September 4, 2006 TAGAR!

The 4^th version of the TAGAR! was weighted with handicaps. The handicap was placed on the distance flown: the White House turnpoint had coordinates different for each glider, according to their CH handicap. In this way, at each passage of the Gate the gliders had flown a handicapped distance that placed them all at the same level. So, the first glider passing the Gate was actually the first in score.

And the first to pass the Gate was every time 16 (David Greenhill) who won the contest in a grand way. It must be said though, that David was a precursor of the TAGAR! He was the first one, together with Sergio and other two pilots, to try the Starting Procedure several years ago, when Sergio had this contest in the phase of development.

The weather this day was really great, with 6 to 8 knots thermals to 15,000’. Clear air and cozy temperature, with cloudlets and short-living small clouds. A fresh wind on the ground and in the air, with a definite band of lift a couple of miles wide oriented in the southwest/northeast direction. Formidable was the sink that aggressively hunted the gliders for miles.

10 gliders and 12 pilots participated. The Starting procedure was the best executed in the history of the TAGAR! Merit goes to Mike Mayo and Jim Alton, announcers on the radio, to pilots that already did it before, and to all the participant pilots who behave professionally and “artistically”, because all together they were performing a show for the spectators on the ground.

The interest of the race was dominated in the first positions by a quartet of gliders, the already mentioned 16, then MX (Mike Schneider), C2 (Sergio Colacevich), and L6 (John Fitch). They were separated by a handful of minutes all along the three circuits, with the final standing in the order just described. But then on the ground, a surprise revolutionized the final results.

What happened was that Mike Schneider was unable to place the coordinates of the White House in the flight computer before taking off. He tried to turn at the approximate location of the turnpoint in the first circuit, but renounced to do it on the other two circuits, turning just at the White House instead. Now according to the rules, the penalty to cut a turn point is 10 points per mile. With the handicap of his ASW 20, the turnpoint was about 4.5 miles farther than the White House. So he got 45 points penalty for cutting his turnpoint at the second circuit, and because the penalties are doubled at the third circuit, he got another 90 points for a total of 135 points penalty. This put him solidly at the last place.

Mike did that intentionally, so he knew he was out of the race all the time and he did not have a bad surprise at the end. But, he is a sport and wanted to fly the race anyway. Remember, he was the winner of the last 4th of July edition of the TAGAR! So, the final result was 16 first place, C2 second place and L6, another past winner, third place. L6 showed that the past wins were not due solely to his big wings, but to authentic skill, which allowed him to perform well in this handicapped event.

As always, the fun was unbelievable both in the air and on the ground. Sergio was flying “his” race for the first time, thanks to Mike Mayo who volunteered to take his place as the Tager (the contest Director). His impression was he same as mine, which is: this is great!

The fame of the TAGAR! is spreading out. We had two pilots visiting from Avenal, who came here just to see the event. They enjoyed it and they were considering to organize this type of contest at their airport. Time will come, when thousand of spectators will flock to Truckee and tickets will be grabbed at exorbitant prices. But, we are not in a hurry. And now, waiting for next year to do it all over again.

Circuit Times

Scoreboard

Penalties