Hello Racing Fans,

Contest day 2 of the Junior World Gliding Championships has been scrubbed. Today we are under the influence of a strong trough spinning off of the low pressure system centered north of the English Channel. We awoke to much colder temperatures and high winds out of the west – directly across the runway – and the forecast was for the winds to increase as the day went on, with the added chance of overdevelopment and thunderstorms.

Despite the obvious weather conditions, grid time was set for 1400. With cross winds exceeding the capabilities of all of the tow planes, (remember the forecast for increasing winds? Anyone?) pilots reluctantly assembled and pushed up the hill to the runway. Around 1pm Devin and Boyd began to rig, with a rapidly building storm to the west of the airfield. (see picture). Another team captains meeting was scheduled for 1330 and we were hoping that the day would be called. Thankfully, I received a text message with the news that both classes had been cancelled just prior to the start of the meeting.

At this point, while all of the gliders were pushing back to the trailers to de-rig, the gusts from the passing trough were reaching their peak. In fact, the US flagpole snapped and nearly hit an Argentinian Discus 2. The other teams were teasing the US team for bringing the largest flag, saying that it was our own fault, but really they were just jealous of our massive, beautiful flag. :-) Oh, I’ve just noticed that the pole has been replaced, and the Dutch have taken our spot… Let the games begin.

While I commend the organizers for holding on in hopes of getting a contest day in, it was exceptionally clear that the weather conditions would not support racing flights today. In fact, in my humble opinion, it wasn’t terribly safe to be assembling gliders, nor leaving them out on the grid while the wind was blowing so hard and it was obviously overdeveloping with strong storms in the area. In fact, the German weather service issued storm warnings for our area, which was the catalyst for canceling the day.

The forecasts for tomorrow are more optimistic than today; though not by much as there is another little trough passing. It is expected to be similar to today, but perhaps not quite as dramatic. However, things are starting to look up for Wednesday as a high pressure system begins to build in the area.

In the the meantime, the natives are becoming a little restless, and the pranks are starting up in full force. Let’s hope for some flying here before we all start to get ourselves in trouble.

Writing to you from really cold and breezy Musbach.

Kathy
US Junior Team Captain