Post script

All's well that ends well. Well, it almost did not. Doc pulled a Ben Flewett on the last day in his final glide and ended up doing a direct 09 approach between two sets of hangars (also directly into wind). It appears to have been yet another microburst!!! They are really lethal and it is only the quick thinking of an experienced pilot that saved the day . Well done to Doc for the winning the 15m class.
It was only in the 15M and Open class that we had a contest, and then only because all the pilots had agreed an extension of the contest by one day. It is a pity that the other classses did not get a contest. To go back a moment to my last post where i was sitting in a field 12 km from the second turnpoint.
On day three three pilots made it home: Doc, Mannie and John Coutts. It was a tough day and they really did well!! Just before i landed Mannie was 300m above me, and how he made it home remains a mystery. But thanks to the three of them we had a contest day on Saturday and the chance on Sunday to make it a contest (four days are required).
Day four dawned with mist and low cloud and sounding data which indicated a weaker and tougher day than the day before. It was only the discipline instilled by many contests that made me go through the motions of rigging and filling up. I nearly stopped when i heard a decision would be made at 9h00. At the briefing there was some debate and ultimately the contest director did the Polish thing (there they fly irrespective of anything - a flash back to sterner times we were given to understand) and declared that we would be flying, the task to be handed out on the grid.
There must have been some rebellion in the 18m class, spilling over into the open class: the former did not fly and some of the latter left early (a pity as the day would turn out to be challenging but satisfying).
I was first on the grid, but had the benefit of knowing from PN and KG that the conditions were flyable.
It was an assigned area task, two hours. The moment the gate opened, and with the previous day still fresh in our collective memories, we all set off almost immediately. CE and i took a few extra turns before crossing the startline with the 133, 2T and AG ahead of us. I stuck with John, and man, does he fly well. Going past Ventersdorp we were well ahead of the pack and John nearly beguiled me into running much to far into the first sector (as i suspect he did.) I turned away and aimed for the west side of the Derby sector, running even further west to stay with the cloud. The good run was over and at Koster i had to do some creative flying to stay in the game. It was all good fun on the way home, except for the last 20km (see above).
A big thank you to the Magalies Gliding Club and all its members - it was a really nice contest.
EY