My first XC on the M3. Actually a really good flight for getting to know the glider, as there were 3 distinct phases. Around the take-off ridge and for the first 20km conditions were broken and choppy; the middle part of the flight was in better organised moderately strong thermals; the later stages were in weakening conditions as the sky was shut down by strato-cu.

In the broken stuff the glider was very good. Solid, climbing well, lots of feedback but not much noise and no collapses. I wasn’t super relaxed, but no one I chatted to afterwards was!

In the good middle part of the flight the glider was fab. I was really satisfied with the agility. I was able to tighten up on the cores just fine. I was trying the technique of pulling the brake across my body, which brakes the wing tip more than if you pull down with the handle outside of the riser. There is a bit more turn and bank, but I am still getting used to this feature.

When searching for the last dregs of lift I did notice the glider pulling me towards lift and the turn was really flat when I needed it.

Hard to be definitive on comparative performance on glide as the only close glide I had was against a Trango 3. Trim on the M3 was significantly faster. The air was pretty active but I appeared to have a noticeably better best glide, over a 1 minute glide.

After landing, I realised that for the second half of the flight I hardly thought about the glider, except for thinking “wow, this is good”
I am definitely really impressed and very happy!
The next big test will be in my first competition of the year.