Race Task 4, Sprint Task 3

Our last day. One last chance to figure things out, put it all together. Conditions were great, just like the last two days. The Race task they called was challenging but not as long as the previous days. And a whopping 52 happy pilots out of 67 made goal. Dave and Maui Igor made it in for their first time after over 4 hours each. I came in too low at the second turnpoint and gave up after a long time scratching low over tall trees. The Sprinters had a great task too, with half the field of 80 pilots in goal. Marty was 5th in to goal, followed by Thom and Joey for their second goals of the meet.

Race Task 3, Sprint Task 2

Super hard and fun flying. Another massive task was called for the race, 85k. Igor, Scrappy and Dave flew the farthest, almost to the 2nd turnpoint, but poor Scrappy and Dave misread their instruments and never tagged the start cylinder, so they scored minimum distance. Rayna and I tagged the first waypoint and landed a ways behind the others. The Sprint flyers had a tougher time today too - only a few made goal. Maui Marty was 2nd! Frosty was on his way into goal but diverted to assess a reserve toss, so they gave him credit for goal.

Race Task 2, Sprint Task 1

Today was a booming day with great lift, so they called a big task for both groups. Rayna and Dave did great in the Race, although Dave needs to straighten out a scoring problem that erroneously put him dead last. I had a hard time fighting to make the first waypoint. Scrappy and Igor were a ways behind that. But the real news for today is the Sprint. Thom and Joey made goal in their first ever competition task. Joey was 7th and Thom was 15th, out of 23 who made goal, and 90 pilots flying! Those guys should have been in the race with me and Dave and Scrappy! FlyStrong was just 6k short of goal! Steve also had a great result, making the last turn point before goal. And we were joined by long lost Hawaii pilot Doug Hoffman, bringing our monkey count to a record 27!!

Race Task 1

After three rain days, we were ready to fly. The forecast suggested it might clear up in the afternoon on Wednesday, so we had a pilot meeting in the drizzle and headed up the hill, which was enshrouded in mist. Finally in the late afternoon the clouds lifted, but only just enough to clear the launch. Cloudbase was only a couple hundred over launch. But they decided to run a task anyway, a late quick one, and only for the Race group and not the Sprint.

Practice Day

We had super clear skies and strong conditions for the practice day, with lift to 8 grand for most folks, and some getting close to 10. Many found it quite spicy, and it definitely required some active flying. A lot more than we're used to on Oahu! But overall I thought it was one of the nicest thermal days I've flown here. Many first time Hawaii pilots got a great introduction to the site and acquitted themselves well in the thermals. And it was a great confidence boost for me, flying in the harder event for the first time, on a high performance wing. Thanks again to Duck and Woody for helping me reline my glider before this trip! It feels like a brand new rocket ship again.

On the Short Bus

Arrived yesterday on same flight as TommyRD. Thom picked me up at the airport with a rack of Dead Guys. Guess that sets the tone for this week of summer camp. Practice day today. Team Hawaii now numbers 25! We lost Maui Tim to an SIV injury but gained Big Islanders Scotty and Moku! Riding the short bus to launch now.

Posting to this blog

I am hoping to set aside some time each day to post updates and pictures to this site. If any other Hawaii pilots are interested in sharing their Rat Race adventures during the event, please let me know and I'll send an invite to join this blog. Otherwise feel free to use the chat box on the left to coordinate any monkey business that comes up.