SAFA Skysailor Magazine

15 March | April 2023 SKY SAILOR All but three pilots made goal. Congratulations to Scott Ireland on his first Open class goal.” Task 5 The forecast was for strong WNW winds up high. A 145.2km cross/downwind task was set SE to Boorowa. Towing was slow, with weak lift in the blue and a few re-flights. The north wind didn’t eventuate and stayed pretty much SW, proving to make for a difficult start. Very different to yesterday! Sport class were all still to tow, so Wesley was able to do a task change for them with a downwind 39.4km task to Eugowra. A good call from Ollie and Wesley! Stuart McElroy won with 1000 points, with Richard Hughes second. Jonny Durand: “Forbes brings a challenging 155km crosswind task in 30km/h winds. I flew for nearly two hours before I could even reach the 10km start radius. I managed the last start at 3:20pm with Ollie Chitty and caught the start in front on the first glide. We spent the next four hours battling the wind, reaching 10000ft once. Just after 7:30pm, we made goal along with five others. Guy Hubbard most likely won the day, starting one hour before us, with Ollie in second and I third. One more day to go… Let's hope the weather holds up for a final task.” Ollie Chitty: “10000ft in the flatlands, a gaggle with almost every pilot in the start and a final climb with a couple of eagles. Task 5 didn’t disappoint! We had 30km/h cross/ headwind for 155km!” Seven pilots completed this challenging task with all but the winner landing after 7pm. Guy Hubbard takes the day win! Ollie Chitty (UK) second and Lukas Bader (Germany) third. Marco Carelli local Forbes farmer and tug pilot Our tug pilots (l-r): Bruce Crerar, John Blain (Blaino), and Marco Carelli Oliver Chitty (UK) setting up Craig Taylor lands 102km from Forbes to be greeted by a friendly land owner and family Photos: Vicki Cain