Tough first day.

We finally got our first valid day today. We called a 92km task starting at 2:00. North up deadman's valley then back to launch then west and back to the main lz. With a strong NW wind it made for a very tough head wind most of the day. My plan was to wait for the last start gate hoping the day would get stronger and I would be able to catch pilots ahead of me.

I got a pretty good start crossing the five km cylinder a few minutes after the last start time and much higher than pilots starting earlier. I was going at a good pace with Ralph catching several pilots ahead of us and many already on the ground. I lost Ralph and got low after the first turn point. I dug myself out and got slightly above cloud base and meet up with Ralph back at the second turn point. We push back into strong head wind to the third turn point. The turn point was out past the clouds and the smoke was thick in the valley ahead of us. You needed to get high enough to run out to the turn point and get back to the lift. Jeff was the only one to make it but I gave it a good shot landing ten Km short of goal. Very tough task but a fun flight. Great to get a task off and with luck the rest of the week will be better.