Well, that was fun. Thanks to some inspired task setting by Doug Gardner we got some good flying out of the weekend.
After weeks of unsoarable weather you could have be forgiven for thinking Saturday, with a strong NE wind and unpromising sky, was going to be the same, but it was better than it looked. The task was to turn Badminton an then get as close to Hus Bos as possible. The DG500 with Mike Randle and Emil on board, turned Badminton and got as far as Cirencester, yours truly landed out at Little Rissington, Tony Chapman made it to Bourton on the Water and back, and Doug won the day, getting as far as Southam cement works (and back). Many thanks to Richard Kill, Jackie and Sandy for an excellent evening meal (did Doug really have three helpings of Tiramasu?)

On Sunday a better looking sky tempted a larger grid out of bed and Doug sent us over to the Welsh borders. Over development and some beefy showers made for some challenging flying, as did the swarms of hang gliders and para gliders over the Malverns. Despite the overcast there were some ballistic climbs to be had. Doug Gardner and Jon Huband did well to complete the A task (AST-BSW-MYN-TSW-AST 308KM). Robin Birch and Paul Mather in the DG500, made a valiant effort at the same task, but were washed out of the sky at Ludlow. Meanwhile Tony Chapman raced round Hereford - Great Malvern, and Tom Gooch dropped in to Bidford. A good day out.