I wanted to share a report from my recent trip to Big Spring, TX for the annual race to goal competition held there. This was my third trip to Big Spring to compete in this event, this year in the Open Class. The region has had an unusual amount of moisture in the weeks prior to our event, as a result, the conditions weren't quite as good as we have come to expect. Having said that, we flew all seven days and had some spectacular flights.
Typical for Big Spring, it was windy, at times I saw winds as high as 20-22 mph while on course, which translated to ground speeds of over 60 mph, so we were covering ground quite quickly at times. Day 1 was the only day called short due to weather, but I still managed to log a spectacular flight. With weather building quickly down course, I spiraled down from 10,000' to land after a super fun flight with amazing visuals. I believe we had 3 days with no pilots in goal. I did find my way to goal on Day 5 and on Day 6, I managed to fly 151km (93.8 miles) and landed 13km short of goal. What we found this year was that when the day shut down, it shut down fast. So, the race was against the day, as much as the other pilots. On a few days, our flights took us over the expansive wind farms in the region. What a cool feeling to fly over the country side covered in these huge windmills. Despite the softer conditions, there were still some very strong climbs out there, this coupled with the strong winds resulted in some pretty sporty conditions at times.
As always, Big Spring did not disappoint. With the flying days being a little shorter than usual, there was plenty of social time in the evenings. We had a little last minute shuffling of drivers and were lucky to end up with a sweetheart of a driver that really made the week fun. Our driver Roxy, from Guatemala, was usually pulling up before we had completed breaking down. Her fun personality, great navigating skills and beautiful smile were quick to make you feel better after landing short.
While we didn't see the conditions that Big Spring is known for, I finished the week with 15.5 hours and just over 300 miles. Despite bombing out terribly early one day, I managed to slide into 17th place out of 32 pilots. My goal was to finish in the top half and I did just that... barely. Next year my goals will be much higher, maybe top 10.
There is a push to have 100 pilots at this event, with $20,000 to the Open Class and $5,000 for Sport Class.
Attached are a few pictures from the week.
Cheers,
Matt
