This server was down because of a long powerfailure that drained all the UPS batteries. This always seem to happens when I’m far away, so sorry for the downtime.

Yesterday was another good day, with very high cloudbase and strong lift, but it was also very windy. We got a 169km task with two crosswind legs. I had perfect timing to take the first startgate, but the tugpilot dropped me off downwind of the airport with a gaggle of 5 other pilots sinking out. Thank you very much. We all glided back to the airport for a second tow, and that took a while. So I was forced to do the last startgate again. Nic and me flew together for a while, but he landed out after only 30 km, and I was soon alone. The cloudbase rose to 3500 meters when I got to the first turnpoint, and going alone it’s way too slow. I always search for better lift, but with the windy conditions it was broken and difficult, and a gaggle would be much faster. I briefly had Olav and two other gliders under me, but they stayed behind when I glided to the next cloud and I did not see them anymore.

I glided with 110-115 km/h groundspeed, and tried to stay in the more organized lift over 2000 meters. The final glide was under massive cloudsuck, and I arrived around 1000meters above goal… Olav came in at 3000 meters, which must be a new record.

I got 31 place, Olav 39.

Today looks like another good day.

My condolances to Steve Elliot’s family and friends. We had dinner together when we came to Forbes, he was such a friendly and funny guy, liked by everyone. It’s a big loss for all of us.