FRIDAY; AUGUST 12….VERY LAST DAY of the 12th FAI JWGC flown from Tabor.

Yesterday evening, the last words from Matej were;
“ Tomorrow is the last chance for the pilots to win more points and move upward in the total ranking, therefore we can look forward to one last arresting competition day.“
Like yesterday , for today, a 3 hour AAT was set for both classes.
The Dutch boys try to “just do the same as yesterday” Why not!? For Simon and Jelmer this is their last JWGC, Lars has at least one more JWGC to go, he is 22 now.
For Simon it is also the last day of “using” the LS 4 AU, [for Tabor changed in AA] in which he flew for 3 years and flew over 200 hours in it. The LS 4 is owned by a foundation as is another LS 4. [SZN]

David from the USA had a double report again. His last words on yesterday;
“I placed 23rd on the day with the winner’s speed being 115kph. So between 1st place and 25th place the speed differential for the day was only 3mph. That’s 7minutes difference. Even though each race takes hours to do it really is a game of minutes. The caliber of this competition never ceases to amaze me.”
You can read the full story on US Soaring Teams

The UK had a comment ;
“A unique challenge today came in the form of Gastro. The team is really suffering now ,but despite this Finn & Toby have maintained their positions and Henry has managed to climb 2 more positions!”
There seems to be a “BUG” hanging around at the field and more people suffer from it.
Hope they can stand the last day. It will be extra tough to fly under such demanding circumstances ,for sure you do not need an upset tummy high up in the air!!!
“Today is the final day. Despite the difficulties of the last few days, Toby and Finn have held onto their positions and Toby is feeling a lot better today. Conditions are tricky so it will be a tough final battle.”

The last briefing started with ” a round” of presentation of the TEAM. Tomas and Matej Rendla , CD and deputy CD, started and all “passed by” .
They deserve a TROPHY for their top job!!! They got straight away a huge applause.
Weather about the same as yesterday, but some local showers might appear. The meteo man got an even bigger applause and a thank- you -t-shirt .
ALL procedures are the same as all days before so, no confusion there on the last day.

Prizes were given to Simon in Club Class and Simon in standard class….to win you might change your first name in SIMON!! LOL.

Well the last day of flying has started!!

AUGUST 12;….day 13….valid flying day 10..[very good]…task 12!!!!
Before the start, at 10.45, the group photo was taken, all were asked to come in their red JWGC shirt.
Quite a few arrived at the field “in red”. As did the German team.

First start at 11 AM.
I do not expect a lot of news on the internet ,as the last day is always a bit mysterious, with tactics and hiding on tracking.
So I did not expect ,… a lot of trackers on the tracking system.
BUT,…when I looked , that was certainly not the case in club class. I missed the German pilots and the UK pilots, but the Dutch and French were open and proud to be found.

Club class; 3 hour AAT… with 5 sectors….gate opened at 12.25….12.53 was already a late start by young Belgium pilot Emilien. He flew 92 km. and was out.
The Finns had a really good day , both Kim and Mikko, flew a good distance [358 and 351 km] with a speed of 116. 25 and 114. 57 km./h. in their LS 7.
Kim moved from 13 to 8!!!!!
Toby from the UK was in his ASW 20 a bit faster; 116.66 km./h. flying 371 km. He started at 12.49.
But where was Finn? Celebrating already or,…..I was sure he would start again with Finn and fly together, but Toby finished at 4PM and no sign from Finn at 4.30, neither at 5 PM.
AND,…there were showers from east to west and the young ones had to avoid them or fly in between them.
Such weather can make or “kill” the day.
15 in ,1 out and for a long time no more scores!!!
At 5,..there were 2 Finnish pilots in, 2 French, 2 Swedish, 2 Dutch , 2 Danish and a few more.

At 5 PM, within one second , 37 scores were visible. Maybe a short problem, but not good for my heart!!!!
The hotshots were in as well. Nils even won the day with 116.61 km./h.
Alexandre was runner up; 388 km in time 3.13; speed 120 km/h. He moves from 7 to 5 overall.
Finn was on spot 6, Miles on spot 30??? Ouch not good,… he dropped from 3 to 7 and Nils is now on spot 3!!
Finn remains on spot 1, sick or not, he had a great competition.
Believe me they will celebrate tonight!!!!

Standard class;3 hour AAT….with 3 sectors. ….gate opened at ?????? It took a long time before we got the gate opening time from this class. At 2.30 it was still not mentioned on the official site.
Would there be a B task!?
Or did they forget to mention it on this last day??
I decided to look at the tracking and YES, they were flying. A lot already in the second sector!!
So just forgotten, no worries!!!
Normally it’s half an hour behind club.
Benjamin shared this picture with the message; “It seems that finally the sky wanted to put a bit of chaos in the Standard Class cruising day”

As you can see the standard class had most of the troubles with the showers in the last sector.
Ouch,…..hopefully not a luck factor on this last day!!!
But,..they finished as well. The Dutch had a great day and Maurits ,who had that one totally-off-day, could have been in the top 3. But IF, does n’t count. He flew today 396.51 km in time 3.15; speed 121.44 km./h!!!!
Today he wins and Dutch Nick is runner up.
The overall top 3 till now is in.
Simon on 14, Engeurrand on 18 and sadly drops to 5 and Lukaz on 19, he stays on 2.
Still some changes in the top 3 after today.

And that was that !!!!
Both the new WORLD CHAMPIONS flew as the only one in their class to over 8000 points.

Very preliminary OVERALL scores;
1. Finn Sleigh in ASW 20 with 8,132 p, the only one in the 8000 p range deserved WORLD CHAMPION.
2. Toby Freeland in ASW 20 l with 7,874 p.
3. Nils Fecker in LS 4a with 7,852 p
4. Lars Van Breemen in LS 4 b NEO with 7,781 p
5. Alexandre Fierain in LS 4 with 7,738.p
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL.

Very preliminary overall scores;
1. Simon Briel in Discus 2a with 8,053 well deserved WORLD CHAMPION.
2. Lukas Kriz in LS 8 with 7,636 p.
3. Jaromir Macoun in LS 8 with 7,620 p. He moved from 4 to 3.
Not all have been scored yet I miss about 4 and some did not fly anymore.

So 2 UK boys in club and 2 Czech boys in standard class in the top 3.

Looking ahead at the prize giving tomorrow morning , I got a comment in my blog which I want to share with you. It’s about one of the trophies.
I got it from Matthews dad, Michael, who I met in Narromine during the JWGC ,which was won by Matthew.
“The standard class trophy is in fact in memory of a glider pilot.
The Giulia Incisa della Rocchetta Challenge Cup, donated by the Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare) in 2007 on the occasion of the Junior World Gliding Championships in Rieti, Italy, in memory of Giulia, a member of the Italian Air Force sport squadron, who was killed in an outlanding in Romorantin, France, during a local gliding contest, just before she was to compete in the Junior World Gliding Championships in 2005.”
In 2007 I attended that JWGC and I heard from the accident, but it was far away in my mind now. Glad I got this comment.

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11th FAI Womens World Gliding Championship
Husbands Bosworth, United Kingdom
11 August 2022 – 27 August 2022

The last practice days …….and though tasks were short due to the very hot , pretty stable weather and the waiting for more tugs, as there were only 3 yesterday, they go for another short one , to get ALL MISTAKES out of the system, specially the pilots, as some struggle with PEV, wrong TP rounding’s etc.
Hopefully today ALL ladies will fly!!!!
During the comps there will be 8 tow planes, so that’s GOOD!!!!!
On the site was written about yesterday ;
“The UK is breaking all expectations of the international pilots with another blinder of a blue hot day! The pilots had to be very careful with their hydration, sometimes drinking 2L of water in the aircraft was not enough. The day started with a lower than forecasted thermal height of 3900 but it built to 5200 mid-task. Everyone made it home and enjoyed an evening of fun with an open mic night and later on watching the August Moon rise over the airfield.“

Today; another blue but good day.
Great practice period from the French ladies!
Club; 157 km....Klara Teichmannova from Czech Rep was faster than the 3 French girls, flying LS4’s and LS 7’s.
standard ;168 km...More French girls doing well. Spot 1 and 2 were for Aude Untersee and Anais Gaubert.
18 m; 201 km….Best speed by the French girls . Anne Ducarouge flew around with 122.92 km./h as did Melanie, starting and finishing together. Good- team- fly-practice.

More tomorrow.

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AND TO FINISH these sad pictures from a mini-tornado in Vinon.

AND,…that the weather is the weather and not too predictable here news from the Scottish Wave Hunters
“In my last post I commented that wave can occur at any time of the year.
Sunday 7th August was such a day with Alastair Mutch from the SGU doing a heady height gain of 27,588′ reaching an altitude of 29053′, the highest anyone has been since 2018 (John Tanner from the Deeside gliding Club).

What is particularly interesting is that the winds were relatively light with no jetstream. Alastair broke off the climb still climbing at 3 to 4 knots. The forecasts did not really predict significant wave but the temperature profile was however quite good. The temperature profile is always a good indicator Just goes to show what can be achieved on an unremarkable day.“

CU tomorrow, I guess we can see the prize giving via a live stream, I hope!
Otherwise pictures from the glorious winners .

Then after all this,…..the WWGC and the CIM in Rieti in Italy ;10 August 2022 – 20 August 2022 with 44 competitors.
Tomorrow also the 18 m and 20 m class fly the UK Nationals from Lasham.
Very interesting too. 13 August 2022 – 21 August 2022 with 65 competitors.

Normally it looks like this.

AND
for the competition ,BUSY, like this, not as green….

