Santa Cruz Flats 2010

The awesome set up area at the hotel

Day 1: Francisco Grande Resort – I8Stan – LaPalma – Grogan – Meyer – Francisco Grande 96 KM

The task committee picked a long task on a tough day. The whole gang spent over an hour inside the start circle rarely getting over 4000’ msl (3000’). Finally we all started after the last clock and headed SW to the first turnpoint. Caught a nice thermal at the turnpoint and left with Yocom. Connected with Ricker and Robin east of CG mountain. Had to dig out from down low east of the mountain, rounded the turnpoint and caught up with Jonny. Gaggled with 5 other gliders to the 2nd and 3rd turnpoints and headed back to CG mountain hoping to get a good climb that would take us into goal. I was the low guy and had to linger on the mountain a little longer. I finally headed out on course to Francisco Grande and saw 3 gliders heading directly over I8 and dry ground to the west looking for lift. I saw Jonny turning over the quarry northwest of the mountain and connected with him in 200 up. He left on glide and Yocom left soon after. I did a couple more turns and left as well needing 16:1 with 500’ above best glide to goal. I remember Davis stating at the pilot meeting that the 400 meter goal arc was on the south side of the highway. I could see Jonny and Jim getting really solid glides in front of me so I just took my time pushing out in the lift and slowly improving my numbers to 14:1. About 4 miles out I hit some good lift over 200 fpm and pushed out for about 200 meters and gained 80’. I continued on instead of turning because I thought the line I was in would get me to goal. The last ½ mile I sank out fairly rapidly and finally landed in a mesquite bush just short of the highway 20 meters from goal. Jonny was the only flexi to get in and I finished 2nd for the day! Lesson learned for the day: 1) I let the emotion of trying to beat the others on final glide into goal get to me and did not top out in the last thermal with Jonny to get better numbers into goal. 2) I should have stopped and turned in the lift on final glide to get better numbers. Taking either climb would have given me enough altitude to make goal. At breakfast the next morning David “Yoda” Glover and I discussed this decision and he shared that regardless how close I was, the risk to reward ratio is high when trying to stretch it on final glide. It is always better to make goal than to come up short as the point differential is too great even if it will take more time to climb out to get there. 96 KM 4:39 hrs

The only shade at launch in the 105F heat
Day 2: Francisco Grande – Cornman –Antlen – Francisco Grande 116 KM
Davis predicted the conditions would be better today with 700-800fpm thermals, 8-9K’ top of the lift and light winds. The task committee chooses to call another big day. I took the third start with many others and was not in the best position at only 5800’. Others were much higher however it was time to go. I caught a thermal east of I10 just before the small mountains but only managed to get to 4800’. Two more small thermals short of the turnpoint met similar results however I could see gliders turning over the turnpoint. I took off for them and connected with a strong thermal just before them and climbed out to 5300’ with Jonny. We flew toward the mountain north of Picachu peak expecting to find better lift there. The main gaggle was just ahead of us but not very high. We both scraped into the mountain at the base worried about landable fields as this was Saguaro cactus country. Jonny and Derreck caught a bit of a thermal that I missed so I headed north over the last bumps of the mountain spotting a cleared field at the base of the mountain. Luckily I hit a gnarly thermal that I resolved to stick with no matter what and slowly started climbing as I was tossed in and out of the lift. I could see a rigid wing shadow below me and I just hung on gripping the bar tightly trying to stick with it. I stayed close to the mountain as I climbed and spotted Joe Bostik higher on the mountain climbing in the same thermal. We met up and climbed together getting dumped on the edge of this booger but averaging 400fpm. Joe left a little over 6000’ but I was still climbing good so I stuck with it (good decision). I pulled out of 350fpm at 7300’ (bad decision) and decided to head over the back to the turnpoint as the line that Joe took over the mountain resulted in a tremendous amount of sink and the other gliders down the range were not climbing very well. I was down to 4300’ when I hit a lee side boomer that averaged over 600fpm. Again I left the lift at 7600’ before completely topping out and glided to the turnpoint over the lead gaggle and on to Picachu Peak. On the south end, I caught a nice thermal that averaged 400fpm and took it to 7000’ leaving the lift early again. There was a direct head wind on course. The wind between the mountain to the north and Picachu peak accelerated through the valley and put all of the other gliders on the deck. I was now in this wind as I headed over the flats and landed soon thereafter in Eloy almost 30KM from goal. I ended up first for the day and maintained my 2nd place position overall. Lessons learned: 1) I was not patient and left the three biggest thermals in the mountains too early. I could have topped out higher and possibly made it to CG mountain on glide to Francisco Grande. 88KM 3:55 hrs.

