SAFA Skysailor Magazine

41 SPRING 2025 | September-October-November SKY SAILOR in my cut-off finger gloves. I couldn’t make out which glider was Dr Craig and all were heading the opposite way after rounding the TP. As I rounded the TP at cloudbase, I decided not to go back the same way, given the lack of landing options. Seriously cold now, my right hand was numb, I couldn’t grab the VG rope. Shivering, I decided to fly down the valley, find a small hamlet, land safely, find a beer and wait for my retrieve. After an over 30km glide out, I eventually landed at Graus, and packed up. Martí was onto me in no time with Dr Craig and Vic not far from where I’d landed. Overall, I finished 64th out of 115 and am pretty happy with that. Finished in #6 AUS pilot spot, although my points didn’t count towards the team. I roughly calculat- ed that without those three or four techni- cal issues with my glider or instruments, I could have finished inside the top 50! Live and learn. I had nine flights, six during the comp, averaging 3.5 hours per flight during the comp. I flew for a total of 23.5 hours over all flights in Spain – just amazing. It was an awesome experience, flying, eating, drinking, having fun with my tribe’ – Aussies, Kiwis, Poms, Vikings, Slovaks, Italians, Polish, to name a few. To our lovely dinner hosts Veronica and John, thanks for putting up with us, and come visit Australia. To Martí and Taly, our fantastic drivers, carers and Paella cooks, you are the best. To the Spanish HG team, perhaps you can sign me up now given I beat half their team? In the words of Arnie: “I’ll be back!”