Arnborg
WWGC.

Briefing as seen by Frans Guise.

August 5;
Another “so-so-day”, though the task from 2.30 would make you think it would be a rather good day. It was IN THE end,…. before they waited and waited , downsized the task to 2 hours and off they went with a cloud base THEN at 700 m.
The end of the day was better with cu’s and a higher cloud base, but for some that was too late, they out-landed. One of them “our”  Annemiek, number 1 in the overall scores, but after 40 km. it was over for her.
She was not the only one, from 17 in club class 9 finished, one of them and the number 9 was Swaantje.
Great day for Elena [Italy] she won. Flying 138 km. in 2.10, gave her the highest amount of points for the day,…351.
After 4 days with 2 tasks ” our”  Doortje, mother of 3, is on spot 1 with a total of 557 points , that says much about the poor weather in Denmark.Such a pity, but,…part of soaring, though the Aussie girls might think,..what are we doing here??? At least they have fun and see more of Europe.

Elena, as shared by the organizers.

Standard class;
a Czech day as Dana, Hana and Jana flew together from beginning to end and did well;the 3 top places were theirs. They were followed by Juditha from Poland an 2 French girls, Melanie and Aude.
2 From 13 out-landed, one of them Kerry, from Australia, so more sight seeing for her.
After 4 days and 1 flyable day the overall scores here are for the Czech girls.
15 m. class;
first start in this class at 15.35 , last at 16.21.So with the better weather in the end it looked like a good idea to start late. It did not show in the points. The French girls started at 15.41 and flew over 140 km. in just over 2 hours . Annette and Katrin from Germany were the late starters , Annette finished with 145 km in 2.30, Katrin out landed/flew back “under steam”. So did 2 other girls.
In this class after 4 days from which 2 ,Marilyne and Anne from France top the overall list.

Here is what the Aussie team mentioned about this day;
—“A mammoth effort for both our pilots yesterday in very testing conditions. I’m pretty sure in Australia the day would have been canned at briefing. Jo and Kerrie spent most of the day at or below release height on a 2 hour AAT. Maximum height just over 1000 metres with a stiff headwind on 2 of the legs. Jo made the decision to restart after a soft patch the first time across the line. In the end both outlanded as the day died.”

August 6 ;
They all started after 2 in club class,….Bad luck this time again for the number 1 overall,this time  Doortje. Real bad luck !She could not start anymore as the wind was to tough and the lift to marginal to reach the field, when waiting for the startline to open. Luckily the girls had a look at the surrounding airfields, so a safe landing was made just out side the airfield. Doortje has her husband and 3 kids as crew , so that should be no problem!!
The others went for 244 km.
When one is unlucky with her performance , another stands up. Daily winner” our”  Lilan in her LS 4; 133.5 km. and that was the longest distance as nobody finished!By the way that was 10 km. more than Sabrina Vogt, from Germany in her St Libelle.
Annemiek was 3d.
Doortje dropped from 1 to 10 overall. The overall score is leaded now by German pilot Sabrina after 3 valid days she has the total amount of 798 points. Elena is on spot 3!
Standard class, for 256 and not long after the start Kerry was already on FB , in a paddock, and not alone:
“Ok here’s one for the books – VS,[Swaantje in club class] LB [Aussie matye , Jo in club class] & UG [Kerry..standard class] all in the same paddock – and we weren’t even flying together! That was right after I got the strongest thermal 4kts to the highest alt 4200′ for 3 weeks!”
No finishers either in this class but slowly Sue [Kussbach] twice World champion already , climbs up . Today she was runner up with 142 km. just a tad behind Hana, who leads the overall pact just 2 points ahead of team mate Dana.[929 for 927]
15 m. had 310 km. to deal with. Our Dutch Natasja only could fly 20 km.
187 km. was the best distance and Jana [Treslova] managed to fly so many kilometers. That was 8 kilometers more than her team mate Eva.
Anne from France is still the overall leader and in this class they have risen above 1000 points after 3 days of soaring; 1472.

TODAY, they fly 170 km. in St class,156 in club and 193 km. in 15 m. class.More on Sunday.

———-

EGC in Rieti.

Rieti skies seen by the UK team.

