Practice day 2

Last night following flying was the French and German evening. The Germans made the dinner and the French made the desserts. I missed both so I do not know what was served although I heard the French had make your own crepes. I was invited to a team captains evening. We started with a meeting and discussed more competition rules, and procedures. Then we were transported by bus to a cottage that was formerly owned by Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. He was Marshal of Finland and is a very famous figure here who was responsible for much of the Finnish Independence from Russia and the local officials were very happy to show it to us. More info @ http://www.marskinmaja.net/english/index.html

Today was our second official practice day, however our pilots did not fly the whole task as they thought it would be better to come home early and rest before they can actually use the good weather for a long task. Rumor has it the task distance will be somewhere near 500km. Both Devin and Corey have commented on the remarkable thermal strength. They say they have had quite a few thermals upwards of 10 kts and more, and considering the length of day It is becoming very apparent how 1000km tasks are possible in this region.

Tomorrow will start with the opening ceremonies. There are no local officials to speak so the ceremony will be short and the pilots can get on with the flying. Corey will be carrying a Spot unit and his flights can be followed by checking the following URL.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=07YR6LZq4KVnfessdCKmcjty6dv6Rm0q0