Captains Report:

Good Afternoon from Tabor, Czech. Today was the first official practice day of the contest and I feel both Team USA and Contest Organizers did a great job. We had a limited window to get in a valid task with an approaching cold front scheduled to arrive at the field around 3 PM. The morning briefing was thorough and the organizers quickly changed the anticipated first launch time to give everybody a chance. The task was a nominal 192 KM with a 1:30 task time. Roughly half of the 45 competitors made it around the task successfully with our very own David McMaster being one of them. Tomorrow is practice day #2 and as of right now the weather looks great. Friday is the third and final practice day with opening ceremonies to be held on Saturday.

Pilots Report:

Today was my favorite flight so far here in Tabor! It was the first official practice day so everything suddenly felt super real. Starting with the morning pilot’s briefing, we found our assigned seats marked by the Stars and Stripes! (How cool is that?!) The content of the meeting was not anything atypical: weather, task, operational remarks etc. but it was special to be able to sit back and just take in the fact that I am here racing with people my age from all over the world.

With all of the glider preparation complete, getting ready to fly this morning was uneventful. We took our time and waited until after the pilots meeting to grid; little did we know that we would be among the last to find our spot on the runway. Since this is just a practice day they did not assign anyone grid spots, rather they gave us “free gridding” meaning that we could go in any order as long as we were still separated by class. What I did not realize until we got there was that NO ONE wants to go first so by the time we got to the grid the only spots remaining were right up front and center! oh well! I proudly parked right up front blasting my music and enjoying myself before the flight (as I so often do). I ended up drawing quite the crowd and made friends with the South African team, dancing with all of the ground crew, even posing for a few pictures. In hindsight, I am actually really glad that I was the second to take off. That gave me plenty of time to get settled in and just enjoy what I came here to do. Looking down at the grid of almost 80 gliders from the sky all to myself is a memory that I will carry with me for a very long time.

I left the gate as soon as it opened, all alone, I know this goes against all of the advice I was given but it is only a practice day and quite honestly, I wanted a genuine baseline gauge of my skills compared to my fellow competitors. I had a fantastic first leg with not a single turn. There was a rain cell at the second turnpoint which I was able to ride along the front of for a bit. The third leg was lower and slower, and finally I biffed up my final glide and had to double back for a thermal, but I did make it around with a speed of 79kph (85kph without that one mistake). I landed with at least 10 other gliders thinking that I absolutely crushed it! Alas, as the scores came it was quickly very clear that I did not. Welcome to the big leagues I guess!! The winner of the day had a speed of 103kph and 10th was 100kph. Oh well, I had a great flight, but it is clear I have a lot to learn out here, and learn I will do!

You can find the latest contest scores at:
https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/junior-world-gliding-championships-2022-tabor-2022/results