WGC in Pocuinai; mixed feelings but Great Champions! CIM with winners and a National 15 m. CHAMPION!

POCUINAI ! It can be like this as well.

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As shared by team UK.

I left you on Wednesday morning with a much too long blog, so this will be hopefully shorter but still with ALL the relevant news.
After only ONE really acceptable day in total till now , the pilots wish and hope for a few good day’s  to finish this  a tad disappointing WGC.

August 10; Day was cancelled. The meteo info was ;
Today cloudy with a few showers. High 18C. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.”

Enough time to prepare for the INTERNATIONAL EVENING. As always a GREAT event!!!!

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The Belgium team,  the Danish team and the Dutch team.
as shared by the teams.

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The Czech team.

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The New Zealand team ,Aussie team and French team.
As shared by the teams.

Thursday August 11; pretty cool out side,16/18 dgr. C , blue with clouds  and hope for 1800 m. base
Alarming messages in the early morning though,  from some of my mates….
scrubbing the day for a stolen flag. Pociunai should never get an international competition again. absolute disgrace
And
” No scrubbing.. They postponed the briefing for one hour
And
they only fly when the FAI flag is back”
And
” Now they just called a tc meeting threatening with calling the police. Either this organisation are jokers or a joke.”
And
So there is currently a standoff in briefing. The director has said no briefing or flying until the flag is returned. The Belgians are furious. Lots of shouting. 10% of competitors have walked out. Slow hand clapping. Stay tuned“.
And
Well, this is getting interesting. No briefing until FAI flag is returned. Briefing is turning into a riot.”
And
Still a stand off and the police have been called… this is fabulous.”
And
After a lovely enjoyable evening last night & a bit of a comedy act this morning, the boys are raring to go.”
And
It would seem that sanity has prevailed and we now have some tasks .”
And
Yes, Tasks have been received! the flag not yet, but the competition director gives time until the closing ceremony to return it. Weather looks ok for today. First launches are planned at 1pm. To be continued..”

The organization seems very angry, but , as they could have known, it has happened before, nearly  some kind of tradition nowadays, and is always back before the final day, to be hanging proudly on the pole during the closing ceremony. Not that I am in favor of doing such things , and it is a bit “outdated”, but,…….boy’s are boy’s.
After the ceremony this year, the flag will be given to Terry Cubley from Australia, now steward at Pocuinai,  to be proudly hanging then in Benalla at their WGC .

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Hot topic for the day…missing FAI flag!!
As shared by the UK team.

WOW WOW WOW , and this is a TOP FAI event, a WGC -spot chosen years ago after a good bid,  with jurors , stewards and intelligent pilots!This day is  turning into a bit of a joke !!!Such a pity!!!
Maybe the bad weather and  the sometimes “weird decisions” to fly on un-flyable days, has made some of the guests a bit “naughty” . Where is the HUMOR????? Of course the flag should be and will be back in TIME.

Anyhow tasks were set and I hope the emotions were less, when they could fly and crews could be active again.
Back to soaring!!!!
All A tasks with 3 hour AAT’s. Start lines opened at 1.47 for club  and 2.09 for standard and the first news was good lift with 2 m./s. and a base already at 1400 m. Lovely news after all the “troubles”.

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As shared by the Belgium team with the message:”enough drama for today. let’s fly!

After the pretty miserable morning it turned out a real good day and everybody was happy again. Though,……..”Unbelievable. the one day we get to race and they under set the assigned area. Maxed out all sectors, hammered the field, and they get an extra 6 minutes to finish the task…. genius.”
Pilots had problems to fill the time, but after a day with No finishers, they now had a day with nearly [except for 2] all finishers.

Standard class; 3 hour AAT…..The Czech pilots Miloslav and Pavel raced over 386.63 km. in 3.02 gaining 1000 and 997 points.The German pilots Felipe and Robert did well with 991 and 990 points and with 2 days to go the overall score is for the French team pilots Louis and Guillaume but the Germans are closing in.
Club class; 3 hour AAT …and Lithuanian pilot Linas in his St Jantar got himself 1000 points for 297.89 km. in time 2.59. German pilot Jan Rothhardt ,over the last couple of days on spot 1 overall, was on a daily 3d spot.
20 m.class: 3 hour AAT….and the current WGC champions the Jones brothers won the 1000 points together with the by now number ones overall,  the French team Duboc/Aboulin. Though they still have the same amount of points as the Italian team Ghiorzo/ Mangano; both 5068. The Jones brothers are on spot 3 with 4920……Exciting last days for them, everything is possible as long as they can fly!!!!

