The contest site was Littlefield, TX. Charlie called a triangle to Portales and Levelland. After turning Portales, the Fonz was 2 turns higher in a great thermal when he headed east southeast. I stayed in the thermal for 2 more turns and headed out following him. He started down, fast and I moved south into better air and watched him do the lawn dart thing - descending lower and lower and then dumping water. I lost sight of him as we went under a shelf and I went searching for lift. After finally making Levelland I headed back to Littlefield. Tuning in gate frequency about 10 minutes served only to ruin my day as I was rewarded with hearing Alfonzo call 2 minutes out. A lesson in humility??