and then I blundered into a lucky thermal…….
Day 3: Francisco Grande – Picachu – RC Airfield

Conditions were expected to be about the same today with a little more wind out of the northwest so the committee chose a 90KM task to the southeast. I got a good start with the main gaggle although we were only 2000’AGL. We all headed to CG mountain and caught a nice thermal off the south end that went to 5900’. We caught two more thermals over the irrigated fields that both topped out at less than 5000’. Ten KM before the turnpoint over the desert again, we climbed out in 500+fpm to 7200’. Jonny and Shapiro led out to the turnpoint and over the “forest” on course line to goal. Carl, Jeff, Zac and I shaded to the left on the edge of these badlands and eventually caught a nice thermal that started out at 600fpm. I elongated one turn and the lift decreased to 380fpm. Zac was out ahead of us so I flew to him and finished the climb in 450fpm to 6500’. Others were a bit higher but I took off with Carl flying along the edge of the badlands on course to goal. Jonny meanwhile had to fly back to us and was over 1000’ below trying to climb out. Jeff, Kraig and Zac headed out on a course line to the east over the valley. Kraig spotted a dust devil on course and they climbed out behind Carl and I in 500fpm. We could not go back to them as we would have been 500’ below so continued on course and eventually connected with 350fpm. We gained about 600’ to 5000’ and headed into goal 2 minutes behind Kraig, Jeff and Zac. I was 5th for the day 3 minutes ahead of Jonny which moved me into 1st overall! Lessons learned: 1) Should have tightened up in the stronger 600fpm lift instead of continuing on to Zac’s thermal. This would have given me enough altitude to make goal and possibly win the day. Top out in the good lift! 2:13hrs
Day 4: Francisco Grande – Bon – Estrella – I34784 – Francisco Grande
Took the 1400 start at 7300’ with a number of other pilots. Flew to the 1st turnpoint and got stuck down low in patchy lift for 30 minutes. The main gaggle was ahead of me and a group of the leaders that took the last clock caught us. There were cumulus clouds to the west over the mountains and the Estrella turnpoint. We finally pushed west and climbed in progressively better lift first to the east and then west of Maricopa where we climbed to over 5000’ again. On the glide to Estrella I could see a number of dust devils and a cloud forming to the southeast of the airport. The first thermal was at 750 fpm and took me to 7800’, the 2nd under the cloud averaged 650fpm and I exited toward the turnpoint at 9900’. In both thermals, I elongated my turn into lesser lift and decided to leave. I got the turnpoint at 7900’ and headed on course to a series of cumuli to the south. Lift under the first cloud was at 650fpm but I could see gliders climbing faster just to the south of me. This second thermal was a screamer at over 900fpm and I took it to 10300’ before exiting with the numbers to reach goal through the last turnpoint. Again I elongated a turn into lesser lift that convinced me to head out. I was looking at the altitude above waypoint and confused this with altitude above goal. I turned on the afterburners flying over 65mph ground speed thinking I had goal with ease. I realized then my error and slowed down through the turnpoint and on to goal. The numbers were iffy the whole way and I managed to squeak into goal with just enough altitude. 9th place 3rd overall. 2:59hrs 86KM