As steward Terry mentioned in the evening;
Never a dull moment in Lithuania.

International night last night was great, lots of very potent clear liquid in little cups and some great food. A lovely night talking to lots of people.

We were rudely awoken for a 9am team captains meeting – big issue was the loss of the FAI flag. A standoff between the CD and the teams with delays and threats to flying for the day. The worst briefing I have seen with stamping of feet and yelling and abusive comments. We managed to calm it all down and the final briefing was harmonious with some task sheets issued.

The day was the best day we have seen for the comp with the AAT tasks rather underset so the top two in 20m class came in 7 minutes under time at 120kph. This could change the overall results at the end of the day.

Pilots were a lot more relaxed after a good race so hopefully the next few days with good weather will create a better atmosphere. It has been hard work – not quite the relaxing time I was hoping for, but still good fun. The steward/Jury group went out to the local posh restaurant for dinner, very nice.

Photo. Chief Steward and Jury President “sucking up the pressure.”

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And the report on August 11, from USA coach John Good one of my soaring friends and former Uvalde Deputy director in 2012 under the head;
Today began with more grim weather – and a near riot.  I’m happy to say that both situations saw improvement by the end of the day.”
“After substantial overnight rain, we again awoke to overcast skies.  Having adapted (to the extent possible for glider pilots) to this difficult weather pattern, we were trying to get our minds around the possibility of a third straight no-contest day.  But the forecast was cautiously optimistic – and the predicted clearing arrived around 11:30.  Conditions improved steadily, launches went off as planned, and we ended up with the best conditions and speeds of the contest thus far.

The day’s area tasks proved a bit short for the good weather.  Both in Standard and 20-Meter classes, some pilots flew close to the maximum possible distance in less than the specified minimum time.  Despite this minor glitch, it’s fair to say that everyone’s mood has brightened considerably.

The near riot calls for some explanation:  The FAI is the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (read: International Airsports Federation) – a venerable organization that does not take itself lightly.  This contest is held under the FAI’s auspices, and thus is required to observe approved decorum, which includes playing the FAI anthem at opening and closing ceremonies, and displaying the FAI flag.  This flag has become a common focus for pranks – the goal of certain mischievous individuals is to steal it out from under the noses of contest organizers, then hoist it in unapproved locations and circumstances, etc.

This has happened here.  Unconfirmed reports say that there were two FAI flags, both of which have disappeared.  Contest organizers are Not Amused. At the morning pilot briefing, it was announced that no flying would happen until a flag was returned.  When the assembled pilots realized this was meant seriously, many of them rose and loudly booed.  The mood was not good.

I’ll note that this rather heavy-handed approach seems out of character for WGC2016, where the general approach has been mild application of authority, resulting in a very smooth-running, low-stress contest.  I’ll also say that FAI flag capers are becoming a rather stale joke – this was mildly amusing when it was a fresh idea, but that was quite some time ago.

When the booing subsided, the pilot briefing was terminated, to be re-convened in an hour.  At the second briefing, it was announced that gridding, launching and flying would proceed as normal (to everyone’s relief, as there were now ample signs of good weather arriving).

It’s unclear how this ends.  The FAI flag is said to be an essential part of Sunday’s closing ceremony.  The general hope – and expectation – is that the pranksters relent and the flag(s) reappear.”
A kind wise opinion. Not being there I want to give you as much news as possible.

August 12, one but last day! With the REAL Pocuinai weather, finally.

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As shared by Team Belgium [pic 1] and the UK with the message;
On the grid – ready for the day. If only the sky had looked like this every morning....”
I guess this is the “normal “summer-weather the organization expected and certainly hoped for. Pretty tough on them , it turned out different.
What can you do?

Good [racing]  tasks were set  on a nice crystal clear, sunny blue morning with cu’s slowly building up;just under and well over 400 km. GOOD!!!!!A very important day as the forecast for the last day says 40 % chance of rain.
Standard class; 460.02 km…..and today it was the other way around. 1. Pavel 2. Miloslav with a speed of 107 and 105 km./h. We have n’t heard much of Sebastian but today he was 3d. 29 From 40 finished.
How does it look overall after today with ONE day to go:
1.still Louis Bouderlique from France with 5961 points.Not a too good day loosing 107 points on a daily spot 8, but still no worries.
2. Felipe Levine from Germany with 5894 points. He climbed up from 3 as French pilot Guillaume had a less good day finishing on spot 11.
3. Guillaume Girard with 5870. So EVERYTHING and ANYTHING is still possible.Certainly when you flew the comps after landing in the lake in the first week on an official training day. But with help”of your friends”  he could continue the WGC [and win bronze!]For Belgium pilots Dennis [5644] and Bert jr. [5587] , as well as German pilot Robert [5609] the gap might be too big, but you never know. They will go for it .

