Last night I took another stab at the Sion 194 task in the Swiss Alps. I made my first attempt on Tuesday evening. This task looks like a ridge soaring race but with only a 5.5 knot wind, you need to rely on the excellent thermals. I sort of realized that on Tuesday and got over 10,000 in a thermal early on the first leg, but with TP1 at a nominal 12,500, you really need to plug away at gaining altitude for the entire leg. I failed that on my first attempt and was too low to get under any of the clouds which were all hovering above ridges. I got pretty frustrated and eventually crashed into a ridge while trying to eke out some lift while flying much too close for safety. I shouldn’t get in the habit of doing this even though it is a simulation.
Before starting last night, I studied the maps very carefully and came up with a strategy. I pretty much stuck with that strategy and ended up in third place for now.
Not long after I finished I saw that Puddie was on course and coming down the final stretch. After he finished I called him. He said that I had a pretty rough time of it, but his time really wasn’t that bad, especially for a first attempt.
Tortui 