Day 5: Francisco Grande – Sarita – AZ Farms – Francisco Grande
I launched at 1:17 and thermaled to 6700’ with Kraig. Flew north to the highway and entered lift at 5500’, climbed out to 6000’ and left for a dust devil to my southeast that never panned out (bad decision). I lost over 1000’ and totally missed the climbs as others were thermalling upwards of 9000’ just north of me. I was in communication with Greg and Ricker who were both getting high but for some reason I just didn’t fly to them. I ended up dribbling through the last start at 4000’ in a small thermal. I continued to dribble along to I10 where I was down to 2700’ before I hit a thermal that eventually turned on to over 800fpm. Again I elongated my turns and left the lift at 10500 when I could have taken it higher. This thermal allowed me to catch up with the last gaggle just after the turnpoint. I ended up turning to the south toward a climbing glider thinking this was on course line before realizing I needed to go north (awareness). We caught three thermals on route to the 2nd turnpoint that took us over 6500’ and then headed on the long leg back to Francisco Grande. Stinnett had an excellent climb just to the north of me at the 2nd turnpoint that took him over 9000’. I saw them climbing fast but elected to stick with my climb less than 1KM away (bad decision). I was with Derreck and we got a small climb over some dust devils to 5500’ and headed to the small mountains just east of Casa Grande where we hit solid 750fpm. I elongated a turn again and left the lift on glide at 8000’. Interesting to note is that Kraig flew through the same area 40 minutes earlier and topped out at 9900’ before going on a 20 minute final glide to goal. I could easily have flown back into the strong lift to take it higher however I had Stinnett and Derreck above me and thought I needed to get going for some perverted reason. I didn’t have the numbers and had to climb another 1400’ to get in. It ended up taking me 14 minutes longer than Kraig to get into goal from the same distance. Lessons learned: 1) Top out in the lift 2) Fly to the others to get a better start. 14th 4th overall 3:42 100km

Day 6 Francisco Grande – Sarita – Bon – I8Chui – Francisco Grande 104km

Dustin wanted to call a task to the ENE over some beautiful mountainous country however the pilots voted to fly a task that brought us back to Francisco Grande. In the three years I have been here we haven’t made it back very often so I opted for the return flight. I got an excellent start at 9200’ with other gliders higher. A nice climb over I10 took me over 9000’ again. On route to the turnpoint I could see a number of gliders turning to the south of the turnpoint. I tagged it and headed to them. Got down quite low before slowly digging out. Finally left the poor lift and pushed back west toward a dust devil over an electric substation. I connected at 3200’ with Bolt and Durand Sr in one nasty thermal. All three of us were getting tossed around pretty aggressively to the point that first Bolt and then Jon left the close in stuff to let me battle with the beast. Again, I slowly drifted out of the strong lift to the downwind side going from over 1000 to 400fpm before leaving at 8800’. This is now a bad habit that I need to break. Davis and I connected east of the CG airport and climbed to 7200’ and then hit a nice thermal between the airport and the big quarry that took us to 1000’ at 650 fpm. I again left good lift to go on glide to catch the lead gaggle just after the Bon turnpoint. The lift was significantly less and the day was waning. We left the thermal after the turnpoint at 5000’ and headed on glide to Francisco Grande which was on course line to the last turnpoint. We hit a thermal over the golf course and took it to 6200’ when Shapiro left on glide thinking he would hit more lift. We all followed to the turnpoint with Kraig and Robin on my left getting a much better line than I. I should have headed their direction but elected to follow Jeff’s line instead. We made the turnpoint and headed back to Francisco Grande 12 miles away. Jeff, Volk and I landed 4 km short while Kraig and Robin made it into goal. 1) Didn’t top out in the strong lift. 2) Lingered too long in the poor lift at the first and third turnpoints before heading out. 3) Didn’t head to the gliders with the better line on the final glide. 11th 3:54 106 km

Jonny coming in hot over the hotel roof on the last day

Day 7 Francisco Grande – Bon – Mobile – Estrella – Francisco Grande

Soft conditions at the start had everyone holding back as the first pilots up were barely able to maintain. I launched about 1:30 and slowly climbed up with Kraig and Robin. Unfortunately the lift petered out and I made a poor decision to slowly migrate toward the start gate rather than fly back to the gaggle closer to Francisco Grande. I barely made it out of the start circle and ended up landing just short of the Bon turnpoint. A real downer on a great competition for me but just goes to show there is always something to learn. 33rd for the day 9th overall 48 min 6 miles

Totals for the comp: 21 hrs 10 min 576km 345 miles