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Louis Bouderlique / Guillaume Girard !
As shared on Pole France Planeur.

Club class; 395.78 km…..starting at 1500 m. was not an every-day-happening, so the pilots enjoyed to leave on a “high” ;1500 m. and pilots from 3 East European countries used the great clouds for the first 3 daily spots. Zsolt from Hungary, Linas from Lithuania and from Russia it was , Anton. At spot 4 Henrik from Denmark.
With one day to go it looks as follows;
1.Jan Rothhard from Germany with 5696 points
2. Eric Bernard the current WGC club class champion from France 5658, who was before already a few days on spot 1 overall.
3.Ricardo Brigliadori , his father would have been so proud!!!! But still one day to go. 5479 and that’s a difference of only 4 points with Henrik Breidhal from Denmark. And Italian pilot Davide [5454]  and French pilot Antoine [5447] and last but not least Sabrina from Germany[5412] might be still in the race as well.

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Jan after an out landing with a lot of “new Mates”.
As shared on their site.

20 m.class: 461.09 km…..the French and UK pilots fight for the honors and with ONE point difference the French team arrived in front of the UK brothers and it was a pretty miserable day for Stefano and his Italian mate as they lost nearly 150 points today.
With one more day the differences are ;
1.The French team Duboc/Aboulin with 6068 points.
2.The Italian team still on 2 but now with 5925 points
3.The Jones brothers from the UK with 5919.
You see how CLOSE this all is.Let there be another day!!!

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Selfie from Kathrin with husband Stefano and Mr. Mangano…… And the French team Julien [Juju]Duboc and Laurent [Lolo]Aboulin.
As shared by Pilotessa Design-com before the start…….. As shared by Pole France Planeur

August 13 LAST DAY!!! The early- morning-sun is shining, but it seems not for long.Briefing at 11 and no grid before!!!!! That does n’t sound too good. My prayer for let there be another day might be not heard by the weather gods.
Meteo;”Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Turning warmer. High 18C. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 km/h. Chance of rain 40%.”
Standard classcancelled
Club classcancelled
20 m.classcancelled

So no last day , it’s over and OUT, no possibility to win or loose points,…..I think for some there is a feeling of,” it’s over, its good no out-landings anymore , no long trips through Poland to find a glider, it’s good, it’s over now”.
The many out-landings have cost a lot of energy both on pilots and crews. Also disappointment and some kind of disbelieve on tasks set on days gliders normally stay in a hangar ,…BUT  this is a WGC. But…. Maybe,…not at any cost!!!
It’s all about camaraderie as well ,  for sure  more new  friendships, more talks in great atmosphere and you learn from up’s and downs.
Some one- rule- opinions as shared by the pilots
It’s been a fun if a little challenging couple of weeks- every comp is a learning exercise.”
” We had great days and hard days, but most of all, we had fun!”

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The very successful French team during their private team meeting, and briefing with TC Eric Napoleon and the full team.
as shared by Pole France Planeur.

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The French team [above]  did extremely well with 4 from 9 medals around their necks.
Team Germany ,…compliments….with one gold and one silver
Team Italy with a silver and bronze medal,…chapeau!!!
One medal left , bronze and that one is for the Jones brothers from the UK,…good on them. Last WGC’s champions ,….now still in great form on spot 3 with only 6 points from the silver.
Also Eric did well last WGC champion,… now number 2 and Bert Schmelzer jr, was WGC champion and now on spot 6.
Steady going pilots all of them.

WE HAVE CHAMPIONS from this 34st FAI WGC ;
Standard class; 
GOLD; Louis Bouderlique from France with 5961 points.
SILVER; Felipe Levine from Germany with 5894 points.
BRONZE; Guillaume Girard from France with 5870 points.

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Club class ;
GOLD;Jan Rothhard from Germany with 5696 points.
SILVER ;Eric Bernard from France with 5658 points.
BRONZE ;Ricardo Brigliadori from Italy with 5479 points.

