We are 'calibrating' soundings in order to give more accurate forecasts to the task setters in preparation of the world cup in February next. To this extent I have a basic license for RAOB along with the analytic module which permits us to use the soaring functionality.
If you have a look at the Cape Town sounding @ 23H00 on Monday night you will see that an inversion was expected @ 1,300m ASL along with average climbs of 719fpm (3.5 m/s) and base @ 2100m ASL.This sounding shows SE winds of up to 15Kts @ 1,000m ASL. The neat thing about the RAOB application is that you have serveral models to choose from and you can adjust the dew-point and surface temperatures before predicting the day. We set the surface temperature to 37degC to get this picture. Interesting that 31degC was the minimum temp to punch through the inversion according to the model. Looking at my vario pretty much confirms base and climb rate which is spectacular IMHO given that the sounding data was >12hrs premature making the prediction very accurate. The same is true for the Sunday night sounding which had the first task exactly right.
We don't expect to get accurate data when a front comes through, but are confident when conditions become progressively more stable in between fronts.
Task 2
The second task was sublime in every aspect. Launch conditions were perfect and the ridge was accommodating. Andrew and friends set a creative task of 57km which included a 6km exit start from launch @ 13H00 followed by a choice of ridge or valley down to a 5km radius around the Eendekuil T junction which was far enough from the ridge to cause many headaches for those asleep. Then a hop skip and a jump over the back into the Citrusdal valley followed by a 'big feeling' detour on the foothills of the BIG mountains and on into Constriction.
With more than 50 pilots into goal, in a task that may be the start of some paradigm shifts, we have high expectations of some more amazing task setting!
I had one of those rare days where theory and practice contrived to give me an effortless task win by a few minutes from Abe. If only it was like that all the time.
A good day for the team with most making goal in good time.
Task stats:
Max Vario (1s): 6.6m/s
Max Vario (10s): 4.9m/s
Max Alt: 1862
Total Climb: 7,173m
Effective Glide: 7.8
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