August 5.
According to the UK team, ” Best day yet – hot on the ground but a quick climb to 10,600ft in the start was cooling.
Tricky round the first turn for me into the sea air, as I missed G’s 7kt climb – but had good company of the French std class,  until we ran back into the convergence line. From there it was cruising at 90kt and an overcooked final glide .”
Club class…374 km. Finnish pilot Juhani, is on his best! A 2 d daily win for him with a speed of 117.75 km./h.
UK pilot Ian was runner up this time [117.34 km./h.] and started as last pilot in this class.[13.55,18…Juhani started at 13.37 and the first pilot at 13.16]
Davide who flies so well was last with  98.46 km./h.

—” Patrick Stouffs who is in club class said it was a strong and violent day! In the north thermals were violent and broken, between 2 and 4 m/s. The club class was the only class to find it difficult to reach the first turning point in the south. From Carsoli to Norcia there was a great long line of high cumulus with bases at 3300m! Flights were only thermal: no good wind for ridge soaring.”—as shared by the organizers.
Standard class; Not a good day for Sjaak who unfortunately dropped from 1 to 4 overall, after not even a bad day finishing as the last in his class on spot 19 [2 out-landings due to violations of airspace and Swiss pilot Renee could not start] but still with a speed of 114 km./h.over 471 km.
Polish pilot Lucasz won [again] with 129.33 on the clock and UK pilot Jay[Rebbeck] had a good day as runner up.[128.16 km./h.]
In 15 class  with 479 km as task, it was a “French day” Louis [Bouderlique] and Christophe [ Ruch ] topped the daily list .

Terry had his daily report again and I share it with you;
” Another day in paradise. 35 degrees, cloudbase at 3200m (about 11,000ft for you ossies). The slowest finisher in club class today around a 370km task was 98kph, with the max at 118kph. Std and 15m were doing 130kph. Lots of smiles form the pilots, but the rest of us were just hot. Not sure that I like the sitting on the ground bit whilst others go flying in the cool.
Good chatting to some of the Pommes this evening, sounds like Lasham is a great place to fly – they are promoting the 2017 Europeans at Lasham. Something in the back of my mind says “rain” but I must be mistaken.
A couple of pilots had airspace penalties today, lots of airspace areas to avoid here and the task went quite close. Another apparently did a low pass of the airfield and received a penalty for that. Photo shows the start of the 15m class launch. The launching is taking 90m minutes which is way too long, but we don’t seem able to make any changes?” 

August 6;
—” It was impressive to see about 15 gliders on the ground together at about 6,30pm in the sunset light! Weather conditions were similar to yesterday. Cumulus base was from 2800m up to 3300m. No wind for ridge soaring, weak and strong thermals and some areas without energy. Air mass is getting old because the high pressure is ending so thermals are often broken.” —

The message from the organizers with a nice picture.

Club class had to fly 419 km. and Ge from the UK was in the winning mood, in his St Libelle; just over 100 km./h.
Juhani in the PIK 20 B did well again on a 3d spot. This seems not the best competition for the french Gilles and Denis, they are on 8 and 9 overall and lost some points today by being 16 and 18 .Roman was 7th and slowly making his way to the TOP.
Standard class had 494 km. and an Italian daily winner Vittorio; 118 km./h. Young Miloslav Cink, was runner up with 994 points.5 Of this class are out of the race, so still 17 flying.
Sjaak is on his way back to the top and on spot 3 now overall.
15 m. class ,only NZ pilot Dane out-landed, the rest finished and the best was the Austrian pair-flying team Michael and Peter;1000 and 994 points.
Peter leads the overall scores with 26 points ahead of Christophe [Ruch ] and less than 50 on Louis [Bouderlique]

The news from steward/reporter/jury president/ etc Terry:
—“It gets even better, and hotter in Rieti. 500km + tasks, 120kph. It was hot on the ground 38 degrees so we went up to Mount Terminillo, about 6000 ft altitude, and the temperature was 23 degrees – very nice. We met a glider as we drove up the hill and he only just outclimbed us. The German crew on the Mountain said we were 30 minutes late to see a large gaggle go past. Great views and oh so pleasant. We arrived back at the airfield just as Club class was finishing, and then a long weight and starting to wonder if the blue conditions to the NW was causing some trouble, when we heard the first of the 15m and Std Class gliders. 30+ gliders landed in about 3 minutes. An excellent job by the pilots in a crowded runway, a few making use of a good wheel brake, but expertly handled. More of the same tomorrow I suspect, but the task setter has to introduce Assigned Area tasks which will give the pilots a chance to utilise their skills in some different parts of the task area.—“

Have been many times on the Terminillo and it is beautiful over there. Indeed you see gliders pass by on eye height. “On top of that ” it is a place you can hear the radio for a long time.