Cheers Ritz

THURSDAY AUGUST 11;

A good beginning of today with Matej:
“Another day in the gliding paradise. The amazing results, weather and the smooth course of the competition so far were rightfully celebrated yesterday at the international evening. Huge thanks belong to everyone, who wholeheartedly shared their culture and created an amazing atmosphere at the party. Despite everyone really enjoying the evening, it needed to be stopped a bit earlier, because today we have another day with ideal gliding weather very similar to yesterday. The last few days are the most crucial for the competition and there is no time to rest. Hopefully, pilots and their crews managed to get some sleep in the night and they will be flying like the professionals they are once again. Today both classes have AAT tasks for 3 hours to the east of Tábor.“

Teams had more than enough fun at the INTERNATIONAL evening.

Time to focus on the last 2 days of this JWGC.
here is the task from STANDARD CLASS. 3 hour AAT

During briefing, Finn got his prizes , very well deserved ones.
Team UK had less good news as well;
“Tom has made the tough decision to retire from the race, the airfield surface caused a tyre blowout on take-off and led to other damage.”
Not only Tom [Thomas Pavis, was on 18 overall] is out in standard class ,…feel VERY sorry for you Tom….but also Ryan [Australia] and Jan [Czech Rep. was on overall spot 22] .
So 26 [from 29] will start today in this class, 44 from 45 now in in club.

At 11.30 they were ready to go, TOPDOG and TOP TC, Ellen, are putting in some last positive vibes in Simon. AND,…the vibes were really good HE WON THE DAY!!!

Team Denmark is really doing well. Yesterday they had a daily winner in St. class Jacob and they have Miles on spot 3 in club class. What do you want more. A good day today and tomorrow I guess.

Team Germany is doing well, here a picture from Eric [LS 4 b] with his mates.

Thursday August 11….day 12…task 11.
First launch at 11.30. During the day, you could see they were RACING, with capital letters. When the first scores appear, the flights are flown with over 100 km./h.

Club; 3 hour AAT...Gate opened at 12.36….A great day for TEAM HOLLAND, spot 1,2 and 3 was theirs.
They have a great system. Lars prefers to fly by himself, Simon and Jelmer prefer to fly together.
Lars starts early ,…today at 12.56,…. the others later at 13.29!!!!!
In between Lars has raced already over the track and gives good advise !!
Finn lost 100 points as he was on a shared 11th place. But he has points enough ,no worries he still leads overall; 7.180 points.
Simon flew 345 km. in time 3 hours at the dot!!!!!1000 points!!!! Speed 114.93 km./h.
Jelmer had about the same time; 998 points [ speed 115.13 km./h] and Lars 966 points. [113.75 km./h] His LS 4 b NEO [1.029] has a higher handicap as the LS 4 [1.022] and the LS 4 a [ 1.025]
Danish Miles was on spot 4 with 116 km./h but the handicap of his ASW 20 is 1.052].
The German mates fished on spot 5.7 and 8. In between was a great flying Finish pilot Kim.
Lets see what tomorrow brings, EVERYTHING can happen though Finn as a comfortable lead.

Standard; 3 hour AAT...Gate opened at 13.02…..A Dutch day in CLUB, a GERMAN day in standard.1.2 and 3. Good speed as well; 133, 132 and 131 km./h! over 403, 408 and 405 km. They had a rather early start at 13.27.
The French were on 6 and 8; 2x 928 points and 927!!!! They had a later start at 13.40!!!
Viktoria was the slowest / less fastest,….but with a LOT of respect ……today but still with 109 km./h over 327 km. TOP JOB!!!!
The top 3 overall is still Simon 7.227 p, Lukas 6.915 and Engeurrand with 6.829.
Tomorrow the decisions to start and other “games” , will be interesting

All scores are preliminary.

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the 11th FAI WWGC in HUSBOS
13 August 2022 – 27 August 2022

Most elementary things have been done by now. An important one is scruteneering.
A few of the pilots moved straight from Szeged to Husbos.
I noticed Eric Napoleon ,who will be TC for France again and also Petr Krejcirik is there. He was also TC in Australia for the Czech team.

It’s getting more serious now with an official practice day for all 3 classes. The long tasks from yesterday were flown by none of the pilots. Good practice though….. to not forget PEV and USE IT CORRECT.
That happened a few times 9x, to be precise , in Club, and better now than on day 1.
Where did the great weather go over there [ here we are in the middle of a heat wave!!!!] .. so short tasks on the official practice day.

CLUB ;148 km... with 84 km./h Elena the current world champion won the day. Not all are scored yet and 2 were out.

Standard ;198 km…not all are scored yet, 5 are scored at 7.10 PM and one was out. Better now than in 2 days. UK pilot Sally and the 3 French girls are at this stage on top.

18 m; 210 km….not all are scored yet….The French did well flying good together. At this stage Diana from Luxembourg is 4th. She started with some problems on the instrument panel, but luckily it had no influence on her flying.
Full scores tomorrow!!!

Whilst waiting I found some nice pictures for you.

and the Ukraine pilots, Olena and Sofia, who got sponsored and supported by the soaring world and now can fly this WWGC. They both fly an ASW 20.

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And to finish a colorful picture from ….BALLOONS. One of our gliding mates in the USA , Tony who also flew in the past the 13.5 m WGC, is not only a glider pilot or light aircraft pilot he learned to fly a balloon as well.
During the USA Nationals he helps out as crew, but one day he will participate. Today was cancelled!

Well, a long day today…… and tomorrow again, trying to pick up ALL news from the last day in Tabor.
So CU tomorrow!!
Cheers Ritz

JWGC in TABOR in CZECH.REP
30 July 2022 – 13 August 

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 10;
A roller-coaster-day with highs and lows ,that’s what you can easily call August 9 in Tabor.
Goose bums and happy faces with the fly pass from the 8 tow planes in the morning ,…… fabulous weather circumstances with mouth watering cloud streets during the day …..and then the message mid air…. and you can only hold your breath.
Everybody is OK, that makes it easier to handle, though I guess the 2 involved , Ryan from Australia and David from Switzerland might have a bad night.
As well as all their close mates.
Indeed they are resilient ,but also close.

The morning report from Matej;
“After a difficult yesterday, we are back on track and preparing for another competition day. The weather will be similar to yesterday with an increased quantity of cirrus clouds. The plan is to fly 3 hours-long AAT today, which is expected to allow very high speeds in such good weather and also a very high level of safety as both classes are flying to two very different areas. The club class will be visiting our southern neighbors in Austria whereas the standard class will be flying all the way to our friends in Germany. We look forward to the international evening, which will happen this evening.”

Tasks were set at briefing; 3 hour AAT’s for both classes. Also a clarifying explanation about the incident by steward Robin, who in the beginning of the comps also did the safety briefing.
The life stream from the briefing was available on youtube.
It was very silent in the briefing hall. A pretty emotionally charged morning.
This was NOT a case of dangerous flying. Just very bad luck!
The Aussie pilot was thermalling, the Swiss pilot raced , they did not see each other and collided.
Investigation will sort out all the details, for ALL to learn from.

He also told the young ones to keep the mobile in the pocket of the trousers not in the pocket from the glider. They had to wait long to reach the bailed-out -pilot as his mobile was lost in the fall of the glider. That gives a lot of stress to those who need to know and help.
Indeed something to remember straight away.

Here is the statement from Australia’s Gliding Australia;
“On 9th August 2022, an Australian pilot competing in the FAI Junior World Gliding Championships being held at Tábor in the Czech Republic was involved in a mid-air collision with a Swiss pilot. Ryan Driscoll, from the Gliding Club of Victoria at Benalla, was flying an LS8 sailplane in the Standard Class competition on a 513km cross-country racing task. He was about 120km WNW of Tábor when he was involved in a collision with a Swiss pilot flying a Club Class sailplane. Ryan was able to land nearby, and the other pilot bailed out.

Both pilots are safe. Another Australian competitor, James Nugent, landed near Ryan to ensure his wellbeing. An investigation has commenced which will examine potential causal factors. Gliding Australia has no further information at this time. We wish our pilots well, and will be providing any support needed to the pilots, families and crew.
Steve Pegler
President
Gliding Australia

Over to today!!

Wednesday August 10….day 11 ….task 10, meteorologist Jan had more good weather for the pilots, but also a warning with a smile;” There will be FULL MOON tonight”.
So BE CAREFUL!!!!
AND, another message at briefing,…….don’t party too long tonight at the INTERNATIONAL EVENING, tomorrow is another flying day.
Expected first launch at 11.30.
First launch confirmed for 12 PM.
And off they went on track .. with still in their head the words written on the board on the end of the briefing;
LOOK OUT,LOOK OUT,LOOK OUT.
STAY ALERT…. STAY RESTED
KEEP SEPARATION
STAY HYDRATED
FLY SAFE.

Time for pictures again and I liked this one from the Dutch team. The eyes of the boys are protected by sunglasses from Serengeti.
PR is SO important for our sport , so once in a while, I help them international:

Club; 3 hour AAT....start gate opened at 13.05….The early birds started straight away, around 13.08 and finished around 20 minutes past 4.
Of course there were late starters as well. As on earlier day’s, those boys turned out to be pretty fast.
2 of the Dutch left at 13.41, so did 2 of the German team, even later at 13.48!!!
There were even later starters; Miles from Denmark at 14.03,29 , flying 369,38 km in time 3.05,11, so a speed of 119,68 km./h!
BUT,….THEN there was the best combi from speed and distance ; UK pilot Finn flew around with a speed of 124 km./h ,a whopping 5 km./h. faster than Miles.
Finn flew 375.51 km in time 3.02.40 and started at 13.57.18!!!!!!
With 2 days to go now ,Finn’s lead has grown to 6.280 points.
Toby, [ 6.061 p] Miles [5.936 p] , Nils [ 5.909 p] and Lars [ 5.902 p] still have a chance for the podium.