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20 meter class;
GOLD ; The French team Duboc/Aboulin with 6068 points.
SILVER ; The Italian team Ghiorzo/Mangano  with 5925 points
BRONZE ; The Jones brothers from the UK with 5919.

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As shared by Kathrin
Pilotessa Design-com

Party time was from 8 PM onwards yesterday evening after packing most of the gear.Some countries left early to show they were not happy with this WGC. That should not happen, as everybody tries it’s best.

August 14…..TODAY…..Prize giving at 12 AM. Teams were asked to be there at 11 AM. And,….a great sky!!!!! As at many more events I visited!!!!! Always the same. A pity.
And,…..the FAI flag was hanging again!

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Team CUP won by France with team manager Eric Napoleon, how many WGC’s would he have attended as pilot and as coach???

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Shared by the Dutch team and by Katja from Finland.Look at the SKY!!

To finish this WGC  soaring.eu-blogs, a great picture shared by Mitch Hudson from team USA. FABULOUS picture. He was amazed himself , that his i- phone picture turned out so well.

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———

CIM in Rieti !

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The Terminilo and hangars, as far as I remember for helicopters. The old hangar to the r. was the briefing-room in the past for big comps.

No bad weather in Rieti anymore. After they flew in the first week, 3 out of 6 days, they flew in the last week every day.

On Wednesday, several AAT’s between 3.15 and 2.40 hour.There are no bounds for Michael Sommer it seems, as he won in open class every day till now.
August 10;
club; 3 hour AAT for the club class pilots and Nicola and his sister Elena started and finished together over 267 km. in the LS 1f  in time 2.58 and received 991 and 982 points.  Michelle did not fly.
mixed;2.15 AAT and Luca de Marchi flew 331 km in time 2.13 and “received” 691 points. VERY fast day as his speed was 147.21 km./h. This day was cancelled in the end , as not all gliders [ heavy non self 2-seater-launchers] could start from the N site of the field, so that would be unfair.It’s very unusual that the wind comes from the in their eyes wrong site. The runway is shorter then with trees on the end, as far as I remember. In all the years I was there it happened only once or twice.
And,..as this is a National Championship for 15 m class their scores counted for the total; so 700 points for Luca in this class. But Thomas is still on top.
18 m; AAT from 3.15 and Lasham pilot Jon Gatfield raced with big speed over the mountains and valleys to arrive back at Rieti at  5.52 PM. He flew in 3.12 a distance of 425.95 km. Pretty good!!!! Speed 131.06 km./h.so 1000 points for him.
Giorgio got 923 points as runner up for 407 km in time 3.05.
open:2 hour AAT and NO,….not Michael this time as winner but German long-distance- pilot Alexander Mueller. He flew with huge speed….152.58 km./h over 316.69 km in time 2.04. Alberto [Sironi] an Italian Speedy Gonzales was runner up with a speed of 152.06. Michael was 3d with a speed of 149.19.

August 11; VERY LAST DAY!!! And this was waiting…….

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club; 288.68 km…and Austrian pilot Rudolf Schneider in the PIK 20E won the day; speed 110.78 km./h.
The WINNERS of the cup  were brother Nicola  and sister Elena Fergnani both with 5723 points. How they do that after 7 days of flying  must be a miracle. They flew together yes, but had daily different scores.Good on them, such a nice family.

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mixed;2.30 AAT….and Gintas was the best again; 800 points and the speed was 137.29 km./h.. For the Nationals it was also an AGAIN as Luca won ;800 points this time and a speed of 123.85 km./h.
After 6 days in this class and 2 daily wins  Gintas wins the CIM. 5318 points.
In this class seven Italian 15 m pilots were fighting for the national title.
National 15 m. Champion is Thomas Gostner[5860] The silver was for Luca de Marchi with 5675 and the bronze for Lucas Marchesini but with more than 600 points less;5051.

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A happy smiling Thomas as Italian 15 m. CHAMPION.

18 m; 2.15 AAT… Aldo [Pigni]  and Giorgio flew around with a speed of 137 and 133 km./h and gained 722 and 693 points.
So who wins this class?
Pino Dal Grande with 5925 points. He did not win a day, but flew very consistent. Sandro Montemaggi was the leader in the beginning but after 2 outlandings he lost too much points.
Then there are 3 Austrian pilots , Bernard Leitner [5796], Heimo Demmerer [5755] and good old Reinhard Haggenmueller [5712]  they love the CIM and on spot 5 Giorgio Galetto.
open:335.96 km…Michael was the best again; 141.50 km./h. and leads with more than 300 points. So Michael Sommer  is the clear WINNER. [5944]
He was followed by Tassilo[5622] and Austrian pilot Sebastian Eder.[5215]

The CIM is always one big event full of mates!!! Congratulations to all.

