JULY 17^TH 2001
    This day looked really good already at 8:30 am and the pilots were all ready to go. Mark Poustinchian and Davis Straub were the first ones to start on a double tow, Paris Williams and I were next, just before 10:00. Most of the other pilots, who on the previous days started early and generally landed early too, this time were smart to wait. To take off at towards 10 am was the first right decision of the day.

    We released at cloud base (1,000 m asl), not a high tow since according to the rules we could have towed up to 2,000 agl. There was a queue of pilots and the conditions were good so we released low. We encountered thermals of 1-1.5 m/s and were able to advance without having to circle that much hoping from one little cu' to the next. The first 30 km were effortless, we were thermalling quite nicely, constantly re-centering the thermals' core and therefore having the best climb possible. We then came to a blue gap (25-30 km long) and on the other side we could already see cloud formation. I told Paris that we should slow down and make sure we could go past it. The thermals in this gap were weaker and not as good as the ones we had before and the ones we came across during the rest of the flight.

    Later on I heard that Davis Straub had had a problem with his zipper, he was forced to land and tow up again later. Mark Poustinchian, who was on his way early and on his own, had not gotten too far; he landed shortly before Laredo. So Paris and I were in the 'leading gaggle'. We got to Laredo after 11 hours - approx. 60 km from take-off - with no problems and properly avoided the CTR. Cloud base was already at 1,200-1,300 m asl, the thermals around 2-3 m/s and 20-25 km/h tailwind.

    At some point I just told Paris that we had to forget about the roads and the possible landing fields below us and just fly towards the places with the best clouds and cloud street formation. So we flew a little towards the west and after a while we had to fly back towards the East because the best clouds where there.

    After a while - 100 km -, Paris made a little mistake or maybe was just unlucky. He flew to the west towards a cloud that seemed to be working pretty well but unfortunately it was not. I flew even more to the left looking for the lift and found it at roughly 100-200 m past Paris' unlucky cloud; it was a decent 2 m/s. He ended up having a very long glide while I was able to stay in a better course line. After this thermal I stayed on the right side because I saw him sinking a lot, and with my extra height I was able to get to the next thermal and climb faster. Paris came to the thermal much lower andhad to look for it for a while, he finally got it but after not too long he was one - strong - thermal behind me. It was a pity because we had planned to fly together and in this type of situation having someone to fly with is definitely helpful. Paris is an excellent pilot who makes very good decisions and whose flying style is similar to mine, I think he climbs fast and efficiently and glides very well. It was a real pity that he stayed behind.

    I thought to continue going because maybe I would make a mistake and he could catch up with me again. Unfortunately he had a problem with his VG. He had made some adjustments but the rope was not long enough so at the beginning of the flight, as he released it, it went into his downtube and he could not get it out. Actually, he flew most of the time with no VG at all! He thought of landing a thousand times but kept going, it was great because he still broke Larry Tudor's old record with no VG! This was a great performance because when you fly over 50 km/h with no VG you have so much bar pressure that it is unbearable, not to talk about the lower performance of the glider in the transition between thermals.

    I continued the flight on my own making sure of never getting low, sipping out of my Camelback here and there, munching on my müsli bars and properly concentrating. It was a very pleasant flight and I did not encounter many problems in the air. The biggest problem that day was coming in low to a thermal because it was often hard to locate its core and a constant lift due to the strong wind. I was able to stay concentrated throughout the flight and ensure taking the proper decisions. The conditions kept getting better and better with big, steady thermals of 3-4 m/s. I was flying between them at an airspeed of 60-70 km/h plus 25-30 km/h tailwind.

    I reached the hill country after 350 km and for quite a while I knew that if I were to land there retrieve would have been very, very tricky. Luckily it was not really a problem since I never got low enough to have to worry about it. At approx. 500 km I made a small mistake. Instead of flying to the nearest working cloud, which was a little to the left of my course line I decided to keep flying straight, through a blue gap, towards a cloud on the other side. When I got there it was not working anymore and I had to continue gliding until I reached the next thermal. This was the only time that I was really low (400 m agl).

