…..Back on track again, after a nice break with my 4 high school friends. With 2 of them I am friends for 70 years, the other 2 from high school onwards.

…..We had a farewell party as well last Friday evening. Our friend Theo died about 1.5 year ago, but because of COVID we could not say good bye to him.
Now we went , as he wished, to a little chapel. Outside in front of it ,were chairs at 1.5 m, [still corona proof] and a glider with sunflowers on the wing in the little park .

After that to a pub for a party with good food and drinks and we stroke up acquaintances again ,with many glider pilots from several Dutch clubs.
My voice suffered from lot’s of talking.

…..Down under the comps have started and as you know by now they start in the East of Australia.
This time Kingaroy is the place to be for the Queensland State Comps between September 25 [practice, with a task of 340 km. won in open by Matthew Scutter 125 km./h and in dry 15 m by Lisa Trotter who flew with a speed of 106 km./h over 266 km.] and October 2.

So on Sunday was day 1.
10 pilots in open class and luckily Matthew [Scutter] made it back in time to fly his own Diana 2 FES in his home country again.
I had to laugh about the Kingaroy news and I help you with it!
“So the the pressure is on in two of the Gliding family dynasty’s [The Scutters and the Maddocks] at the 2021 Comp. Rumor has it that Brother and Sister relationships [ Matthew and Claire Scutter] are solid however partnerships are at stake. A certain world gliding champion [Matthew] is walking his glider out every day because of a forgotten wing walker. All we know is Sophie [Matthew’s partner] is driving and Andy [Partner from Claire] is taking the photos. Oh yeah Claire won the day too.“

So day 1 in open with 242 km. was for Ray Stewart who cashed the first 10 points in his JS 3 with a speed of 146.7 km./h. Not bad!!
Regatta start at 12.55.
Nimbus 3 pilot Mike Sabin was runner up[139.9 km/h] and Woolley [Adam] in his brand new Ventus 3 was 3d .[144.4 km./h]
This changed after checking the results in number 2 for Adam and 4 for Mike due to a 72 sec. penalty for a low finish.
Adam mentioned in his Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures;
“Congratulations to Ray in his JS3 who took out the day win, just 1:34 in front of me at 146.7kph! The difference in the day win was a single decision, straight home or via a street off to my left. Both worked, his was just that fraction better.
Notable mention to Mike Sabin who owned the skies today in his Nimbus 3T, leading out, throwing it around, doing his own thing. Nice one mate“
Other Aussie toppers in this class; David Jansen [ARCUS M] and Butch [John Buchanan]in ASG 29.

Day 1 in the 15m dry ,with 19 participants, was for Claire [Scutter]who JUST won the day and that is very good. She flies an LS 8 like Peter Trotter [runner up] who belongs to the Aussie top; speed 105.7 for 105.4 km./h! Task; 140.7 km. Regatta start at 12.25.
Claire flew the WWGC in Lake Keepit. So did Lisa Trotter who was 5th.
BUT,.…Claire got a 30 sec. penalty for a too low finish ,..so Peter was number 1 in the end.

NO flying on Monday and Tuesday so I continue in my next post…..that is when they are flying….
Reason;

This morning I read the latest news from Kingaroy and that was unfortunately not good, as we could expect from the picture;
“Well it never rains in Qld in October right After one flying day we have had to cancel the comp. Thanks to everyone for trying their best to make it happen.”

…..Also in South Africa the comps start on October 2 till 9 and the place to be there is Potchefstroom.
On the 25th of September Oscar {Goudriaan}flew already 609 km. on a day with a ceiling of 4634 MSL [3238 AGL] in his 18m. JS 3. Not bad either!!!
And Laurence Hardman declared a fun 544@ 152kph from Potch in his JS 1 last Sunday.
John Coutts flew that day as well; 544 declared @ 168kph

…..And in Tocumwal the early-spring-weather was booming and good old Ingo enjoyed a training flight in the Kookaburra.
Grant flew 487 km. in his St Jantar .
But yesterday and today Toc got it’s part of rain as well;”Tocumwal really getting hammered and a storm east of Rushworth!”

…..In the USA [CA] Chester Fitchett flew on Sunday, 928 km in his ARCUS M, on a great wave day up to 5347 MSL[3794 AGL].

