—–UK Club class Nationals and 2021 Midland Regionals;
Also in Husbos the last days were weather-wise not good. That effected both the club class Nationals and the Midland Regionals 2021.The last 3 days had no task or a cancelled task.
BUT,..not too many complaints as they had 6 out of 9 pretty good days during both events.
In club the comps were “dictated” by Jake and Tom.
Jake was JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPION in 2019 in Szeged and Tom in 2015 in Narromine.
On 3 days they were the winner and runner up. They started and finished more or less at the same time. On one day , task 5, they managed to do that equally ,winning the same amount of points, try that!?
Club class National CHAMPION;
1. Tom Arscott in LS 7 WL with 5.200 points.
2. Jake Brattle in LS 7 neo with 5.105 p,
3. Tim Milner in LS 3with 4.689 p.

Midland Regionals final scores;
1. Russell Cheetham in JS 3 with 5.189 points.
2. Steve Pozerskis in ASG 29e with 4.945 p.
3. Steve Barter in Ventus 3TS with 4.765 p.

—–International Bailleau 2021;
After 5 days in Vitesse and 6 in Grands Vols the weather “gave up” / became weaker.
Vitesse had 2 days with NO task, but the distance pilots had 6 days before they had a rest-day. On July 26 they started with the last 3 days.
July 26 ;
Vitesse; Task 6 …1.30 AAT....As said, there are many Dutch pilots flying at Bailleau. After the first 5 tasks it’s young Dutch pilot Lars [Groot] leading this class in an ASG 29/18m. Followed by Nick [Hanenburg] another young Dutch pilot.
The first 7 places are still “close” between 2.935 and 3.186 points.
Task 6 was a difficult one, for some, but Lars managed to fly 152 km in time 1.31. He won the day.
Totally different was the day from Nick. He outlanded after 122 km and lost more than 100 points on Lars.
Luckily a day with only 220 points for the winner and Nick “only” moved from 2 to 3.
20 points behind the Corporaals in the Duo Discus XLT.

Grand Vols; they flew task 6 a 2 hour AAT on July 24 and it was won by Bert jr and Tijl Schmelzer;226 km. in time 2.06. SAME start and same finish time , but Tijl got 2 penalty points as he just started a tad too high; 658 for 656 points.
With 3 days to go young Bert is nearly 300 points ahead, but as we all know ” it is only over after the last finish.”
On July 26 they had NO TASK.
No task on July 27 as well in both classes.

It looks they fly today, on the very last day.
Task 7 on July 28, with nice long tasks to finish on a high.
Vitesse 196 km and Grands Vols 297 km.
Will update later, when the day is official.

UPDATE!!!!
Task 7 for Vitesse was changed in 2.30 AAt and later cancelled….. so the overall scores remained as they were;
Overall scores after 6 out of 10 days…and not one 1000 points day;
1. Lars Groot in ASG 29/18 m. with 3.404 points.
2. Team Corporaal in Duo Discus XLT with 3.220 p.
3. Nick Hanenburg in Discus 2ct/18 m with 3.200 p.

Task 7 for the Grands Vols was flown.
Best speed over the 297 km. was by Jeroen Oostendorp in his ASW 22BLE; 79.58 km./h That says enough!!!!
Tijl and Bert started 5 minutes ahead of Jeroen in their Ventus 3T and had a speed of 77.82 km/h.
they had 3x a 1000 points day all 3 won by Bert jr.
Overall scores after 7 days out of 10 days;
1. Bert Schmelzer jr in Ventus 3T with 5.686 points.
2.Jeroen Oostendorp in ASW 22 BLE with 5.377 p.
3. Bas Seijffert in JS 1c/21m. with 5.278 p.

—–Looking back at that nice JEGC , here a picture of the Dutch “guys” with their 4,5 and 6 certificate/diploma. They deserve it.

—–In France , from Fontenay Le Comte, they fly between 25 July 2021 – 31 July 2021 the junior Nationals and the Standard Class 15 m. and 20 m. class.
THEY had pretty good weather to start with as after 2 day’s club had 2 tasks for the 16 participating pilots ,plus one pilot from Belgium flying HC.
A 2 hour AAT with 3 finishers, won by the HC pilot Henri Philippe in an LS 4NEO with 58.60 km./h. A tad faster than  Gaël Pischedda with 58.53 km./h. Both got 239 points.
Task 2 was 121 km. and 13 from 16 were “in”. Speed 77 km./h.
The combined Standard, 15 m and 20 m. class had 133 km. as task 1 and 301 as task 2 last Monday.
26 in this class plus 2 HC pilots.
Member from the well known de Pechy family, Anton was daily winner from task 1 in his Discus b and young talent Kevin Faur number 5 in his Ventus 2a.
Task 2 was for Enguerrand Virol in an LS 8. Kevin was 3d and Anton 23d.
Today the combined group has to fly 309 km…so better weather.
The juniors fly 254 km.
More next week.

—–Tomorrow on July 29 finally, the TOCUMWAL AVIATION MUSEUM opens it’s doors to the public.
Opening hours are going to be 10am till 4pm Monday to Sunday.
SO glad, the history of the TOCUMWAL WW2 and everything belonging to it, will be saved for ever.
‘To educate, entertain and inspire visitors to foster an appreciation for Tocumwal’s unique and significant contribution to Australia’s military and civilian aviation heritage and history.”Tocumwal Aviation Museum

There will be a restaurant as well.
“The ‘Drome Cafe will deliver unique cafe experience in a modern industrial setting offering the highest quality products and service.”
“Why “the ‘drome”? Speak to any of the long time locals in Toc and mention the aerodrome and they’ll call it “the ‘drome”, and so do we.”
Tocumwal Aviation Museum

More next week. A lot of my friends will be there. Wish I could have been there as well.
Wishing them a lot of success and many guests .
Big thank you to Gina and Bob who have put all their time, during their long-Tocumwal-life in this project. Already when we were running the hangar and the Sportavia Soaring Centre between 1994 and 2005.
Amazing people and Bob is in his 90thies now!!!

…the WGC from Montlucon starts soon. The USA is preparing, so they can come, in this COVID-uncertain time.
Good on them.
To finish; my grand daughter is at summer-soaring-camp at Terlet. Between sunshine lots of showers.

AND,…we had the worst start of the Olympics ,but it seems in ONE day “we” have already 2x gold, 4x silver and 2 x bronze and the day is not over yet. Best one-day-Olympic-result since 1928…in Amsterdam… for the Netherlands!!!!!
Later during the day another bronze, so the Dutch-Olympic- one -day -record was broken!!!!
We moved overall from 32 to 10 on the medal-board.

Cheers Ritz

The scores as I had them , did not change, so we have new JUNIOR EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS.
In club GOLD for Finn Sleigh from the UK AND Lasse Edslev from DENMARK both with 5.341 points.
Bronze for Nils Fecker [5.329]
In Standard GOLD for Simon Briel from Germany, with 4.893, 101 points more than the runner up…..Thomas Pavis from the UK who got the silver.[4.792]
Bronze was for Henry Inigo-Jones.[4.776]
Congratulations guy’s.
The Team gold is for the UK as well; Finn, Toby , Tom, Henry, and Team captain, Clement Allen!

I was wondering why we did not hear anything about “a stolen FAI flag”. ..an every year returning event at many comps.
But no worries ,”something happened ” and here is the picture.

NO pictures from the party, but maybe that’s better. I saw some very tired faces pass by.

