SAFA Skysailor Magazine

23 September | October 2023 SKY SAILOR Task 2 – 31 July The 85km task looked similar to yesterday’s with a very different start and into-wind leg to the first TP. Pilots initially headed for the Hasan Dagi volcano; that didn’t work well so they headed to the plains. Working together as a gaggle, they found the few thermals on offer. After that it just got better and better, making it a typical Aksaray day. After TP 2, Yassen decided to leave the gaggle behind 20km from goal. He surfed the tomato fields at about 100m for what seemed like the last 4km. Once inside of ESS, he found a weak thermal which allowed him to drift with the wind into goal. Well done for taking a risk and thus winning his 17th PWC task! Another 100 pilots made goal after Yassen. Task 3 – 1 August A forecast for cloudless skies and less wind (still north) – a 91km, three TP task to the north was set. Wind on launch was frequently over the back so it was hard to climb up to those who had launched early. The field split into two groups, one over the volcano and one over the flats. Petr Kostrhun got very close to achieving his life’s ambition of becoming an astronaut – his vario recorded 4524m, above the volcano! At that height the temperature dropped. For Anca Tabara, “It was like an internal fight, the body wanted to go down because it was so cold, the head wanted to climb and keep on racing!” Eventually everyone managed to get high for the start of the race, more or less at the same altitude. Around TP 1, thermals were anaemic, there was big sink, and it was easy to get stuck. Those who didn’t took the lead. Stan Radzikow- ski and Petr Kostrhun took different lines and got climbs just after TP 1 which allowed them to fly in a straight line, leaving the others in sink. Big sink over the dam just before the final TP put everyone into mega-cautious mode. Sur- prisingly, the first half of final glide saw more lift than anyone expected. The wind switched Photos: Anna Berger, PWCA Social Media