Sunday 21 February 2016

Day 7 (Contest Day 4) - 20th February 2016

Well it would have been nice to end the competition on a boomer day as the forecast was for good conditions in the area from Norsewood north. However the westerly wind was stronger at lower levels than forecast and sheared off the thermals and blued out the Takapau plains to leave the day to be “not as advertised” and quite difficult.

The conditions after launch were good with 3-6kt thermals to 5,500ft. Conditions were similar for the start of the first leg to Kereru but with some big gaps. Then it got progressively harder although getting down to Norsewood wasn't too difficult. By then the sky was largely blue except for a long way to the east. Some pilots went that way but the "faster" finishers went directly on track and found a few reasonable climbs to get north again. The next leg south to Ormondville was a challenge with just enough lift about in the blue to get there and then a final glide around the last turn and home. All that effort for a 73km/h flight when it promised to be 100km/h+ task at launch.

There were a few finishers in the Open class but neither World class pilot went far enough to make it a contest day despite their best efforts.

The final results saw Tony van Dyk take home the Open class trophy and Robert Laskey the Club class with Richard Keir taking out the World class trophy.

Congratulations all and a big thank you to all the volunteer help.


No comments:

Post a Comment