As said a nice competition to follow even with the miserable weather in week 1.
The next BIG FAI EVENT class 1 is the 36 th WGC in Montlucon in France, from August 7-21. After the 2020 WGC had to be cancelled due to corona, Montlucon replaces Chalons en Champagne.
Club standard and 15 m will fly from Montlucon. Corona rules apply.
Of course!!!
Unfortunately The Netherlands have colored RED again.

Back on Wednesday with the regular blog and the final results from Bailleau, the Midland Regionals and club class UK Nationals. These comps finish this weekend.
Cu then.
Cheers Ritz

After a week of miserable weather, the week after was good. Today they could finish on a high, with a nice 3 hour AAT, in which every pilot could show again what he/she can.
Friday JULY 23;
Last day and partly sunny, in the morning, with 18 dgr. C up to 27 during the day and wind from the NNW with 7-11 km./h later from the W with 18-32 km./h.
Looking good for nice long distances!!!!!
At the morning-briefing Dutch pilot Mark got his daily prize;

During such a last day there is some stress in the air before departing and at the ground, as everybody there waits and waits ,listening to the radio.
No writing , nearly NOTHING on social media, as tactics remain important.
Time for me to look at the opening of the OLYMPIC GAMES. 206 Countries in the parade, a long sit, but everybody looked wonderful in colorful clothes. The pictograms and drones were fantastic.
After,…. straight up again, to see what was happening in Pocuinai.

Club; 3 hour AAT…..start line opened at 13:34. One of the first to go [13.40] AND to come back, [16.40] in exactly in 3 hours, was Finish pilot Kim Toppari;86 km./h. He was 20thiest for the day.
A bit more waiting and there it is…2 pilots on a daily runner up spot, Tobias from Germany and Karol from Poland behind Toby Freeland [UK] who wins the day;295 km. in time 3.02 in his ASW 20.
Of course Finn must be somewhere then too, as they fly together. He was 5th for the day; 294 km. in time 3.03.
BUT,…. the overall number 1 Nils was “only” on 13. Ouch….
You would not believe this, but Finn was on July 16, still on spot 14, then slowly up to 8,7 and 3 to seize the “power” on the last day. BUT he has to share it ,as Lasse has the same amount of points!!!!!
So Finn did not win the last day, but unfortunately Nils lost points and dropped from 1 to 3 now.
My Dutch mates, Lars, Simon and Jelmer, did and excellent job…. Being 4, 5 and 6 overall. TOP JOB!!!!They might be a bit disappointed to not hold on to the first 3 spots, but that is competition.
The future for Dutch gliding looks bright, for the UK maybe even brighter!!!
Over all results after 7 out of 13 days;
1. Finn Sleigh [UK] in ASW 20 with 5341 points .
1. Lasse Edslev [Denmark] in LS 4a WL with 5.341 p.
3. Nils Frecker [Germany] in LS 4b with 5.329 p.

Standard; 3 Hour AAT..…..start line opened at 13.48. 11 Pilots flew over 100 km. /h. Danish Jacob Bøgelund Lassen, won the last day; 335 km. in time 3.04, speed 109 km./h.
Simon was quite some points ahead overall and being runner up only loosing 7 daily points , he stabilized his position. Easy!
But then;….. young Czech pilot, Jaromir was runner up but lost points as he was on spot 9.
Scores were so close, loosing 139 points meant, overall from 2 to 4.
Then the UK guy’s!!!!Henry on 4 and Thomas on 5 for the day.
Overall that meant into the top 3!!! Great result for the UK juniors, from 3 to 2 and from 4 to 3!!!
Overall scores after 6 out of 13 days;
1. Simon Briel [Germany] in Discus 2A with 4.893 points.
2. Thomas Pavis [UK] in Discus 2a with 4.792 p.
3. Henry Inigo-Jones [UK] in LS 8 with 4.776 p.
Compliments to the 3 Czech juniors on spot 4, 5 and 6!!!!

Party time now for the young ones and I have seen in the past, how good some winners can party.
Part of being young!!!!
But also congratulations to all members from the teams, crew and pilots. It’s over , RELAX TIME!!!So it should be.
Whilst checking I was in different functions at 5 JWGC’s. The atmosphere for sure, must be here at the JEGC ,as good .
All great fun!!!!

Back tomorrow with pictures from the party and changes when necessary as these scores are still preliminary.
Closing ceremony and prize giving tomorrow at 12 according to the official schedule.
Hopefully also with pictures!!!

On Sunday more news about Bailleau , the club class nationals in the UK and the Midland Regionals and the Swiss juniors.

Cheers Ritz, it was great fun to follow these young ones!
CU tomorrow!!

5th FAI JEGC
at Pociūnai, Lithuania

Wednesday July 21;
23 dgr. C and a cold front passed by and destabilized the air. Launches later in the day.
After rain there was sunshine. Wind WNW 14 km./h gusting to 22.
Club; 1.30 AAT....”Later in the day” turned out to be at 2PM.
Some pilots started early at 15.17 others and among them the daily winners, after 4PM.
The feeling , looking at the videos of the UK pilots, was a good one, all happy chappies and it shows in their performance.
The 2d win for Finn [ASW 20] with 187 km. in time 1.39; speed 112.80km /h. . Romanian pilot Tudor Ionut [St. Jantar] was a good runner up with 185 km. in time 1.44, so speed 106.49 km./h.
UK pilot Toby [Freeland] was 3d.
Short task and finally a bit of speed.
ALL STARTED AND ALL FINISHED this AAT, so a good day!

Standard; 1.30 AAT.…AND,…another young Brit won in this class; Henry [ Inigo-Jones].He started at 15.54 ,as the last one and 1 minute behind Simon and Jaromir [ Macoun] , the number 1 and 2 at this stage overall.
Tactics are in full swing!!!

2d Daily win for Henry , in a row, who is busy to recover lost ground. 3 Days ago he was on 7 overall, then 6 and now 5.
He flew 205 km. in time 1.39…Speed 123 km./ h. Fastest day till now!!!
Cloud base 2000 m and lift up to 3.5 m.
The Czechs in this class “smell” the medals as well with a 2d and 4th spot.
Totals are VERY close, with 2 days to go, have a look;
1. Simon [Germany] with 3.012 points, 2. Jaromir [Czech Rep.] with 2.927 p.3. Thomas [Pavis UK] with 2.884 p. 4. Jan [Zapletal Czech Rep] 2.865 p and 5. Henry with 2.863 p.

Thursday July 22;
18 dgr. C with a fresh Northerly 7-11 km.h. Longer tasks again, so for all a possibility to show what they can. Pilots were in good mood as it looked like a super-day and there was hope for 1000 points for the daily winner, as only task 6 showed those points ; What happened???
Club; 270 km....The start line opened at 12.57.Most pilots waited for half an hour to go on track, so around 13.30. The German boy’s went at 19, belonging to the 4 early “birds”.
In hindsight a good decision as Tobias won and Nils was 3d with Danish pilot Lasse Edslev in the middle …… Finn was 4th.
Speed around 89 km./h ,…..the UK ASW 20’s had a speed of 90 km./h but their handicap is over 105 compared to the 102 from the LS 4.
Our Dutch mates , proudly toppers of the overall scores for several days, had a less good day finishing at spot 16, 18 and 24. We all know then that this has consequences , certainly on a 1000 points-day.
So quite a few changes in the overall scores after the last but one day. Simon dropped from 1 to 7, Jelmer from 2 to 4, Lars from 3 to 5 and the winning pilots; Nils from 4 to 1, Lasse from 6 to 2 and Finn from 7 to 3, BUT “it ain’t over yet” . Scores are very close between the top 7 [sometimes ONE point difference]; between 4.445 and 4.271.
The Czech girls are doing a great job by being on spot 6 [Tereza] and 9 [Michaela] , good on them!!!!
One day to go.