Standard; 3 hour AAT...start gate opened at 13.34 and also here, early birds and late starters. A great day for Danish gliding!!! In club a number 2 , in standard a daily number ONE!!!!
AND they had a happy birthday boy, Jens.
364.80 km. in time 3.04 gives a speed of 118.68 km./h. was the result for Jacob, in the DISCUS 2a.
Simon and Jan had a good day again; The German boys flew 376 km with a speed of 116 km./h
Our Dutch mates were on 4,5 and 6 flying together;115, 114 and 113 km./h. Good job!
Overall at this stage with 2 flying days to go it is Simon from Germany with 6.226 p.
Lucaz [ 6.006 p] and Enguerrand [ 5.896 p] are still on 2 and 3.
Still in the race as well; Jaromir 5.681 p, Jan 5.782 p, Ignas 5.757 p. and Florian with 5.713 p.
A few can still rise at the ladder as one point difference….????!!!!
We will wait and see.

And to finish how David from THE USA , experienced yesterday;
“Back up at cloud base, going into the 4th turn I get a message saying that the day was canceled for both classes. “Return to airport immediately”. My first thought when hearing this message was that this was somehow an old message from a few days ago and I was just now getting it. Then I get a call from Tom telling me the day was scrubbed and for me to come home. Now I began to worry. What happened? Is everyone okay? Who even is involved? None of these questions really mattered at the time. I was 130k from home and the day was ending.
Fortunately, it was a booming day ,so I simply turned right around and took the same energy line that I had just been on and made progress home. I would later find out that there was a midair involving one standard class glider and one club class glider. The club pilot bailed out while the standard pilot landed in a field safely with his teammate not too far behind him. Everyone was okay.” David. More on US Soaring Teams He even has written his report from today already. A busy bee!!!!

The last words about the JWGC today, are for Matej:”The 10th day of the competition ended with all of the pilots safely on the ground, back at the airport or on their way and at very high speeds thanks to the amazing weather and the well-planned tasks. ”

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WWGC in HUBANDS BOSWORTH in THE UK
13 August 2022 – 27 August 2022

Briefing on the 2d unofficial practice day
WWGC 2022

Practice day 3 with long tasks:
Club; 3 hour AAT... it was waiting for the first launches . It’s one earlier than in the other parts of Europe .p.e. here.
Standard; 3.30 AAT….
18 m; 4 hour AAT...
At this stage NODY is scored they are still happily flying. More tomorrow.

CU tomorrow!

Cheers Ritz

AND THEN there was a midair collision!!!!
One jumped with the parachute/bailed out , the other could land in a paddock.
I could delete all I had written, as in such a case , all this news is totally not relevant.
But,…I decided to share it anyhow.
I hate mid airs ,but tragic enough I learned to deal with the fact that they happen.
I have been at several comps, where it did.
As long as everybody is OK, is it a shock for ALL the young ones involved, their families and also for organizers it is tough.
They deal in TABOR, with it in a decent way ; short but to the point;
“Everybody is safe on the ground, but due to a midair accident today the competition day was cancelled for both classes. Both pilots involved reached the ground safely but the recovery teams are still working to get both gliders back. Until then we have no more information to share. The international evening has been moved to tomorrow.“

Life goes on , so it should.
Whenever there is official news, I share it with you.

Here is what I had written already, it ‘s up to you if you want to read it.;

Indeed , including today, we have 4 days to follow the very pleasant and exciting JWGC. The announced LONG tasks are on the menu.
Matej had his look on things;
“As expected, the weather delighted us this morning, allowing us to plan tasks longer than 500 km. The next few days will be very challenging for the pilots as the competition culminates. It is predicted, that the weather will only be improving over the week, therefore we can look forward to more fascinating days. Continuous flying is one of the most exhausting parts of the competition requiring an abnormal focus and brain agility. To enrich the fun, we will have an international evening today from 19:30.”

August 9….task 9 …day 10…competition day 8;
Goose bums for all at the grid , this morning, when a great formation from all 8 tuggies flew over in a fly pass with the Cmelak leading. Normally that happens on the end of a big competition with a farewell flight, but so it’s a great show!
Great video. I even got goose bums at home!!! I tried to capture it on my mobile but of course it is not what it was, at such a time I am sad I can’t share the video.

Our German mates helped with a picture

David {USA} shines his view on yesterday in an other open written report. I share a small part of it. The rest is on
“Another good flight where other people just did better. I have been told that this is the most competitive JWGC in a decade. Whether that’s real or just glider hearsay who’s to say. Unfortunately, I dropped down one spot overall, but only lost 10pts on my goal of 13th place. Tomorrow looks rippin!”
US Soaring Teams

The French are very happy with the performance of their pilots, specially Alexandre and Enguerrand, both are on 3 now in the overall scores.

In between the crews had time enough to prepare for the INTERNATIONAL night. The Dutch had an early picture and as you can see they stick to ORANGE.

Time to start with the ripping day!
First launch was at 11 and through the day some mentioned “ripping cloud streets”.

Club; 458 km;…Start gate opened at 12.12.

standard; 512.89 km…..Start gate opened at 12.45.

THE CCR in RIETI
2 August 2022 – 9 August 2022

So the CCR finished already yesterday as the weather for today was not flyable.
That means a bad last day yesterday for team UK. They did not finish so lost their runner up spot and dropped from 2 to 9!!!!!
That was “good” again for the Austrian pilots Reinhard and Heimo , on a daily spot 5 and 7, who are now on spot 2 and 3 overall.
As you can see the CLEAR winner in open class is Max.
1. Maximilian Seis [France] in JS1c/21 m with 3,713 points.
2. Reinhard Haggenmüller [Austria] in ASG29e with 3,343 p.
3. Heimo Demmerer [ Austria ] in Ventus 3M with 3,335 p.

The rest of the scores from the mixed, standard and 15 m class are on ;www.soaringspot.com

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11th FAI Womens World Gliding Championship
Husbands Bosworth, United Kingdom
 13 August 2022 – 27 August 2022

Preparations are in full swing in Husbos. Quite a few pilots have arrived already and some help the organizers with the finishing touch.
Even BBC TV arrived to check.

The practice-tasks for today were small AAT’s.

As promised the pictures from the 10th WWGC, so you know who will be now in Husbos too and when you do not know their faces you do now too.
The open class winners from Lake Keepit.

The standard class winners from Lake Keepit;

Club class winners from Lake Keepit;

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Romain shared happy news;
“Last week was the (XXXI Russian national unlimited aerobatic championships).
After 4 flights and four medals I finished second in this great championship in which 13 unlimited pilots and seven planes took part. An other medal was for the combined results of unknowns programs. And an other medals for freestyle results.
Total 7 medals in the wonderful EXTRA330SC.

Good flights in The Netherlands at Venlo where the Dutch Junior Gliding competition is in progress. [August 6-August 13] with 14 pilots and one guest from Belgium.
But he , Martijn Eerdekens in LS 3, is from Keiheuvel, just over the border, so a bit Dutch.
He won task 2 [311 km. speed 110.61 km./h] and till now they have had 3 tasks, with today task 4; a 3 hour AAT.
Sometimes our top pilots fly around with them in a 2-seater, to teach or support them.

That’s it for today.
Still a bit “OFF” today!!!

Cheers Ritz

A new day,.. a new week…..new tasks and new challenges..no stress…just relax[ed] !!!!

There are 5 days to go. The last day is on Friday. In the evening at 8 , the farewell party starts and on Saturday at 10 the prize giving ceremony.
So hopefully 5 full days of good soaring by all juniors.
GOOD LUCK THIS WEEK!!!!!
David from the USA writes nice reports as often as he can. The one from yesterday started with :
“My three goals for this whole entire contest are to make it home every day, get hit with no big penalties and to not have any major f*** ups. Today I almost failed at all three of these goals.”
You can read the full story of this August 7 pilots report on US Soaring Teams

Team UK is ready for a new day.

Matej’s morning news;
“Today we woke up to a cold morning which will turn into a pleasant competition day. The direction of the tasks will today lead the pilots to the west according to the weather forecast. Few cumulus clouds can be expected. Pilots will fly over 300 km, which is appropriate training for the longer tasks, which are planned for tomorrow. The weather will probably stay suitable for the competition the whole week, so stay tuned for challenging but exciting races.“

During briefing , this morning, the daily winners got their prizes. Yesterday that was in Club class Jelmer from The Netherlands. In Standard Simon Briel from Germany.

August 8; day 9….competition day 7 ….task 8;

Launching started at 11 sharp. A blue day BUT, as before, they can see cu’s as well. Another day with huge differences in start time.

Club; 303.56 km.…gate opened at 12.08. For a moment I thought Tereza [ASW 20] from Czech Rep would win the day, but not everybody was scored , had an early start and….. she moved down on the list ,to nice shared spot 6!!!
And then BAM,….at one moment the 2 UK boys Finn and Toby topped the list. Start at 13.28, so another late start. Their speed was 109. 78 km./h and 107.34, as Finn’s final glide was faster .
4 ASW 20’s in the top today and the UK boys added a few more points to their total. Still 1 and 2 [ 5.280 p and 5.132 p] at this stage with French Alexandre on 3 [5.085] ! He was 6th today.
But Nils, Lars and Miles are on their heels!!!!
Start times between 12.23 and 13.28 !!!

standard; 310.37 km....gate opened at 12.39.
Here 2 German boys on the daily top list. Jan and Simon, flying together with a speed of 116.29 km./h. and 115. 83 km./h. after a late start.
Dutch pilot Maurits was indeed resilient and flew to a nice 3d spot ;115.26 km./h. Here 6 LS 8′ s in the top except for Simons Discus.
Start times between 12.44 and 13.27.
Simons overall lead is a bit stronger again, [5.258 p] Czech pilot Lukas follows [5.141 p ]

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THE CCR in Rieti

Tomorrow is the last competition day in Rieti from the CCR [Coppa City di Rieti] with 49 participants in 4 classes. The CIM also in Rieti , will be flown end of this week, from August 11 till August 20 with 35 participants.
I have visited the CIM several times, so I will check for you during the WWGC, also the CIM in Rieti.
With one day to go at the CCR, they had a small task today , only in open class, as thunderstorms were predicted over Italy today .
Till now they had 5 days.

