Sunday, June 18, 2017

The Race Begins Tomorrow / 2016 Recap

I wasn't planning on flying in this year's Rat Race, but when I started going through my pictures from last year and reliving all the great memories, I decided I couldn't miss out on the fun. So here are some of my favorites. I hope seeing these pictures will get you guys as excited about heading back to Ruch as I am. Last year was my first time competing and I went from being nervous about flying with a bunch of hotshot pilots to really enjoying flying wingtip to wingtip, racing to the next waypoint in a giant gaggle.

Click to see the pics...




Igor looking pretty excited about sorting his lines on the first day of the comp 2016.


Ninkasi was extremely generous supplying the thirsty horde of pilots with many, many, many barrels of tasty beer. Can't wait to try their new creations this year!


Our Maui crew on the first day. From left to right: Kurt, Igor, Andrew, Peter, Jeff, Chuck and Paul.


There was a lot of tech to figure out on the first couple of days. I had been flying with a vario from the mid nineties that basically just beeped. I was pretty overwhelmed with trying to get a grip on how to read all the info on the fancy new Flymasters. Every morning there was a lot of comparing to make sure we each entered the correct waypoints for the task.


Chuck and Peter rocking matching outfits on launch.


Paul looking pretty confident. I was mostly just trying to keep my knees from shaking.


Francisco on launch. He ended up being the fastest pilot overall and showed everyone how it's done. I'm grateful we got to hang out and he ended up giving me some great pointers.


I figure looking like an alien insect was Igor's way to intimidate the competition.


George rocked the retrieve and was an awesome guy to hang out with. The volunteers like George are what really make the rat race so much fun.


Listening to Mike Haley talk about the day's task became a very familiar ritual as the week progressed.


The sprint group pays close attention as Jeff explains the tricky transitions and strategies for that day's task.


General tips for flying in races were shared.


So much space to launch! This is the stuff of Oahu pilots' dreams.


Gliders everywhere! Igor with his sponsored glider was always pretty easy to spot though. (Center top of the picture -- blue with yellow wingtips.)


Once in the air the whole valley was beckoning and gliders spread out everywhere.


On one of the days I looked back and I had the whole sprint field following me. That lucky break, exiting the start cylinder at the perfect time, put me in first position for about 30 seconds before getting left in the dust of the experienced pilots. That was the moment I finally understood the appeal of racing a glider though!


Afternoon glass-off flights with friends were among my favorite memories of the week. That evening I got to share a sunset flight with Vitaly.


It seems as though there's lift in the whole valley.


Making it to goal at Donato's on my second attempt was also really special. Those Coronas were truly well earned.


The big van was full...


... but rides in the back of pick up trucks were more fun anyway!


Everyone that made it to goal had giant grins on their faces. The stoke is real!


More hard earned beers were enjoyed at a different goal somewhere in the valley.


In the evenings we'd naturally share stories of epic near misses and recoveries. It really is like summer camp for grownups.


The whole Maui crew: Rich, Paul, Andrew, Peter, Jeff, Chuck, Igor, Kurt.


And it's also a great opportunity to make new friends, like Gabriel and Kimberly.


None of this would have been possible without volunteers donating their time. But they had a good time too.


I'm really stoked to be back at Raven's Landing, spending the week in my tent again. Rat Race 2017 begins tomorrow. This stuff is fun! More updates hopefully soon...

2 comments:

  1. Nice write up! I'm assuming it's by Andrew/Flash because the pictures are super pro. But something is wrong with the blog setup that is leaving out the author name! Anyway it's a fun guessing game.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yeah that was from me. Bummer you're not here with us, but from what I've seen on instagram it looks like you're having a great time too!

    ReplyDelete

Rat Race Run Down

Day 5: We get another late task start, so the day is short. The Sprinters are doing great with Flash holding down a top ten spot. Us Racers ...