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Pictures by Clara and shared by CD Aldo.

———-

F5B Worldchampionship in Lugo.
[Italy]

From my Japanese friend Ken I got news about model-flying. He represents Japan in the Electric Model Airplane World Championships.
Ken flew in gliders with us in Australia in the past , later more and more in his own vintage planes; the T-21 Sedbergh and Olympia.

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As ” vintage “glider pilot and model -airplane-pilot.

Hi Everyone
Again I’m in model airplane world championship. This time at Lugo Italy.
We will be competing against 20 other national teams. It’s a small village near Bologna but we still managed to find a Japanese restaurant.”

8 Days [between August 12 and 20] of exciting flying with electric model aeroplanes. Model-flying is done by many glider pilots prior to gliding.

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Kenichi Ueyam, Ken for his friends, to the left with his mates.
As shared by Shun Myiashita .

Ready to go for it!!

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As shared by Ken.

My Japanese is non-existing, but a lot of news is in that language of course!
“残念なことが起こりました、宮下選手のお父さんの容態がわるくなり急遽帰国せざるをえなくなりました。幸い桜庭君への選手交代が認められたのでチームとしては大丈夫です。宮下さんが無事にお父さんと会えることを祈ります。”
There you are ,…only readable for my Japanese readers and those who studied the language. No worries I get news in English as well.
Maybe not the best copy and paste job, as I think , after reading the very poor English translation, that it is about a sick father from one of the participants , Shun Myashita, who has to hurry home now. Hope he is in time!!All the best.

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A bit different than at a soaring competition.AND,..with “doping”.
As shared by the Japanese team.

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———

News from Schempp-Hirth.

On August 8 they published the next news;
A bit more than a week ago, we have successfully test flown the new Ventus’ prototype now equipped with the Turbo sustainer engine – and we are very happy with the results.

Easy to operate, reliable and with the experience of many hundred systems already in the field, this Ventus’ Sport Edition engine option will be the perfect addition to avoid landing out. For those in search of an electric sustainer engine, the FES system will soon follow.”

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AND

PILOTS ON SCHEMPP-HIRTH GLIDERS WIN 8 OUT OF 9 MEDALS AT WGC IN LITHUANIA.

———-

Due to the fact that I am using my left arm in a wrong way whilst writing, I must on doctors advise quit writing for at least a week or 2. The tendon in my underarm is damaged and causes problems for my left pink  which is more or less paralyzed.
To avoid an operation,…. I will be a good girl.
Sorry about that. Health wise this is for sure NOT my year.
The weekend of the 19th I will attend a competition in Belgium and catch up with my friends over there also those who will be back from Lithuania. Asap I will share the weekend with you of course with pictures as every year.

cheers Ritz

4 thoughts on “WGC in Pocuinai; mixed feelings but Great Champions! CIM with winners and a National 15 m. CHAMPION!

  1. Hi Ritz.
    I doubt the “SWISS” team has sent you pictures from the International Evening !
    Switzerland was not participating in the competition! It must be another “SWISS” team!!!
    By the way, do you know why the american Arcus was given “virtual” points? What is that?
    Best regards and a speedy recovery with your arm.
    Ole.

    1. Hi Ole,
      oh you are so good!!! Thanks !! I saw the Danish flag and called it Swiss both red and white but totally different.STUPID!!!!!Mea Culpa!!!!
      I changed it.
      What about the virtual points???? Do you want me to check that. Have n’t even seen it.
      Thanks for your good wishes should not even write now, but you know me.
      cheers Ritz
      And no Benalla or Tocumwal for me . Except for my arm this year is one from going to doctor , to hospital and back I have written 2016 off!!!!
      And I was so healthy in Tocumwal. One nasty bug hit me and still ‘Loves’ me and stays in my body!!!!! Hate it!!!

  2. Hi again.
    On the daily results for 20-meter, it says 0 points for american Arcus ML and then some “virtual” points, except for the first couple of days. The preliminary results and the IGC files looked OK. I have never before heard of virtual points.
    Sad to hear you will not be in OZ this coming season. Ib Wienberg is the Danish Teamcaptain, this time bringing his wife, and I will be there as”tourist”, just like in Narromine last year.
    Get well soon!
    Ole.

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