Back in the US from his participation in the PreWGC/Champagne Cup in France, Mike shares these thoughts and pictures:
The last day of the competition served up many challenges, with half of the Champagne Cup landing out on the first leg into a 28 knot headwind. Barely avoiding this fate, I was able to complete the task and placed 13thout of 45 for the day.
I have to say that this was one of the most challenging contests I’ve flown with weather, complex airspace and a new glider. I learned a lot during the competition, which I hope will transfer to the US Team’s WGC effort in 2020. The conditions were tough with the average task being just over 2 hours long and the daily winner receiving an average daily score of only 600 pts. We often launched into a sky that didn’t look very hospitable, but we were able to squeak out a task on 5 out of the 7 contest days
I would like to thank my wife, Virginia for supporting me during the contest, Robert Koralewski and Lukasz Grabowski from the Polish team for giving a helping hand throughout the contest, Didier Leonhart for providing his beautiful ASG-29 to fly and the US Team for allowing me to represent the United States, along with everyone at home for providing support and following along.
Mike
I like postings that help less experienced XC pilots learn more about contest flying. Also please put comments on the photos you post. You are missing a great opportunity to motivate and educate.