Looking back for just a minute, because it was such fun!

HOSIN….FAREWELL….            CU in 2 years in ….STENDAL.

   

Preparing the container for return to S.A.    and…a nearly empty airfield in Hosin again.

I will remember Hosin for a long time. NO I was n’t there,… but the organizers made me feel I was there. Of Course there is a huge difference , mostly missing out on mates-for-years AND the pure excitement from comps. Sometimes I just feel sad I am getting older, but so be it. But it all felt easy to follow even from far.
Thanks to the HOSIN team. Great job from Tomas Rendla as CD even more by his very confident 17 year old son Matej, bringing the WHOLE closing ceremony to an excellent end.
A pity I could not hear the noise from clapping etc,[ there was no sound!!] but for sure I find it somewhere again.
They all left with memories for a lifetime!!!!
Thank you  to Carol from South Africa who allowed me to share her words and to Matthew and Adam for sharing parts of what they wrote in their blogs!!

  

Carol, Adam and Matthew last 2 pictures courtesy Benjamin Neglais.
On Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures and on Matthew Scutter’s Gliding you find their last words on HOSIN.

AND,…the last words are for Tomas Rendla CD of this competition;
HOSIN,…..THE PLACE WHICH WAS THE WORLD’S CENTRE OF GLIDING FOR LAST THREE WEEKS! GLIDING ENTHUSIATICS AND FRIENDS WERE WATCHING FIGHTS FOR MEDALS IN “HEAVY” CLASSES. DUE TO MODERN TECHNOLOGIES THE PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD HAD CHANCE TO SEE OUR LIVE BRIEFINGS, LIVE RACES, ALMOST LIVE SCORING, LIVE STREAMS FROM THE PARTIES AND ALSO LIVE STREAM FROM CLOSING CEREMONY.

AS A LAST WORD OF THIS BIG AND GREAT EVENT I HAVE TO SAY BIG THANKS TO MY FAMILY, WHO SUPPORT ME A LOT WITH PREPARATION AND RUNNING THE COMPETITION, TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE ORGANISING TEAM, TO OUR YOUNGSTERS WHO MADE A GREAT ATMOSPHERE, TO ALL PARTICIPANTS AND CREWS.

SPECIAL THANKS BELONGS TO ALL OUR PARTNERS, SUPPORTERS, TO OUR SPONSORS, TO THE CZECH ARMY WHO ALLOWED US TO USE THEIR DEDICATED AIRSPACE FOR COMPETITION FLYING AND ONE REALLY BIG THANKS BELONGS TO AEROKLUB OF CESKE BUDEJOVICE, WHO RENTED US AN AIRFIELD FOR THREE WEEKS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GLIDING SEASON!

The FAI flag was handed over by President of the Jury Rick,  from Hosin hands in to Stendal hands. Germany next!!!

 

 

As promised the pictures from  the winners and that was not even easy.
I got a tip to look at the tweets and yes they were there. Here you are thanks to  

18 m. class With Wolfgang in the middle, Mario to the l. and Jean Denis to the r.
Courtesy Benjamin Neglais.
The open class champions in the middle Michael, to the l Felipe and to the r. Petr. In front of them the pilots who got a certificate; From l to r. Ricardo, Pete, Philippe and Sylvain, Andy, Zdislaw and Henrik.
20 m. class with team Poland on the top, to the l, team UK and to the r. Team Finland
When I saw Michael Sommer , last time , he was maybe not yet married , but his partner was carrying their first child-to-be. Now he had 4 kids at the podium and absolutely beautiful kids. So pleased for him, as he had quite some “wild hair” in the past, if I may say so.
He now has his 5th WORLD TITLE .[2004..2008…2010…2014…2018!!!]
Great to see Wolfgang back as WGC CHAMPION. I visited his wedding long time ago. He has n’t changed and is still the jovial Wolfgang I knew.
I have met Sebastian at a lot of comps, but never really got to know him. Don’t know exactly why. Looking at the list of world champions I counted 11 titles for him. Unbelievable.
And one more picture from Wolfgang, just because I can. I don’t think I have seen him so happy his 2d WORLD TITLE!!!!!!
A REAL HAPPY CHAPPIE!!!!
As shared by Benjamin.
With this picture , from TRUE HAPPINESS in mind , I asked Wolfgang,  whilst congratulating him with his 2d title, if this one felt different than the one in 2003, maybe more valuable.His answer;
Yes, it does feel more valuable than the first one. It was more difficult – pilots in 18m-class got much more competitive, and I’m much (15 years!!!) older. So I’m very grateful for this reward for the work I did here and there on myself.
AND to finish the last winners in the 20 m. class in their sponsored jackets.
More happy chappies; Allan and Matthew!!As shared by Gagula Darko
Delux by GagulaNovak WingcoversLZ designLXNAVNaviter SeeYouSoaringxx enSkySight.
And to finish the German team as CUPWINNERS!!
With a proud Wolly!!!
CONGRATULATIONS.
As shared by the German team.
The president of the jury Rick Sheppe from the USA happily traveled home,  but had a bit of delay!
 After 23 days of good weather in central Europe, a big storm caused me to miss my connecting flight. Stuck in London for a day. Could be worse.
and
The transition from Pilsner to Stout was uneventful.”
————-
—– THE CIM; I shared with you the picture from Giorgio at the highest spot in 18 m at the CIM. Now Clara shared some pictures from the other classes.
OPEN class with Alexander Mueller on the highest spot. To the l, Giorgio and to the r. Jon [UK]
    