UK Peter Harvey and Chris Dawes are flying the ARCUS M in open class and are doing well .So is Max Seiss [France] in his JS 1c.21m.. It ‘s between them who will win. THOUGH, the Austrians , frequent flyers in Rieti , Reinhard Haggenmoeller and Heimo Demmerer are not far behind .
but it feels a bit like the Max and Pete/Chris show.
A flash-back about the week;
Max won the first day and the UK ARCUS still had to get used to the area and circumstances; A 14th spot [from 24] was the result . Though I know Pete has flown there before.
The 400 km task 2, the day after was won by the UK boy’s and Max was runner up.

Task 3 ,453 km was won by Max , but cancelled on the end of the day. Max had a speed of 156.77 km./h. but only 9 from 24 finished.
Day 4 was again for Max; 484 km with a speed of 143 km./h. Heimo was runner up and Pete and Chris 3d.
Day 5 with a 2.30 AAT showed Max with 344 km. in time 2.37; speed 131 km./h. 10 km. faster then Pete and Chris.
Today task 6; 1.30 AAT….other classes do not fly….so they might try to have 5 tasks for each class. All pilots started before 1 PM and it was a tough day!
When a lot are back between 2PM and 2.30 and some are not scored at 4 PM , you start to worry if they still can finish. More low finish altitudes as well……mmmm……
Alvaro and Pete and Chris were not yet scored at 4.30, so were 6 other pilots. 2 Of them might not have started.
At 5.30 no more scores either though they might by out or virtual out.
A 1.30 AAT is not much but such a day can “make or break “you.
Austrian pilot Bernard Leitner,[ 18 m. Ventus 2CXM] combined his distance and speed best; 223 km in time 1.35 so a speed of 139.75 km./h .
Max had 145 km in time in 1.38 so a speed of 145 km./h, BUT also for his JS 1c the highest handicap; 124., so spot 4 for him.

In the mixed class with 16 pilots, the overall leader at this stage [after 5 days] is Polish pilot Przemysław Bartczak in a 15 m. ASG 29 e. He leads with a good marge ;4.559 p. Runner up Sandro Etalle from Italy has 4.104 p and Luca Urbani 4. 006 p.

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11th FAI Womens World Gliding Championship
Husbands Bosworth, United Kingdom, 
13 August 2022 – 27 August 2022

The CCR in Rieti shows no- new -news, so tomorrow is another day.

The last words to close the day are for Matej;
“Another day and another successful competition. Even though the weather forecast was not the best the pilots managed to fly almost 110 kph in club class. Today, the UK team has cemented their first position in club class with Finn Sleigh taking the first place and Toby Freeland coming in second. In the standard class, another victory went to Germany and today’s winner Jan Knischewski managed to fly over 116 kph. The weather for tomorrow is looking good and we expect to have another 1000-point racing day.“

Have a good evening and CU tomorrow.
Ritz

12th FAI Junior World Gliding Championships
Tábor, Czech Republic,
30 July 2022 – 13 August 2022

After a rest -day and a rain- day the juniors had to “work” again as tasks were pretty good and they are of course EAGER to go again. Back on track!!!
RAIN,…..No worries for the young ones , NOT EVEN with mud and rain:

Matej [son from Tomas the CD] wrote in the morning;
“After two free days, in which pilots could rest and regain some energy for the next week of the competition, the weather will be good enough today for another competition task. A clear blue sky with occasional cumulus clouds is expected today. The weather will not stay flyable very long, therefore the pilots will have to fly fast, but that should be their goal every day. Some of them might use skills they gained yesterday when they had the opportunity to fly the Czech classic L-13 Blaník.”
So things to keep in mind , a pretty short day but good enough to go fast.

August 7…day 8…competition day 6…task 7.
First launch confirmed for 11. During briefing they got the weather, the tasks and some memories on using the PEV correctly [ wait time 5 minutes. start window 8 minutes and you can do it 3x]
The safety message was clear:
LOOK OUT, LOOK OUT, LOOK OUT.
STAY HYDRATED
STAY ALERT AFTER 2 FREE DAYS
FLY SAFE.
Tonight there will be a presentation about the next JEGC in Arnborg in Denmark in 2023.
Cloud base today is about 1700 m.

Club; 275 km…..start gate open at 12. 08….The early starters at 12.23 were back just after 3 hours of flying; speed 90 km./h.
Some of the later starters were faster and flew with over 100 km./h .
One of them ASW 20 pilot [handicap 1.059] flying the distance in 2 hours 43 minutes; Milan was in the end runner up. With his mate Samual , [ASW 20 cj] they were the only 2 pilots flying over 100 km./h.
A few started more than an hour after the gate opened.
For some a blessing, for a few other pilots not so much.
You remember,….The forecast was for an early end of lift.
It took French pilot Alexandre [he won task 2] ,who started early at 13.07, 3 hours and 7 minutes, so 88 km./h
Our Dutch pilot started at 13.37 and Jelmer was in his LS 4a ,[handicap 1.025] back after 2 hours and 47 minutes; 98.87, in the end the winning speed .
A risk, or a calculated risk or just after looking at the meteo and thinking with courage…. “I can do it” ….what ever it helped.I will try to find out for you.
His mate Lars was 3d today but he started a bit earlier, just after 1PM.
The 2 German pilots Toni and Nils in LS 4a, were 4th and 5th.

Standard; 285 km….start gate opened at 12.37.
Just before 4PM the first pilots returned and finished.
Also in this class late starters , as p.e. German pilot Simon, in Discus 2a, who departed at 13.46!!! He needed 2 hours and 26 minutes, so was VERY fast. Speed 117 km./h !!!!
That was in the end 10 km./h. faster than the runner up; French pilot Enguerrand….107.95 km.
Simon moved from 3 to 1 overall.
The last to go on track left at 13.52 .
Interesting to see;
Belgian pilot Henri, LS 8, departed at 12.52.59 and finished at 15.54.06.
Aussie pilot Ryan , LS 8, left an hour later, was back an hour later [16.54] and they were on a daily spot 22 and 23.
“Poor” Maurits he was out after 140 km…….and was a proud pilot on spot 1 overall , before the rest -day……now on spot 13.
I feel his pain!!!! But he is resilient, so is the team.

Words from Matej to finish this day:
“The majority of gliders are currently back on the ground, with a few of them still racing to the finish line. Today was not easy. The weather did not spare anyone, which significantly shuffled the total results of the competition and the overall leaders in both club and standard class have fallen from their podium positions. As predicted in the morning, the day started with about 4 octas of very thin cumulus clouds that quickly began to dissipate and completely disappear later in the afternoon due to the high clouds arriving. The winner in club class today is Jelmer Vis from the Netherlands and in standard class, the winner today is Simon Briel from Germany who has now moved to the overall first position. In club class, the UK team is now in the overall lead thanks to a very consistent performance from Finn Sleigh and Toby Freeland. We have an engaging race ahead of us because the pilots are true professionals and all of them fight very hard for the title of junior world champion.”

2 pilots are not counted for yet. I will add them later .
AND,…they have been scored now. One

Jakub from Poland in club was out after 66 km and one from Standard after 88 km.
But GLAD they are both counted for now.
A real off- day for Team Holland in standard class. Mark was after Maurits, also out ; 85 km.
They started about the same time as the winner, so that was good. …..
Life can be tough!!!! A daily winner and number 3 in club and 2 disappointed pilots in standard.

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A FEW LOOKING BACK’S on Szeged.
Looking back on the WGC with Jeroen Verkuijl, who was on spot 4 in 18 m., a place you do not really “like” . GREAT SPOT THOUGH!!!!!!
“What an amazing weeks.
4th. No podium, but nevertheless proud of my results in the Royal 18 meter Class world championship. So many champions, some not even making it to the first ten.
I’m not a fan of the heat, but you need it for that ridiculous good weather we had. Flying above 2 kilometres most of the time, luckily temperatures were more comfortable.
But the weather wasn’t the only thing that made it a success. Good atmosphere within the team and a VERY well organised championship are main factors. But there is more. The field is very close to the city of Szeged, witch has a lot to offer. That made it so much more fun for the family. The water organ in front of the museum and the Aquapolis, with all its amazing slides, were favorite for the kids. A treat, you don’t often have in the vicinity of an airfield.”

Looking back with Jonker Sailplanes;
“Open Class was dominated by the EB29Rs with Felipe Levin and Oscar Gaudriaan taking gold and silver. Radek Krejcirik secured bronze medal in a JS1C showing how competitive these machines still are. The Krejcirik family really made gliding history with dad Peter Krejcirik taking gold medal in 20m Class.
But it was not all about gliding. JS once again provided technical support and assistance wherever needed. As a result, many new friends were made and Attie and Uys were awarded the Airmanship Trophy for FAIR PLAY.
The South African Team with captain Jason Adrian made history by finishing second overall – the best ever performance to date!
Thanks again to the organization and all pilots and crews who made this such a special event.
Hope to see you all again at the next WGC.”
And also from Jonker Sailplanes;
“The 37th WGC is done and dusted!
Yes, a lot of dust but the most amazing gliding conditions any pilot can dream off. 2500 m cloud base with 3 to 6 m/s climbs – gliding heaven.
Hats off to the team of volunteers let by competition director Andras Gyöngyösi who did a marvelous job. Most pilots regard this World Gliding Championship as the best they ever participated in.
It was exactly 12 years ago when JS entered the WGC in Szeged with 6 JS1 – four of them finished in the top ten.
2022 almost 2/3 of all gliders in 18m Class were JS gliders with 7 JS3s in the top ten at the end.
It seems that most of the top 18m pilots selected the JS3 and clearly, they understand how to operate these machines! An astonishing 12 JS3 were in the top 15 including the first 6 positions.“
They are definitely allowed “to show off”!