Standard; 316 km….and at 13.11 the standard boys and [Czech] -girls were allowed to go. They all started within 13 minutes.
92 km./h was the best speed flown by Dutch junior Mark, in his LS 8, followed by Philip Lauer [Germ.] Nuutti Luukkonen from Finland and Henry and Thomas from the UK. They were the last ones to depart in sink and quite low, but finished “under a massive cloud street“.
Simon the current, overall leader finished on spot 8, lost a few points but still has enough to go as overall leader into the last day.[3.900]
Jaromir was on 2 and stays there [ 6th for the day] Thomas is still on 3 and Henry moved to 4 now, so winning again one place.

The last day is today…more in a new post.

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Concours International de Bailleau 2021

We continue with task 3 for all classes and not one day was “missing” till now.
July 21;
Vitesse; ….. 271 km…The Duo Discus XLT team Corporaal x2, was the daily winner with Lars [Groot] as runner up in his ASG 29 and father and son Max and Caspar van Bree were 3d.
All 32 started and finished!!!
Grands Vols; July 21…..367 km...Bas Seijffert did well, yes , sorry, another Dutch top pilot. He won the day with 128 km./h.in his JS 1 C/21m.
Bert jr. was runner up just ahead of brother Tijl.[ both Ventus 3T] Dad Bert sr. was on spot 20.
In the top 10 also former European Champion Steven Raimond, and when you think “only Belgians and Dutchies”… no as on spot 7 was Nathalie Lueben, from Germany [ASH 31 MI/21 m. ] who flies a lot in South Africa and on 9 Giancarlo Grinza from Italy[Ventus 3F] .
All 21, started and finished.

July 22;
VITESSE; 261 km...Very interesting……3x a Duo Discus [XLT and T] in the top 5. Speed 113 km./h and thought except for one everybody was “in”, it looked like a rather difficult day.
Grand Vols on July 22; 386 km….Bert jr, is back as daily winner. In the end he must have “lost” brother Tijl, as he finished as 12th.
Bas was 3d and the Dutch pilots in the big birds , Jeroen [ASW 22BLE] and team Van Doorn/van Empelen in the Nimbus 4DLM were on spot 2 and 4.

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UK CLUB CLASS NATIONALS
17 July 2021 – 25 July 2021

From Husbands Bosworth the nationals continued, with good weather, no rain till now!!!!!
July 21;
Task 5…222 km...Only 1 out and Alistair Emson as new face at the podium; 93 km./h in a St Cirrus. Tom was runner up and Ge 3d and good to see Claudia [Hill in LS1 f NEO] who flew the WWGC in Lake Keepit on spot 4. Jake was 4th and our former Tocumwal -tuggie Tim [Milner in LS 3] was 7th.
July 22;
Task 6;…302 km...and today they had it finally TOTALLY right. Tom and Jake started and finished together and were both on spot 1.
Tim was a good 3d!!!He moved from 7 to 3 overall , but is still pretty far away from the top.
Tom has now 5.200, Jake 5.105 and Tim 4.687.
The former top juniors are a class apart.

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The MIDLAND REGIONALS 2021
17 July 2021 – 25 July 2021

Also from HusBos, these very interesting regionals , though there is one pilot who is really good!
July 21 task 5, 161.16 km…….and Russell won 3 of them and was runner up on one day. This day he won AGAIN, so number 4 in the pocket; just 100 km. /h and a start at 4 PM.
July 22 task 6…274.15 km.… Paul [Crab] was the daily winner with a speed of 102 km./h. Steve Pozerskis was runner up in ASG 29e.
Of course Russell still leads overall, but was 7th for the day.

Blogs are getting long again, so more news tomorrow .
Looking ahead at a great last day in Pocuinai; 3 hour AAT’s!!!!!
Cheers Ritz
P/S to finish some nice pictures from the INTERNATIONAL EVENING, it’s all about friendship/camaraderie….talking about gliding with mouth ,hand and feet and of course some nice drinks and food.
Pictures are shared by the organizers in the photo section. There are many more;https://jegc2021.lt/photos/

You might have seen, that I indeed published last Sunday, to avoid too long blogs/ posts.
It’s Monday July 19 now and a new week started, also for the “young ones”. What I could read and see on the pictures, is that they “nearly” all enjoyed themselves during the official day off.

July 19;On a partly sunny Monday with 24 dgr. C. and a wind from 14 to 20 kts [ gusts] from the W. the first launches were announced for 12, midday!
As the British Gliding team said; “After a lot of scrub days at the JEGC in Lithuania we finally have a nice cumulus day! Follow on Glide and Seek: https://link.glideandseek.com/jegc-2021
Club; 216 km. race..…start line opens at 12.12,42 With 86 km./h Finn Sleigh from the UK , was the best and clearly; 86 km./h. He started as one of the first at 12.54. He moved up from 14 to 8 overall.
Finn called it a “character- building- day”. They were send over the forest and the cloud base was below 5000 ft. “Interesting and terrifying.”. He had some luck with the last 3 climbs, which were good.
Finn flew earlier in 2017 the JWGC in Lithuania.
Runner ‘s up 2 Polish pilots flew 79 km./h. they started at 13.27 but did well too.
25 from 27 finished,…a GOOD day!!!
It makes me proud to see , the first 3 places overall are occupied by Dutch pilots; Lars , Simon and Jelmer…2.390 points , 2.325 and 2.307 whilst number 4 Lasse Edslev from Denmark has 2.220 p.
But it “ain’t” over yet. 7 LS 4’s in the overall top at this stage.

Standard; 245 km race…start line opens at 12.54. Czech- Rep-day as 2 of their young ones were the daily best with 96 km./h in their LS 8.But Simon from Germany was a good 3d with 95 km./h.in a Discus 2A.
He leads the overall scores at this stage with 52 points on Thomas Pavis from the UK.
All started between 13.00 and 13.12. Quick departures.
The skies looked good , but quite a few pilots lost speed by getting low …they had to dig their self out. Result…a lower average speed.
11 LS 8 types in this class and 6 Discus types.
13 From 14 who started finished……3 in this class are not flying anymore .

July 20; partly sunny, 18dg.C. Wind from the NNW 7-11 km./h
Club; 270,93 km.…quite a bit fresher than the low thirties , but the German pilots felt good with this weather and raced to spot 1 ,2 and 4, with a speed just under 100 km./h. A special day ,…as all 27 pilots finished!
Was that because they ALL wanted to be at the INTERNATIONAL Evening?????
A few penalties , one for cloud flying,.mmmmm….!!!

Standard; 317,71 km. …. listening to the stories from the UK pilots , it seems they are feeling good in Pocuinai , [like the Dutch,] they fly well but sometimes find it a “bit” scary, for sure INTERESTING.
Henry Inigo-Jones, won the day with 105 km./h . Simon was just a tad slower and missed out on ONE point.
All 14 in this class finished so …party time! But,..the next day they have to fly again as hopefully the days will be flyable till the end. 3 days to go!!!!

For today shorter tasks;1.30 AAT for club and standard, some crews might have had a BIG night.
BUT,…..Due to a cold front passing by, launches will be later during the day.

