Thomas Borchert wrote
It's a great idea to have that in your bag of tricks. OTOH, consider
first that on a day with 300-feet-thermals, you might also end up in a
downdraft that you can't outclimb, so your safest option might be to
stay on the ground.

That's ALWAYS the safest option.

You know, some of us fly entirely without engines - and we fly cross
country. We're literally counting on finding the lift and avoiding
the sink to avoid landing in a field or worse - because we can't climb
at all, even in still or slightly rising air. By comparison, flying
something that can actually climb 300 fpm seems like a huge luxury,
and dramatically safer.

You
should be at Vy, but consider stall speed increases with bank angle.

Actually, Vy is probably too fast. In general, you need to fly just a
few knots over stall and in a fairly tight bank to stay in most
thermals. Since the air is turbulent, an incipient stall is not a
matter of if but when. Get comfortable with it. When you feel the
bit of the stall, release back pressure slightly until you feel the
plane flying again.

Michael