———-

13.5 WGC in Pocuinai.

August 5; task 4 so every day good weather here. 345 km. today! Hot and blue day.
Vladas in the mini LAK is doing well. Today his 3 daily win!!
He and Stefano  and Aussie pilot,Morgan, started as the last pilots at 14.14.
Stefano won day 1 , whilst Vladas out landed, but then it was each day Vladas and Stefano as runner up. In the total scores after 4 days Stefano leads with more then 300 points. Morgan is on spot 3.
Morgan mentioned;
—“A great result for Australia in the 13.5m Worlds today: third for the day and now ranked third overall.
I got a good start 11 minutes behind the American team and managed to stick with the eventual day-winner for the whole first leg. I lost him when we caught the Americans so I stayed with them for the rest of the day. I thought I had jumped a gap to catch the French team but the Americans also crossed that gap. The final leg was in the blue with very poor thermals so it took all 5 of us searching the sky to find the remaining scraps of lift to struggle home.” —

August 6; 362 km. and 30 dgr. on the ground.
I was amazed and touched by the words from Sebastian that he and his new glider would not be welcomed by all in Pocuinai. Can’t imagine that!!!!!!!!!!!Such a lovely guy , an ace in soaring and,…a new glider is a new glider, it’s just a pity it was not ready in time, they both will prove  by flying it , how good it is. That will happen no doubt about that.
“Unfortunately not all want to see me there, or rather there are some who dislike the GP 14 Velo.”
The other pilots had more or less a slow day. Reason for other pilots to “shine” at the daily top;Luka from Slovenia in the Silent 2 electro “got”  the 1000 points, same glider different pilot, Alberto Sironi from Italy was runner up.[963 points] He moved from 8 to 5 overall.

” National Night entertainment warming up.” by Tony.

Today they have to be ready for 255 km.!! AND, latest news; …according to Tony it’s going to be a tricky day with a late start.

———–

Klippeneck.

August 5; Another day with good distances.
315 for standard , my young Belgium friends Jeroen and Dennis, are still doing well with a “glued-together” 5th place.
322 in 15 m. best speed 90 km./h.
18 m. class ;365 km. and another Dutch pilot showed his soaring capacity, this time Mark Wering in the JS 1 B, who “got”  the 1000 points for a speed of 111 km./h.
dosies; 344 km. and best result for the ARCUS M.
open; 366.93 and not Markus [Gaumann] today but Bruno [Gantenbrink] as winner!!

Dennis [Huybreckx] as seen by Jeroen Kroon.

August 6;
AND,….they did it again. Dennis and Jeroen were the daily winners.115.99 km./h over 253 km.Overall there is ONE point difference between them with 2 days to go.
The Schmelzers [Ventus 2cx T.] did well in 18 m.spot 5. They belong to the same club KEIHEUVEL in Belgium as Jeroen and Dennis and I hope to see them all inthe weekend of August 22 over there.
In open it was Markus [Nimbus 4 M] turn again to win the day.
The ARCUS T , yes it is getting boring won in the 2 seater class with ….2 Dutch pilots… Joost Wolff and Evert Zwolsman.Both very experienced pilots.

As shared by Jeroen Kroon.

Today; St class 272 km., 15 m. 276 km., 18 m. 346 km. ,2 seaters 292 km., and open 356 km.
Saturday last day, more news here on Sunday.

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Bailleau.

The speed class has 37 participants from Germany ,Belgium, Holland and France, so a nice mix of pilots and a few good ones as well.
As said Frank Hiemstra from Holland won day 1 in the St. Cirrus; 398 km. Day 2 was for Belgium with Stijn van den Boer in the St Libelle; 241 km.
Day 3 with 206 km. for Holland again, even with 2 pilots in the top 2 . One of them Robbie [Seton] who was in my junior team at the JWGC in Husbos.He won this competition before as far as I remember.
A team from Bailleau leads the total scores now with 2559 points. Frank has 2549 and Robbie, 2521.
The day was won by a Dutch pilot club member of Frank from Friesland ;Pieter van Vliet in the LS 1f.

