| Flight details: | While some of the XC hounds went off on more ambitious flights, I stayed local (as usual), doing a 20k triangle from the Dyke to Steyning to Henfield. I got just under 4,000ft near Truleigh, enough to push across the Steyning gap. The sky was blue to the west at that time and with no cloud to aim for I got no lift on the way out nor on the way back. Another climb to near 4,000ft near Truleigh followed and I thought I'd head towards Henfield for a triangle, certain to find a climb on the way there. It was buoyant but I found no climb there or back. I thought I wouldn't get back to Truleigh at one point but got a little blip, a zero, to allow me to drift back with a hundred feet to spare. With an aching back I headed back to the Dyke having had enough. I arrived at the bowl with just enough height to probably make a top landing but thought I'd carry on to the NW slope and try to top up a little. That was a mistake and I ended up in the bottom landing field, making a good landing into what down there was a very light north-easterly.
A highlight of the day was the retrieve back to the top on the back of Ozzie's classic 1970 Kawasaki 250. After derigging, I hung around a while chewing the fat and waiting to hear from the XC hounds. I went to retrieve Taka who had flown from the Dyke to Mercury and back to the bottom of Truleigh for a huge 112k out and return. Meanwhile, back at the pub, James got in three orders of fish and chips and Taka and I got back to the Dyke just as the food was being served. A perfect end to a lovely day. |
