SAFA Skysailor Magazine

16 SKY SAILOR March | April 2020 Jonny Durand on tow, Forbes 2020 90km task to Tomigley, fearing bad conditions if we ventured any further north. We got going and the prediction was spot on at the beginning of the task, however, it was rapidly improving. I climbed out with Jonny quite well and he made the perfectly good decision to go for a large dust devil. This made it obvious to me that he wanted to go early, but I didn’t follow to minimise my risk by having people ahead of me for once. I was in the lead by ~170 points and didn’t want to loose yet another Flatlands, so I hung back and almost over-did the waiting game and finally went with about five minutes deficit, but with pilots in front. Thankfully, I had Lukas with me, so wasn’t too worried. As the task progressed, I got closer and closer to the gliders in front. It was very obvious, that this was a very short task, requiring more than just finishing, the time had to be good, too. I made goal, quite sure I’d done enough. Rohan won the day by completing the task in 1:11, followed by Josh, and Trent. I did 1:15, already 100 points less than first place, but my plan wasn’t winning the task today anyway. Fun fact: 350kmNE, at Lake Keepit, theWomen’s World Gliding Championship were going on. This very same day, the task-setters got it so wrong that everybody from all three classes outlanded! The closest pilot was 70km from home… In case anyone thinks that tasksetting is easy! While I am writing this it is raining outside and in my mind I’m still looking down that perfectly formed dust devil. Touch down Steve McCarthy Hang waiting in the launch line, Philippe Michaud (Can) and Michael Karmazin (Rus) Photos: Peak Pictures Philippe Michaud (Can) lands his RX 4 Pro in goal, task 2 Photo: Vicky Beaudoin Task map on the last day