Gaggle close to Bailleau as seen by Ken Evens.

———–

Junioren NK.

Only 7 finishers on Thursday , when they got a task of 184 km. Jelmer Vis had his 3 daily win and leads with 2 days to go.
Today; 116 km.

————

CU again on Sunday!
By the way, I forgot to tell you that my town was world news , due to the fact that 2 cranes lifting a bridge part back on the spot it belonged to ,[all 3  ON a floating platform/ponton ON  the RHINE] , collapsed WITH this bridge part. A miracle happened as many ran for their lives but nobody was injured. 2 Shops and 4 houses are “flat/crushed” .From 17 houses the people had to go and live somewhere else for a while. A REAL miracle and a total mess along the Rhine.
Cheers Ritz

As shared by my paper AD.

ARNBORG.
WWGC.

August 2 2015.
Finally the ladies could FLY!!! They were supposed to start at 12 but that was postponed  to 1 PM.
With the delay they got a B task, which was bigger than the A task;180  km.
BUT….. but the cloud base got low again and some could not even depart for their task.Some had to be launched again.
The weather was supposed to improve , but quickly the pilots found out that it would be not a day for speed but distance.
That happened and “our”  Dutch girls did well with this Dutch/Danish weather. They won the day  and runner-up-spot in club class.Good on them. Annemiek 210 and 209 points for Doortje.
Who cannot keep a penny, shall never have many…..

Day 1 – as seen by Kerry from Australia;” 2 relights, a new battery & an outlanding at a lovely Gliding club – as I write 2 trailers are leaving, a rotax drones above & another glider is on final!”
day 1 -as seen by Swaantje from Germany;” First day is over. At least we got a few points for the fight we put up against the weather!” 

In Standard 125 km. was the best from the set 212 km. flown by Joanna [Biedermann from Poland , but as she was the only one OVER 100 km. it turned out an invalid day.
In 15 m. a task from 224 km. and the French and Germans did well. 162 km.was the best distance by Anne [Ducarouge] ;423 points. Katrin [Senne] was runner up:419 points.
The daily prize was a ride in an open vintage 2-seater. Not bad!!!

the 3 Dutch club girls, Annemiek, Lilian and Doortje.
As seen by Frouwke.

August 3 2015.
A blue day for a change and a nice temperature of 20 dgr..
St. class 189 km.
Club class 172 km.
15 m class 204 km.
No flying in the end! Cloud base 600 up to 900, blue and with up to 25 kts.Tasks were scrubbed on the grid.

August 4 ; official rest day.

August 5 shows a 2.30 AAT for all classes.

———-

POCUINAI.
WGC 13.5 m.

As seen and shared by Morgan [Australia]

August 2 2015.
With one brand new type not yet ready, the one for Sebastian and a Russian pilot, the day was marked by disappointment, not only by those pilots , even by the concurrents.
But,….it turned out a good flying day with 1000 points for the winner; Stefano [Ghiorzo] in the Diana 2 versus.
Tony and Francois did well as runner up  in the Silent 2 electro ;910 points for each of these USA pilots.
Morgan from Australia was in as well; ” On my first day in international competition, I think I’ve done quite well for myself. It was a blue day, which meant flying in a gaggle or with a team was the best way to find thermals. The Americans did very well at this and I wasn’t able to catch them, despite getting within a few km twice. The two other gliders that I caught and passed ended up outlanding, along with many others from the other class.”

Team USA.With Francois and Tony to the left.
As shared by Eric Frere.

August 3;
No points for Sebastian so hopefully his glider will be ready today. He won several times with 1000 points marge , so it is still possible, BUT the plane has to be ready.
BUT,…when I read this ‘” Yep the GP 14 isn’t complete. They hope to have it here next week to show what it can do.” , it will take more than a day. A pity as they worked hard at Peske to have it ready in time.
The competition is not waiting, not even for Sebastian , so it continued with a 252 km. task. Morgan wrote;
“13.5m class had a better day today: almost like Australian conditions with cloudbase above 7000ft. I followed the American team today except one of them led me away while the other found a great thermal and beat me by a significant margin.” Those were Tony and Francois, Tony finished on spot 4, Francois on spot 8 and Morgan on spot 7.
So a Lithuanian pilot won the day in a mini LAK , with Stefano as runner up. The other Lithuanian pilot had to out-land.