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The CLUB CLASS NATIONALS from Husbands Bosworth
17 July 2021 – 25 July 2021

31 Competitors try to be the champion in this class and there are a few BIG names fighting for it.
Task 1 on July 17; 214 km....27 from 31 flew the task. I must say the UK had excellent weather, very hot and dry. Northern Ireland even had the hottest temperature on record. So no rain in Husbos, a nice field where I was in 2005 with the JWGC… great comps, but with some difficulties for our Dutch team, before it started.
Young toppers Jake Brattle and Tom Arscott, worked at full strength together, departing and finishing together ,..so the best spots were for them…84 km../h and 1 point difference in score. [796 for 795] Great to see Alisson Mulder on spot 3. I am pretty sure she learned how to fly a glider with us in Tocumwal years ago. She was n ‘t even that eager then.
Task 2 on July 250,69 km.…The boys did well again, but this time Carol Marshall joined in and just started a fraction later, so she won the day. All 3 fly an LS 7 and the speed was 88 km./h.
Ge Dale was 4th.
27 From 31 finished!
Task 3 on July 19; 342 km.…Greg O’ Hagan was the best in his LS 4, with a rather early start.[85.80 km./h] But just a tad, as the Discus from James Ewence flew around with a speed of 85.62 km./h. He was an early starter as well.
Task 4; 299 km....When the “hotshots” fly together, they just are the BEST. Tom and Jake in the LS 7 flew with a speed of 96 km./h. for 1000 and 997 points. With Ge Dale and Benjamin Hughes, they were the last to depart at 13.38.
Don’t forget that Jake is the current, 2019 JWGC champion!!
For today a 222 km race is on the agenda.

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The MIDLAND REGIONALS
Husbands Bosworth
17 July 2021 – 25 July 2021

Parallel to the Club Class Nationals they fly the regionals in one mixed class and also here BIG names.
Task 1 ;189.82 km.…and straight away one of the big names is upfront; Russell Cheetham in his JS 3.
Paul Crab, also a former WGC pilots was runner up in his ASG 29.
19 From 30 finished.
Former “frequent flyer” at Tocumwal ,Richard Kalin, was 11th in his Ventus 2cxt.
Task 2; 195.97 km….And again Russell led the’ troops”. Speed 95 km./h.
Task 3; 304 km....a good day …26 from 31 finished and the best was Steve Pozerskis in an ASG 29. Best speed; 98 km./h whilst Russell had 69 km./h.
Russell still on 1 overall, Steve on 2.
Task 4 ; 295 km…..a 1000 points-day and all points are for Russell in his JS 3. He was the only one with a speed over 100 km./h.
30 started and 30 finished. The UK has nice weather!!!!
Task 5 today…..211 km.

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International Bailleau 2021.
56 competitors in 3 classes
19 July 2021 – 28 July 2021

As every year a lot of Dutch pilots fly and love this competition.
They have a racing class ..VITESSE.. with 33 pilots, 14 from Holland, a long distance class…Grand Vols…with 21 participants , 11 from Holland and 3 Schmelzers from Belgium and a friendly class ….AMICALE with 2 participants.
I concentrate on the 2 bigger classes.
Vitesse;
Task 1 on July 19; 273.96 km.…The young Dutch pilots, did well on day 1. Nick Hanenburg and Lars Groot were the daily winners with a speed of 103 and 106 km./h.
32 Flew and 2 were out. One of the last finishing pilot’s was Emiel de Wachter from Belgium in his LS 8. I met him and his wife Godelieve on many comps through many years. She is one of the best crews ever. Lovely couple.
Task 2 on July 20; 382.77 km….. Team Theisinger/Buchner is flying the ARCUS and they won the day;107 km./h. Theisinger is a well known name in soaring too.
32 started 30 finished , one close by after 349 km.
Today task 3 ; 271 km.

Grand Vol;
Task 1 ..376.10 km….With former world champion Bert Schmelzer jr. you have a top pilot at the field. Together with dad and brother Tijl , they form a strong group. Bert jr. straight away won day 1 in the Ventus 3T; 99.68 km./h.
Dutch pilot Bas Seiffert, also a top pilot, in the JS 1c/21 m. was runner up with 98.90 km./h
21 pilots in this class and 16 finished. A pity Margot Aquaderni was “out” she is a good pilot.
Task 2; 5 hour AAT….Now the Schmelzer- boys, Bert and Tijl did very well together, they gathered their strength winning the day with 561 and 558 km in time 5.18. Both fly a Ventus 3T. Dad was on a good spot 11 in his Ventus 2cxt; 483 km. in time 5.26.
Bas stayed close again on spot 4 with 572 km. in time 5.24.
20 Started 18 finished.
Today task 3 367 km.

As said in my last post, the water is travelling more to the N. now and close to Nijmegen, ….the bridge at the Maas…..it looked like this last Sunday

Over the last week I heard several times the words once in 100 year. Now in China with the flooding, the fires in N Canada. California has often fires but more nowadays.
Climate change!!!
NOT GOOD!!!!!
What is good??? The 7 million donated to the Red Cross, in a very short time, here in The Netherlands for Limburg.

Back on Saturday , as Friday is the last day of the JEGC and Sunday with the other latest news.
Cheers Ritz

5th FAI Junior Gliding Championship.
11 July 2021 – 23 July 2021

The first week from the JEGC , starting on July 11, [after 3 practice days] was unfortunately not a good one. After 5 days they flew in each class 1 day, won in club by 2 Romanian pilots and in standard the best 4 were English and German pilots.
On top of that they had a mid-air on July 15, between a young Danish pilot who landed out and 1 from Lithuania , he bailed out and landed safely by parachute. This happened on Thursday, a hot day with short tasks ,but the day had to be cancelled. Of course!!!!
Hopefully lessons learnt by ALL.
Further on I noticed that Patrick Pauwels from Belgium is chief steward and Juha ‘Silva’ Silvennoinen from Finland president of the Jury. I worked with both of them nice and experienced , competent guy’s.
Last week I shared a picture from the Dutch and the British team, now the German and Finish team.

After that, the sun was shining literally and figurative. Even clouds appeared, so ACTION for the young ones! THAT IS,…when they wanted to fly, after the incident. The organizers said, it was their choice…..but the message was also; it’s an official competition-day.
32 dgr. C ,….. real feel 36…wind ESE….7-11 km./h….partly cloudy, but a lot “of blue”.
Tuggies ready so off they went;

JULY 16;
Club; 254 km….that’s more like it. Start line opened at 13.14. The 3 Dutch boys started around 13.45, rather early as many left after 2.
A good choice , as they found out later, as they finished as number 2 [Simon] and 3 [Lars] and 4 [Jelmer] with a speed just under and over 70 km./h.
A German pilot however ,Nils Fecker, was faster and quite a bit. His LS 4B raced with a speed of 76.66 km./h. over the track!!!!! AND,….he started later; at 14.32.
1000- points-day ,so all of them for Nils.
The UK boys started at 14.40, only 8 minutes later, in hind side …too late.
9 LS 4 gliders in the top 10..
Only 10 from 26 finished.

Standard; 302 km....start line opened at 13.28.In this class NOBODY finished. After the bad weather, my experience is…never be to ambitious. In the end the lift was less than forecasted, so was the height.
2 pilots flew EXCELLENT. Nick Faber from Holland and Simon Briel from Germany. Both in a Discus with 208 and 192 km. The rest [15 pilots] remained UNDER 53 km, so all good work from the 2 toppers was character-building, as the day was invalid.
A pity.