….As you know after reading these blogs , the UK had a good year. They use that for top promotion for Lasham, good on them.

…..Staying in the UK, more precisely Scotland, the BGA ladder showed a superb flight from Santiago…. “Sant” for his friends…. Cervantes, in a Discus overflying Scotland to the most Northerly point; Tongue.
An epic flight, in a St class glider ,the very first one, of his kind.
Just missing out on” pipping” the St. Class 500k O/R record, as he mentioned.
The height gain was 10,440  ft.
The max height 14,098  ft.
Great effort congratulations!!!!

…..Some pilots in Australia are “trying” the Morning Glory and with success.
“During the months of September and October, the rare meteorological phenomenon referred to as the Morning Glory Cloud, rolls across the Gulf [of Carpentaria] and can be observed above the skies in Burketown. Gangalidda traditional owner Murrandoo Yanner said his people believe the morning glory was created by Walalu, the Rainbow Serpent, and is of great cultural significance.
The cloud bank can be up to 1,000 km long, 1-2 km wide and can travel at speeds of up to 60 km/hour. Although these clouds can be found in other parts of the world, Burketown is the only place where they appear frequently at set times of the year. “
One of the pilots is Aussie Geoff Pratt flying his PIK 20E ; “Fast long run on morning glory .” OLC on September 29.
https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=8651627#comment

……Also from Australia;
“BIG NEWS.
We responded to the GFA tender for a competition tracking system with our livegliding / SkyMate system with version 3 of our SkyMate device, and our submission was successful!
The version 3 device (see pics) will have:- more than double the battery life of the previous device- ENL & MOP sensor- Pilot Event Marker (PEV) button- Pressure Altitude…….
Congratulations to all involved!“
Reaction from Andrew Maddocks;”It is fantastic to see what a couple of passionate Aussie glider pilots promoting the sport. Great to see the GFA getting behind this!” [Maddog Composites]

That’s it for now, you are up to date again.
Cu next week hopefully with better news about Potch.
Cheers Ritz

I left you on Wednesday when the pilots had a 337 km. race to go.
Of course I kept following the big final, as it felt like one of the best in history.
“The weather today brought moist southerly flow with high cloud and soft thermal conditions. The wind from the south was moderate but strong enough to complicate the task and the day was far from easy.” was the message in the morning.
Race 4 was a tricky one, with a “new” winner; Bostjan Pristavic from Slovenia in a JS 1!!!! Speed 119 km./h.
Sebastian nearly “got” him [118.7 km./h ] at the line but no, Bostjan just kept ahead.
An off-day for Mario, who had problems in the beginning and never overcame them. Zero points, so Sebastian who was runner up , is now ONE point behind Mario,29 for 30…. But,…it ain’t not over yet!!!

Race 5 was a bit shorter; 254 km. The expectation was for a “may-be-non-flying-day.” BUT ,…they flew. Though the pilots were a bit tense before start.

Mario and a small group with Louis ,Petr and Sylvain took another route in the beginning , got behind , but “travelled ” in the end together to the 2 TP.
They had to pass the airfield, where the weather was still not very flash….they even had rain. The French pilots bundled their efforts and flew more east. In hindsight not a good idea.
Other pilots struggled to keep height ,..only 1 m was available, but still at 1300 m….so not too bad, then, smooth thermals, wide as well……,AND …up to 1700 m.
Sebastian found the most important thermal and lead the others as …Tilo, Katrin and Mario.
Timing is important is what CD Brian Spreckley said.
Anyhow the weather held, the pilots continued after passing St. Auban and they had a race in their hand again. All positive .
They expected an exciting final glide, with many pilots, they got it, though 5 did not finish and broke off earlier.
Though Mario was 400 m. lower than Sebastian.[1800 m] and Tilo was high!!
The height was the winning ‘key’ for Sebastian.; 100 km./h. speed shows how difficult it was.
For Mario it was even more difficult ,but he was runner up, after a tremendous last move. Tilo was 3d.

Race 6; was unfortunately not meant to be. CD Regis Kuntz had to cancel the day because of the weather.

With ONE day to go, it is Sebastian who leads with one point on Mario [39 for 38 ]and Max is 3d.[22 p]
The last race will get an extra point for the winner! Anxious to see what happens as there is a “fight” for spot 3 as well between Max and Katrin with 22 and 18 points.

