US Soaring Team WGC Reports & Results

Yesterday was a tough day for the US Team as they fought a noble flight against a dying sky only to land out about 12 Kilometers from the finish. Mike and Garret decided to start around 1400 given the weather, but difficulties in the start zone with gaining altitude delayed their start until 1432. The task was a 370+ K polygon flight first to the southeast then to the west and then back and unfortunately WX predictions of a great day did not measure up. Before they both ended landing safely in cut hay fields at about 7:30 they had spent over six and a half hours in the air so it was a real endurance flight. The retrieve went well and all were back at the A/P in time to get some food at the restaurant. Mike's log. Garret's log.

The landout moved them down somewhat in the standings but only 3 places as both French pilots, a German pilot, and three others also landed out. Also, the international rules do not penalize a landout nearly as much as our US rules. Local knowledge of WX and terrain may have been a factor as the British took the top three places in the Standard Class and two of the top places in the Club Class. Once again Mike and Garret flew very well, but the breaks have yet to fall our way. However, Garret is still less than 500 points out of a podium position and Mike is only a few points behind that. Both reported that their team flying skills are improving and they were able to really help one another through some difficult positions. At one point Garret was down to 500 feet and Mike was able to find lift that saved him from an early landout.

This morning we had our first instrument glitch when we found that Garret's TE tube was missing and had fallen out sometime during the retrieve. With a good bit of running about and help from some of the very kind club members we were able to find a tube that fit on the third try and now we are going to comb the field to see if it fell out there. As a backup we will make sure we can order a new one if needed.

Today the weather is dicey as the air is drying out and there are large areas of blue. All the pilots are having trouble getting much altitude and at one point I heard Garret remark that they need not worry about violating the 3500 foot control zone control altitude on course as they will never get that high. They have started at 1322 in a group of French, Swiss, and Austrian pilots. The forecast is for 3-4 knots and 5000 feet, but there is little of that optimism at this point. Today the wind has decreased from the usual 20 knots to 15 knot winds from the northwest. Now as I am looking at the sky the Cu's are increasing and there is little doubt that knowledge of English weather is very crucial.

As usual I have included the traces from Mike and Garret's flight so you can see what a 360 K task looks like when you miss the last 10 K.

Cheers from the UK,

Bob Leve, Team Captain

. See the Junior Team web page here and the WGC official site here.

Captions for photos: From top to bottom: 1. & 2. Ryan's pictures of finishers. About the pictures. Images are taken by the U.S. Team Captain and other U.S. Team Members. Some of the images used here can be found on the official website and were taken by one of several excellent contributors.
U.S. Soaring Team Standings
Class	Pilot	Sailplane	Contest Number	Day Place & Points	Overall Place & Points
Junior	Garret Willat	LS-8 18	L58	5th 965	19th 1847
Junior	Mike Westbrook	ASW-28	C6	11th 937	22nd 1798
				See the official scores here
Points of Interest
ABOUT DAY REPORTS The U.S. Team Day Reports are brought to you by the US Soaring Team and hard working volunteer Frank Whiteley. Thank you Frank!
YOUR TEAM SUPPORT All US team members would like to thank those of you who have contributed to make participation in these international events possible. If you have not contributed to the team please consider making one! To see how, visit the U.S. Team Funding page here and the Robertson Trust Web here.
U.S. TEAM COMMITTEE The U.S. Team Committee has been working to establish a more stable management structure and better resources for our soaring teams. The objective are more transparent, accountable, sustainable and competitive United States soaring teams. See the full information on the new U.S. Team Committee here.
U.S. TEAM E-NEWS Sign up today for the U.S. Team E-NEWS. This electronic newsletter is sent out roughly quarterly and covers all the team news. The sign up process is simple - start by clicking here.
TEAM NEWS, HISTORY & ARCHIVE To catch up on all the news for the U.S. World Soaring Teams see the U.S. Team News. See the U.S. Team Archive for team background since 1950. As part of the Archive tour see the U.S. Team History page for a complete listing of US Teams since 1950 or the World Champions page for a complete listing of champions since 1937.
2005 Junior Team Sponsors & Helpers

The Junior Team would like to thank their sponsors who are providing products for the team's use.

Roy McMaster, as the US distributor for SeeYou, the flight planning, analysis and in-flight software is personally is sponsoring copies of SeeYou for the Junior Team. Contact Roy directly via email by clicking here.

Kevin Brooker of Peetot Pants is supplying the team uniforms and several pairs of his innovative pants. See Kevin's web site for more on these pants that allow you to watch your P's and Cu's here.

Many thanks to the Jaguar and Land Rover Engineering teams in England for arranging crew vehicles for the US Junior team. This went a long way toward helping the junior team finances.

Country and Contest Site

In 2005, The Soaring Centre, in association with the BGA, will be hosting the 5th Junior World Gliding Championships. This will be the first International gliding championships to be held in the UK in over a generation. The Soaring Centre, has with 400 members and a large fleet of modern glassfibre sailplanes.

Situated in the heart of the Midlands, the airfield is only 3 miles from the major motorway networks, and 1/2 mile from Husbands Bosworth village, making access easy from any part of the country.