15 m; With Remy in the middle and Luca to the l and Aku to the r.
20 m; with on the highest spot French team D. Guerin + A. Donnay
on spot 2 [ l]  Yves Gerster with his mate and
3J. Wenzel + M. Wenzel, the Wenzel familyie

——After all the euphoria from writing about impressive comps, I was quickly back with 2 feet on the ground ,after I heard at the news on Sunday morning that a young 15 year old lad crashed his glider on a cemetery in the neighborhood of Braunschweig in Germany. He flew the glider himself as training for his license. He must have been an enthusiastic young man, as he started already so young.  SO SAD, so terribly sad!!!

——-As said before, Ge Dale will be back in Narromine this year. As just” decorated” new UK champion in Club class  he will start coaching again. There are only 3 courses left for 2018!!! So be quick if you wish to be part of it.

“It’s on again, G. Dale is returning to Narromine and will be in residence for all of November & December this year!!
Whether you are an early Cross Country Soaring Pilot or a highly experienced Competition Pilot you can benefit enormously from a week of performance coaching with G Dale.

G. Dale is a professional gliding coach and will be running his outstanding Cross Country Coaching Courses throughout each week at Narromine starting Monday October 29 right through to Friday December 21. 
The course offers both theory and practical training. You will be flying one on one with G in the Narromine Duo Discus or you can fly a lead and follow with G in your own glider.
Flying each day will commence with a full weather and task briefing followed by either a group or one-on-one cross country coaching session. The courses can be tailored to suit your experience level and requirements from first cross country to National Competition standard. G will be running his famous 5 day full time cross-country performance coaching course each week.
See the Narromine Gliding Club website for full details and to make a bookinghttp://www.narromineglidingclub.com.au/NGC_GDaleCoaching.html…

AND
a picture after the prize giving in Dunstable.

Ge with the CUP, shared by my Narromine friends.Pic by Liz Pike.

 

——Back to comps; USA has the 15 m and open class Nationals. PRETTY WEIRD, I thought, after been there twice,  it was always fabulous weather in Uvalde in Texas, but they started with 3 NO CONTEST -day’s. I quickly found out why;” Uvalde today is sitting in the target area for flash floods, but should be moving away tomorrow. YAY! The chances for rain are diminishing.”
They had 2 practice day’s in open won by Dick Butler in the CONCORDIA and by Dave Mockler in the 21 m JS 1 C.
Nice to see that even Mark Huffstutler is flying. [ARCUS M] He was the CD in 1991 and I met him last in 2012 again. Lovely guy!!!!
So no contest-day’s on August 11-12-and 13.
BUT ,…they flew on the 14th, so contest day 1; Preliminary scores for 15 m.;David Leonard with 898 points..speed 79.77 miles /ph. over 214.86 km.
Preliminary scores for open; Jim Lee in JS 1C got the 1000 points for 272 km with a speed of 85.71 mile/ph.
Dick Butler in CONCORDIA DB was runner up and “lost” 18 points.
——-In Rieti the CIM has finished and they nearly straight away continued with the Coppa Citta di Rieti with 49 competitors in 3 classes Class A , Class B and a class for ” novices”, ” future champions” .
Class B has some international pilots ,so I focus on that. Of course all scores are on www.soaringspot.com
Day 1 had 326 km. for them and Alex Mc Caw and Dane Dickinson from N.Z were the best. Dane flew already earlier at the JWGC in Rieti where I met him then. Now they fly together an ARCUS M.
27 In this class and Jon [UK] who moved from the one to the other competition was runner up on day 1. He had the best speed with 137 km./h. in his ASG 29 ES.[handicap 119]
Davide Schiavotto, also a former junior, was 3d. With Alvaro on 5, Thomas [Gostner] on 8, Peter Hartmann [Austria] on 10; he must have raced/flown from Hosin to Rieti ,  where he flies every year.
Werner Danz [Switzerland] finished on 21.
    
As shared by Clara.
and great to see ALVARO, STILL with the same crew .Good on them!!!
Day 2; message from Clara;”Day2 – No task.
Storm alert/allerta meteo della Protezione Civile.
Cloud cover + heavy rain forecasted from early afrernoon. Copertura e previsione di piogge molto intense dal primo pomeriggio.
Wind gusts and electric activity. Raffiche di vento e fulmini.
It is highly recommended to secure your trailers and gliders. È altamente raccomandato fissare saldamente al suolo i rimorchi e gli alianti.
Hail is always possible when there are CBs. Strong or light, nobody really knows.”
Day 3 today; no task yet.
————-
More next week, last day in Uvalde will be on August 19 . And in France the 16 females are starting their NATIONAL_ladies-competition on the 19th.
In the UK the juniors and Regionals start this weekend at Lasham with 85 in total.
And the next big FAI events are the EGC in Turbia in Poland for open 18 and 20 m. from 11-25 Mai 2019.
For the “small” ships from July 6 -July 21 2019 in Prievidza in Slovakia.
CU next Wednesday
Cheers Ritz

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