Looking back with Mélanie Gadoulet , soon on her way soon to defend her title in the WWGC in Husbands Bosworth.
She was very grateful to the French team to allow her to fly in 18 m. with them and with the other French pilots who welcomed her warmly between them.
It was a great competition and she finished on sport 14. She hoped and thought a place in the top 10 would/could have been possible too. She is as everybody else very enthusiast about the weather, the long and good set tasks and the perfect organization.
Very well trained now, better than ever before ,she starts next week the WWGC.
Good luck to her in the UK.

Looking back with Arne Boye Moeller:
“What a World Championship! Proud of my 8th place in the company of such skilled pilots and friends, family, team mates and with my super Crew Chief Allan Frank Madsen without whom all had been very difficult. The Hungarians made a fantastic setup that just ran like clockwork. Ground organization, weather forecast, tasksetting, scorers and tugpilots were unnervingly correct every day. That the weather was extremely good every day was a huge bonus factor in the overall experience and fairness. We flew some 4.800+ km in total in the course of 10 competition days at speeds typically well above 135 kph every day in ground temperatures well above 37 deg. Now awaits a 1.700km ride with trailer and then serious cleaning of my glider, trailer and equipment….”

Looking back with Oscar Goudriaan;
“Although gliding is not traditionally considered a team sport, it certainly takes a team behind the scenes to achieve results. Thanks to my co-pilot Riaan Denner for his sharp eyes, technical ability and ever-sharp input. Also our team on the ground – in our case Dave Robbie, Jackie Denner and Charlene Goudriaan back home for all the positive thoughts and encouragement.
South Africa’s pilots achieved a silver medal in the combined team cup due to our consistent high average performance, and with the support of our ground crew and team captain, getting the latest weather and other relevant tactical information before flying.
For a nation with so few gliding resources and pilots, we are punching well above our weight.”

Looking back with the Belgium team with former WGC champion Bert Schmelzer jr.
“Szeged, you have been wonderful!
Our Belgian pilots enjoyed a last bombastic flying day yesterday, in partly blue conditions up to 2800metres, before we could all enjoy a very well organized farewell dinner and party.
Good food, cold drinks and many nice conversations made it into a very enjoyable evening.
At 10AM today, the closing ceremony and the prize giving took place. In open class, Daan and Koen (8th place!!) and in the 18m class, Bert Schmelzer (10th place!!) received their diploma’s for being amongst the worlds top 10 pilots in their respective classes. Tijl never gave up his fighting spirit and managed to get back to place 27 in this strong pool of pilots.
Even if we didn’t manage to have a spot on the podium, we all concluded that the 37th wgc was a fantastic competition with good team spirit, lots of laughter and nice memories made.
Hungary, we will be back to enjoy more of your South African weather and thermals (and worlds best home-made lemonade ).
Over – and – out !“

Still one important item: The IGC/FAI flag was handed over by president of the jury in Szeged ,Marina Galetto, to John Good, as the next WGC for long wings will be in 2024 in Uvalde in Texas, where I was twice in 1991 and 2012.

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO SHARED THEIR NEWS ABOUT THIS WGC.
I was able to write with your help some good read stories.

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I promised you the picture from the winners in LIVNO. Here it is.

The next one is in France in Vinon sur Verdon. September 4 – September 10 and the last change IN Europe to qualify for the grand final.

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And, we had PERFECT weather here in The Netherlands too . Yesterday 2 of our “just not juniors”
anymore, but still very young flew amazing flights FROM HOLLAND!!!!!

What about a nearly 1000 in an ASW 20?
Caspar, one of the well known Dutch Kuijpers family ,…his brother Tim was JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPION in 2011 in Musbach in club class…. just did n’t make a 1000 triangle, but what great effort; 954 km [813 km FAI triangle]in ASW 20 JWL, from Malden.
Same great performance, now in an LS7 with winglets from Wenzendorf in Germany; 907 km [795 FAI triangle]
Lars [Groot] declared a 900 km. out and return to Luesse close to Berlin,. He started at Terlet and flew it yesterday with a speed of 112 km./h. To make the day even more brilliant, he added a few k’s to achieve his 1000 !!!!
The O&R seems good enough for 2 Dutch records in 18 m and open!!
“The best weather I flew in from Holland“[ASG 29E/18 m] He started at Terlet.
TOP JOB!!!!
https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=9114560

Another out and return to Luesse was flown by Francois and Bas. This was the first 1000 k for Bas in 42 years. A MILESTONE and so deserved; 1.017 km in the ARCUS T.
His comment;
“What a day. Claimed the club’s Arcus 20T, took a winch launch and went. The first part of the flight wasn’t easy but it became better every hour. My first 1000 km flight from my own club and the first of the Arcus 20T. I hope many will follow.“
AND, the first 1000 for Frank [ a former JWGC pilot] flying in the EB 28 with Bart also to Berlin/Luesse;
“What a legendary day. My first 1000 km distance. I have seen rarely such strong and reliable lift in Germany. And,…so late in the season. Awesome”
We had 6 over 1000 km. flights from HOLLAND.
One in an LS 3 from Soesterberg!!!!1.014.45 km. and 5 from Terlet.
2 in a NIMBUS 4 DM, 1 in ARCUS T , 1 in EB 28, and the one in the LS 3 and ASG 29.
“WE” were high on the OLC list…… reason to “show off ” a bit!!!!
Several pilots called it THE BEST DAY EVER!!!!!

Also the UK is in heavenly modus:
“What a weekend so far!!
Congratulations to the numerous Bronze, Silver, Gold and Diamond Claims from pilots so far from what has been a truly spectacular 48 hours of Gliding.
Special Mentions to
Nigel Mallender- First 750km in a LS8 15
Chris Bennett- First 750km in a DG400
Tim Robson- First 750km in a Duo Discus
Malgosia Marczynski- First 750km in a Discus 2cT
Dave Tanner and Dave Masson- 950km (OLC) in a Nimbus 3DT
Andy Aveling and Jordan Bridge- 1001km (OLC) in an Arcus M
Martin Clark- 950km Declared in a JS1
About Andy and Jordan and their flight last Friday ;
“850 kilometres Declared.
1000 kilometres Completed OLC.
10 hours 30 minutes airborne in one flight.
From the Welsh Borders to the flatlands of Nottinghamshire and the Isle of Wight. Still soaring at 8pm at 5000ft!
Gliding in the UK simply doesn’t get better than this.
Being able to fly distances of 750km and over isn’t common in the UK. That’s equivalent to the distance of flying London to Geneva in Switzerland in a straight line. All without an engine!“
As shared by the Lasham Gliding Society, as enthusiast as I am!!!

AND today the weather looks as good. IF YES , I will mention it tomorrow!

Due to my long stay in this soaring world [from 1967] I know more people from the WGC’s I have been visiting than the JWGC’s , so there are many contacts and lot’s of ways to find out, when I am not there, to see what’s going on.
That’s more difficult with the juniors.
Still I have been at the first one at Terlet in The Netherlands in 1999, as guest.
In 2005 in Husbos as TC from 6 Dutch young ones. One of them is now in Tabor . Robbie Seton. His wife is the TC from “our” team.
In 2007 in Rieti, as competition editor .
In 2009 in Rayskala as competition editor. There I congratulated Felipe Levin with his title in standard class, now he is the new WGC champion in Szeged.
In 2015 in Narromine [Australia] as guest.
BUT,….as you know, in the year they turn 25 they are not a junior anymore, so the wastage is huge.
It’s easier to write about people and pilots you know, contacting them is easy.
But I really like how the young ones deal with comps, open minded, sometimes a bit “wild” /over-enthusiast and eager. Their friendships during such a WGC last long,!
So I try to do my best to find and write enough interesting “stuff” about this last JWGC week.

The British Gliding Team is helping already.
“JWGC Czech – The internet situation seems to have improved so we’ve been able to upload all the summary videos from the past week onto our youtube channel!
Follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/c/BritishGlidingTeam/videos
And don’t forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell to be notified of any new uploads – we have lots of new content coming your way”

More tomorrow

Cheers Ritz

Yes, on the last flying-day the podium turned a bit “orange” with 2 daily prizes for the Netherlands.
Joost and Erik [speed 136.7 km./h] won in 20 m and Bas [150.30 km./h] was runner up in open class. Good on them!!
I still have to get used to the idea to “loose with 3 points”, but in the past I have seen pilots loose with ONE point.

More happy daily winners;

At 10 this morning the prize giving started.
A good mix of international and European toppers, with Italy and Czech Rep each with 2 gliding heroes, France ,the UK, Poland and Germany with one, and South Africa, as non-European country.
I could see part of it on a stream, and sitting at home you still feel part of this WGC.
Eric Napoleon heard the National hymn as TC for winning the team cup.
South Africa was runner up and shared a picture of the beautiful prize,

THE HEROES OF THIS 3th WGC.

18 m WORLD CHAMPION , runner up and 3d prize winner

OPEN CLASS

the 20 m podium

The closing ceremony, I heard, was as good organized as the rest of the days; good food, nice drinks and great company at the farewell dinner and party. All in all a VERY SUCCESFUL WGC, without accidents!!!
CONGRATULATIONS SZEGED!!!! For a long time we all will talk about this 37th WGC.

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12th FAI JUNIOR WORLD GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIP
Tábor, Czech Republic
30 July 2022 – 13 August 2022

No early message from Matej, but an early tweet ;
“Good morning,
6/8 – Competition Day 6
Briefing in main hangar: 11:00
No access to the gliders by car before briefing.
Do NOT drive on grass! Use access road behind hangar and park cars at the parking lot by the access road.“

That “sounds” like it rained! And it did even a thunderstorm with 30 mm of rain.
But there is hope for a “window’ in the afternoon.
Matej’s morning news confirmed that.
“After a well-needed and well-deserved rest day, the weather seems to be playing games with us and due to yesterday’s heavy rainfall and more possible showers today, it is still unclear if pilots will fly today. The airfield is soaking wet but there is still some hope, that the aeroplanes could launch later today. Fingers crossed!”

