The first day started with a bang and ended with a whimper.  We landed out 4 pilots.  All classes flew the same task starting 20 minute intervals.  Task was racing task triangle to the north to DunDalk then southwest to Ingersoll, then east to Oshweken directly south of SOSA and then a final 18 mile leg to the finish.   On the first leg to Dundalk pilots were reporting climbs of 4 to 6 knots to 5000 feet.  Half way down the second leg things started to get weak all the way to Ingersoll.  Heading east conditions became very weak and everyone slowed down and struggled to get to Oshweken.  US pilots made a great effort to stay aloft on the final leg but 3 safely landed in fields.

After 3 days of practice the US team has ironed out most of the kinks. We are steep in the learning curve with regards to the PEV rule.  This is the rule that requires pilots to identify their start by sending a record to their log file that shows the start.  If the pilot decides to restart he has so many minute to wait before starting the procedure again.  The Pan American Gliding Championships are a for this new procedure.  Our CD Ken Sorenson gave us day to continue to work out equipment issues.  We will get a warning if no PEV is recorded in the flight log.

Colin Mead

Enjoy a few 1st day photos from Evelyn Tovar-RF crew chief