RSSHEADLINES SKYSPORTS

Despite seemingly endless whining at the team leader briefing and then again at the task briefing this morning, from where I was sitting the first day went off beautifully.  They called a perfect 104km task around the mountains and over to the Almanalco goal - that's the great one on a green grassy football field.  We arrived about a half hour before the fastest guys and had a great time watching the live tracking - it really is super cool! 

Our USA team boys didn't have the best day ever, but it wasn't terrible either.  It looks like Robin will end up around 9th place, Kris around 18th and Zippy somewhere near 21st.  Derreck also made goal just behind Zippy, but Bill, Bruce and Matt had tough days landing short.  Better tomorrow, I'm sure.  

The biggest scare of the day was Laurent Thevenot's tumble near the Pinon right around the time of the first start.  He got his chute out and landed with only very minor injuries according to the official reports.  We're all happy for that - there's no sweeter pilot out there.  What's really strange is that he's flying with a tail, so it's hard to imagine how that could have happened...hoping to hear more details tomorrow.

Teams strategizing....