlands) in second. Winning the day with a speed of 145.37kph (90mph) over the 505.6km (314mi) task was Felipe Levin (France). Nice flying Felipe!!
That is it for the day. Tomorrow the weather may be slightly weaker than yesterday, but you never know in Uvalde. There may be a chance of thunderstorms to the east and that always creates issues. We hope the weather stays like it is, but we still have not had a real Uvalde day yet. So, buckle up and stay tuned to the status report at the mid-point of the contest on Friday. Until then, stay safe everyone, and do not get low in the hill country.
Cheers,
Rich Owen
Media Team
