Uvalde 2024 WGC
Late Night Report
Day 5
Hold the presses! There is a new development that is being announced by all the major sailplane instrument manufacturers. After years of incorporating WiFi and Bluetooth into their high-end avionics, they found another way to improve the connectivity between the glider and the pilot. After years of research into the demographics of the typical glider pilot, they have found a way to use Bluetooth technology to connect to the pilot’s hearing aid. No more will the pilot miss a thermal because they didn’t hear the vario’s climbing tone. This will be coming out shortly. So, if you thought Hawk was expensive, wait till you see the bill for this one! Paul Remde from Cumulus Soaring will be taking orders tomorrow at the pilots meeting. Be the first one to have this technology, order it from Paul tomorrow.
The weather was as expected, so there were no real surprises during the day. The 20 Meter Class was sent on a 4 hour Assigned Area Task that went southwest to Eagle Pass, Southeast to Taco, east to Silverhorn, north to Alderman and finally, west northwest to finish. This was a straightforward task. Climbs were averaging 2 – 3m/s (4-6kt) up to 2,460m (8,000ft). The geometry and use of the wind lines determined the winner today. In third place for the day was the team of Adam Woolly and Olli Gateley (Australia) with team Keith Essex and M Rossi (New Zealand) finishing in second. Winning the day was Borgmann & Van Houweninge (Netherlands) with a speed of 129.44kph (80mph) over a distance of 517.75km (321mi).
The 18 Meter Class was sent on a 4 hour Assigned Area Task that went south southwest to Carrizo Springs, northwest to Ozona Municiple, southeast to Unverified and then to finish. Like yesterday, getting to the high ground and making distance there was a key to success. Cloud bases were lower on the way up, but the high country did not disappoint. In third place for the day was Linas Miezlaiskis (Lithuania) with Manu Litt (Belgium) in second. I only wish Baude was with Manu. Finishing in first for the day with a speed of 155.39kph (96mph) over 635km (395mi), was Radek Krejcirik (Czeck Republic).
The Open Class was sent on a 4.5 hour Assigned Area Task that took them southeast to Alderman, northwest to Lang Ranch, south to Rancho Ecantado and then to finish. Again, you wanted to make distance to the north in the hill country and not lose too much to the south. Some pilots did better in the south with the weaker conditions and place higher on the scoresheet. All in all it was a good day. In third place was Laurent Abouliin (France) with Zoran Frenc (Serbia) in second. Finishing in first place for the day is Oscar Goudriaan (South Africa) with a speed of 151.03kph over the 680.11km (423mi) task.
Tomorrow may bring a few wrinkles to the tasks. The score sheet may still get a shake up but these pilots are flying very well. You will just have to wait and see how the week will progress.
Cheers,
Rich Owen
Media Team
