Saturday, May 21, 2011

2011 MidWest comp

Finally writing something on the MidWest comp! The comp didn't have the same luck with the weather as it had last year. We did get 2 tasks, the first one started with very light lift under an almost overcast sky. I had troubles with an entry circle which I incorrectly entered in the instrument and happened to take the second start at a perfect location, by coincidence. The lead gaggle had taken the first start, but lost a lot of time at the first turnpoint. They left that one just before I arrived there. That motivated me very much to join them. But a bit too much, since I was on the ground soon after skipping a thermal to catch up... First task, short distance and only one task to follow. I knew the comp was over for me.
The second task started with high expectations regarding the flying conditions. A 134 km task was set. I launched early, trying to get rid of the previous day's frustrations and climbed out nicely. 45 minutes of flying around before the first start, hopping from cloud to cloud. But from the moment we started, things were much more difficult. We had to fight a headwind and the thermals started to be disorganized. The second turnpoint was completely overcast and only Carl and Larry managed to really escape out of there, be it low. I landed at the turnpoint. Carl won the comp. Congrats Carl!
One of the Chicago guys made two really beautiful video's about the comp:

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