(Delayed update)

On the last day we saw a forecast for strong winds, but good thermal conditions. Looking out before the briefing at 10:00 the wind seemed to be dying off and we saw good cu development. At Salknappen takeoff we had nice conditions, 5-6 m/s winds at takeoff and a rising cloudbase.

I was in the task committee with Bjørn and Trond, and we discussed at length what to do about the day. The wind seemed to be less than the forecasted 10-15 knots, but the direction was more easterly than we liked for flying upwind and staying locally. On the other side if we went downwind we would have to set goal at Lesja, where it’s usually stronger winds again on that direction, and the task would be way to fast to get a good scoring day. We went around and asked what the pilots wanted, and in the end we decided to fly a 80km task in the Ottadalen valley, with a headwind second leg.

It turned out to be more wind that we anticipated, and I think the task was unsafe in some areas. I decided to abort the task for safety reasons and land back in Vågå. I was a bit shaken after having a very close call with Speidern while waiting at base for the start, and getting kicked around a bit in the leeside a few times did not help. I knew I would lose my second place by doing this, but I did not feel like risking an outlanding in the windy conditions.

Nobody made goal, some made it almost halfway, and Bjørn who pushed into the potentially unsafe areas did pay for it with a bad landing. It’s very easy to see in retrospect , but I believe it would have been a perfect task for the wind we anticipated – 5 knots less and we would have lots of happy pilots in goal.

Olav Opsanger is our new national champion, with Nils Aage and me on second and third place. All three of us are from the Jetta club, and Jetta is also the club winner again this year, with Lier and Oslo behind.

The final top 10;

Link to full results