Race 6; 333.33 km…..Good weather, and pilots motivated to go, after a non-flying-day .
“The front has left the area and as high pressure is building up and the airmass is post frontal. It will be clear, dry day with cumulus up to 2,500m and over 3,000 in the mountains and no high cloud forecast. The wind is south on surface and southwest in the upper levels. There is also the likelihood of Convergences in the Verdon Valley. It will be an excellent soaring day.”
One change for the day.
Till now the finish height was 500 m. now it is 600 m.
Regatta started at 14.15.
Good lift specially above the plateaus.
A real race/fight for 3d place by 4 pilots.
Unfortunately the day was less exciting as Mario was too low and “out”, after he reached a good looking cloud, which did not work.
Mario seems to be an “always- runner -up” …feel sorry for him, but I know he is an excellent pilot.
So no reason for Sebastian to take risks.
Interesting to see that Louis Bouderlique was the only one flying West from the track and Philippe de Pechy was leading the group several times, but got lower in the end.
A local shower over the mountains to the W. ruined some dreams as well…..expensive day for some, as they quickly lost height.
Quite a few “engined” back.
In the end Tilo was the first to finish[126.4 km./h] …11 points for him…., just ahead of Max.[126.1 km/h].
Tilo took the short -cut, used a cumulus nimbus, which was not good, then went to the sun, where he climbed 350 m.
Max gambled for the sun-route as well, instead of the clouds over the mountain.
“The game is ONLY over when you are over the finish line” .Wise words from Brian.
Podium at 7 and then it is party-time!!
WORLD CHAMPION and WINNER OF THE 10th FINAL of the FAI SGP…
1. Sebastian Kawa in AS33es with 39 points.
2. Mario Kiessling in Ventus 3 with 38 points.
3. Maximilian Seis in JS 3 with 30 points.
Congratulations to all.
And thank you to Brian and Ben[jamin Neglais] for their professional comment. He commented himself as well:
“Another great time shared with volunteers, professionals and great champions. Commenting in English the daily races was fun and I Hope people following the race had same fun and learnt things following these pilots.“

AND ALL OF THEM.

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The virtual sailplane GP was as exciting. Jeroen and Ben both have 35 points. Polish pilot Witold Rozak is 3d with 32 points.
They had a special flight flown on Friday evening; race 6.
“At the Virtual SGP, task setters are able to choose the flying weather for any competition. Since it was overcast in St Auban, they decided that, if it wasn’t possible to fly the same task as the real SGP, they would set a fast race with excellent soaring conditions.”
So they did!
Competition Director Antoine Havet promised that the race would be ‘bombastic’ and expected speeds from the competitors of around 200 kph.
They gave “the racers” splendid weather and a task of 350 km.
It turned out to be a fast and furious race and Tim Kuijpers from The Netherlands did well. He was not able to fly every day but this day he was 3d.
Witold [Ventus 3] has 42 points now, Jeroen 41 and Ben 38, both fly Ventus 3 as well……. one day to go.

Race 7; 333.33 km….25 year old Ben won the day with a speed of 145 km./h. Arne Martin from Norway was runner up on this last day.
Nice to read that “Competition Director Antoine Havet was joined in the commentary box by the new SGP World Champion Sebastian Kawa and second place winner Mario Keissling ,who relived the race they had just completed ,while the Virtual SGP pilots were flying the same task.“
Great winners of a fantastic week of virtual flying by pilots from 20 countries;
1. Ben Fest in Ventus 3 with 49 points.
2. Witold Rozak in Ventus 3 with 42 points.
3. Jeroen Jennen in Ventus 3 with 41 points.
Congratulations to all.
They had news as well;
“Antoine announced that in 2022, nine official Qualifying Virtual SGPs would take place. The top competitors would be selected to fly in the 2nd Virtual SGP Finals, to be held in 2023 at the same time as the finals for the 11th Series SGP.”

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ABOYNE.

A couple of days without cross country tasks, but height gain was on.
On Wednesday ,when I published ,I did not know what the height was , but 6076 was the best. They flew over 10.000 ft.
After 3 days Alastair Mutch was the best “gainer” with a total of 16.594.
On the last day the message was :
“The rain is continuing to fall with little prospect of us being able to set a task today, we have therefore scrubbed the day and will hold prize giving at 11:30.”
So the winners were known.
Adrian Docherty has won the 24th UK Mountain Soaring Championship and Alastair Mutch won the height -gain trophy.
A pity from the weather, but next year they fly again in Aboyne.