July 17;
club class;2 hour AAT... and Standard class; 2 hour AAT…
BUT,…already they saw lightning and heard thunder.
“Instead of +34 we finally got some fresh cooler winds.” by Silva.
Day cancelled, pretty clear why…

July 18; TODAY……OFFICIAL rest day!!!!!

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The French CLUB CLASS Championship was flown between July 11 2021 – 17 July 2021 from Lille/Marcq-en-Baroeul, and like most parts of Western Europe they had miserable weather!
Such a pity for the 33 pilots, among them 7 from Belgium, who fly HC.
A 1.40 AAT on day 1 , but just over 60 km. was the best result.
Then 3 days without a task.
On July 15 , they tried hard again; 1.45 AAT but, the task was cancelled.
On July 16 a racing task from 115.84 km. AND YES,….with a speed of 68 km./h. Maxence Stawski flew in his LS 4 to the first spot. Edgar Lagorio was runner up in a Pegase.
Pieter and Daan[HC] from Belgium were on spot 3 and 4 in an LS 1f.
23 from the 27 who started finished.

July 17, last day and still only ONE valid day, showed a racing task from 140 km.
3 French pilots in 3 different gliders in the top for the day.
Guillaume in an ASW 24, Pierre in a Discus b and Edgar in a Pegase.
Daily points , for them, between 267 and 259.
Overall scores after 2 out of 7 valid days.
1. Edgar Lagorio in Pegase with 579 points.
2. Pierre Prudhomme in Discus B with 518 p.
3. Alexandre Fierain in ASW 20 with 498 points.

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SUMMER COMPS at MALDEN
11 July 2021 – 17 July 2021

Continued in the same bad weather, but there was a window on July 16. Till then they had ONE valid day.
Club class; 1.30 AAT…
Combined open class; 1.20 AAT….
But,…the window was not big enough.
SCRUBBED.

It looked good for Saturday…summer was coming back.
LAST DAY;
Club ;160 km...flying day 2 out of 7!!
Jeroen van Dijk and Joep Heesakkers were the only 2 finishers with speed of 69 and 58 km./h. Character building!!! Good on them.
They were the best on the other flying day [task 2] as well, so overall winners with 792 and 762 points.

Mixed open;199 km….flying day 2!!Only 3 flew the task. Daughter and father, Lizzy and Herbert van Zomeren , flying the Duo Discus XLT, flew around with 65 km./h winning the day, but also the competition.
A total amount of 696 points says enough.
The runner up and 3d place were for Hans Biesters in ASG 29 /18m. with 659 points and young Hidde Reitsma in an LS 8 with 462 points. Both belonged to the pilots finishing on the last day.
On Sunday it was perfect soaring weather!!!!!

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Polish Club Class flown from Stalowa Wola-Turbia, were flown between July 9 and 18.
All those Lucaszes, Tomaszes and Zbigniew’s, were flying, ……a total of 40 pilots.
Out of 10 days they flew 4 pretty marginal days. Only ONE 1000 points-day on July 13 with with a racing task from 282 km. flown by 14 from the 40 who started.
Today , on the last day, another short task;1.30 AAT.
BUT we are used to it NOW…SCRUBBED!!!!
So after 4 out of 10 days the overall scores are:
1. Przemysław Bartczak in SZD 55 with 1.911 points.
2. Stanisław Biela in SZD 55 with 1.854 p.
3. Tomasz Krok in Pegase with 1.812 p.

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The weather in parts of Europe is horrifying. UNBELIEVABLE….
A once-in-100-year-event, I heard. In Holland they even said a once in 300 year event.
I have NEVER seen and heard so much rain.
All rivers are flooding and Belgium and Germany suffer even worse than we here in The Netherlands. Nobody died here, but in Belgium at least 27 and in Germany over 130 and in both counties many missing.
Houses collapsed , people were up to their neck in the water, sitting on roofs waiting for help. That is when they had a roof.
In Germany , just over the Dutch border, in Nord Rein Westfalen and Rijnland Palts, many houses were taken by the power of the wild-racing water.
Dams broke and landslides took everything in their way. Lovely little rivers ,became giant killing water masses.
Lots are still missing.
A real disaster!!!!Heartbreaking…..
Evacuations were in full swing.
Everybody helps everybody, Germans ,people from Holland and Belgium.
Lot’s of military mates build bridges…where they were gone with the water…, helped with the evacuation of hospitals and help to make dykes stronger.
In 1 hour, a place where a dam broke, went from dry to 1 m.to 10 m. high water. The speed in which the water rose, was for most people unbelievable.
That’s why so many people died.
It was like a tsunami.
One of the sad stories; The fire brigade in Belgium saved 3 people , but the boat got stuck , the saved people fell out and drowned, taken by the wild water.
With the arrival of water from Luxembourg, Belgium and Germany, the rivers in Holland will rise like “hell“. Those rivers have to bring it all to the Nord Sea.
Luckily, we Dutch are known by “our” good water management, hence still a disaster ,but a bit “less”.

So …it’s not ready yet here for us.

Cu on Wednesday. With news about the club class national in the UK [HusBos] with 30 participants, a few VERY good ones and parallel with it the Midland Regionals 2021 with another 32 pilots.
And of course the last week of the JEGC.
And hopefully better news about the flooding, though it can never be really good with so many casualties.
And …..Austria , Vienna and Salzburg and Bayern [ Germany] are hit now too.
On top of that,…. after all the recent travelling and partying after the CORONA-lockdown, The Netherlands is RED again. NOT GOOD.
And,..a more pleasant note; Within a few days the people from The Netherlands donated 4.2 million for the victims of the floods in Limburg.
Cheers Ritz
P/S Always had a lot of respect for Lewis Hamilton. Not anymore after today. A huge mistake and only 10 penalty points…..and Max with an impact of 51 G , on his side, in the boarder. Car totally written off. Max seems OK.
NOT GOOD!!!! NOT the way to deal with a concurrent who has been better till now!

AND to finish on a high again…..

2021 USA NATIONAL 18 m. CHAMPIONSHIP at Nephi.

The 608 km. set race from last Tuesday was flown by 26 from the 29 pilots still flying. A “fast and furious” race by Andy Blackburn who “drove” his JS 3 over the track with a speed of 171 km./h!!!
With one day to go it was Sean Fidler and Rick Indebro [both in ASG 29, Rick in the 15m version] on top overall ,with Andy Blackburn on spot 3 after his fast race.
But task 7 on July 7 was even faster!!!! John Seaborn [ then at spot 5] flew his JS 3 over 568 km. with a speed of 190 km./h. [he won the trophy for the fastest contest flight ]
28 from 29 flew the task.
Andy was 3d and Sean 4th , whilst Rick had unfortunately an off-day on spot 26.
Task 8 was a difficult one for Sean, he was 18th whilst John was 6 for the day. Gary Ittner won the last day with 495 km and a speed of 157 km./h. Rick was 5th but finished on spot 6 overall, after his “off-day”.
On the SSA site the story about the last day by one of the competing pilots, Clemens Ceipek, flying a Ventus 2CX /18m, here are some parts[ full story on :FB under ZWEVERS,a gliding community.
“We were given an Assigned Area Task (AAT).The task required us to cross the mountains and valleys back and forth. There were a lot of decisions to make and a number of traps to avoid. Thermal conditions were very strong, and cloud bases were well above the legal maximum of 17,500 ft, but there was much more wind to contend with than in the past few days. We saw west-south westerly winds of close to 30 kts today in some parts of the task area.

