The wind was forecast to be 20-15 knots...yup got that part nailed...
Thermal heights/cloud bases of 4000ft...yup pretty close with this too...
Going blue after about 12 O'Clock...failed...we had well marked cloud streets all afternoon.
As a consequence of the forecasts we under called the day a bit...we could have sent all the classes further west at the top end and probably further south at the bottom end. Oh well.
When setting a task we are mindful of making sure no one could get home in under 2 hours...otherwise the day gets devalued. So a 282 km task would require a speed of 141kph...at 11am we thought that would be impossible...but guess what??? GZM did the task in 1 hour, 59 minutes and 27 seconds.
The stand-out performance for our club was the mighty pairing of a South African and a citizen of the West Island (otherwise known as Australia) in the Duo Discus...135kph and second in the Open Class. This will mark the most impressive performance of a club member in the new glider...chocolate fish all round...
As a result of the westerlies on the Waikato side we got wave in the Bay. Cool eh...
This morning we got an answer to the question of why yesterday was cancelled mid-task. The first time a day has been cancelled mid-task for some time...if ever. The only recorded one I can find is an Omarama Regionals where a thunderstorm sat over a Turnpoint...although interestingly gliders had already got through the storm undamaged...
The Contest Director was worried we were heading into difficult terrain with uncertain weather conditions...worrying is part of a CD's job...I know I've been there myself.
As a past CD I understand the pressure that is brought to bare by well meaning volunteers/helpers/support crews, as well as the short time window to make a decision. I also accept that all those pilots who started late or were slow to get into the backcountry were probably happy to call it a day...cos they didn't require a long retrieve and no scoring points were at risk.
However a number of questions do arise...
How does the CD know how far various pilots have, or will, get despite the weather conditions? On the day in question it was highly likely that 4 fast class gliders would or could have passed 80kms from the start line and generate a scoring day. The spot tracker should have shown at least 1 of these gliders was already in the Mangakino area.
How does the CD actually know what the conditions are like on track?
What constitutes a safety risk?
The risk of landing out is not currently classed as a major safety issue (not yet anyhow)..therefore sending gliders out of glide range of an airfield in changing weather does not meet the safety test for cancelling the task after we have started.
What signal does this send for the future??
This was a Nationals...where pilots are expected to have completed a regional contest in the past...be current, have maps, parachutes, gliders that are up-to-date etc.
I will test this outcome with the SRC (Sailplane Racing committee) so we can gain some guidance for the future...at the very least the CD should be required to consult with the forecaster and/or a task setter...either by radio or in person...
At the very least we should ask what are the parameters for an organiser on the ground many many kilometers away from the "action", with out full knowledge of progress of the racing fleet, without any idea of the location of glider to land-out spots, with limited knowledge of the developing weather on track, can use to call off a day.
I have a few thoughts and generally support the decision to cancel the day:
ReplyDelete- From what I heard, the contest director had in person weather reports from both turnpoints.
- The conditions were completely different to what was expected and tasked for.
- Sending 20+ gliders of various performance, & pilot skill level & experience, into an area with low cloud base, visibility and limited landing options is greatly increasing the chance of an accident. The problem is we all make mistakes, and not getting to a landout down there could be very serious. The room for error just gets too narrow. Did we need to risk it? Nope.
- Could the contest director really be expected to consult with the weather man and task setter when they are flying the task? A conflict of interest there I suspect? What if they had already landed out?
- It's drizzling and there is no hot water in the showers at the campground :( I'm going to head home for the day... Bring on Friday!
I guess the question is...it was good enough weather to start the task...all gliders had a reasonable chance to start...and many got 50-80kms on track. The scoring system is designed to sort out the rest. I have flown a number of contest days where everybody has landed out...but we still got a score...albeit a devalued one.
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