Briefing at 11 with the daily prizes for the UK winners Toby and Finn from Thursday.

At 1 PM there would be more news.
That news was NOT good.
NO FLYING, the window is not big enough, the field TOO wet!
More tomorrow!

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SAILPLANE GRAND PRIX 2022
Livno Brda Bosni, Bosnia & Herzegovina,
0 July 2022 – 6 August 2022

Last day with a race from 329.81 km.
“This is the last day of the Qualifying SGP in Livno and all pilots are getting ready for a nice 300km air race!
Sky is clear and we can expect great race again in the sky with the 4 top pilots Stefan Langer (Germany), Gintas Zube (Lithuania), Christoph Limpert (Germany) and Matthias Sturm (Germany) all in the points to be crowned tonight and get their ticket for the Final next year in Pavullo, Italy!’ by the organizers.
https://www.crosscountry.aero/c/sgp/results/63

So it’s all about a fast last flight and the points belonging to that flight.
At this stage it’s VERY close.
Stefan has 30 points , Gintas 29, and Christoph and Matthias 24!!!
The 3 REALLY held a TOP RACE on this last day, to “amuse” us all. SO CLOSE!!!!!

Regatta start …”latish” …at 13.30. I had time to follow the race on WEGLIDE.
Matthias flew around with a speed of 161 km./h after 301 km!!!
Height 1.559 MSL.
BUT,………Gintas finished first with 162.4 km./h. and Matthias with 162.3 km./h .
AND,….. On the last day the winner gets an extra point.
Stefan who leaded with ONE point, had a speed of 162.1 km/h.
The difference in time is NOTHING, in points HUGE. 9 for the winner and 6 and 5 for number 2 and 3.
A fast race as ALL 7 flew over 150 km./h.

So Gintas wins this FAI SGP and will fly next year in the WORLD final in Pavullo in Italie.
1. Gintas Zube from Lithuania in ASG 29e with 38 points
2. Stefan Langer from Germany in ASG 29 with 35 points
3. Matthias Sturm from Germany in JS 3 with 30 points.
Scores still preliminary .

When the scores are official and when there will be pictures later of the prize giving, I will be back.
For now, I am having a little rest.
Cu later or tomorrow.
Cheers Ritz

37th FAI WORLD GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIP
Szeged, Hungary
24 July 2022 – 5 August 2022

AUGUST 5….FINAL DAY!!!!!
…….Now we still talk about Uvalde 1991, I guess in 40 years they still talk about Szeged in 2022.…….

Grid time 10.30….18m upfront…20 m……open …….briefing at 10, start launches at 11.30 with tasks long enough to decide the winners…not TOO much time to play start games and for some who dare, to wait , start as last and pass them all!!! But that does n’t always work….it can be a risk.
[it did today!!!!!!]
But when you have nothing to loose????

A few changes on the last day of flying??!!!
The scores are not yet official as “there might be penalties for dangerous flying” [have n’t seen anything yet] AND the PEV will be changed. Not everybody likes PEV and there were already several who forget to put it on and got 50 penalty points.
TODAY it is; 10 minutes waiting time, just a 5 minutes window to start in.
A strategic chance and such a change on the last day might cost somebody 50 points he/she needed so badly.

Looking back on yesterday with John, who is there as TC for the USA;
“It’s high time for me to note the excellent job the contest staff has done here. It’s often said that great weather can make up for many shortcomings in a glider contest’s organization and procedures. Here, it has found essentially none to make up for. Competition Director András Gyöngyösi gets a huge share of the credit, with just the right mix of authority, firmness and willingness to listen and adjust when it makes sense – also for pilot briefings that start on time, convey useful information efficiently, and end promptly. Task setter István Rumpler has got it almost exactly right every day, fitting three (usually long) tasks into Hungary’s somewhat restricted glider airspace – which could not have happened without good contest weather forecasting. The tow operation has been consistently first-rate. There really have been no weaknesses. Kudos to the entire staff of WGC2022.” more on US Soaring Teams

You might have missed the THE BROQUEVILLES in the scoring yesterday in 20 m. class . “Due to unforeseen circumstances the team had to go home. ” Hope it is not because of fires close to their chateau.
And,…my Aussie mates Allan and Harry entered Kecskemét MTMA3B and that IS NOT GOOD. It’s about 65 km. from the field ,so only 49 points for them.
AND,.…the day yesterday was less blue then expected. Great clouds popped up and high speed was gained.

Winners yesterday in 20 m class

August 5; task 11…… day 13…competition day 10…..FINAL DAY!!!!!
Hot 36 dgr. C or more even up to 40 …..base between 2600 and locally up to 2700 / 2800 ,…but NO CLOUDS ,a blue day!!!! Though…..?????

Looking at the tracking system, they go fast and fly high….2700 m. . Top ingredients for a beautiful day. AND, there seem to be a few cu’s in the WEST. They did not dry out straightaway. They even appeared over the field around 2.30….1/8.
“So much for blue skies! Some small Cu’s popping !Up to 38’C on the ground.” South African Gliding Team

It is a long wait……you just want TO KNOW!!!!!

Nearly 5 PM now , so it should nearly happen.

GOOD LUCK to ALL,…may the best win!!!!

18m; 498.10….Start gate open at 12.37…. 2 longish legs after TP 1 and 2, with 120 and 123 km.
The early starters as Rasmus [12.42 ] and Mac [12.52] arrived at 16.22 and 16.36 and were the first to appear on the score board with a speed of 135.47 km./h and 133.16 km./h .
139. 45 km./h for Wolfgang…..[start at 12.52] that sounds better, but???Still only 6 from 42 scored. And Marek [139.68] is just a tad faster than Wolfgang.
144 km/.h for Attie and Uys!!!! BAM,….. DAILY WINNERS !!! Jeroen had 142.44 km./h.
Christophe had 141.58 km./h That should keep him on top overall
Still waiting for Ricardo and Davide to finish and 12 other pilots [5.20 PM] !!!!!!
Starting late was the key for today. …..the top 4 started at 13.34!!!!!
And yes Ricardo was 3d for the day; 143.41 km./h

20 m; 462.26 km...start gate open at 12.50…After TP 2 they have a 140 km. long leg passing Szeged. The crews at the ground should be able to see them. That’s always great fun!!!
There was 1 finisher just after 5 PM at the score board.
Last starter and best speed for the day: team Erik and Joost from The Netherlands ;136.07 km./h. OH no, they miss out on 3 points to be on the podium. But still great effort and daily winners!!
Stefano/Frederico was runner up; 135.44 km./h

open; 526.66 km...start gate open at 13.06….In the end, after the 3d TP, they have one long leg from 170 km. [062 gr] and then 62.8 km. to race home.
OH,….Felipe flies around with 145.35 km./h and Lucasz with 153.73 km.h. Big difference!!!
Daily winner clearly Lucasz , BUT with a great runner up spot for “our” Bas;150.30 km./h .
Oscar had a great race [and came even close to a spot 1 overall; missing out on 72 points ]
And what about Radek??? 7th for today speed 145.69 km./h. ENOUGH!!!!!
He is 3d overall and his dad 1 in 20 m. TOP. Congratulations to the Krejcirik’s.

WORLD CHAMPION and winners in 18 meter class ;
1. Christophe Abadie [France] in JS 3 with 8,957 points.
2. Riccardo Brigliadori [Italy] in JS 3 with 8,865 p.
3. Davide Schiavotto[Italy] in JS 3 with 8,843 p
On 4 Jeroen Verkuijl [Netherlands] with 8.784 p.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!! Great effort!!!!

WORLD CHAMPION and winners in 20 m class;
1. Ivan Novak / Petr Krejcirik[Czech Rep] in Arcus M with 8,898 points
2. Jakub Barszcz / Lukasz Kornacki [Poland] in HpH 304 TS Twin Shark with 8,783 p.
3. Steve Jones / Garry Coppin [UK] in ARCUS T with 8,666 p.
And on 4 Erik and Joost[The Netherlands] with 8.633 p.

WORLD CHAMPION and winners in open class;
1. Felipe Levin [Germany] in EB 29 R with 9,088 points.
2. Oscar Goudriaan [Z.A] in EB 29 DR with 9,016 p.
3. Radek Krejcirik ]Czech Rep] in JS 1c/21 m with 8,646 p
On 4 Sylvain [France] 8,626 p and on 5 Andy [UK] with 8.600 p.
A real fight for the best spots, between 1 and 2 and 3, 4 and 5.TOP JOB!!!!
Still preliminary .

TEAM CUP;
1. France…912.38 points
2. South Africa…902.85
3. Italy …898.32
4. The Netherlands ….893.18
5. Germany …886.04

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12th FAI Junior World Gliding Championships
Tábor, Czech Republic
30 July 2022 – 13 August 202

Matej’s morning news;
“Yesterday’s successful competition day was ended by a Czech evening organized by Aeroclub Tabor. Just after 7 pm, the competitors could admire the skills of the former Red Bull Air Race pilot Martin Šonka during his airshow and low passes. The evening continued with a buffet dinner and a musical performance by Tábor Superstar Band.
Today will be an official rest day so competitors can use the tropical temperature to relax somewhere by the water and regenerate before further competition flying. The forecast for Saturday is mixed, but we expect good gliding weather again from Sunday.”

So no worries about tasks and strategies to day. I guess a good long sleep will have them all on their legs again for the weekend.

Quite a few travel to AQUALAND, the biggest water park in Central Europe.
“ it houses 3 palaces namely the Palace of Relaxation, waves and adventure along with a sauna and a spa in its wellness center. The water park is famous for its longest water slide in the Czech Republic. Other rides to look out for are the wave pool, Wildwater river and a space bowl.”
For sure they will have fun there and relax!

More tomorrow.