That’s it for now.
A little break for me.
Cu back on September 29.
Cheers Ritz

To finish 2 , in my opinion, great pictures by Bo.

On September 5 the FINAL of the FAI SAILPLANE GRAND PRIX in St. Auban in the Provence area, started with 20 top pilots. Some were early in St Auban, which is the National Soaring Center , so was, Tilo Holighaus who flew “en passant” 756 km[530 FAI triangle] before the start of the BIG final!!!
Every day we got to see a new picture of the participants 20 in total, so we were in the mood already.
2 Ladies in the final race; Katrin Senne, and Melanie Gadoulet…top job!!!
Closer to the day more pilots tried to practice but the weather was not really flash, with some rain on Thursday.

On Friday the first official training;
“First training race was difficult with showers and cloud cover. But the pilots are happy and (almost) ready to race!”
164 km. was set.
On Saturday the 2d! 205 km was set and the day was won by Sebastian in an AS33e.
Then the final starts!!!!
With live coverage /Live Commentary with 3D Tracking and a YouTube playlist. Look at
https://finals2021.sgp.aero/race-coverage
Live race coverage will start at 13.30 each race day and a highlights video each evening at 19.30 each evening Follow the contest at Sailplane Grand Prix Finals 2021 (sgp.aero)
On Facebook FAI Sailplane Grand Prix | Facebook
On Twitter FAI SGP Series (@faisgp) / Twitter

September 5....RACE 1; 313.65 km.
Mario[ Kiessling]”got” the first 10 points in the Ventus 3; speed….134.7 km./h. Pretty good day!
8 Points for Sebastian [Kawa] , 7 for Gilles [Navas] , 6 for Katrin [Senne] , 5 for Max [Seis], 4 for Philippe [de Pechy] and 3 for Werner [Amann] with 2 for Thomas [Gostner] and 1 for Oscar [Goudriaan].

September 6…Race 2; 271.53 km. Interesting day, pilots upfront in the end did NOT win.
They had excellent mountain thermal conditions up to 2.700 m.
It was Mario again, who gained 20 points in 2 days. His Ventus 3 brought him over the circuit with 129.6 km./h.
Max was runner up in the JS 3 [128.8 km./h] and Christophe [Abadie] 3d [ 128.4 km./h.]
So exciting finishes.

https://youtu.be/M8z81-uk-uw

September 7...Race 3; Stable weather, cu’s between 1500 m. and 2000 m and 2500 and 3000 in the mountains. A and B tasks were set but A was flown; 333 km.
UNBELIEVABLE but SUPER MARIO wins again…3 in a row!!!!
BUT,…only JUST…beaten at the line!!!!
3 days 30 points!!!!!
Speed 136.4 km./h.
“Incredible photo finish about to happen at the SGP. Mario is really sticking it to the man!” Matthew Scutter who is commenting on the eSGP, which matches the task of the real SGP each day with the world’s best Condor pilots.
“The pass must have been painful. Kawa had him cold and behind, then Kiesslings 2 m/s thermal (well behind) grew to 5.5 m/s. Kinda lucky  considering the average climbs at that time on course, but 3 day wins in a row is no accident!!!!  well done Mario!!!” is the comment of Sean Michael who followed the tracking.
And; “Race 3: After a very tight race, Mario Kiessling managed to find a better climb at the back of the gaggle, catch up with the gaggle and won the day. Sebastian Kawa and Katrin Senne had a very tight final, fighting with 4 other pilots during the last kilometers.“
Sebastian was runner up[136 km./h] and Katrin 3d [135.9 km./h] …good on her!!!
“Mario Kiessling makes a spectacular comeback after falling away from the leading pack to beat Sebastian Kawa across the line for his 3rd Day win.“
from the official site.
Frank had as comment: “Awesome race! This is what Grand Prix racing is all about!!! 
Christian;”Keypoint was again Pic de Bure, where Mario Kissling, 6km behind Sebastian Kawa, followed his tilting wings an got a private 10 knot lift. Converted into kinetic energy, it was enough to sneak in front of Seb for the win. What a race!“
Jonker Sailplanes;”The first 3 days were won by Mario Kiessling by flying brilliantly and aggressively when required. As the commentary team said it is some of the most entertaining flying to watch. No wonder why Nintendo named their game after our SUPER-MARIO!
It is the first high level contest where the latest generation of new “3” gliders (Ventus 3, JS3, AS33) are competing against each other. As the gliders are limited to a 48 kg/m2 wing loading their ultimate performance at high speed is negatively effected, especially the JS3 and AS33 who needs to compete 40 kg lighter than a V3.”

