HOME!!!

I MADE IT HOME!!!!

The temperature jumped up today and it was definitely the best day of the contest! Chris was kind enough to act as my brolly bitch in the hot conditions.  

It was a strange day. A strong line of cu along the Black Forest, a big blue hole that was only barely working, a strong section of cu along the Swabian Alps, back through the blue, and a ripper leg home. I am pretty sure most people got pretty low in the blue. Throughout the flight climbs were sporatic - one time taking a 4kt climb, the next being forced to accept a 1.5kt. I tried my best to stay with the gaggle, but found myself slipping behind, then caught up, and then fell behind again. I ended the day ahead of a few other gliders I spent the most time with. The biggest mistake of the day was leaving too early. All of the best competitors left about 40 minutes after I did. But to be honest, I just wanted to get around, and was absolutely thrilled when I managed it! And Chris being a good crew brought me one of the most delicious beers I have ever had! 

Unfortunately one of the other competitors landed out in a poor paddock and is going to the hospital. Hopefully he will be alright!

Also be sure to check out the latest videos from Hubi:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUaXK4zFmPQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjoMxNDCfDg

Day 6

Sorry for not updating earlier, the internet is still not working very well here.  Today the weather looks quite good but I have heard it is a bit tough on course.  The task is a 235km zig zag.  Selena has just rounded the last turn point and I expect her home soon.  We will update soon.

Flashback

The Worlds is making me have a flashback to this year's Nats:
- dodgy weather
- mass landouts (more people have landed out than made it home)
- BC trailer on the field (I keep thinking Bill has come for a visit)
- Winzeln turnpoint is the new Tillsonburg

Land out

Selena got stuck in a blue hole and landed out shortly after starting.  There are already many land outs from other competitors reported.  We can now only hope that 25% of the field does not make 100km and the day gets cancelled.

Day 5

The weather looks good for today but there is a lot of moisture on the ground from all the rain we have been getting.  It may take a while to start getting good.  We have been given a task which is almost identical to Day 4's task, Bonndorf-Zwiefalten-Winzeln for 258.9kms.

Last night was 'International Night' in the hangar.  Many countries brought food and drink from their homeland.  We were also warned about a drug/alcohol check today so the pilots could not sample all the different drinks although the team captains and crew did not need to worry about this.

Day 5: Cancelled

Today has officially been cancelled. This will be our official rest day which I think is good so that later in the week when the weather improves we can fly fly fly. It will also give Chris and I an opportunity to get caught up on laundry and groceries as this has been difficult to do without a proper crew.

We also saw a presentation about the JWGC 2013 to be held in Poland. Leszno looks like a fantastic site and it sounds like it will be a great contest!

Day 5

We woke up this morning to the sound of pouring rain on the caravan. Needless to say the campground is soaking wet and there are puddles everywhere. The Austrians got to work building a trench between them and Italy.

Grid time has not yet been announced. Briefing is scheduled for 1200. There is talk of making this an official rest day, but we won't know for sure until the briefing. The morning has given many teams the opportunity to make repairs. Yesterday during out-landings a few wheels were made flat, gear doors broken, etc. Nick Maddocks has taken his glider back to the Schempp factory this morning (he ground-looped in an outlanding the other day, breaking the tail, and unfortunately putting him out of the competition).