August 4;
Same winners,as yesterday,  so the mini LAK with Vladas number 1 [315 km. with a speed of 102 km./h and the Silent 2 from Stefano on number 2, BUT on 3 it was Morgan, this time.

Overall WGC scores after 3 days;
Stefano Ghiorzo [Diana 2 Versvs] with 2683 points
Vladas Motuza [Mini LAK] with 2243 and
Morgan Sanderkock from Australia in the Sparrow Hawk with 2216 , 4 points ahead of Tony Condon from the USA.

Today , August 5, they fly 345 km.

———–

RIETI.
EGC

August 2 2015.
Opening in town at the stadium.
” Today at 5pm the opening ceremony took place in the stadium of Rieti. All the teams presented with their flags, pilots and team captains.
The FAI flag was displayed by the tow pilots.
The President of the Aeroclub displayed the Italian flag during the national anthem.”

August 3 , first flying day.
A good day with 339 km. in Club class and Ge [Dale] in the St Libelle had a really good first day;931 points.[speed 96.64].
This is what UK pilot Ian [Macarthur] had to say ;
“Well… Storming run south in a convergence to catch and fly with G round the first turn.
Early start seemed to work – it was incredibly fast and I pushed ahead on the second leg up front alone. Got to the top turn at 110kph but was then rinsed by the invisible easterly which was flowing over the range. The pain of watching the whole field scrape away above me 3/4 hour later was quite intense! Hero to zero in the blink of an eye!! Glad that G could get out of there and to the podium.”
Ian [LS4] was one of the 3 out-landers in this class.
Best the good old  PIK 20 with Finnish pilot Juhani Sahlberg he got the max 1000 points;speed 104.80.

Standard class; WOW, ” we ” did well, again. Sjaak, [Selen] yes brother from, won the day!!!1000 points and a speed of 113 km./h. Good on him. Always nice to start with a win.
Runner up French pilot Christophe Cousseau and on 3 Lucasz Blaszykzc.
4 Out-landings among them 2 from the Finnish team one of the Aku.
In 15 m. the Austrians who always fly very well in Rieti flew the 460 km. just under 100 km.h. Winner; Czech pilot Jaroslav Tomana in the ASG 29 E.
10 Pilots out landed!!!

Day 2 as seen by steward Terry, who really is inspiring with all the jobs he does, even a lot of writing. Chapeau! This is the jury president job.

—” another great day in Rieti. Sun was shining and no storms, so a good start to the competition. Wind was from the North East so Roberto Romano the task setter described it as “tricky” as the wind would be blowing from the back of the hills. Certainly a good description. The early starters did better as the top turn at Gualdo Taldino blued out and a couple of standard class gliders ended their flights at that point. 15m class who were last to launch with the biggest task suffered the most, with half of the glider in fields. Speeds slower than expected due to the weakening conditions. We went out for dinner with the Austrian team to a magnificent restaurant at the top of a small hill just 15km from Rieti. This probably describes most of the restaurants in this area. Great food and great views and lovely company. We got back to the airfield to find that the verandah of the admin building had been turned into a workshop as the German glider factory staff made some repairs to two glider that had had problems in their fields – one ASW19 hit a pole and a Discus 2 had damaged a wing going through a ditch. They are hoping that the two gliders will be flying tomorrow. Another glider arrived in the finish circle but had to land in a field, field too small and the glider ended up in a channel – luckily no damage to the glider or pilot. Tomorrow is meant to be better.—“

August 4; He was last in club class on the day before, this day he WON.
Ian from the UK;345 km. with a speed of 113 km./h.
The runner up Roman [Mracek] had a speed of 108 km./h.
In standard class Coutssie [New Zealand] did well by winning the day ;HC that is but he got 1.014 points!!!
128 km./h over 385 km.
The 1000 points were for Polish pilot Lucasz and Aku who was last yesterday , now had 967 points and a 3 d daily spot.
Sjaak was 6th.
In 15 m. another HC pilot from New Zealand , Dane Dickinson] won in this class. Both know the mountains and have been in Rieti before. Good on them!!!126 km./h over 427 km.

Today 475 and 471 km to fly.

———-

KLIPPENECK.
popular competition.