4 races to come …..”But the weather might not be so cooperative. Will there be four more race days or will there be a forced rest on Thursday? ” from the official news.
After 3 races Mario leads with 30 points, followed by Sebastian with 21 and Max with 16.
Today is race 4…337.2 km. Another exciting day you can follow on the info I gave you.
More next Monday.

Parallel with the Grand Prix, they fly the E-Sport-Final-Series, with , from this area, Tim Kuijpers from the Netherlands and Jeroen Jennen from Belgium.
“In addition to the World Final flown in real time each day there will be a virtual race each evening with live presentation and commentary. The virtual FAI/SGP will be contested by twenty pilots from nineteen countries, flying the same tasks as the actual SGP. The pilots selected for the virtual FAI/SGP World Final are not all glider pilots but are proven accomplished virtual sailplane racers. There is also an “open” FAI/SGP virtual contest with 240 contestants already registered. The virtual FAI/SGP final will be live on the SGP channels with live commentary from the dedicated FAI and FFVP virtual race team.”
Virtual FAI/SGP races live from 20.00 CET each race day.
More information on the virtual event can be found at esport SGP

After 3 races the scores overall on soaringspot were;
1.  Donat-Pierre Luigi from France with 10 points.
2. Ben Fest from Germany with 8
3. Jeroen Jennen from Belgium with 7.
All 3 fly Ventus 3S.

The E3Glide in Varese

I hope you enjoyed and followed Matthew in Varese on the link I gave you.
He did a top job, both flying and writing.
I share his last post as a tribute to him.
“That’s a wrap, we had yet another flying day yesterday making 10/10 flying days in a row for me and permitting me to defend my title.

Varese is an extraordinarily diverse and challenging site to fly, but the eGlide concept makes it possible for even beginner mountain pilots to compete effectively as most mistakes can be papered over with a bit of engine time.
The dynamics of the event were totally different to last year where we needed them just to stay airborne, while using them here for strategic and speed advancement and never actually needing them. The ability to use them proactively greatly increases the safety in the mountains with much less time spend grovelling below the tops or squeaking over passes, and it becomes a good concept to teach mountain flying.

The contest instead becomes more about medium-long term strategy rather than sequences of perfect short term decision making that normally dominates flying in the mountains. I think the key decisions for me that helped were coming four days before to familiarize myself with the task area, and bringing such a viceless and forgiving glider that gave versatility in all the weather we had. I was really happy with how I was flying with only one major error through the week that the scoring system let me get away with.

Thanks to the organizers for running a great contest, to Holger at DG Group for lending me his beautiful LS8e Neo, and everyone else who supported me to get here!”

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ABOYNE in Scotland.
5 September 2021 – 11 September 2021

I always like the coverage of the 24th Aboyne Mountain comps in the UK.
On September 5 the weather was sunny in the morning ,”but will it get hot enough to produce those magical thermals we require?” was their question.
Then there was the message ;“The top cover is spoiling our fun at the minute and rain is forecast later on, first launch not before 13:45“
Unfortunately they had to skip the cross country part of the comps but local soaring and height climbing were available, for the 14 participants.
Some got in the wave, before the rain arrived.
All 14 gliders took a launch, with most making it above 5000 feet.
Mike Stephens won the day with a high point of 8,591′ resulting in a gain of 5,217′
On September 6, the weather was still not “flash” as we are used to by now, THOUGH it will be 28dgr. C here in the Netherlands today. Bit of a good after summer.
“The weather is challenging this morning, its a lovely morning, but maybe not so great for soaring.” was the Aboyne news.
BUT,….IT WAS!!! A task was set,…1.30 AAT,… the sniffer sent up to check/feel the conditions, the start announced for 12.20, the gate opened later and they had finishers as well.
“There is a stream of gliders calling 10km out, at the same time, we have a queue of aircraft ready to launch to make the most of the evening wave.”
Adrian Dogherty won the cc in the Duo Discus XT;132.10 km. in time 1.37.
Martin Phillimore managed the greatest gain (6,949′) and highest height (10,492′) 
September 7; 2 hour AAT.
Sniffer went up and “she” found wave .
At 12….”Blue wave is about and a few thermals but not currently enough to launch everyone into. “
But,…in the end the CC was cancelled , the height gain was available.
No result yet.

