THE CONVERSATION
Ballard pilots Sarah
Doherty and David Masuda talk about this year's Rat Race, Sprint Category.
Dave: Well done, Sarah! Third place in the women's sprint category
two years in a row!
Sarah: Yeah, I feel kind of weird
about that. I mean, you outflew me this year, and there's no real reason women
can't compete equally with men in this sport.
So I feel a bit embarrassed by the accolades.
Dave: I can understand that, but as
long as we're on the subject of categories, I'll propose they consider adding a
"Masters" category. Those of
us who are well past AARP age need all the help we can get.
Sarah:
I will say that one thing I do quite like about the Rat Race daily
awards is that the recognition of accomplishments is more than just who did
well in the day's task. One of the
really enjoyable things is the random awards - such as Ian Frew's
accomplishment this year - the
"Most Bi-Curious Retrieve" award.
Dave: Absolutely! Only Ian could find his way into a van with a
couple of hard-core swingers. And only
Ian could tell the tale in such a way that had all of us rolling on the floor.
Sarah: Overall I have to say Rat Race
is a terrific experience for fliers like us - the casual pilot.
Dave: Exactly. I've been flying for
20-plus years and rarely get more than 20 days of flying a season. I'm
reasonably competent with the occasional XC flight. And more than anything what I enjoy most of
all is doing an XC along with a gaggle of friends. No real pressure, no full-on competition. The
Sprint category at Rat Race is ideal for people like us.
Sarah: I never would have entered Rat
Race if it weren't for the Sprint category.
It's a great way to break into the competition scene or simply as a way
to improve your XC skills.
Dave: We do have to talk about the
gaggles at the start. The Sprint group
typically has 80 or more pilots circling above launch in the start cylinder,
sometimes for up to 45 minutes. And two
things are pretty clear. One, 95% of us
up there have precious little experience in such intense gaggle flying. Two, the other 5% up there can be rather
scary. You really do come to appreciate
- and use - what the race guys told us: "ALWAYS have your head on a swivel".
Sarah:
I will say that I found the gaggles this year to be far less crazy than
last year. I think a big reason for this was the addition of "staggered
starts". In short, you have a
choice of three different start windows, each 15 minutes apart. And you can choose any of the three. So this thins out the mass exodus you have
with a single start window. It let us
spread things out in the gaggle quite a bit more.
Dave:
Also important to point out that even with six full days of flying there
were no mid-airs. OK, at least no
mid-airs of significance. Also, the
staggered start adds a fun bit of tactics to the task - do I leave in the first
window or the next one? You have to read
the weather and the other competitors.
Sarah: One thing for sure - watching
the folks in the Race category is a wondrous thing. Almost like synchronized swimming. They are so wonderfully coordinated.
Dave:
Indeed they are. Although I
imagine that if you were up there with them you might hear some very colorful
language.
Sarah:
Dave, I am sure all of those pilots in the Race category are always
perfect ladies and gentlemen. But as
long as we're speaking of the view from the ground I have to say that the town
of Ruch is an ideal place for spectating.
The Applegate Valley has dozens of craft wineries, and at least two of
them are wineries with LZs - how can you beat that? This makes for some great
spectating - nothing better than a glass of Syrah on the sun deck whilst
watching pilots come in on full bar.
Dave:
Lest our readers think Rat Race is all about what happens on the ground,
let's talk about the flying. I think the tasks they laid out for the Sprint
group were terrific. Their goal was to have about a quarter of the pilots make
goal each day. And mostly that was the
case. This seemed to me to be just about
the right level of challenge.
Sarah: I'm entirely on the same page.
Each day's task brought a combination of skills and strategy into play. What route would be best? Do you start early or wait for others to lead
the way? Which leg would be the crux of
the task? Do I push out ahead or do I
hold back and wait for others to lead the way? By far and away, the best thing
I learned over the course of the week was PATIENCE. As the race guys say, "Until you are making
goal every day you should NOT be racing."
Dave:
That was my big mistake last year. This year I worked hard never to
leave lift until I hit the top - and was then able to make goal all the days
but one. For me, making goal is far more
fulfilling than trying to make the podium. And of course, getting to fly a site
day after day gives you more and more site knowledge, allowing you to start
figuring out some of the subtleties of the site - like the Applegate
convergence zone. Last year I never quite
appreciated this. This year it saved my
ass on at least half of the days. In short, this is a superb site to develop
your skills in reading site terrain and weather.
Sarah: I love that convergence
zone! The Ruch Valley is such a great
place for a comp. The launch at Woodrat Mountain can be on the turbulent side
but it also works quite reliably. And once in the air there are so many options
for directions to fly that they come up with great new tasks each day. Some
tasks are pure mountain flying and others take you out of the valley to what’s
really more like flats flying. What I
want to know though is who named all these turn points? "Rabies peak”?
“Burnt ridge”? "Cemetery”?
"Longsword?" Rather
intimidating.
Dave:
Surely there is some history here.
And remember, for the most part we never actually had to land in places
like Burnt or Rabies. And thanks goodness I never found myself in the
"Twenty-Five Buck LZ"!
Sarah:
Or the LZ with a resident - and rather assertive - one and a half-ton
bull.
Dave: Longsword, though, is a
deceiving name. It's actually an LZ in
the backyard of a local winery. I mean,
where else can you do a challenging XC task, hit the last turn point, scoot
downwind into goal, land, and walk up the winery and be handed a free
"pilot's glass" of Sauvignon Blanc?
Sarah:
As Wheels so elegantly says, "This is civilized flying." Now
if they'd only add a "pack my wing" service.
Dave:
Rat Race is set up for a lot of fun. Outdoor breakfast and dinners at
beautiful wineries, an amazing collection of volunteers keeping everything
running smoothly, burgers on launch, and always music, beer, munchies, a pool,
and horseshoes back at Mike and Gail's at the end of the day.
Sarah:
It would be hard to make us feel more welcome to the valley! And of course even if the weather is bad,
there's winery tours. For sure after all
the years of doing this Mike and Gail have it down.
Dave:
Sarah, I seem to recall that after both this year's and last year's Rat
Race, you told me on the ride home you would not do it again. Now that were a couple month's out from the
Race, is this still true?
Sarah:
Well....
