Goal Post

Some of you may know that Don has tried to nickname me Goalpost, because over the years I've had a few incidents where I found myself strung between two masts or trees on landing approach. I don't know why he thinks that's such a big deal - don't we all try to thread the needle every now and then? Well, Ray has taken that nickname for himself as of today, and I am posting about making goal myself today, so this is my Goal Post.

My ultimate hope for these two weeks of competition was that I would make goal one day. Now I guess I've achieved that goal on the second day!

Yesterday the conditions were very difficult (for average pilots like me) and our local guru Paul described the thermals as Snot Rockets. That was a fair description, I think. Former Big Island pilot John Ivey came down under his reserve after a collision in the start gaggle. I had a really tough time yesterday, and spent a very long time just trying to stay up, and also struggling to make each waypoint on the task. I finally made all of them, and headed down the last valley towards goal, but by that time I was so wiped out that I just meandered down the middle of the valley for a landing 6k short of the goal line. But still there were a record number of pilots in goal (51 out of 108) and four of them are Hawaii pilots: Marty and Rick from Maui, and Ray and Jetflap Jeff from Oahu. Jeff cut it very close coming into goal and snagged a tree as he landed.

Today, the weather conditions were the same, and a similar task was called with the same goal point. But the conditions were even a little bit snottier than yesterday, and there was a hard low inversion that made it hard to get very high.

But still a new record number of pilots made goal - 55 today. The fastest pilot made it in something like 57 minutes. I was the very last pilot in goal, at 2 hours 9 minutes. But I was in the air for over three hours, since I took the first chance to launch, an hour ahead of the start time. Ray was there waiting for me, and Paul, the local pilot we're staying with. Scrappy and Jetflap came close but didn't quite make it. Greg and Bob also made all the waypoints but didn't make goal. It was a tough day. The weather is supposed to get nicer - cross your fingers! The official results should be posted soon on the Rat Race website (check the link on the right). But in the meantime here are the cumulative results for Hawaii pilots after two tasks:

46 Brazilian Ray
58 Martin Herne (Maui)
63 Jetflap Jeff
64 Me
66 Paul Smith (Maui)
67 Scrappy
69 Dexter (Maui)
72 Quentin
80 Rick Wilson
87 Bob
88 Dangler Greg
98 Nick

We made it!!

Lucky day for Alex and me (Brazilian Ray), we both made it to goal today. Alex for his very first time (4th task ever)!!!

I made a very, very noticeble landing.... I was so low, I flew between some trees for the crowd's amusement. As everybody was cheering, my GPS started to beep indicating I made goal, so I turned upwind just inches off the ground for an upwind landing. In the meeting everybody was asking were you "that guy" -- maybe I shouldn't wear my SOL shirt. Congratz, Alex! Aloha, Ray

By the way, is "Murdoch" a Hawaiian name?? Man, this family knows Aloha!

Snot Rockets

Basement boys did well, except me. Ray made goal as did Flappie. Bob, Nikki, Scrappy Greg & Alex hit all way points except final goal. More details to come. Aloha, Don

I made it!!
First time in goal was so cool!! But to get there I had to go thru some drama...
after setting up my GPS I changed the batteries and the navigation got mess up. Instead of showing the first waypoint, it was showing the 3rd one (but I didn't know)... after the race started and I noticed everybody going to the "wrong waypoint" it hit me... I lost a few minutes to figure that out, then fix the gps and re-start the race. The cool thing was being very high helped me. I went to "burnt" and find some crazy convergency lift and climbed quite high. After I fixed and re-started I got a big frontal, and the glider (sol Tracer) behaved really well adn was easy to regain control, building my confidence and raising the "bump tolerance".
The thermals were sharp, small and a bit bumpy. The gaggle was confusing and quite scary, with bullet thermals pushing guys above you very fast. We even had a mid-air collision with parachute deployment! I'd rather cruise away from it and I manage to play at the edge of the gaggle for most of the time and venture sometimes by myself, looking for lift, and it payed off!
After hitting the last turnpoint, I pushed glide towards goal, realizing I was too far to make to the next gaggle, I had to turn back to woodrat (launch) to tank up some more altitude. Quentin was there too and we shared some thermals. I was lucky and took some bumpy ones to get enough altitude but I wasn't comfortable in that rowdy air and went downwind at speeds close to 60KM/H to the next ridge. Getting there I realize I wasn't quite as high as I thought and I almost gave up and landed, but I decided to fly right over the low peak where 3 ridges met. Sure enough it worked :) I got high enough to check in my gps the glide to dest. was 7:1 so I went on glide. Sometimes in sink I thought I was not gonna make it but all I could do by then was to keep the fingers crossed, and it worked. I made it! Aloha, Ray

Winding Up

We are in Medford now. Check back soon for updates. Aloha, Don.

Oh, and by the way, Quentin went holo holo while the rest of us stood on launch unable to muster the nerve to launch. Dangler had a nice flight, and landed in the LZ in bumpy air, but Quentin went to the other side of Jacksonville with Len Szafaryn and Mike Steed. These are both top shelf pilots, and Q did quite well, though at the time he figured he was just keeping up w/the Joneses. Something tells me that Alex has his work cut out for him if he wants to keep his title of Hawai'i Rat Race champion. Alex has vowed to repeat his victory of last year, and has some ideas of how to circumvent Q's competitive drive. Alex is also going to have to deal with some other motivated contenders such as Ray with his new SOL Tracer. Ray tells us that he intends to 'win one for Brazil' even though he's registered as an American this year. It's hard to know how serious he is, though, since he's been passed out for hours after mixing up a huge batch of caipirinhas. We'll have to see what he has in store when the morning comes. The Fussball tourney rages on. Out. Bob.

And now for the real news: Over 20 Hawaii pilots are scattered all over the Rogue and Applegate Valleys. Many are at the campground, some are at motels in Jacksonville and Medford, and four of us are in local pilot Paul's basement. Paul and his family are the most generous hosts ever. Their ranch is a wildlife wonderland, with horses, goats, chickens, beehives, three very personable dogs, a cat, a muskrat, a weasel, and a duckling-eating bullfrog. The weather the last few days was good, and many pilots have got warmed up nicely. But the four basement bombers waited out the strong wind today, watching Q and Greg brave the bumpy conditions and saving our balls for tomorrow's game. Bob and Don are trying to portray me as a serious competitor, but anyone who has flown with me lately knows I am a mediocre thermaller and I am at the nadir of my confidence these days. I plan to fly well within my comfort level, and I hope everyone else does the same, whatever that means for them. Comps like this are a great opportunity to learn a lot, but I think the trick is to stretch yourself without pushing too hard outside your comfort zone. More soon, Alex.

Besides the blast we're having from the north winds, we're having a blast with the other pilots and at Paul's house. Alex forgot mention about the cherry trees....yummy! At the headquarters we had some uploading: waypoints for the GPS and margaritas for the pilots.The hawaii team shirt is a big success and everybody wants one! Thanks Alex! We're all trying to understand how the weather and valleys winds work; Alex is figuring it out pretty well and he has a good flying plan for tomorrow, first day of comp. good luck to us all!
To those back home, some folks are being missed much :(
aloha! Brazilian Ray

Rat Race Countdown

The 2007 Rat Race begins this weekend! Over twenty paraglider pilots from Hawaii will be making their way to the Applegate Valley over the next couple of days. I am leaving tomorrow morning with Bob, Quentin and Don. After the Rat Race and Nationals are over, I will be headed to DC for five weeks to see my family and do some work, returning to Hawaii in early August. Stay tuned for updates!