You can follow the action on Glide and Seek

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On September 3 the “rent-a-glider” boys. Ludwig and Wolfgang shared the next news and pictures;
“The new Namibian season is opened. Today we started to prepare our 3 containers and also packed the first gliders for the next Kiripotib- season. 13 gliders will start the long trip to Namibia end of next week. If you want to visit us, some gliders are still free, don’t wait to long to ask for.

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After 36 years the F 1 race was back in The Netherlands at the Zandvoort -circuit.
And what an epic race,…. what a day it was!!!!
Goosebumps!!!!!
Double Dutch Delight!!!!
Max won and got a few more points in the totals than Hamilton…only 3 but still a long way to go.
EVERYBODY loved the day, world wide. A relief for the organizers as they had a huge amount of troubles before it all started.

Next week I publish on MONDAY September 13.
Back at September 29 for the regular blog on Wednesday.

Cu then.
Cheers Ritz

The last words about Montlucon;
John Good [USA] is , in my opinion, one of the best writers about soaring.
I met him in Uvalde in 2012 where he was the substitute CD , always in front of the podium juggling with 3 or 4 ball’s!
Later I met him at other comps and was always impressed by the words he uses to describe soaring.
These are the last sentences of his final French WGC report.
“But, given the desperately weak weather, it’s notably how much flying the best pilots in the world were able to do.  The Club class managed 9 valid (albeit mostly well-devalued) tasks; Standard and 15-Meter each had 8.  Only a few of these had weather that normal pilots would rate better than “marginally flyable”.
So I think WGC2021 must be be rated as a qualified success.  Very hard work for pilots and crews, not much fun in the air, but unquestionably a valid test of pilot skill.”

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The 18 and 20 m. Nationals flown from Lasham.

They continued on Wednesday, [task 5 on flying day 4] with still flyable but sometimes tricky weather and a 244 km. task for 18 m. was set won by Chris Starkey in ASG 29es, after an early start at 1.37 PM.
A weird day, as not all the toppers were in the top, where you expect them but, pilots I know who are really good pilots, but enjoy their soaring, not so much the competition-points.
Roy and Patrick who flew with us in Tocumwal in the past, were on spot 6 and 8.
Russell was on 24 and Andy Davis even “out”. You see what I mean….
28 from 42 finished! NOBODY flew over 100 km./h.
Task 6; 272 km….35 from 41 who started finished!!!If Lasham has such nice weather for the WWGC next year, it would be great…better of course, is good too.
By the way Liz Sparrow, who is the CD for the next WWGC, flies as well in an ASG 29e and was 26th [from 41 who started] for the day.
Phil Jones was the daily winner speed 115 km./h. for 799 points. Tough day for that reason for Roy, who was out after 267 km. not too bad you would say,…. still thinking of Montlucon… but he got 333 points!
Task 7; 253 km….scrubbed/cancelled.
Task 8; 332 km,…changed in 150 km…canceled
Task 9; 264 km….last day….weird scores at Soaringspot as it seems that nobody finished, but still flew the distance.
I will check this. And so to see it was a 1000 points-day for Mat Davis, yes son from Andy.
Anyhow there were overall scores for 18 m;
1. Phil Jones in Ventus 3TS with 4.408 points and NATIONAL CHAMPION.
2. Derren Francis in Ventus 3T with 4.383 p.
3. Leigh Wells in JS-MD 3 with 4.314 p.