August 2 2015;
The first flying day and young Bert Schmelzer who spoke about his WGC performance in Finland , added an extra day , ” sniffed” for all pilots to see the conditions,  flew HC …and WON with 129 km./h. over 501 km!!!!Later I heard, F2 is his new glider.Good luck with it.

The 2 young Keiheuvel -boys Jeroen and Dennis are doing well.On flying day 1 they occupied spot 4 same departure same arrival time and on 2 Dennis won and Jeroen was runner up.In open class Marcus Gaumann won both days.
Bruno [Gantenbrink] out-landed.

Yesterday was cancelled tomorrow should be good!

August 4;315 in St class. 322 in 15 m. 365 in 18 m. 2 seaters/dosies 344 km and open 367 km.

———-

VENLO.
Dutch Junior Nationals

As you can see enough juniors in Holland.
As shared by the organizers.

August 2 2015.
This competition , with 20 participants, might be the start point of a soaring career, for one of the young ones today. For some older ones it is one of the the ways to the Nationals in Holland.
In any case it is a place where  pilots socialize, fly and learn from toppers who fly with them during a day.
They could start straight at day 1 on August 1; 223 km. was set and Arne Kaas from the Student Aero Club from Delft was the best;866 points.
Day 2 with 142 km. was a prey for Mathijs Hulst, who I got to know in Leszno last year.2 Gelderse members got 456 and 431 points for the day.
Day 3 showed a 3 hour AAT for the boys and girls.
Day 4 no task
Day 5 today 207 km.

———-

On day 1 in the French soaring mecca Bailleau Frank Hiemstra from Holland was number 1.
398 km with a speed of 105 km./h in a St Cirrus.
The Dutchies are doing well at the moment at several comps at top level.
GOOD!!

Cheers Ritz

To not make my blogs TOO long, I will publish a bit more than normal.
This is an extra blog about the preparations and latest on the important comps. There are so many, so lot’s of news and pictures. Keep looking and you will find……

18th. EGC for club, standard and 15 m. class
in Rieti.

The first practice day , last Wednesday, showed real practice for all, briefing, good tasks and though they change over the years, pretty experienced organizers.Very nice presentation of the teams at FB ,compliments!!!!!
290 for club,[ 3 finished] 378 [ 2 finished] for standard and 398 to get in the cross-country-mood for 15 m. class.[4 finished]
On Thursday 286 km. was set and finished by  4, some got penalty points, better now than in a few days and in st class the pilots got 323.65 km to fly 10 finished  and in 15 m. 18 from 24 flew and finished the task from 350 km.

One sad , very sad note. The restaurant on the beginning /end of the runway is GONE. It was the meeting point for all after flying. Can’t remember how many times we have been there.And always with great pleasure.

Once a lovely restaurant with great food and company.It will be MISSED!!!
Shared by Terry Cubley.

With 2 hour AAT’s in each class ,the last day of July, showed that “our depressions” moving East, passed by N. of Rieti as well.Thunderstorms were predicted . From 11 tow planes, 8 had arrived already!!!
A not too bad day, as Roman[Mracek] flew 216 km. in 2.06; speed of 103 km./h in the St Cirrus.The 3 Czech pilots practiced together, showing their interest in a high ranking this EGC.
241 km. was flown in St Class by French pilot Lucas Delobel in the Discus 2;speed 116 km./h. and in 15 m. nearly 300 km. , a bit over the time, 2.25;speed of 122 km./h.by Austrian pilot Michael Rass.
Saturday no flying “due to weather condition”.So pretty relaxed on their way to a for sure grande EGC again.
This evening , at 5 the EGC will be opened by Terry, chief steward and because of unexpected absence of the jury president, also president . It all happens in the local stadium and all 17 participating nations will be there . THEN ….it starts!!!!!

A great picture by the Finnish team in Rieti. As seen and shared by Aku [Jaakkoola]

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The 13.5 m. WGC
in POCUINAI.

Antonov AN-2s parked on the edge of the field.
As shared by team USA.

2.30 AAT was set for the 13.5 m. gliders as practice last Wednesday. As said before, some gliders were just finished before this WGC. Looking forward to the results, as some top pilots fly in nearly each of them.
This one is from one of my USA mates Tony [Condon] who I personally got to know in Uvalde. I wrote about him in my blogs and had contact about that via email and when I was in Uvalde he flew up with a friend and we met. His wife Leah completes his team in Lithuania. A great team!!!

