The bus started to drift, wheels sliding in the muddy slope. We got out, walked a bit, waited for 1h. No bus coming, we walked up, flip-flops on the stony track, 1h to the top. A shift in the opening of the window plus a slightly too high distance to cover made that only Russ went to goal.

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The weather did not look too good, the forecast was nos too optimistic, nevertheless to have a chance to fly a task we had to be on take-off, so there we went this morning. The long parawaiting session allowed many discussions, none of them conclusive on the right way to handle the current issues with the use of supposedly certified equipments, neither on the next steps to follow for improving the situation. The only sure thing is that some people will not be happy with the outcome of the situation, whatever it is. No way to escape by the top, only crawling away from the melee seems an option to avoid being hurt.

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Eventually the rain arrived yesterday evening in Valadares. And the forecast for today was not looking flyable at all, so that a rest day has been set for this Sunday. Maybe I’ll walk or run up the hill later in the afternoon, or go the pool, and relax.

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The day started slowly, a forecast for rain plus a take-off capped by a cloud delayed our usual departure at 9am to 10:30am. Once on take-off, conditions did not look so bad. So that we took-off for a 67km task. When waiting for the start gate to open, it was quite obvious the 1m/s average climb we had around the peak would become weaker in the flats, not to mention an absence of lower clouds on the direct route to the first turnpoint. Because higher clouds we had, and only one additionnal turnpoint before the goal. So basically we had to complete a out-and-return task, first leg in the dark and facing wind. Which proved to be tough.

(no pictures today – I took again the small video camera – even without the plastic casing the sound is awfull, just enjoy looking at the clouds and the gaggle)

Take-off

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Something fresh for my 901st flight: video blogging! A perfect slow day, a magnificent task. And a shitty mike. You may grab a bit of english gibberish with imperceptible parts in french. I am so pissed off the sound did not work. You could shut it down as well. Anyway, I uploaded the videos below, that is for the souvenir, and for the pictures. The point today was about patience, staying airborne, changing gears when possible, and making it to goal before the task deadline. Which I did for 25 mere seconds… Luca wins the day with Stefan and Joachim close-by. Many pilots land in between ESS and the goal line. Tricky task until the very last meter indeed!

From the hotel to the meeting point

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