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The Oz Report Volume 5, Number 156 Simplifying
the complex I've received a number of requests to reflect back on the Nationals and provide a critique of the flying that I saw there. Gerolf gave a little talk before the meet got going and as it confirmed once again a number of things that I've learned, spending so much time on the competition circuit, I am encouraged to provide my reflections. You'll notice that the top two pilots in Class I are factory supported. If you are going to win, you've got to come with the best equipment. While this seems obvious, it means that ninety percent of the pilots who show up are there for fun, only. Pretty darn good equipment doesn't cut it, if your interest is winning. The Triumph of the Insignificant – once you've got the best that you can purchase, you've got to make it the best by tweaking it in every way possible. Gerolf flies the same glider that Moyes sells, but then he has a whole list of things that he does to it to very very slightly improve its performance. He said that all the top pilots contact him to go through this list and he will go through it with them, but that he is getting tired of doing this for everyone who buys a new Litespeed. Still, contact him if you purchase a Moyes Litespeed. You need a tight fitting (let me again stress that it has to be fitted for racing) streamlined harness. Come with anything else and you might as well paint a big red L on your forehead. Want a parachute on your chest? Stay home so you won't have to hear the laughs. For years Jim Lee has been dominant with his carbon fiber harness. This is no longer the case. It has a much bigger cross sectional area than the newer cloth racing harnesses. BTW, a couple of pilots at Hearne were complaining of significant pain in their arms and shoulders while flying. You have to adjust your harness and hang strap so that you don't experience any pain. If you are experiencing pain, don't be a man and live with it, fix the damn thing. I am completely pain free with my Carbon CG harness, and I wouldn't be able to fly over ten hours if that weren't the case. Just how good are you going to be at decision making if you are flying in pain? Aerodynamically clean control frames have taken over completely. The Wills Wing and the new Moyes control frames are the ticket. It sure makes a difference on the ATOS and likely comes very close to the new ATOS control frame that eliminates the front wires. In fact, you could use the new ATOS version of the Wills Wing control frame with the no front wires set up. If you're going to race in racing conditions like we've had for the last two years in Hearne, and in Florida, then you've got to bring ballast. Either be a big boy, or bulk up with lead weights (bags of pellets used for scuba diving). I carry a mere 22 pounds and others carry more. The topless and the rigid wing gliders won't wash out with the additional weight. All the top finishers in Class I (the only class where there is sufficient competition so that all this really matters) were flying with ballast. The strategic advantage that one gets from having slightly superior performance relative to the other competitors is enormous. You can see everyone below you, can glide to where they are, and can watch them take different routes and evaluate which is better. Your mental state is much improved when you don't have to overcome performance inferiorities through superior skills or better decision making. A hang gliding competition in Hearne is a race. You won't find the strongest conditions in terms of lift, but you will find a cloud filled sky that indicates where to find the next filling station. You'll also notice that the day dies early, around 6 PM. Get caught out on the course late, and you won't make it home. You can't hang around in relatively weak lift. You've got to leave the lift when it slows down. Now on some days it just kept getting stronger the higher you got, so you want to stay with lift that is doing this, but unless you are in a world of hurt, leave lift when it slows down. Time after time I got ahead of the pilots that I was momentarily with by just leaving the lift I was in and going to the next thermal. Repeatedly this would put me in the lead, and alone, but it just didn't matter as the clouds were out there showing me the way. Launch early. It is easy to stay up in the air at Hearne and the lift is so mellow that there is no reason not to be in the air right away and out of the heat. Now you've got a strategic advantage because you are up over your competition or at least close to them at cloud base. You can see if they are going to leave early or where they are finding lift. The race has begun an hour before the start times begin. Unless conditions are deteriorating or it looks like you will be on the course as the day ends, take the last start gate. The early bird points just aren't worth any additional risk you may encounter. If it is a long task, like the day we did the 105-mile triangle, then the earlier the better. Lots of other pilots will be going with you. If you are out in front, look around and see if there is help when you need it. Mark Poustinchian was leading the gaggle of rigids and flexies when we go on a 15-mile glide. He's in a very vulnerable position, as he has no one to help him as we go through the blue. I'm off to his left getting closer and closer (ballast and the WW control frame). Robin is also off to his left but passing both of us high. Mark just doesn't look up and look around. He never sees me even though he takes a couple of turns in lift that doesn’t work out. If he had just looked back every now and then he would have had a chance to see me at 1,300' when I hit a spot of lift and he kept gliding only to land a few minutes later. No matter what it looks like, if conditions get weak you've got to slow down. I sure wish I could learn this lesson. On the last day the conditions on the second leg are much much weaker then anything we encountered on the first leg, or at any time during the meet. Only a few pilots will make goal because of this because they don't slow down and take whatever they can. There are plenty of clouds on the second leg, but they aren't working. There are high clouds shading the ground and most of the clouds are just the remnants of clouds that were working before the high clouds came over. We were racing so fast on the first leg that it is hard to slow down for the second leg. On the last day I was watching Bruce as the only guy who could challenge me for third place (oh the joy) behind the space ships. He wanted to get off early and get the first start time. I could see that the day had a chance of deteriorating with high clouds. I could see how anxious he was and that he was definitely going to get going early. I got up with him above the field and then watched as he headed out to the start circle far in advance of the first start time. This was smart for him because he needed to take a big chance if he was going to beat me. I felt that it wasn't smart of me, as I had beaten him the last two times by starting later and I didn't need the additional risk. This proved to be the case as four rigid wing gliders that took the last start time were able to catch Bruce at the turnpoint 18 miles out in spite of his half-hour lead. Unfortunately that fast time encourages me to race on the second leg, while Bruce is used to the difficulty of the first leg and is more cautious. Superior equipment and therefore superior performance, makes for superior skills and superior decision making. The differences in performance are exceeding small, but they make all the difference. It’s not about out flying 90 percent of the field, it's out flying the top one percent.
To view the Oz Report on the web go to http://www.davisstraub.com/OZ/. To view this issue of the Oz Report on the web go to http://www.davisstraub.com/OZ/Ozv5n156.htm. Davis Straub | |