The day started with a lot of optimism regarding the weather situation. The cold front had passed and the wind from Northwest was bringing in a cold air mass. It looked like a great day for soaring. The task was set at 312 km over 4 turn points (B.Topola-Odzaci-Ada-Cantavir).
The Cu's started popping up early, around 10:30 and we started taking off at Noon. As forecast, the cloud base was initially around 1500 meters AGL and by 2 PM it rose to 2000 m. I started last at 13:50 and about 25 km into the first leg got into trouble, encountering a heavy sink that quickly pulled me down from 1400 to 700 meters altitude. After that it was mostly a struggle. The NW wind was very strong (30 km/h) and the first turn point (Backa Topola ) was in a middle of a great big blue hole. Everyone took a Southerly route, trying to stay under the cumulus clouds for as long as possible. Finally, I rounded the first turn point together with ZR and JB.
The rest proved to be slow but steady going, all the way to the last turn point (Cantavir), where I got down to 550 meters. Going back to Ecka was downwind with weak thermals. I took a chance heading toward a couple of burning stubble fields, only to find smoke and no lift. Missing around 300 meters to make it home, I headed towards Elemir, where I landed out last year. However, at 350 meters I caught a weak thermal which held to 700 - enough to make it home. Sure enough, there was plenty of lift all the way back, so I made it home with 200 meters to spare.
Only 4 of us out of 12 made it back, with most of the others landing out around or after the last turn point. I ended up being the fastest, making the 312 km in a little under 5 hours. The complete results are published at http://www.soaringspot.com/odjpsz2008/results/standard/daily/day1.html
After I landed, I was greeted by Zoran, Sanja and Melita, who came for a visit from Novi Sad. Zoran brought a few cans of non-alcohol beer, which was grrreat!
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