Arrived at the pimple around 10 am. Beautiful blue sky, gentle nw breeze and no one else about. Waited for about thirty minutes but the average wind speed did not get any higher than 6mph. Decided to walk to the top where conditions were, surprisingly, even more benign. Did a couple of badly coordinated practice PLF's for something to do and then Andy H rang for update. Advised him to leave it for another 45 minutes to see if things improved. 11.15am much the same but then the breeze picked up and started blowing at around 14mph with gusts up to 17.5 Rang Andy to let him know but the signal was poor so hoped he heard me say it seemed good to fly. Launched from top and spent the next two hours flying around in very smooth, lifty, laminar wind. The sea had long streaks of foam marking a wnw wind which gradually moved more westerly as the day progressed. Practiced tight right turns, tight left turns, "big ears" with left weight shift, "big ears" with right weight shift, landing approaches over the pimple, and other bits and bobs and combinations in between. Almost tempted to try and land over the grass field car park but decided it was probably not a good idea. Saw another
pilot arrive at the pimple but he did not attempt to launch...... Conditions then became a bit stronger and more lumpy, although it was still possible to make forward progress without the speed bar so decided to land out on the beach below to join family picnic.
All in all, an unexpectedly good days flying and a bit of a boost to flying confidence which continues to waver a bit at times.
Total flying time post C.P. 31 hrs
