Flight

Arrived this morning with one or two in the air, with to lovely conditions, in a land breeze.  Then it got lighter, and more difficult. Tim K asked me if I wanted to try out a canoe harness, so I say yes. First flight is horrible � swaying all over the place, yawing, and feet too low, and too upright. Landing was one-legged, thankfully at nil ground speed. 2nd was OK, but the landing was the same one-footed, but at 10mph. Ooops... Some more adjustments, and then it died down. Ghandi and Craig A then climb out, very slowly, and it looks like that they'll be the only ones today. However, Nigel B chucked off a student, and talked him student into marking a nice core. Tefal and I dived at him, and we started climbing out, Tefal doing his usual 'captain of supertanker' impression :0) . Inversions at 1000 above, 1300 and 2200 made it tricky, and we stayed for ages over the Dyke, before finally leaving the hill. In the meantime, Carlo B and Steve P starting climbing out to join us. They did better, so I went in their direction, and got better lift. This was a signal that I should not have ignored, because better lift was to be had to the north. I went with the flow, and got a second thermal over the A23, which Carlo was marking. After that, we glided on, Carlo to the south, me to the north of A27. The University failed to provide its usual thermal, and then it was a glide to the ground, only delayed by a last second low save, with a crowd of seagulls marking lift at 30 feet aboe ground, for 12.5km. The canoe seems to make a big difference in glide at speed, with none of the usual buffeting you get with the bar applied. I did have trouble getting off the bar, though. Tricky beasts, these canoes. Needs more practice.