Day 4. Another Ridge day, but different

So the first ridge day had too much cloud, yesterday not enough cloud, today too much to start then not enough in the afternoon.

We had to head south to Tapapa first, to give the cloud base time to rise around Te Aroha. For some reason 2000 feet is not enough.

Then it was up to Hikutaia. Cloudbase was now up to a generous 2500 feet making life interesting, but thankfully the ridge was working well.

Our bottom turnpoint was Wharepapa South, but with a 20km circle. This proved to be challenging, after a good run down the ridge. The cloud had all cleared nicely, but was starting to blue out completely. Fin managed to get down to Arapuni, while most others headed for Putararu into some scrappy clouds that were disintegrating quickly.

Task, and results all available online now at Soaring Spot.

Tomorrow we'll try and get some photos of people rather than just landscapes! Thanks David Hirst for these moonscapes.

Gliders, wave, moonlight, stars.... ah, the romance of a gliding contest.

The mighty, burning sun rises over the Waikato.... oh, hang on....

Chugging along the ridge...

Top dresser on the ridge from yesterday. A day late, but never mind