Thursday June 11th was a beautiful day with a forecast for moderate westerly winds veering northwest and easing later. Pilots had been flying along the Raised beach at Rhossili for most of the day as it had been too windy to launch from the main hill. I returned from a fishing trip out on the Worms Head at around 17:00 just as the wind was starting to ease and I could see a few gliders launching from the Pimple. A quick change in the carpark and I was on my way up the hill. The wind was just right as I launched my trusty old Sigma 5 for a nice smooth evening flight, sharing the air with a few other pilots. Initially, the air was indeed smooth and uneventful with no great height gain, much as I had expected.
After around 30 minutes, I detected that the wind was starting to veer to the northwest which meant that I might be able to fly out along the cliffs which I always enjoy. I could not help noticing that new CP Rhun was getting a good deal of lift further out frm the hill so I moved out to join him and sure enough, there was more lift to be found out away from the hill than closer in. I flew back and fore a few times and the wind was now becoming distinctly northwesterly, so I commenced my glide out along the cliffs and to my pleasant suprise, I found myself going slowly up...and up!
I flew along to the end of the cliffs, cautiously watching my groundspeed as always and on the return leg, I was still going up, so I turned around and went back down to the end..still going up. I flew out to sea - still going up! I started to circle, all the time watching my groundspeed which seemed ok in any direction. Looking back at the hill, I could see that the other pilots were now struggling to stay up along the main ridge and a few were even landing on the beach. I had no alti/vario with me( I was only expecting a smooth evening soaring flight!) and I did not have my camera either which was a shame. I couldn't help but wonder " How the heck am I up here?" There were no cumulus clouds. Was it some sort of wave effect? No, I didn't think so as I had detected no increase in wind speed and the lift had seemed to come through in wafts , rather like sea thermals....sea thermals in June....definitely not! I did have my radio, so I called Norris back on the Pimple and he managed to get a couple of photos to record the event.
The views were surreal and amazing. I estimated my height to be over 1000' above the sea. Dynamic lift from a 180' lift would not get me to this height alone. A few time in the past, I have experienced good lift along the clifs but nothing anywhere near this. I can only conclude that it was some kind of convergence effect created when the wind veered from west to northwest. Whatever the cause, I enjoyed it for a good 30 minutes, taking in the extraordinary views of the Worms Head, the clear waters of the bay and the whole peninsula all the way back to Swansea and when it started to ebb away, I flew back to the Pimple for a top landing.
Even at good old "reliable Rhossili" , sometimes, the flying does not turn out quite as expected!
Nick Roberts
With thanks to Norris for the pictures
