06:00 Day 4 Rolda Open. The sky is partly cloudy but looks like it will clear soon :)

The weather looks fantastic today..sun in the valley and fluffy clouds. A 103km task has been set but with a large start cylinder which will reduce the task length to about 90km. A good breeze on launch allowed all the competition pilots to launch within 35 minutes.

The valle from launch

As usual, there were sun and shade cycles which made the task tricky for some 'impatient' pilots but as the sun broke through everywhere at midday the climbs became stronger and better formed. Some were snatchy, grabbing the glider and throwing you into the core, others threw you out! One collapse left me with a bruises! The Pacifico (west) wind came through quite early today causing rotor conditions in front of the mountains but once out in the valley there was little influence.

Roldanillo - 3 day forecast : wind & thermals

The wind was stronger than predicted to the north and goal at Cartago airfield, decking many of the leaders but 14 pilots persevered to make goal :)
The forecasts here aren't proving to be much help since today the predominant wind (according to both MeteoBlue and xc skies) was predicted to be south or west in Cartago but turned out to be north! The widespread flooding and La Niña effect seem to be altering the 'usual' trends so that even the local pilots are baffled by it all and unable to predict what might happen.
Stef Wyss unfortaunately landed short as did baby Reina, so the top ranking is likely to change big-time tomorrow.
Many pilots enjoyed a great flying day, though there have been some grumbles about the pre-start turnpoint and not having enough time to reach the start. Theres lots of smiley sunburnt faces here at HQ and various tall-tales are circulating of being rescued from 'crocodile infested swamps' in the area between La Victoria and goal! ;-) :-D

Task results: Very Provisional!
1. Adrian Hachen SUI
2. Domenik Frei SUI
3. Mario Pfister SUI

Overall after 4 tasks:
1. Eric Reed USA
2.Stef Wyss SUI
3. Brad Gunniscio USA