The Day I Lost the Nationals
The day started with me having mindsets, right from getting out of bed to task planning (I almost tasked myself in the wrong direction) and ultimately…my flying, diversions, and climb selection.
Sadly, I didn’t do anything about these feelings until it was too late, i.e., touchdown at Kingaroy. It was a safe flight all the same, but I forgot my game plan (later found out in my post-comp self-debrief): Don’t lose today.
The Start
After the easy, strong first climb, I look ahead, a blue hole with patches of wisps over the scrub (with potentially strong climbs), or deviate 45* off track to follow a street that curves back into the turn before a blue hole. I’ve seen this situation before into this turpoint, so I take the street and have a stress-free run – looking to my right, the others gliding out slowly from a CU that didn’t work to few remaining good chances. I’m happy with my decision, though this ultimately set me up for a loss for the day. My mindset on deviations being a good idea.
I take nice climbs to get me to base before a 30km round trip glide in and out of the blue turnpoint. I’ve almost caught up V4 and MF again today, I grin. Back to the CU, I take a normal 4kt climb while considering my routing options. 1st section was an easy one to make, so I took the street that is 30* off course and ran back in towards the goal. I had good lines of energy and took a few nice climbs, but nothing showy.
Decision Point
Do I link up a number of normal-looking clouds back towards track, then onto a small good looking street, 50km in and out of the turn with regular thin CU’s & company, or take the deviation of 30* further to the right for a street, over the scrub where stronger conditions should be, though no gliders. It’s Day 5 – in hindsight, it's not a good time to do this.
My mind was on deviations being a good thing for the day. My chance to go blistering fast was go time! Or not. Good energy lines resulted, though there were no big climbs as expected. Down, down, down. I fall off the end of the street, not being high. The CUs ahead look good, though they are always on my right side. Further, right, to try and line up CUs. What is going on?!
I’m finding myself frustrated.
Getting lower still, I’m pushing for the 8kt climbs that I know have to be around. I finally called it quits and took a 5kt climb for 4200’ after 75km of searching. Leg stats: 56:1 for 15km glides at 75kts. I mosey on into the turn, out of the turn – though because I took all of those deviations, it was inbound at ~50* from track.
I realise my error. Frustrating!
One of my strengths, though, learnted from my father at a young age to forget about the point just played and focus on the next one. I’m still struggling to find decent climbs, and generally out of the correct height band. I’ve realised that I need to just keep pushing on, what is done, is done. Touchdown at Kingaroy.
I Lost the Day by Losing
I learnt a big lesson. In the future, I’ll mention these mindsets or how I’m feeling to my team (or Dad at a local comp) so that everyone is aware of them, and I'll apply the appropriate race technique for the day so that I can spend my points wisely.
From there, I dropped and gained points—finishing in 4th after 9 days of quality racing, just out of Stephen O'Donnell's third place. The big points of note on how I flew for the rest of the comp after that day are: 1. I flew too conservative too early, and 2. After day four, I forgot to tell myself consciously, "Don’t lose today!"
After the nationals, my pennies dropped. Armed with some great knowledge of soaring and life’s lessons, I feel quietly confident about where my future race endeavors are heading. Bring on the pre-worlds!
Wrap up – Three Key Points!
In the world of competitive gliding, meticulous preparation, decisive action, and valuable lessons should be learned, which are crucial for overall success. The journey always begins with preparation. In my case, acquiring a well-maintained glider and then dedicating significant time to enhancing its performance. Every weekend was spent practicing, focusing on gaining confidence and mastering as many techniques as possible, working on known weaknesses, and consolidating strengths.
The next phase is action. In this case, I competed at the Club Class Nationals, starting with a clear game plan: "Don't lose today." Despite changing conditions and challenging thermals, I stayed competitive by strategically following the daily conditions to the best of my ability and making timely decisions. This approach led to a day win, setting a positive tone for the competition.
Naturally, the journey also involved lessons learned, which it should always do. The trick is to be realistic and reflect upon it. I deviated from the game plan on one crucial day, leading to the loss. This experience highlighted the importance of sticking to a strategy and being mindful of my daily mindset. I also realized the need to communicate feelings and apply appropriate race techniques to avoid similar mistakes in the future!
Photo by Sean Franke
Adam Woolley was born into the gliding world, being the 3rd generation in his family. Going solo at 15, his thirst for efficiency in soaring flight & quest for a world championship title to his name has never wavered. One big passion is sharing his experiences & joy with other glider pilots all around the world. Adam is an airline pilot in Japan on the B767 & spends his off time chasing summer around the globe. He has now won 7 national Championships & represented Australia at 5 WGC's & 1 EGC.
