 |
Award Winning Instruction
|
2009 Monarca Open - Task 2
Hello Gang this is Brad just getting back to the Eagle Paragliding Castle after a wonderful task 2 of the Monarca Open! The 68km task had Maguey set a as 3km entry start cylinder. We then hit Maguey as the first turn point, then to Diente, Divisadero, Mesad, La Casa, and finally goal at San Ramon. The start was a little hectic with a low cloud base and a lot of pilots getting sucked into the clouds. I managed to stay out of the white room, but was curious how we were going to get to the first turn point with a big cloud in between the armada of pilots and Maguey. Luckily, a nice gap opened up for us just before the start :) I had a nice relaxing start and took some nice start pics. After hitting Maguey, it was decision time, and I had decided on launch I was going back to the knife ridge at Espina before heading out into a head wind into the flats for Diente. Bill Belcourt had the same idea and was leading the way with Greg Blondeau down low in the lee pushing like only Greg does. We slowed down a bit after hitting the Diente turn point. Things got very blue in the flats with no clouds forming, and it was a bit too shady on the mesa. I wasn’t sure what we were going to do there so I worked any lift I could waiting to see an opportunity present itself. We all made a move towards Divisadero gliding to the west side of the Three Kings. The lead gaggle pushed hard on the ridge which leads to Divisadero. They were ridge soaring along like it was Torrey Pines. I saw a cloud forming out front, west of the ridge, so I mashed speed bar to get there, and it ended up being a great thermal, taking me all the way to base. I stayed out front west of the ridge the entire way to Divisadero. Finally the lead guys were connecting with the convergence marking it very nicely for me as I came in high over them taking a few turns and then pushing hard into Divisadero. We had a strong south wind so after hitting the turn point we had to push into a head wind all the way back to Maguey. Some pilots went straight over the mesa but I felt like it was better odds with more options pushing into the head wind on the ridge. I was still with Bill Belcourt at this time as we headed towards a very shaded Maguey. Bill chose to go out front to the sun I started to follow him thinking it was a good idea when I saw Atuk climbing strong in the shade (convergence thermal) so I jumped over to join him and we went easily to cloud base. Trying to not get sucked into the cloud, we started out over the Mesa. I figured the pilots ahead of us (Greg Blondeau, Stephan Wyss, Stephano, and Yassen) were well in front, and then I saw this group very low in the shade, so I downshifted gears at Cerro Gordo working light thermals with Pete Schaefer. Pete had flown in off the mesa, and we hung out for a good 10 minutes waiting for the conditions to change. At this time I saw Blondeau getting very low ridge soaring one knob to another getting lower slowly being taken out of the game. There were a few other pilots sinking out, and the guys pushing on to the mesa started to get it so we went after them running into a strong thermal over Escalares, taking us to base once again and finally getting us established on the mesa. Things got much easier at this point, and the hardest part was staying out of the clouds :) We fought the strong south wind that seemed to have picked up quite a bit. We jumped from cloud to cloud over to Mesad following the convergence line. I only had Yassen and Jamie Messenger in front of me, and I turned on the after burners a little late, and they were able to maintain the lead. I am flying a new Icepeak 3, and I had the trimmers open and about 3/4 bar trying to close the gap when I noticed Stephan Wyss over my shoulder trying to pass me underneath me. The same thing happened to me yesterday and I said “oh no, not again” so I went pulley to pulley with full trimmers to stay ahead of him. That is the fastest I have ever made a paraglider go, and I was totally amazed of the wing and its stability at such a high speed. We were flying through some pretty strong thermals and some rowdy air and the wing never fell apart on me. When it was all said and done, I got 3rd on the day so I am happy with the results and the learning lessons I am getting. I learn so much at these comps and am so stoked to be here, flying/hanging out with some of my best friends, learning and training for the World Championships!!    
Back to Top |
