Learn from my mistakes
5th day of my first gliding competition and already tired after having flown 15 hrs in the first four days. Task was a 300km. Day was hot and mainly blue with only the occasional whispy cumulus. After about 1/2 hr I tried to have a drink only to find the bottle had slipped out of reach.
Five hours later i was about 6 miles from the finish but getting a bit low for comfort so I decided to fly over the town to find a final thermal to make sure. I didnt find one of course so decided to final glide to the finish. A few minutes later over a large wood i discovered things were getting very marginal. Past the wood all the fields had standing crop. Eventually i arrived ( I wont say landed) in a crop field 2 short of the airfield.
Mistakes
Hydration- take enough water and make sure you drink it before you feel thirsty. Being dehydrated led to me making all the other mistakes.
press-on-itus. Dont let a competition effect good airmanship. i should have found a safe field before I got to the wood.
Watch the wind direction. the 10 knot tail wind I was expecting on that leg had turned into a 6 knot head wind due to a sea breeze.
Result of my foolishness was a bollocking by the CFI, a slightly bent glider and bottom place in the competition.