The start was once again a problem. This time it was the changing wind on the ground.
I was among the early starters launching at 13:21 and had no problem climbing up to 16,000 feet right off tow. Then the wind picked up and the launch had to be paused. Then the wind direction changed and the remaining gliders had to be moved to the other end of the runway.
But the delay was substantial nonetheless. The start gate eventually opened at 15:33. I had already been in the air by more than two hours and had flown well over 200 km by that time. But now the race was on and the task distance was another 432-718 km, to be flown in no less than three hours.

It was 18:30. I had another 150 km to go to the finish and was in need of at least two more climbs.”

I was still about 2500 feet low on Final Glide at MC 4 and the clouds ahead were quickly disappearing.
Gradually I made it above Final Glide Altitude and just felt my way towards the finish, increasing my speed as the glide ratio improved.”

These were amazing Championships with blazingly fast flight. On six of the eight contest days the winner’s speed exceeded 100 mph.

So the final results are;
1.Sean Fidler in ASG 29 with 7.455 points.
2. John Seaborn in JS 3 with 7.375 p.
3. Andy Blackburn in JS 3 with 6.452 p.

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The 2021 Swedish Nationals at Feringe

The 3 classes did not fly on Wednesday, but on Thursday there was action again. The news was not too good when I read “Massutelandning och motordragning”
I thought it would mean mass outlanding and use of engines.
Not a bad guess…“There has been massive landing in the club class and several in the 18m have reported technical landings. A rainy weather swept over Feringe as competitors headed home.“
BUT,…there were finishers as well in all 3 classes.

Club; 1.45 AAT Norwegian pilot Kato was one of the 3 finishers, in fact the daily best with 162 km. in time 2.18….that was fighting for the points .
18 m.; 1.45 AAT…Only 3 finishers in this class as well.
Hannes in the ASH 26E, Peter in the ASG 29/18m and Ulf in the Ventus 2 CXT/18m.
2 seaters; 1.45 AAT….Only the Lindell’s were “IN” with a low finish ,..but IN. 411 points for them..
In fact this was the last day as there was NO task on July 9 in all 3 classes, so the final scores after 5 out of 7 days are;
Overall scores for Club;
1. Kato Kvitne from Norway in ASW 20 with 2.866 points.
2. Martin Ekdahl in LS 4 with 2.702 p.
3. Lars Jauring in PIK 20d with 2.500 p.

Overall scores for 18m;
1. Börje Gustavsson in JS 3 with 2.666 points.
2. Börje Eriksson in VENTUS 3 with 2.644 p.
3. Peter Johansson in ASG 29/18m. with 2.624 p.

Overall scores for 20 m; 2 seaters;
1. Lindell & Lindell in Duo Discus XLT with 2.525 points.
2. Acketoft & Wendt in Duo Discus T with 2.507 p.
3. Jobs & Ganev in ARCUS M with 2.414 p.

Difficult days , small tasks ,close scores in the top, but for sure still fun by ALL.

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The 45th International Issoudun 2021
4 July 2021 – 13 July 2021

53 competitors in 2 classes …Club and Multi class.
CLUB CLASS;
no flying on day 1 the 4th of July!
106 km was set for Flying day 1 and 13 from 16 flew the task. German pilot Uwe Wahlig flew 69 km./h in his LS 3 [handicap 104.9] and Aurelien Doariat from France in a Pegase, [handicap 101.5] 67 km….they were the best…for 260 points.
Flying day 3 showed another racing task now from 203,59 km. Uwe was the best again with 75 km./h. From other comps I know he is an excellent pilot.
Wolli Beyer, coach from the German team was 4th and Elena who won the WWGC in Lake Keepit was 6th.
No task on day 3 and 4.
Another small task…125 km. was set on July 10,….BUT…cancelled.
Flying day 4;251 km,…only a bit better weather arrived, the bad one moved up N. but slow.
Fergnani-day as Elena won and brother Nicola was runner up, both in Discus. They started and finished together; 69 km./h.. Uwe was 4th and only 5 were IN.
No task on the 12th and the 13th.

Overall scores after 4 from 10 days in CLUB CLASS;
1. Uwe Wahlig from Germany in LS 3 with 2.170 points.
2. Nicola Fergnani from Italy in Discus with 1.983 p.
3. Elena Vergnani from Italy in Discus with 1.857 p.

Multi class;
No flying on day 1 and a small task on flying day 1 a 2 hour AAT.
16 from 32 only finished. Best was “Juliette Charlie” , Jutta Sturm ,in her JS 1 /21m.; 163 km in time 2.05.Good on her! Only 336 points however for he winner.
Flying day 2 had a bit longer task with 279 km. and Jutta did well again. Runner up behind that top talent Kevin Faur.[Ventus 2A] Kevin “got” 1000 points , Jutta 968.
25 from 33 were “in”.
No task on the 7th, but a 2 hour AAT on the 3d day. A marginal day for some… as JC. She was 29th , BUT IN. On the other hand she drooped from 1 to 9 overall.
Her husband Christophe in the ASH 25 choose the better track and was 7th for the day.
Flying day 4; another 2 hour AAT 194 km. was flown by Daniel in an LS 8 in time 2.04 and 212 km. in time 2.08 by Francois, a member of the Aeroclub Universitaire de Louvain in a JS 3/18m.
Jutta was 5th and Kevin 14th. He had a bad start, hoped for 2.or 2.5 lift , but got only 0.3. and was straight away 20 km. behind the rest. He chased them and still did not loose too many points. Overall still on spot 1.
Flying day 5; 311 km….only 3 pilots finished the task. Francois won the day with a speed of 74 km./h in the JS 3, which says enough about the circumstances.
Kevin was 3d with 57 km./h. Most flew between 500 and 800 m.
No task on the 12th and 13th.

Overall scores after 5 days in multi class;
1. Kevin Faur [France] in JS 3/18m. with 3.036 points.
2. Valentin Leleu-Lambour [France] in LS 8/15m. with 2.962 p.
3. Ludovic Hirtz [France] in Duo Discus XLT with 2.913 p.

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the 5th FAI Junior European Gliding Championship.
Pociūnai, Lithuania
7 July 2021 – 23 July 2021

46 competitors in 2 classes are “fighting” for the 2 titles in club and standard class
The 3 practice days were used well.
Nuutti Luukkonen from Finland really trained well in standard, flying as the only one the 2.30 AAT task with 209 km. in time 2.31!!! He used all 3 days. Good on him!!
I have been at a few junior WGC’s and it was GREAT fun.

The Dutch Junior Team has arrived in Lithuania for the JEGC.

