SAFA Skysailor Magazine

21 March | April 2022 SKY SAILOR “After a slow start, I was forced to start from a sub-optimal position some 5/600m lower than the rest. We had very good clouds and it was easy to make the first TP at Caraga, linking clouds and flying fast – I started to feel better about the day. Heading to the second TP, I had great clouds for 3/4 of the second leg. Until I reached it, I was flying alone, unaware where my competitors were. Leaving the first TP, I got a visual on other pilots coming up from low and realised I was at least 6km and a full climb ahead – nice place to be. Reaching the second TP, I was fighting cloud suck – another good feeling! Then clouds started to disappear and by the time I took the TP, it was blue all the way home. There were some slight caps in the inversion layer and the big climbs left some small whisps to navigate the way home. On the last leg, I was a little slower than the previous 100km and actually flew back down course line to take my final climb. I left at around 8:1 as the climbs were good and plentiful, it was a seemingly perfect final glide until a monster 1000ft/min climb threw me into orbit and ruined my goal line arrival style points!” Nevertheless, a beautiful day in Forbes and another perfect score – Open Class , Open Class Overall and Sport Class . Forbes 2022, Day 5! Groundhog day – and a tough one! The forecast had possibilities of rain with some fairly solid lines of showers predicted, leaving the task committee with a hard job. They smashed it and set a perfect task between two lines of showers Start was once again at BMIA, heading NNE to first TP at ‘Alec,’ a small town on the A39 highway, next to Goobang NP, with a radius of 1km. After this TP, some 50km away from Forbes, we went north, following the range for just over 100km before goal with a radius of 2.5km at the town of Trangie (TP ‘Trang’). Day 1 in the paddock; Michael Karmazin on task, day 4 Photos: Courtesy Vicki Cain