Task 3 - Bright Open

We had a tough task today, tough because the end of the day was on in spots and off in others, and you just had to take your chances.

The task was different in that after the typical Smoko run, we had to push up valley into a fair bit of wind to get the 2nd to last TP, and then we had to cross over the Clearspot/Black Fellas range to get to goal at the Porepunkah Airstrip.

I had a perfect start but a couple turnpoints later, I ended up alone on Clearspot..  I can't remember how that happened...  Ivan came in below me, and I finally found a climb and watched him really scratch for a long time, then run down the spur still unable to find a climb.  Usually Clearspot is just cranking thermals out, I've never sunk out there, and usually get the best climb of the day there, but today it was funky.

Nothing was happening at Black Fellas, kind of unusual too, and I joined up with Gaven and Craig Donnell out in the valley and Gaven went for the Burr's and Craig and I went straight for the Valley Homestead TP.  I couldn't keep up with Craig on his comp glider and was alone again just before the VH turnpoint.  With VH tagged, and moving downwind finally, the problem was Black Fellas was bathed in huge shade, so I went for the sun hoping to find a thermal on the ever present late evening boomers coming off the ends of the fingers that touch the valley.

It's funny, but every time I come into goal at the main LZ, there are huge thermals just before goal, but if goal is somewhere else, those thermals are somewhere else...

I slide into Little Mystic below ridge height, just barely tagging the TP, and then found some beeps, but couldn't get into the elevator, and game over.  Ivan must have found his climb as he made it in...  Tenacity pays dividends...

Tomorrow is the last day, my plan is to make goal...