<<	1st Comp Day  (len)	>>
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	Day 1. The first task of the 2003 World Cup and the USA has a pretty good showing. Scotty, Len, Brett, Ryan, Matt, Martin and Myself with Captain Jim wind dummying. We arrive on launch to the now not unfamiliar site of windsocks pointing down, accompanied by a hazy sky. Xavier Murillo, the technical reads us the task with his usual levity. The wind is supposed to be light SW in the morning building to strong and more westerly in the late afternoon, with cumulus clouds. I think because of concerns about being able to get everyone off the hill early with the inconvenient wind direction, a “speed run” type of task is called. A 3K start cylinder 4K from launch and then a 50K dash straight north to goal. A speed run means that each person has their own start time. You cross the virtual start line (in the air) whenever you choose to and race against the clock. Picking a good start time is usually important, but the right choice is rarely obvious. Starting late can let you fly faster by taking advantage of gliders in front of you marking the thermals, but it can also leave you stranded when the afternoon winds kick in and shut down the day. By the time the launch window opens launch conditions are more favorable and everyone is off within a half hour, despite the fact that many are dawdling, already playing the late-start strategy. Clouds shading the area and perhaps some weak inversion make the first climb up from launch slow and fiddly, but soon a hundred and fifty pilots are circling together at cloudbase, biding their time – some for as much as one or two hours. The uneven cloudbase blocks your view and it’s difficult to keep track of people or know when people start. The flying is textbook. Fun and easy. Cumies above and low hills below. The first section is cross-down-wind and then it’s just down wind. It’s by far the most pilots I’ve ever seen in a goal and it seemed that few people ever even got low. As it turns out we never did get west winds and conditions stayed good late. The top dogs called it. A big gaggle of them arrive late and together. Scotty seems to have kept track of things well enough to know he’s done well as soon as he’s on the ground. An American party in goal! All of us are there including Jim. Brett bombed out straight off launch but re-launched and flew the task in good time (unfortunately PWC rules don’t allow for re-flights so he doesn’t get points for it.) Reversing the hour and a half flight by car takes five and a half hours (most of that waiting for the minivans.) Time for dinner. When in Japan do as the . . . OK well not always. Dinner tonight is Tom Sawyer’s Pizza and Spaghetti Restaurant. Tasty if not particularly Japanese. Captain Jim does the translations and ordering. Hai. Dozo. Ftatsu. Mitsu. Capriciossa Nari-mas. Some Japanese lessons from Jim while Len sneaks food out the window to a begging puppy. Then back to the hotel to take advantage of the one truly luxurious aspect of the accommodations, the Japanese bath in the basement. (Beyond that, three of us are sharing a room that’s about 12’x15’ that smells of raw sewage most of the time.) Here’s how the numbers played out for U.S. pilots: Place Name Time Points 1st Scotty 1:07 1000 28th Matt 1:27 389 37th Len 1:33 325 47th Martin 1:37 292 53rd Eric 1:38 285 57th Ryan 1:39 278 128th Brett 2K 19 Eric