Day 6

It was a triangle task of 56 miles. I had to take two tows to get going and everyone had already left but near the edge of the start circle I found a huge climb; 800fpm on the averager. After gliding toward the 1st turnpoint a few miles I found another great climb averaging 1000fpm. With both of these climbs I was able to catch up with other pilots and things were going well.

Working with Ben and Bruce, we clipped the turnpoint and headed off to the second. This is where things slowed down. We couldn't find any climbs that were solid and they were averaging 200fpm. It was frustrating and my hips and shoulders were getting sore. We limped along to the 2nd turnpoint and finally found a decent climb. They left and I stayed until I hit 6,500ft. After tagging the turnpoint I turned towards goal with 18 miles to go.

I found my last climb of the day just 11 miles to goal. It was about 350fpm. My final glide computer started telling me I had goal made but I didn't trust it as I could see the hotel off in the distance, and it looked too far. So I kept climbing until I had 1000 feet of insurance. Eventually, the climb started fizzling out and I felt that I could make it, so off I went. On glide my numbers immediately started dropping and I knew I was in trouble. I stretched the glide as best as I could and ended up landing 1 mile short.

So tommorrow will be the last time I fly my T2. It is leaving this meet with someone else and I am getting a new T2C. I am so excited but also hate to see this one go. It has taken me on numerous adventures and we have spent hundreds of hours in the air together. Maybe that's why she wouldn't glide on in to goal with me today; so that I would have to set up, fly, then break down one more time. I look forward to it.