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FAI Sailplane Grand Prix Bosnia & Herzegovina 2022 – Livno
Livno Brda Bosni, Bosnia & Herzegovina,
30 July 2022 – 6 August 2022

Race 6….400. 25 km….
Another day in Livno , the penultimate day, with race 7 tomorrow to go!
regatta start at 12.50.
Quite big distances for SGP’s. But when the weather is so good, you have too.
It’s getting more and more exciting!!!!

At 2.30 PM the message; “245km at 170.4 km/h !!! Livno mini Namibia. Flight still ongoing.“….
The first pilots arriving back “home” were from Germany.
Stefan with 147 .3 km./h. for 8 points!!! Christoph with 141.5 km./h for 6 and Matthias with 135.6 km./h. but in the end that was only good enough for spot 5 and 3 points.
Jože Verdev flew in his JS 1 around with 139.9 km./h
Gintas flew around with 134 km./h and that was only enough for spot 7 …..1 point.

So tomorrow will be very exciting /nail-biting with Stefan now with 30 points , Gintas with 29 and Christoph and Matthias both with 24.
I will keep you informed.

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That was Szeged. I really enjoyed it. Now we still talk about Uvalde 1991, I guess in 40 years they still talk about Szeged in 2022.
Tomorrow hopefully some pictures with the top 3 from each class. ALSO with their photo gallery the organizers do a great job!!!!

Prize giving at 10AM tomorrow. Party time tonight and I am going to have a real nice glass of bubbles to relax.

I will continue with the juniors in Tabor and SGP in Livno and then wait for the WWGC again in Husbands Bosworth ….HUSBOS..

Well, there are SO MANY people checking in on soaringspot that it does n’t work here any more. I will look later if things have changed. I guess and hope I have it all CORRECT.

Hope you enjoyed the daily reports.
cheers Ritz

37th FAI WORLD GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIP
Szeged, Hungary
24 July 2022 – 5 August 2022

Only today and tomorrow you can read this news on the scoring site;
” Dear Competitors,
Grid on RWY34 from 08:30;
Grid time: 10:00;
Grid order: 18m — Open — 20m;
Confirmation of launch time/delay: 10:40 on FRQ122.810Mhz.
First Launch not before 11:00.
Task briefing at 10:00 in the Briefing Hangar“

More and more I hear or read;
“Another day in paradise” a huge compliment for the Hungarian organizers, though the weather is “a gift”.

John’s view yesterday was on the tuggies and so well deserved. Where would we be without them.
This is what flies around, tows and makes some good gliding-field noise;
“I’m remiss in not having mentioned WGC2022 towplanes. We have a mixed fleet that (if I have it right) includes two Robins (French low-wing tricycle gear design), three Pawnees, a Cessna 182, two Zlín Z–37 Čmeláks (Czech radial-engined ag plane; Čmelák = “bumblebee”) and one turbine Čmelák (690-hp turboprop, with winglets). This last one is easily the most notable – it’s said to represent one pilot flying 2.5 normal towplanes. In an Arcus at max allowed weight (800 kg) Karl reports that climb rates routinely exceed 1000 fpm. Apparently this is not at full power – because the climb angle that would involve is beyond anything that normal glider pilots have ever seen or could be expected to deal with. And it has “beta” for its propeller, which allows alarmingly steep descents and short ground rolls after landing.

This fleet manages to get 82 gliders in the air in about and hour and 10 minutes (to be fair, assisted by some glider pilots that choose to self-launch). It’s one of many aspects of this contest whose smooth operation we’ve come to take for granted.”
More on US Soaring Teams

“Our” Jeroen won 18 m. yesterday. He flew many WGC’s but never won a day. That’s over now!!!! Of course as a Dutchie , I am very proud on him.

AND
This is the overall number 1 at this stage

August 4; Day 12…..Task 10…competition day 8...2 days to go….
“Two days till the fat lady sings” according to team S.A and “the penultimate day ” according to our UK mates….much more sophisticated as my “one-but-last-day.”
Early in the morning cu’s popped up already. The forecast is for 2500m. in the beginning and later up to 3000 m. It’s hot again.
There was a security briefing too. It seems that quite a few pilots have complaint about the aggressive flying style of some other pilots. VERY important, ALWAYS important, but certainly on these last days as pilots are more tired.
Driving fast over the dry field with too high speed was a topic too. It happens EVERYWHERE, it should not happen ,it is so easy, keep the advised speed .
So indeed……KEEP IT SAFE AND CLEAN.
For 50 years I say; going to a competition is nice, good flying is nicer, but safely coming home again the nicest….

Prize-giving for the day before was on too. Here is 18 m. class;

Let’s look what happened on the last-but-one-day….18 m is upfront, then open and 20 m.
Lift was super with 5.8, to 6.2 and even 6.5. Speed around 160 km.
The S.A. team mentioned: “the pilots are screaming along at 160kph Average! Based on this, we expect them back just before 5pm! With even higher speeds!!”
The weather at 4

18 m; 654.94 km....start gate opens at 12.21…A lot started 20 minutes after the gate opened. So did Christophe . He flew for 4 hours and 13 minutes which means a speed of 154.95 km./h AND another number 1 spot, his 4th during this comps!!!!
Runners up for 2 and 3 were Michael Rass from Austria in AS 33es and Uys. With 5 pilots they flew with 154 km.h. also Wolfgang and Jeroen.
All 42 finished .LIKE….
Yes tomorrow: Christophe has 7,998 points. …Riccardo has 7,880 p and Davide 7,859 p.
Very close as well….Adrien with 7,822 and Jeroen with 7,816.
Tactics will be important! Tomorrow is THE DAY!!!!
And there is maybe also Wolfgang [7,788] or Uys. [ 7,784] or Arne [7,764]….
Let the best win.

20 m; 549.03 km....start gate opens at 12.54… They were the first to arrive back at the field and Joost and Erik, were fast; 3hours and 48 minutes is not bad!!!! Speed 144.71 km./h.. They left 7 minutes after the line opened and raced away. BUT it was not enough.
With 151.77 km./h the UK pilots Steve Jones / Garry Coppin raced to the finish. They were the last to start, and moved up to overall spot 3.
Nearly as fast and also a late starter , Italian team  Stefano Ghiorzo / Federico Mangano; 151 .13 km./h.
And on spot 3 our Czech friends Ivan Novak / Petr Krejcirik; 150.29 km./h.
What does that mean for the last day???
There are still 6 teams in the race. …I think.
1. Ivan Novak / Petr Krejcirik with 7,953 p.
2. Jakub Barszcz / Lukasz Kornacki with 7,840 p.
3. Steve Jones / Garry Coppin with 7,713 p
4. Aku Jaakkola / Juha Sorri with 7.665 p
5. Erik Borgmann / Joost Wolff with 7,663 p
6. Louis Bouderlique / Ulysse Merlin with 7,660 p.

Let’s wait and see!!!!

open; 661.24 km....start gate opens at 12.35…Today there was ONE point difference between Michael and Felipe ONE point; 1000 and 999. Their speed ; 157.10 and 157, 05.
Lucasz came close with 156.39 km./h.
Not such a good day for Radek on spot 12, he is still on 3 OVERALL, but with ONE point as Sylvain now has 7.750 p and Radek 77.51
How does it look?
Felipe and Oscar have more than 8000 points they are pretty “safe” BUT, then there is Radek and Sylvain to “fight” for spot 3 . Andy has 54 points less than Sylvain.
Think about it tonight!
I will do too.
Nerves???? maybe not both Felipe and Oscar are very experienced . Radek is the youngest, so sleep well Radek.

Around this time tomorrow WE KNOW!!!!

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12th FAI Junior World Gliding Championships
Tábor, Czech Republic
30 July 2022 – 13 August 202

Matej’s early morning news;
“We had another very successful day here in Tábor and both classes finally have 1000 points tasks. The podium positions were more diverse today. In the next two days, we expect very hot tropical days with temperatures soaring past 30°C and correspondingly blue thermals.”
Expected first launch: 12:00. Later confirmed at 12.15.

AND…..”We are happy to have another exciting flying day here in Tabor ahead of us today. However, today will be much different than the previous days. We expect a clear blue sky, no cumulus clouds and very hot weather. Hopefully, the pilots will have some spare energy after the challenging and exhausting week, because there will be a Czech evening today. We look forward to show our guests from all around the world some shreds of the Czech culture.”

9 more days to go.
Some pilots did it “tough” yesterday, during what they called the longest , hottest race yet.
“A difficult day, both in terms of tasks and due to a number of equipment failures (stay tuned tomorrow). Both teams stayed in the air for over 5 hours and fought well!” team UK, but in club, Finn was 3d and Toby 13th. In standard 10 and 11 for Henry and Thomas.
Others have never seen such weather ,so fast, so good with 6 kts. climbs, like in Namibia or Australia..

After the long flight’s from yesterday, the tasks for today are smaller. Blue skies, no clouds, is not liked by many, but still high ceilings.
That new system learned me that Jelmer [Vis] is on his way to TP 1 with 88 km./h height 1652m.
He started at 13.59.
AND,..at 4 he was leading the pact after turning the last TP with still 46 km. to go.
A Swedish pilot flies around with 102 km./h. He had a late start at 14.22 .
BUT then in an hour it’s ALL different!!!!

So looking at the point of arrivals;
club; 226.21 km..start gate open at 12.52…There were huge differences in start times. Some started at 1 PM , others at nearly 3 PM. AND,…that’s what the UK pilots did. Finn and Toby started at 14.53. AND,…they earned the 652 and 646 daily points for a speed of 106 km./h. .
In the end Jelmer was on spot 37.
2 were out, maybe 3 as one is not yet counted for or he did not fly.
All scores on www.soaringspot.com

friendships for life. David from USA[r] and Mark from Slovenia.
David was 11th today!!!!Mark 5t,both fly ASW 20. Good on them.
” are collaborating with some team prep and flying .” It seems to work.
as shared by US Soaring Teams

standard; 236.93 km....start gate open at 13.22…The French team-building-meeting in the bush helped. They were on spot 1 [Engeurrand] ,2 [Florian] and 3 [Kevin] today, with 116, 115 and 112 km./h.
Jan and Simon [Germany] followed on 4 and 5. Our Maurits was 7th BUT, he goes steady and leads after 5 days the overall scores! BUT ,…with only 4 points on Lukas Kriz from Czech rep. And then 100 points between Lukas and Simon [Briel]
Start times here closer; between14.32 and 14.57.

