The start was very quick and the field was spread within minutes. I found myself in the lead in a strong line of lift with one other pilot on an Ozone (funny how many pilots here are called Enzo hey?).
By the time we got to Llana we were at base with no-one in sight when my comrade, Enzo, turned right mysteriously and dived into the sink behind Llana and I was faced with the prospect of going alone or waiting forever for a gaggle to fly with... Not often you get this sort of opportunity so I went for it and then ten minutes later the wheels came off!!
Little did I know my SA flying partner, RusselA, was practicing full stalls and spins on his Boom while I was having my 'should I go or should I stay' crisis. He eventually recovered the wing after cascading 800m and scratched out on a ridge after ignoring his gaggles' anxious pleas to deploy his reserve.
I got stuck and limped home with Russel a full half hour behind LucA who won it from a bunch of usual suspects.
I would have preferred not to use a discard this early in the comp, but could've, would've, should've don't cut it here at all.
For those who are still wondering about gliders, the Ozone I flew with earlier today appeared to have identical performance to my Niviuk in all areas accelerated, trim, half, glide & climb. We were wing tip to wing tip for twenty km or more climbing and speeding intermittently. The only thing I see is that the Niviuks seem to come around better in the turn.
Results will be out later. Me thinks there are many sad stories of woe today, but there is still much flying to be had.
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