    When I passed the 500 km mark, between 17:00 and 17:30, I knew I still had a couple of hours of daylight and thermal activity, until approx. 20:30. I also knew that if I would make the best out of them I could break the 400 mile barrier (640 km) that the US pilots, and especially Davis Straub, kept dreaming of. I had to maintain my concentration and make no mistakes.

    The conditions had improved even more with 4-5 m/s thermals (I had a 6 m/s integrated lift recorded on my vario as best climb) and 30-35 km/h tailwind so I was pretty much 'hanging in loose' there. When I passed the 400 miles barrier - at 19:50 - and switched my vario back to km (approx. 650 km) I immediately thought it could be possible to reach the 700 km mark. The GPS showed sunset time at 20:50 so there was still time. Even though the lift would not be very strong it would definitely be enough since around 19:00 I was still climbing at 4 m/s. I started flying faster and this is when I made the biggest mistake of the whole flight: I landed too early, I could have flown a little further.

    I landed at 20:30 but I could have flown for another 20 minutes. I did not climb all the way to cloud base in the last thermals 2 m/s. After my last thermal (1 m/s) I just glided to the ground and landed besides a farm called Todd Farms (927 m asl). There were 2 farms and afterwards nothing so I decided to glide as far as possible; but to land near an inhabited place. I reached Todd Farms with 150 m agl, it worked out perfectly. I was conscious of the need of a landing witness in order to validate the record.

    I was surprised because right after landing I did not feel tired! It was an extremely long flight - 10½ hours - . I knew I had just done something special, something just amazing…I was definitely euphoric. It was much different than winning a competition. This flight was unique I flew alone for a very long time and got extremely far.

    When Don and Kathleen came to pick me up I had a HUGE smile on my face, I was just exceptionally happy. The hours after this flight were simply incredible, I was really excited. It is truly hard for me to describe what I felt.

    I liked this type of flying very much. I like the idea of trying to get as far as possible, of utilizing the day to the maximum.





THE EQUIPMENT
    The glider I flew for the WRE was the same I had in Spain for the Worlds/WAG. I only took the carbon insert out of the leading edge because it would give me a better handling. I knew it was important for me to fly on an 'energy-saving mode' because I had to make sure to be able to stay in the air for a long period of time. Since the insert only works at very high speeds and I knew I would not be flying that faster than 70 km/h, I just removed it. My glider could not have been better.

    I did not fly the same harness I had in Spain. I used my previous MR Tenax which had a parachute on one side and pockets on the other one (as most harnesses do). It was a bit more loose-fitting and I had more space for things like müsli bars and water.

    I flew with my IQ Bräuninger and a 12 Map GPS. It was never cold, not even at cloud base so I was flying with a t-shirt and my speedarms all the time.

10½ HOURS
    It seemed incredible that I was not tired after such a long flight. I thought it was just the excitement and that I would be practically knocked out the next day; but I still felt pretty o.k. the next morning.

    Previous to this day my longest flight had been of 6 hours; in a competition an average task is completed in 3-4 hours. The training flights and the first week flying were crucial given that I was able to progressively increase the duration of my flights.

    I also modified my flying style. In a competition I fly most of the time with the VG-on or 3 of it on. I regularly thermal with the VG partially on and this takes a lot more of energy and work. In Texas I did it the conventional way: VG on only for the transitions. In the past, I have been more tired after a hard competition flight of 4 hours than after these 10½ hours. I was pretty much relaxed throughout the entire flight.

    Lots of water. I made sure to drink enough throughout the flight. I also ate the 4 müsli bars in flight, it was the first time ever that I ate in the air; but I knew it was important to keep my energy levels high. Since it was important for me to be relaxed but at the same time concentrated at all times, I did not let anything perturb me and therefore, I 'went to the toilet' 3 or 4 times.

    Another very important thing was motivation; this is what really kept me going.

SOME VALUES
    Average climb throughout the flight was 3 m/s, strongest thermal 6 m/s. Highest altitude 2994 m asl. Total altitude gain 34879 m in about 60 thermals.

    I think it is interesting as well to see how I increased my speed with the day's development:

From 0-100 miles: 3 hours
From 100-200 miles: 21 hours
From 200-300 miles: 2 hours 15 minutes
From 300-400 miles: 2 hours 5 minutes