  

” Rigged, registered, and weighed today. Good news is that I was under weight.” Tony.

No flying, during practice,  so more pictures this time from the new RUSSIA, shared by Tony.
A carbon fiber pure glider.

Pociunai: Day 1 – Finally we have some better weather for the start of the competition proper – no tasks were completed during the practice week.

Predictions are of small amounts of Cu, possibly going blue later in the day.

Task for the 13.5m class is just over 300km [317.76] with the first turn point in Poland.”  as shared by the Aussie team.

The latest I just heard!
” Manufacturing delays have meant that the new GP14 glider hasn’t made it to the comp for Day 1!”
That IS a pity!!!!

Parallel with this WGC , some international pilots practice already for the WGC next year in Pocuinai. 2 Aussies are there as well ” Tobi and Dylan also have fixed tasks in the same general areas.“

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The WWGC in Arnborg
in Denmark.

The women still had one more day to wait but then, slowly , after 2 cancelled practice days, they could get in the groove as well with a 107 km. task for all classes on Wednesday. For some the first inspection of the area from above.
Many looked ,on the rainy days, to kill the time,  around in the area, certainly close to the airport,  for good landing- fields and mentioned still high hay and grass. Always good to know.
In the end also this day had to be cancelled;cloud base 700 m. and 40 km./h wind not the best to fly a competition but “practicing launch and seeing the field from above” is always good.
So in fact no real practice!But ,..the welcome party was good .
A strong high pressure system is reaching the West of Europe from Friday onward, so August will be better.

On August 1, yesterday,  they tried again with 104 km. tasks as last practice, first for some!!!.BUT,….before they all went up, they had to be present at the opening- ceremony of this event in Herning .

  

Team Australia   and      Team Holland

  

Czech team         and       German Team

From August 2 till 14 the comps are ON.They start today with 154 km in st. class, 136 in club , 176 in 15 m.More on Wednesday.

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KLIPPENECK 2015, version 47!!

Unfortunately not the best weather to start with.
As seen by Jeroen Jennen.

A very popular competition and already in Mai it was impossible to enter anymore. All places booked out in 5 classes!Also pilots from Belgium, Holland and Switzerland “like”  this comps very much and are eager to fly here.
They started on July 31, started is a bit much said as both the practice day and first day’s had to be cancelled.

After Bert jr. [Schmelzer] on August 1 shared his experiences about his WORLD- title in Finland, they finally could start on August 2, today.They are rigging and looking at the skies the pilots are satisfied.
These are the tasks for today; Standard 357.08 km., 403 for 15 m., 501 for 18 m. ,2 seaters go for 387 and open for 462 km.
More on Wednesday or earlier when the blog is going to be TOO long.

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The last day of the month JULY was a good one on the OLC. Several 1000 km flights!!Some German airfields had that great weather even good enough for an LS1 d to fly 750 km.[775 …FAI triangle 737]
719 from Czech Rep. in St Cirrus [602 FAI triangle] , is worthwhile mentioning too.
2 Dutch juniors flew from Terlet in the DUO DISCUS 806 km. So Holland had after all the rain , a good soaring day again.From Midden Zeeland even 893 was flown in the ASH 31 /21m.
several 700 plus and an 800 km. task were on the list as well here in Holland.
By the way the Dutch JUNIOR NATIONALS are in progress in Holland.
On July 30 2 French [from Buno] and 1 German 1000 km. flight.

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Whilst other fly , a huge amount of people were visiting or participating at the Gay Parade in Amsterdam. The busiest ever .As seen by Fallon.

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As always I get the Australian Alpine Flyer, a social monthly magazine from the Mount Beauty Gliding Club as well as the weekly updates from what ‘s going on by Marisa.
As the president Andrew Evans mentions: ” This edition has plenty of winter themes, from flying over snow-capped peaks to our Club ski team carving some turns at Falls Creek. How lucky are we to enjoy this beautiful environment right on our doorstep?”
Nice life style!!
The CFI Mark Bland is slowly thinking of the new season again :”Well we’re over hump of winter and last Sunday we had our first decent soaring day for many weeks. I managed to fly my Libelle past Mt Feathertop and enjoy the spectacular views of the recent snow dump.”

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And to finish one of the soaring heroes from this time;
Sebastian Kawa with his dad Thomasz as seen by Zsolt Mattburger and shared on FB.
Great picture, so relaxed.