Manilla XC Open

When we arrived in Manilla for the XC Open, a beautiful cumolous-filled sky greeted us. Manilla itself is a really small town but as with any small town in Australia, the people are friendly. Staying at the caravan park in my very own caravan has been great - why 'rough it' when you don't have to?

Task 1
Tricky conditions in super-light lift. I used strategies from Killarney, and just drifted in whatever I could find...zeros, plus ones, anything on the positive side meant I turned. I did suprisingly well with a distance of 30 k's, which had me place 20th for the day. Not a bad start.

Task 2
Bombed twice, and went up the mountain for the third time with the attitude that another sleddie would be good practice. I ended up finding a +.3m/s thermal that eventually got me above launch height and then over the back. I dribbled along and at the end of the day had an optimized score of something like 10k's. I still placed in the middle of the pack somewhere, so I was happy.

Task 3
On my second flight, the conditions were very strong, and the thermals were being ripped apart by the strong winds. I flew only a few k's along with a few other pilots and we all decked it at the same spot - a spot sort of in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully one of the pilots had radio contact with his team, and I got a ride back on the Polish bus. Results from this day hurt me pretty badly, and I was determined to fly better the next day...