The comps started at July 11…GOOD LUCK TO ALL;
Club;
July 11...task 1…1.30 AAT…cancelled, but the forecast for the next days was good..
July 12; Task 2….2.30 AAT.…after postponing about 8 times they started with this EGC for juniors. All those who started today, were still full of dreams, after today some dreams might have gone. Such is life.
The gate opened at…14.42.
The best distance was 239 km. in time 2.33 by Romanian pilot Tudor Ionut in a St. Jantar and the runner up was flying together with him, in the same glider and was from the same country.
From 27,4 were “out”. Not too many points lost on day 1, as the difference between 1 and 20 is 825 and 601.
July 13; task 3 ……cancelled.
Scrubbed as the English say it so nicely;
“A short 1.5 hour AAT was set, but due to storms building in the task area the day was cancelled after a few hours waiting and hoping on the grid.“

Standard;
July 11…task 1 …1.30 AAT…cancelled.
July 12; …task 2…2.30 AAT…gate open at 14.58. Hot day. The 2 Pommies and the 2 German juniors did well . 3 Of them flew over 100 km./h.
Best was the result from Henry Inigo-Jones in LS 8; 264 km in time 2.37. Followed by his mate Thomas Pavis,[ Discus 2A] …they flew together.
The German boys flew together too, Simon Briel in a Discus 2A and Phillip Lauer in LS 8neo, both already pretty well known.
9 From 16 were in. One of our Dutch pilots , Nick Faber, was out and had a difficult retrieve, the empty trailer got stuck on a little hill, the cable to pull the glider out broke and the clutch from the car nearly gave up BUT it all ended well and they arrived “home” safe with a new experience.
July 13; Task 3….cancelled.

Today; 2 hour AAT’s in both classes. First start postponed to 1PM, still a bit of rain…..

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The Summer competition at Malden started on July 11 and the weather for the whole week was not really hopeful, variable they called it,…. but windows might appear.
2 classes club with 5x an LS 4, an LS 3 , 2x a St Cirrus , a Discus DG 505, Mosquito and Pegase and an open class with all kind of gliders between ASW 24e to Nimbus 4T.
Club class;
For the 12 pilots in this class a racing task 1 from 127 km. was set,..but that was already too much. 60 km. was the best result,..so not a valid day.
Task 2 ;182 km.…only 20 km. out for Jeroen van Dijk. He flew 169 km in his LS 3. Great effort .

Combined open class;
Task 1 ; cancelled.
Task 2 ; 228 km.…on the first flying day, for the 11 pilots in this class, with a nice good looking sky in the morning , but less weather for the afternoon….overdevelopment and local showers.
None of the pilots finished. Very experienced competition pilot Hans Biesters won the day ,he reached 188 km.
Due to worsening weather , 2 pilots could not depart.
Task 3 cancelled but better weather might arrive on Friday. Bit late as they continue till July 17, but you never know!!!!

SO much rain in The Netherlands,…unbelievable. Specially the state Limburg, in the S has torrential rain . In a couple of days over 100 mm of rain causing severe flooding. Also the East and SE [ where I live] are WET VERY WET, but not as bad as Limburg.
For today and tomorrow they expect another 150 mm !!!!!
Rain at a lot of places so I guess….No flying today at Malden.

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And to finish this great picture

CU next week and MAYBE next Sunday, when the weather is good enough for the juniors to fly in the Ukraine and there is more news.

The UK NATIONALS for 15m. standard and open class.

In the UK, from the big airfield of Lasham, the UK Nationals continued and as said in my last blog , the weather was not nice for them.
They flew between June 26 and July 4 and till July 2 they had in 2 classes only ONE day, the first one.

Then,…..only open flew on July 1 ; 177 km. was set and 6 from 16 flew the task whilst 4 did not fly at all. With a speed of 76 km./h Ian Macarthur won the day in a JS 1 b/18m.
Pete Harvey and Steve Jones belonged to the finishers, Russell Cheetham did not.
But the weather improved a bit and on July 2 they set small tasks, ….a window might open…. :
But……it was not happening….cancelled.
SO,…still only ONE day for St. and 15 m and 2 for the open class.
That changes on July 3 ,when the early morning message was NOT, “grid open at 10, DO NOT GRID BEFORE BRIEFING.”
BUT;” Good Morning, Grid on Runway 27. Grid open at 0830L. Grid order – OPEN, STD, 15M. Briefing at 1100L. Grid lists available from control “
Small tasks again; CANCELLED!!!!
AND,….this was the news on July 4 the very last day;
“No flying today due to the weather. We have tried to use every available slot in the weather all week but it wasn’t to be. Prize giving was held this morning and the results of the competition can be found at the link below.
Congratulations to our new National Champions and see you all again in august for the 18M and 20M Nationals.”

Such a pity , but we know ALL how it works. It does n’t really show who is the best pilot, but for now…..there are scores.
After 1 day of flying in 15 m. the overall score is
1. Andy Davis in JS 3 with 1000 points.

After 1 day of flying in Standard class 2 winners in LS 8.
1. Steve Eyles and Jeremy Wood both with 1000 points.

After 2 days of flying in open class;
1. Ian Macarthur in JS 1 B/18 m. with 1.596 points.
2. Pete Harvey in Ventus 3 with 1.590 p.
3. Steve Jones in ARCUS M with 1.539 p.

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THE SLOVAK NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP at NITRA.

As said they were blessed with better weather. Out of 13 days they had one day off and 1 cancelled day .AND,…Nitra is a great place to fly from.
So 11 out of 13 days and I own you the last 2 days and the final overall scores.
July 1;
Club; 2 hour AAT …only 16 started and they all finished. 2 Pilots flew over 100 km./h in a DG 400/17 m. and KKB-15FES. ….227km in time 2.13 and 212 km. in time 2.07.
15m. ..2 hour AAT; 233 km. by Pavel Louzecki [ LS 8] in time 2.06 and Miloslav Cink also in LS 8 ,231 km. in time 2.05.
Combi class..2 hour AAT; Radek [Krejcirik] flew 274 km. in time 2.07 in his JS 1 C/21m EVO and Pavol Cerny 244 km in time 2.13 in a Shark 304 MS. Radeks dad Petr was 3d in his JS 3/18m.
All 22 who started , finished!

July 2,last day:
Club ;1.45 AAT….The last couple of days the overall scores were between Tibor Fratrik in Pegase c 101 a and Jose Kozar in LS 1f.
There was one point difference after the last but one day in favor of Josef.
As Tibor was 3d on this last day and Josef 11th it was clear who was going to be the champion in club class.
15m;.1.45 AAT...On this last day, 2 “girls” in the top 5. Dana Novakova on spot 1 and Jana Treslova, on 5. In this class it was all about Miloslav Cink and Pavel Lousecki. BUT, Miloslav was more than 500 points ahead.
Pavel was 3d on this last day and Miloslav 4th.
Combi; 1.45 AAT.…in this class it was about Radek and Pavol looking at the overall scores. The last day was not for both of them , but Radek was runner up and Pavol 7th.

Final scores;
Club;
1.Tibor Fratik with 7.892 points and CHAMPION.
2.Jozef Kosar with 7.867 p.
3. Milan Surovčík Jr. [Pegase] with 7.754 p.

15 m;
1. Miloslav Cink with 7.976 points and CHAMPION.
2. Pavel Loužecký with 7.431 p.
3. Tibor Arpáš [LS 8] with 6.793 p.

combi ;
1. Radek Krejčiřík with 7.507 points and CHAMPION.
2. Pavol Černý [Shark 304MS] with 7.138 p.
3. Branislav Jesenský [ Ventus 2CXT/18m.] with 6.828 p.

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Much-better -weather- flying in the USA
2021 18 meter NATIONALS from Nephi.
June 27-July 8.