In 20 m., task 5 was 255 km. and flown by 12 from 18 and this time the ASG 32 with Tim Scott in, won the day; speed 90 km./h.
Task 6; 3 hour AAT,…it’s getting serious!? Indeed and lovely to see that Phil’s brother, Steve won in this class with 299.49 km. in time 3.07; speed 95.60 km./h and 1000 points!!!!
The first in this class!!!!
A tad faster than Steve Pozerskis in Duo Discus XLT with 95. 04 km./h. Good on him!
Task 7 ; 234.59 km….was cancelled!
Task 8 ; 327.60 km…..B task…150 km…..was not meant to be…..cancelled !
Task 9; 156 km….last day. Adrian in the Duo Discus XLT won the day . He was one of the 3 finishers, as Steve was in and Jon Arnold.
Tim Scott who was runner up overall, lost a place and Gary who was nearly back won one.
Overall scores in 20 m;
1. Steve Jones in Arcus M with 4.197 points, NATIONAL CHAMPION.
2. Gary Coppin in ARCUS t with 3.945 p.
3. Tim Scott in ASG 32 with 3.932 p.

6 out of 9 days,in both classes.

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UK Junior Nationals & Cotswold Regional 2021.

In Aston Down also in the UK, the juniors are still flying. But not on Wednesday, their small task [157 km.] was cancelled .
On Thursday it was flyable again and task 6 flying day 4 showed 137 km!!!!
Tom and Henry started at 13.44 and Finn and Toby 10 minute’s later. The Junior EGC has “glued” the 4 together and now they start and finish in teams together, as they did then.
Finn and Toby won the day in their ASW 20 with 101 km./h Henry was 4th [93.70 km./h] and Tom 7th [92.45 km./h]
22 From 39 finished and they shared some pictures from quite a few nice flying young ladies!!!
“A great group of Women are currently competing at the Junior Nationals this week at Aston Down.. They have had some good weather and good days.. with only 3 more days to go until the competing comes to an end for this year.“
Have a look at Women Gliding for the pictures.

On Saturday, with one day to go and after some rest from the day before as,…task 7 was cancelled…they got 222.98 km on their plate .
BUT,…it ended in a B task from 87 km. Small window, but they flew.
7 From 34 starters, finished. 2 St Cirrus pilots , both got 125 points for a speed of 92 km./h. Finn was 3d with ONE point less.
On Sunday, last day, 200 k was set……BUT,…NOT FLOWN!!!
Out of 10 Days they flew 6 tasks, in this “stupid” summer, the overall scores are;
1. Finn Sleigh in ASW 20 with 2.290 points and JUNIOR CHAMPION.
2. Freddie Turner in ASG 29 es with 2.081 p.
3. Henry-Inigo Jones in LS 8 with 2.074.
Scores behind Finn, were all close!

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49th Polish Junior Championship/OstowGlide 2021

After task 3 and 4 were cancelled and one day with NO TASK, they could fly again on Wednesday with a GOOD day as you can see on the picture;

Standard 305 km and Club 186 km.
In Standard class nobody from the 21 who started, finished, but those young pilots did a great job!!!! Up to 286 km. they managed to fly and the winner was Michał Okoń in a St. Jantar.

In Club class another Mischa , who flew the 186 km. task AND finished in his LS1 c; 57 km./h!!!!
4 From 12 finished the last finisher Marta, flew the task with 39 km./h…huge effort.

NO task on Thursday.
AND not on Friday !!
Lots of nice young ladies flying in Poland as well.
Pictures[from August 25] at OSTRÓW GLIDE – International Gliding Competition and Aeroklub Ostrowski
One day to go with only 4 tasks in standard and 3 in club class out of 10 days but a nice day to finish so to see.

Saturday; last day!!!
Standard ;1.30 AAT…Karol Snapko in the BRAWO, won the last day; 160 km. in time 1.32.
He was also the new NATIONAL JUNIOR CHAMPION in Poland in St Class. with 1.493 points. 14 From 22 finished!
Club 1.45 AAT...Michal Felisiak in the LS 1-c won the day . He also won task 5 and with 1.442 points he is the new Club class National Junior Champion in Poland.[see picture above]
5 from 12 finished.
For all scores; www.soaringspot.com

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The E3GLIDE !!

