All of the ships are safely back on the ground and the crews are tucked into their beds getting ready for another early morning wake up. Some of the pilots are sleeping comfortably knowing that today they made some key decisions that resulted in a great finish. Others are reviewing flights and seeing some key points that prevented them from making big jumps in the scoresheet.
We should go back to some things that I forgot to bring up in the first report today. I must say, being humble as a fighter pilot is something we do not handle well. Today we were taking photos of the grid from a helicopter after all the gliders were on the runway. Mark Huffstutler looked at me while on the ground and asked if I would like to pull the ship into a hover. Well, it did not take long to reveal my failure as a helicopter pilot. However, I’m up for a second go. Jet guys NEVER give helicopter pilots grief because 1) we can’t fly helicopters well, and 2) they might be picking us up in the water someday.
Today I was going down the line of Open and 20 Meter ships taking pictures of the pilots and contest ID’s. We are trying to place the winner’s picture on the scoresheet for each class on Facebook and X. Tomorrow I will get the 18 Meter pilots. Thank you for everyone who let me take their picture. I did have to smile when a female crew was passing food to their pilot. It came from a large plastic bag, and I could not believe they fit all the food in the cockpit. I’m sure the pilot could exist on this food delivery for a week in an emergency. After the pilot motioned enough, I asked, “what no desert”.
Enough about the ground, let’s talk flying. The 18 Meter Class had an Assigned Area Task that was 524km (325mi). After the start they went east to Kennedy Regional, southwest to Silverhorn Ranch, west to Lewis Ranch and to the finish. The key to this task was the first leg. There was cu on the first leg, slightly better to the south side. Unfortunately, the geometry that resulted in turning early in the first 30km radius area caused many pilots to be under time. The extra 40km (24mi) flown in the first turn area was the difference from being in the top 5 or having a less than optimum day. The top 5 pilots all made extra distance in this circle and avoided that error. In the 18 Meter Class, third place went to Lumpy Paterson (Australian), second went to Sjaak Selen (Netherland) and Stefan Langer won convincingly with a speed of 151.97kph (94.45mph) over the 613.83km (381mi) task.
Open Class had a 616km nominal Assigned Area Task. After the start they went southeast to Uno, southwest to Callaghan, northwest to Queso, northeast to Canyon Ranch and then home. The first leg was pretty good for the top pilots who started early. It seemed all the legs were straightforward for the Open Class and the final glide was a little soft for some and nice for others. One or two good climbs for the top 5 pilots made the day for them. Tied for third place for the day was Felipe Levin (Germany) & Jim Lee (USA), Francois Jeremiasse (Netherlands) and winning the day was Michael Sommer (Germany) with a speed of 164.53kph (102mph) over a task of 667.93km (415mi).
The 20 Meter Class had a task that looked like a kid with a crayon drew it. It was a 548km nominal Assigned Area Task that went east to Castro, west to Tularosa, northeast to Rust, west to Prade Ranch and south to the Finish. The first and third legs were a little weak on this task. The difference looked like how well you connected with the clouds in the stronger areas. In third place for the day was Borgmann & Van Houweninge (Netherlands), Rubaj & Matkowski (Poland) was second and winning the day was the team of Lutz & Janowitsch (Austria) with a speed of 137.52kph (85mph) over the course of 565.6km (351mi).
The weather for the next couple of days looks a little stronger so we should have some great racing coming up. Follow along on the live tracking software that you like. Tomorrow we will highlight another site that crews have found useful. Until then, goodnight and we will see you in the morning.
Cheers,
Rich Owen
Media Team
