Day 4

Good Morning Canada! It is contest day 4 again, since only actual contest days count and yesterday was canceled for all classes.

We woke up to blue skies and a southerly breeze. The forecast for today is good thermals in the blue, initially up to 3000 ft AGL. At 3p thermal tops are forecast to be at 4500 and later in the afternoon we should see 6kts to 6000. There is a possibility of cu with bases at 6500 later in the afternoon but there is also a risk that an advancing system will spread cirrus in the task area.

The forecast high for the day is 32 degrees. The combination of the dry airmass and the breeze make for comfortable conditions in the shade.

The tasks for all classes are going to the NW first, second leg to the south of Luesse, 3rd leg to the east and return.

The grid order is Open Class, 15m, 18m

The 18m task is a 412 km assigned speed task. 15m is flying a 406 km assigned speed task.

The impressive Wilgas are firing up in preparation for the launch begin. The Wilga is a Polish STOL design, powered by a big Russian radial engine turning at 1800 rpm max.

The launch for Open Class started at 12:15. I guess the conditions in the blue weren't all that great because it didn't take long for the entire class to form a low gaggle right over the airport between 1500 ft and 2500 ft. There were a number of re-lights in Open Class.

Open Class formed an impressive gaggle low over the airfield - how many gliders do you see?

They halted the launch for the other classes for 15 minutes to give conditions a chance to improve. 15m class is currently launching.

Team XG is relaxing at the grid.