Task was originally going to be Robertstown, Waikerie, Kapunda, return,
but was modified several times before the start gate opened as the
weather conditions changed. We had Cb and thunderstorms for most of
the afternoon, lots of Cu, cloudbase at about 9000'; but a rain front
coming in across the task area from Burra. In the end it didn't end
up reaching Gawler, but pilots had to exercise their met navigation
skills to get around (especially the Pik pilots -- there was lots of
virga, which can be a tad amusing if you're in a Pik20). THere were
also three sea breeze influences during the day, with the Northern
part of the task area getting it from the top of the Gulf, the
South Eastern part getting it off Lake Alexandrina, and Gawler
itself receiving the typical Gawler sea breeze that everyone knows
and loves.
Sorry, I'm writing this at home at the moment and don't have the
final task in front of me. It'll be on the website soon along with
the scores, and that may well be more edifying than reading this.
Charlie I'Anson came third, Heath "Ledger" L'Estrange came second, and
Sarah Allen won the day in Pik20D WVA. That win also happens to put
Sarah in first place for the comp overall at the end of day 4.
Todd, and AshLEY both busted airspace pre-start and received zero points
for the day. Charlie and Colin Stauss both came close enough to it to
get a warning. Wilson and Sylvia, from NZ and USA respectively, had
their
first comp days and also breached airspace and received zero points, so
they'll be working hard today to get themselves onto the scoreboard on
day 5.
Gus had an undercarriage collapse after landing pre-start. He's flying
an LS4, which means it's probably working as designed :-) Some
inspections and phone calls to Tom Gilbert confirmed that the aircraft
is ok, so he took a late start and flew again, coming in an hour under
the task time. Caleb also flew the minimum task distance one hour under
time, and between the two of them they pretty severely degraded the
scores for the four outlanders.
Betting observers may wish to know who those outlanders are. I'm at
home now without the score sheet in front of me; suffice to say it was
AshLEY, Anne, Ben and Nick Maddocks.
One of the comments that's come through very strongly throughout the
comp is that the level of organization and professionalism being shown
by the competitors is fantastic. They're gridding on time, turning
up to briefings, their preparation is all happening when it needs to
happen, nobody is complaining about stupid stuff and everyone is getting
on with the job. If this is the future of competition gliding in
Australia,
the organizers of future Nationals comps will find their jobs getting
easier with time as these people move up to the big comps and set an
example for everyone else.
- mark
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I tried an internal modem, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
but it hurt when I walked. Mark Newton
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