“The E3Glide sailplane championship starts today in Varese! I’m glad to be the sporting director of the 3rd edition of such an innovative race format. Will the future of gliding come from these explorations? Live tracking on www.e3glide.onglide.com thanks to Melissa Jenkins ! As written last SATURDAY by Aldo Cernezzi.
One of the pilots flying there is Matthew Scutter:
“How to follow up 21 days of gruelling flying? Another 10 days of flying!”
“Fully refreshed, [in a thermal Spa] I continued into Bruschal, where thanks to the very generous Holger Back of DG Flugzeugbau GmbH, I have an immaculate LS8 Neo-FES to defend my title with at the e3Glide contest in Varese, north of Milan in Italy.
He won day 1 [219 km.] and as this E glide is very new to me I suggest you follow the very interesting stories from Matthew in his blog. I learn from him about E gliding too.
Matthew Scutter’s Gliding

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KEIHEUVEL CUP 2021.

As every year I visited the 2 day competition at KEIHEUVEL in Belgium………As the weather prediction was for miserable weather on Saturday and better weather on Sunday, we decided to go on Sunday.
I am sure you understand,…..there was a nice window on Saturday and no window at all, on Sunday so the prize giving at 11 was just finished when we arrived. A pity, but time to make some pictures and talk with many friends.

The open XPDR class started with 20 pilots for a 126 km. task and 14 from them finished.
Tijl [Schmelzer] in the Ventus 3 won the day with 99 km./h, which was about 13 km. faster than runner up Nick Fremau in an LS 8.
Dad Schmelzer was 3d in a Ventus 2CT/18m. [93 km./h] together with Jeroen [Jennen] who had arrived safely back from Montlucon where he flew so well with his mate/cousin Dennis.

AND at spot 3 equal with Bert sr. Jeroen

In Sport XPDR flew 6 from 13 the 106 km task. I counted 8 Dutch pilots in this class. Winner was Maurits Hebels with 72 km./h in an LS 4. He started very early at 14.18 whilst some others started at 14.53.
Out landings as well as you can see. It’s part of the 2021 summer.

Or in a nice big green field, thanks to all the rain ;

Open class winners;…..overall scores for one day.

A sad message as well , more for the elderly amongst you.
IN MOMORIAM BERT ZEGELS.
Bert Zegels died of cancer age 74!
We met him at several comps mostly during the “Huit jours d” Angers” , later called the Coupe d’Europe.
Bert was a real Keiheuvel- fan, started his soaring there at age 16 in 1963 and was straight away solo in the Rhonlerche.
5 years later in 1968 he started already with competition flying at Hahnweide and was 3d in a cheap, wooden club glider whilst the German pilots flew spiffy gliders.
This was seen by World record-holder Alfred Roehm, and as Bert had no open class glider for the next WGC, he put his SHK glider at his disposal.
His first WGC was in Poland at Leszno, where he was 10th in open class .
So young and so good; the constructor from Libelle , Eugen Haenle, noticed that too and offered him the Kestrel, after he already won the Coupe d’Europe in their Libelle.
With a Jumbo Kestrel ,he flew the WGC in Waikirie in 1974, had 2 daily wins and was runner up behind George Moffat , who won for the 2d time. Bert was ahead of Werner Grosse. who was 3d.
Bert flew 15 years on top level.
He had about 20.000 hours as airline pilot.
He was 5x Belgium Champion…..1x French champion….4x winner of the Coup d’Europe….
He also had 2 Belgium records and participated in 6 WGC’s.
He was winner of the Victor Boin Cup and got from the Belgium Royal Aeroclub the Prix Marie Monsieur-Fontaine, their highest award.
I specially remember his friendly/warm way of dealing with friends.
A TRULY gentleman , lovely guy, a quiet achiever and great pilot has left us.
R.I.P. Bert.
{Thank you to Bert Schmelzer sr. who shared the more historic info with me. Bert sr. wrote the book Soaring in Flanders …Zweefvliegen in Vlaanderen…a fascinating adventure in silence. In that book the preface was from Bert Zegels }

The meteorological summer finished today on this site of the world.
I am not sure if it WAS a summer!!!
Hope at least for a nice after-summer.
Still great flights as Michael Sommer [EB 29R] and Max Schaefer [Ventus 3 M/18m…he flew a 1000 one day earlier as well] flew on their last day of the 10 day- “camp’ over 1000 km. from Puimoisson.
AND of course I look at the FAI SGP FINAL in St Auban next week and I keep reading about E3GLIDE.
By the way, good weather in St Auban as Tilo practiced for the GP and flew in his Ventus 3 T/18m yesterday a distance of 756 km.
Cheers Ritz