Blown Out

The task today was stopped in the middle because of strong wind, after more than half the pilots had already launched and were trying to work the strong and shredded thermals. Everyone had interesting strong wind landings wherever they could manage -- I followed a couple of guys to land in a field next to the vineyard, and some of the other Hawaii guys landed nearby, so we headed over to do some wine tasting. We tasted some great wines, and bought (and drank) some bottles of our favorites. We got scolded by the meet organizers because we forgot to check out of the task. Whoops! Anyway, after that we retired to the pool hall and then went to Costco to stock up on supplies. Tomorrow is another day! - Alex

Man, it got windy!
After noticing penetration of less than 10km/h once I drift back on a thermal I just wanted to get out of there! On my slow way to the front I got some good bumps and I was in the top of the gaggle! Real cool to see everybody coming at you! then I started to push towards Rabies with less wind and better penetration, and some folks were "following me". when I start feeling bumpy air and less penetration I decided to bail out and go landing, so I followed Alex to a nice field where Nikki and Quentin joined me.
aloha
Ray