The end of the last bulletin looked forward to two days of good flying to round off the safari. We weren’t disappointed, with Thursday proving to be great day on Fermoyle. It was clear and mostly sunny, hardly anyone on the beach, and best of all no high tide until well after sunset. There was good flying on the home ridge, flights up to the Connor Pass, and – for the first time? – two gliders did the circuit around Brandon Mountain. For once Brandon was clear of cloud, and a flight out to the sea cliffs, where the lift was only moderate, allowed a transition round the west face of Brandon – magnificent views and a climb above the peak at 3,300 and more. This height them to get over the spur and across the col to Connor Pass, with the downwash from Brandon quickly transited. We think Nick Bosch may have done this flight in his Silent motor glider, but does anyone know when it’s been done before off a car launch?Next day was rest and recuperation, which left us the final Saturday. There were low orographic clouds and successive showers in a stiff westerly. Not very attractive, but people were mindful that flying opportunities in the near future are likely to be much reduced. So all gliders were rigged and flown, and a lot of hours put up until sunset, followed by a derig lit by the car headlights.So, a good Kerry from the flying point of view, although the usual more general participation was lacking and social interaction once off the beach was sadly limited. All flying apart from one day at Inch was on Fermoyle. And while we flew on only five days, we logged a total of 60 hours 25 minutes from 38 launches, with some good wave, strong ridge, and hints of thermal.
Written by Peter Denman