You betcha. Minutes after takeoff from Storm Lake, Stuart shuts down the motor and I bank steeply into a six knot thermal. That's more like it! Thanks to the tailwind, even while circling we're making almost 20 knots toward our goal. By this point in the trip I have come to realize that the Stemme is more comfortably thermalled with two hands on the stick; the control forces are quite high when maneuvering in turbulent thermals at steep angles of bank. Stuart takes the camera while I concentrate on extracting the last ounce of performance from the glider.