It's a good idea to get off Chabre early as the winds tend to go west in the after noon. I'm way back in the ordered launch so I don't have a huge wait for the start. The start circle is only 2km away from launch so you don't need a lot of time to get in position. I had a good launch and found good lift off to the right of launch. I could see a huge group of pilots pasted up against cloud base at the edge of the start circle. I tried to take slow climbs and stayed over launch to avoid the mess at edge of the start circle. I had forty minutes to wait for the first start and was just having a pleasant flight. I was watching the clock to try and time getting into optimal position for the first start with out spending a lot of time in the mess at the edge of the start circle. Cloud base turned out to be 2300 meters sadly and it wasn't too hard to get to base. Five minutes before the start I was getting in a panic to find some lift and get to base. I joined a couple other pilots 1.2km from the edge of the start circle in a strong climb. I wanted to be closer but this was going to have to do. With two minutes to the first start it looked like the entire field was charging in under us. They had lost their lift and now were 700' below us. With less than a minute to the start and 1km away I hit base. This was going to work out perfect. A large group headed on course and I was near the top with lots of guys lower and out in front of me. The fast guys were already leaving us behind after the first thermal. With so many guys on course the faster guys hit the lift out front and climb above the mess behind them and I arrive trying to avoid hitting other pilots and not climbing efficiently. We thin out a bit but I get the first turn point in good time. I want to stay high with the low cloud base but soon after the turn point I'm low and alone. Unable to get back up I land early.
I am meet by a very pleasant farmer and two very excited children. We tried our best to communicate but no one seems to speak English here and my French sucks. I feel like I'm missing out because as I've said before one of the really cool things about flying xc is meeting interesting people. The invited me in for a drink and we tried to have a conversation but sadly it was mostly just awkward silence. I think the French are missing out by refusing to speak English just as I missed out today not being able to talk to some very kind people. I have been told the younger generation is learning English.
This is where I landed today.
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