Have fun at the special Czech EVENING with the buffet at 7.30 , the music , there is a BAND from 8PM onward and with each other!!!!

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FAI Sailplane Grand Prix Bosnia & Herzegovina 2022 – Livno
Livno Brda Bosni, Bosnia & Herzegovina,
30 July 2022 – 6 August 2022

Race 5 is on today!!!! 402 km....
regatta start at 12.50.
With 144.9 km./h Stefan won the day…..so 8 points. Total now 22.
Matthias was runner up with 143.4 km./h for 6 points. His total now 21.
Gintas finished nearly 8 minutes later. His speed was 138.5 km./h. He has a total of 28 points and leads.

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In between also the CCR started in Italy for the Coppa Città di Rieti 2 August 2022 – 9 August 2022
They fly in 4 classes you can find their scores on www.soaringspot.
I always love the CCR and CIM in Rieti. So I had a quick look at open class with 24 participants, where after 2 days Max Seis leads in JS C/21 m. He won day 1 and was runner up on day 2.

Well,…you are up to date,…..time to do something different now.
CU tomorrow again for the exciting final in Szeged, what a great competition it is/was and my goodness me, were they lucky with the weather.
All scores are preliminary!!!!

Cheers Ritz

37th FAI WORLD GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIP
Szeged, Hungary
24 July 2022 – 5 August 2022

It’s Wednesday morning , normally the regular day of publishing this weekly-blog. Now I am not finishing the post, but wait for things to happen. Great fun!!!
3 more soaring- days including today.

In Szeged it is a day as usual. Briefing at 10 and estimated time of first launch not before 11 AM.
18 m. upfront, then 20 m and open as last today.

So time to look back on that long day yesterday. It’s pretty heavy on the body , certainly of those like Karl …in his eighties and Harry in his nineties, but then they fly ALL their lives and are used to the sun and long flights, indeed they are up to it!!!!

First I look back again of course with John;
“A big day today, with some of the longest tasks ever set at a World Gliding Competition. 18-Meter class had 756 km, Open 757, and 20-Meter (last to launch) 645. Speeds were typically excellent – as they would need to be for pilots to fly that far on solar energy. All but 3 pilots completed their task, yielding (by my quick calculation) a total scored distance of 59,841 km. That’s very close to one and a half times around the Earth, and slightly more than 15% of the distance to the moon.

Will such a day ever again be seen? Well, Hungary is enjoying a remarkable stretch of weather, and the forecast this evening says we might see another tomorrow. (In reality, I think not – even if the weather would support it: All pilots had 6+ hours in the cockpit today, some substantially more. Asking them to do the same tomorrow would be inviting problems.)”
More to be read on US Soaring Teams

Everybody was still enthusiastic about yesterday. Only superlatives….!!!
AND,… pilots are ready to go again. Most are well rested after a tiring day.

At briefing this morning at 10 AM, all winners were cheered on. AND WELL DESERVED!!!!!
These are the winners in open class from yesterday.

And these from 20 m.

And last but not least;18 m.

They do fly today and after today there are only 2 more days;
August 3 task 9....temperatures in the mid thirties.
Task postponed and confirmed to 11.15.
There were cu’s all around , but not yet over the airfield.
Base about 2500m. maybe even up to 3000 m. This could be another REAL FAST DAY!!!!
By the way the points for the TEAM CUP after 8 days of flying is;
1. France with 908 points.
2. Italy with 893.94 p.
3. South Africa with 882.43 p
4. The Netherlands with 877.64 p
5. Czech Rep with 871,34 p.

18 m; 550.68 km....Start line open at 12.23. Uys came back for a restart , something with the “pitot” , but he turned around quickly and before the 20 m. was launched, he was launched again. He could start together with his brother and they even finished together after a race with 150m km./h.
Lift from 2,5 to 4 m. per sec. is dream soaring. And before I knew they were on final glide, with eta on 4.30!!!!????
AND YES INDEED, when I looked the first pilot on the score board was “our” Jeroen, with a fabulous speed of 152.33 km./h .
When 31 pilots were scored it took a long time before the Italian pilots appeared on the scores.
The scorer had some problems.
With this kind of Rieti-weather, they could be even faster.
NO, they were on spot 28 and 31 and must have had difficulties en route.
So Jeroen won the day …GOOD!!!! He moved from 7 to 5 overall. He enjoyed EVERY minute of the flight. Even more than yesterday.
With the French and the Italians having a less good day today, Jeroen is not even 200 points behind Christophe, but Christophe wants to win too!!! So do Ricky and Davide. It ain’t over yet!!!!

20 m; 518.46 km..…Start line open at 12.38. a fast day for them as well. With a rather late start at 1PM, Ivan and Petr raced with 148 km./h over the track. …they were a class apart.
Louis and Ulysse were runner up [138 km./h] . Ferenc and Attila 3d and Joost and Erik 4th, together with Sarah and Karl…good company.[137 km./h]
ALL pilots finished and 130 km. was the ” slowest speed” .
Indeed fabulous weather!!!! I can’t say it enough.

open; 579.96 km.... Start line open at 12.54. I could read on the German site already that Felipe and Michael were leading the pact. With a speed of 158.95 km./h. they topped the scores.
Both on 1 again.
Polish pilot Łukasz Wójcik started ONE minute later and flew around with 157.84 km./h.
Oscar was 4th.
All pilots finished, the last but one still with a speed of 140 km./h!!!!!
A competition for the history books!

More news tomorrow.
Now it’s waiting for the scores from the “young ones”.

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12th FAI Junior World Gliding Championships
Tábor, Czech Republic
30 July 2022 – 13 August 2022

“POOR” young ones ,510 km. today for standard and 447.91 km. for club.
Pfffff …..BUT with the heat, it’s better high up in the air ,than on the ground.

De/pre-briefing yesterday by the French team with their TC.

AND,….. more about yesterday; The German team had 3 top-places in club and the first spot in standard. That is just GOOD/excellent.
I read that they were invited in the studio for an interview and here they are;

AND,…..The UK pilots had a good day yesterday as well and 2 were still full of adrenaline from the final glide:
“A tricky day that saw both teams stick with their class gaggles but saw an epic Grand Prix style finish from the standard class“

Something in between, but a great job…..Yesterday another young German pilot, Matthias Arnold, flew 1009 km[ 675 triangle] in Germany from Weinheim, in an 18m Discus 2c.; speed 110 km./h.TOP!!!!

And now over to today;
August 3; task 4.…
Matej’s view on the day;
“Another day, another gliding day! We have a boiling hot day ahead of us, which might not be the most comfortable for us who stay on the ground, but the pilots can definitely appreciate it. Due to the high temperatures, the clouds will be very high and thermals will be strong. Today pilots can look forward to long tasks which are planned to follow the best available weather conditions. Club class pilots will be flying almost 450 km and standard class pilots over 500 km.”

First launch postponed and confirmed at 11.45.
There are 7 tow planes at Tabor and the tuggies introduce them selves in a nice video to be seen on YOUTUBE.COM [JWGC2022-August 2-towpilots]

Impressing!!!! THIS IS REALLY IMPRESSING!!!!
Thanks to the amazing work of Wojcieh Scigala we now have live scoring during the flight! You can find it here:
Live Scoring Club Class – http://livescore.iq.pl/club.html
Live Scoring Standard Class – http://livescore.iq.pl/standard.html

Luckily the scores came in later than the WGC, so I could keep a GOOD eye on things.

Club; 447 km….start gate opened at 12.52. Quite a distance for club class gliders during a WGC, but I am sure the weather will be that good that they can fly it.
On that live-scoring system, I noticed that Dutch pilot Lars, was on his way to TP 5 with a height of 1748 m. and a speed of 108 km./h. He landed at 17.30….
Maciej was even at 2.694 m. with 66 km. to the finish. I could even see that he landed at 17.20!!!!!
In my time they went with a camera and barograph to the scores. LOL.
Believe it or not, that system works fabulous. Indeed Robert [Romenia] and Lars flew 111 km./h and were 1 and 2. Finn from the UK, was 3d was faster but, the ASW 20 has a different handicap.

standard; 510 km.….start gate opened at 13.22. It looks like Áron Érseki [Hungary] won the day, but not all pilots are counted for at 19.15. With 119.52 km./h he was the fastest.
Then Lucas and Jaromir from Czech.Rep …..then the French pilots Kevin and Enguerrand. [difficult but very nice name]
Maurits [ The Netherlands] on 6 and the 2 German pilots , Simon and Jan, on 7 and 8…..with all around 117 km./h
At 19.30 Swiss Claudio, Dutch Mark and Australian Ryan were sill not scored, so I look at that later or tomorrow!!
They finished and ALL pilots were IN.

More tomorrow on how their day was.
All scores of course preliminary.

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FAI Sailplane Grand Prix Bosnia & Herzegovina 2022 – Livno
Livno Brda Bosni, Bosnia & Herzegovina,
30 July 2022 – 6 August 2022

Race 4….413 km today for the 7 pilots in Livno…. 3 more races to go.
SO ,..also top weather;
regatta start at 12.50.
And they are ready.. Here are the 3 German pilots.

And indeed Matthias did with a speed of 125 km./h . Runner up was his mate Stefan with 122 km./h . Gintas was 3d with 114 km./h.
So the totals are now;
23 for Gintas, 15 for Matthias and 14 for both Stefan and Christoph.
2 were out after 188 and 114 km.
All scores preliminary!

Another EXTRAORDINARY day. 2 More to come for the WGC in Szeged.
I guess then they need a real REST.
CHEERS,

Ritz