With 2 practice days on the 27th and 28th with good distances and good speed [362 km. and a speed of 158 km./h. by John Seaborn] the REAL THING started on June 29 with 32 pilots.
Task 1; 2.30 AAT.….was a good one , though the forecast was not too promising, with storms and overdevelopment around.
In the end the winner , John Seaborn flew 440 km. with a super ….they call it BLAZING ……speed of 173 km./h.
THEN,…… no contest day on June 30. No weather but the long range weather in July looked OK.
Task 2 on July 1; 3 hour AAT…..Robin Clark in an ASG 29 won the day with 484 km. and a speed of 160 km./h. I read that Robin was “showing that flatland flyers can still win in the mountains. “
Sean Fidler , also in ASG 29 was runner up and Rick Indebro , in the same glider BUT 15 m. version, number 3.
Task 3 on July 2; 3 hour AAT.…Another 400- plus- k- task for the pilots and Rick flew 509 k with a speed of 163 km/h. Sean was runner up and both are the overall leaders as well.
Bif Huss who once won the title was 3d.[ Ventus 3M]
Task 4 on July 3 ; Again the SAME NAMES and they keep performing. Sean flew the set racing task from 441.86 km. fast with 163 km./h whilst John did so with 162 km./h. Rick was 10th for the day but still 3 overall.
Task 5 on the FAMOUS 4th OF JULY!! 3.30 AAT....490 km. for a new face on spot 1 , Josef Bostik in a Ventus 2CMX/18m.
25 were in, 4 were out [ 2 on engine ]and 5 did not fly anymore.
John had a bad day being 24th , dropping overall from 2 to 6. Sean was 5th and Rick 11th., they are both on spot 1 and 2 overall.
Jim Lee in JS 1C/18m. was runner up and moved to spot 3 overall.
Points are VERY close though!!!
“Day 5 at the 18m Nationals in Nephi had it all: 15 kt lift and 15 kt sink. Long glides across big blue holes over unlandable terrain with totally still air. We had heat, storms, rain, snow, and graupel showers. We were fighting against being pulled up into the clouds and minutes later we were fighting to stay airborne. We worked with dust devils and massive gust fronts. We were flying in huge gaggles and alone in the wilderness. We also had to avoid a wildfire TFR and a Restricted Area that occupied about a third of the second turn cylinder. The flight was spectacular and exhausting. Calling the day dynamic would be a total understatement. We had 2 landouts but everyone is safe and accounted for.”
Impressive day, as shared by Soaring Society of America

No task on the 5th,…… BUT
Task 6 was yesterday. and…it was a good one. 608 km. The first 9 pilots flew faster than 160 km./h. The best, Andy Blackburn in JS 3/18m. , had a speed of 171 km./h!!!! Rick in the 15m. ASG 29 was runner up whilst John and Sean were 3d and 4th.
More next week.

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The 2021 Swedish Nationals from Feringe in 18m. club and 20 m.
 3 July 2021 – 10 July 2021

Club with 11 pilots started with task 1, a 3 hour AAT on July 3. The only Norwegian pilot flying in this class Kato Kvitne, won with 318 km. in time 3.06 flying an ASW 20.
Task 2, a 2 hour AAT was for Kato again. 204 km. in time 2.07.
Task 3 , a 1.30 AAT…the LS $ with Martin Ekdahl in it flew 153 km. in time 1.39 for 464 points. Kato in the ASW 20 flew 174 km. but needed 1hour and 54 minutes.
9 From 12 were in.
Task 4 ;185 km…..NOBODY flew the task but 2 pilots were close; Martin and Kato …183 and 180 km.

18 m. class with 13 pilots started also with
Task 1 ,a 3 hour AAT, which was won by Börje Gustavsson in a JS 3 ; 338 km. in time 2.58.
Task 2,… was a 2 hour AAT won by Björn Regnström in JS 3….126 km./h.
The 2 Börjes[ Gustavsson and Eriksson 119 km./h.] were next on the daily scores list.
Task 3 …1.30 AAT with the Boerjes upfront again.The JS 3 flew 200 km. in time 1.34 whilst the Ventus 3 flew 204 km. in time 1.41.
11 From 14 were in!
Task 4….set task from 220.85 km. ONLY 2 pilots in, Boerje Eriksson and Jan Hasslid in Ventus 2CXM/18m. Meaning that the other Boerje was out, but not too far .He flew 201 km. Overall Boerje Gustavsson leads with THREE points.

20 m. class with 7 teams flying 5 x a Duo Discus in different variation , 1 DG 1000 and 1 ARCUS M.
Task 1,….a 2 hour AAT won by Lindell & Lindell ;257 km. in time 2.16 in Duo Discus XLT.
Task 2..another 2 hour AAT; 274 km in time 2.15 by Jobs & Ganev in ARCUS M with 122 km.h. The runners up had 114 km./h.
Task 3…1.30 AAT ARCUS-time again; 168 km. in time 1.33.
5 From from 7 were IN.
Task 4…190.87 km….Only the Lindells were in!

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News from the FAI SGP.

“The 20 pilots who will be competing for the World title in September are now known. The level will, once again, be very high. We are looking forward to a very exciting final in September! “
Here is the press release;
“The last 18 months of restrictions due to the covid pandemic created some significant challenges for the FAI/SGP 10^th series. In 2020 most scheduled events were postponed until 2021 with the anticipation of being able to complete the series in preparation for the final at St Auban in September 2021.

The continuing restrictions for 2021 cast a shadow over the events planned for 2021 and raised doubt about there being enough competitors to maintain a high standard for the final. The anticipation of cancelled events proved correct with eventually four of the national events being cancelled. This was a huge disappointment for the pilots and organisers who had gone to great effort to try and hold the events.

To enable early decisions and planning for the final to go ahead the FAI/SGP team in conjunction with the FFVP decided that each of the cancelled events should be allowed to nominate pilots for the final and the organisers would automatically be accepted to hold an 11^th series event.

Joining the 10 pilots who qualified from the events that took place are 8 pilots invited by the cancelled event organisers and the SGP team, the reigning champion and a wild card entry for the host country. 

We are pleased to announce there are 20 pilots accepted to compete in the 10^th final from 10 countries. We are looking forward to a very competitive and exciting final in September!“

CU next week. Nearly start of the Junior European Gliding Competition [JEGC] in Lithuania. More in the next weeks.
Also about the Dutch Summer Competition from Malden and the 45th International Issoudun 2021, with 16 pilots in club from France, Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain. And 32 in the multi class, with pilots from France, Belgium, Hungary, Spain ,Germany and Italy.
Cheers Ritz

To finish some nostalgic news from the Tocumwal Aviation Museum about the 6 hangars at the WW2 airfield. In the past we owned 2 of them, whilst one of the 6 collapsed and one got fire. I had to call Bill Riley who owned it to tell him about the fire. He rushed out!!
“Recently one of the three remaining giant timber World War 2 hangars was listed on the NSW State Heritage Register following an application by the current owners. This is a great result and will ensure the significant history and heritage associated with these great buildings will be retained. There were originally six of these buildings on the aerodrome, four in the northern repair depot area where there are two remaining, one where SportAviation Tocumwal is today on the southern end of the airfield and the iconic Sportavia Tocumwal hangar, now home to the Tocumwal Soaring Centre. The southern hangar, Hangar 2, was destroyed by fire on the 2nd of October 1944. The 2 northern most hangars also suffered disaster with one collapsing in 1968 and the other also being destroyed by fire in 1998. When built, these hangars were the largest single span timber buildings in Australia and that claim remains to this day. These hangars were built to cater for the assembly, repair and maintenance of the largest aircraft operated by the United States Army Air Corps in the Pacific at the time including B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator. We’re thrilled to know the current owners of the remaining buildings from WW2 are working to ensure these time capsules remain standing in honor of the men and women who constructed them and worked within them over the last 79 years.“