2008

2008 Montague Cross Country Callenge

This year's Montague Cross Country Challenge was made challenging by blue sky with hardly a cloud in it. This made for great photos, flying in these conditions was demanding and fun, and every team had to make some great saves. The ALOFT team flew their autonomous SBXC loaded with electronics and achieved very good results on all three contest days.

2008 Golden State Cross Country Race

Ten teams of cross country enthusiasts swarmed Cal Val Lodge for the annual XC race held on Saturday, May 16th and Sunday May 17th.

Mike Gervais' report describes the distance the 28 mile speed tasks. Results show team Ellias as the overall winner.

2008 Thermal Safari

"Sunday was an absolute blast." and "What a great day!!!!!!!!!!!" describe the event. Participants' comments and pictures are posted on the SVCC website.

2007

Montague Cross Country Challenge

The tenth annual Montague Cross Country Challenge was just that: challenging.

On Friday, Dean Gradwell prescribed a 69.45-mile route around the entire course with return to base, a task which has never been completed before. Alas, team "Mister Bungle" (Greg Norsworthy, Jan and Joe Wurts) did it in just under 4 hours.
On Saturday, the task was 2-hour-minimum speed with open maximum; the first 16 miles of the course were prescribed, after that it was open. A marine layer had pushed in, and no team made it past the 10-mile mark on their first attempt. Everyone relaunched, and eventually team "Hodgepodge" (John Ellias, Marcela Leal, and Dieter Mahlein) would have won, had they arrived at the field in time to turn in their score sheet.
On Sunday, Dean prescribed a short race course which team "Mister Bungle" completed the fasted at a blistering 32.43 mph average speed.

Golden State Cross Country Race

Jim Rolle's photographs depict great weather and lots of flying and fun.

The scores of two-day race stablished Broken Aero as the overal winner.

California Valley is located at the northern tip of the Carrizo Plain Natural Area Preserve.

Thermal Safari

In March of this year, the Sacramento Valley Soaring Society (SVSS) held it's first "Thermal Safari."

This is a cross-country soaring contest which started in Red Bluff, California, and ended in Woodland, about 120 miles farther south. The event lasted 4 days with over-night stays in Orland, Williams, and Dunnigan.

Thermal Safari 2007 is described in detail in the SVSS April '07 newsletter.

It was very successful and a lot of fun, and we look forward to the next one in the spring of 2008.