Fiday 26th - Day 6
So, finally the real weather arrives.
Todays forecast is for better conditions to the west with 4 to 6 kt thermals and cloudbases from 5500 rising to over 11000' in the high country to the south. Unfortunately there's also a predicted chance of over development in these areas and weak convection to the east of the lake.
Again todays task takes the pilots right out to the west of the task area, but with the bottom turnpoint at National Park, down beside the 3 main volcanoes of the central plateau.
Thursday 25th
After the unexpected brilliance of yesterday, we pay with rain today. The front is expected to pass over us this afternoon, so we may see some sun after 4pm. However, there is a possibility of heavy rain & hail before this so most gliders are in boxes or hangars and the day is cancelled. Predictions for tommorow are better. Thanks to Jill McCaw of McCaw Media for the photograhs.
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Wednesday 24th - Day 5
So, the forecast is rubbish and we decided to have a soaring pilots meeting before hitting the town. The weather models said maybe a small 2 hour clearance around 3pm but still too wet to give cloudbases above3500' About halfway through the meeting the sun started to shine. At the end of the meeting the tasksetters came up with a task hoping it wasnt going to be too ambitions for the day. During the launch it startde to look quite good. After the launch the scorer went flying. Great day, all ac...
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Tuesday 23rd - Day4
The weather forecast is a repeat of yesterday but with more over development further south. However, the day is not as warm as predicted and the cloud base is not looking so good. Tasks are posted and the gliders are gridded, but we will likely be re-tasking shortly. Contest Directors Blog
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Monday 22nd - Day 3
The forecast is that yesterdays inversion will be gone and we should have 4 to 5 knot thermals to cloudbase at 5 to 6000'. With this encouragement the task setters have decided on a racing task that should hopefully make use of the convergence lines to the west of the competition area. The gliders are gridded for launch at 13:00 and the weather is warming nicely with plenty of good looking cumulus. Contest Directors Blog
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Sunday 21st - Day 2
Well, the forecast was for a blue day topping out at 4500 to 5000' and thats pretty much what we got. Tasks were set with this in mind but its allways a bit of a lottery on days like this. The Open / 18m class almost managed a full value day with two finishers and most of the field exceeding the minimum 80km or so. Unfortunately the brave Std class pilots headed out resolutely on track and pretty much all ended up in the same airstrip or within a gnats fart of it. Not much luck for the Club cla...
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Saturday 20th - The Real Day 1
The forecast today is for blue conditions with cloudbases around 6000 feet. Gliders are launched and the sky is looking very good. Not as blue as expected although we have had a couple of landouts so far.
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Friday 19th - Day 1
Well, the run of wet weather has definitely passed us. Forecast is for southerlies' with blueing out towards the South and also Tokoroa and the Waikato. Tasks have been set taking the pilots to the North and East of the area. Despite predictions, the wind is more easterly than expected at morning briefing, so it looks like we will be launching from the Clubhouse end of the airfield.
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Tuesday 16th
Still wet. Currently the weather is ominated by a jet stream pulling air across the tasman. This is set to last until probably late thursday, but hopefully better air will come through after this.
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Monday15th
Persistant rain. Weare hoping for a clearance later this afternoon but its not looking likely so the day is cancelled.
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