Welcome back to the regular Wednesday morning blogs.

It is still so hot here, that I forgot that tomorrow the meteorological autumn starts already .
Yes, AND spring for my many friends down under.
I noticed because I saw on FB , last Friday, the packing and departure from containers to Kiripotib.
It’s that time of the year already.

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And the first competition in South Africa is already announced;

We’re excited for the Gliding Nationals 2022
*Entry Form for the SA Nats 15m, Club and Two Seater.*
Where: Potchefstroom Airfield
When: Practice Day 30 September 2022, Comp Days 1-8 October.”

“See you all there!”

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The Rencontre ASK 13 in St Crepin is not only a competition between teams flying the ASK 13, but their pictures are absolutely fabulous. I follow them already for a long time.
Pilots from club’s with an ASK 13 meet, talk and fly. On day 5 St. Crepin was in front of St Remy and Suisse. They flew 200 km. with a speed of 84.4 km./h!!!!
overall result;
1. St Remy with 4945 points.
2. St Crepin with 4879 p.
2. Suisse with 4879
There are 25 teams.
Here is a picture from August 26

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Indeed on Sunday morning I found some pictures from the prize-giving on my laptop and though it is rather late now, the girls will be, for ever famous, not only on the prize giving day. Being a WORLD CHAMPION in 2022 is FOR EVER!!!!!
I love the picture from Petra with her gorgeous little baby. In Lake Keepit [ [2019/2020] she had a little one still in the pram and Petra’s mum was taking care of her.
Now this looks like a new little long-haired beauty in her mums arms.
What better trophy to have!!??

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A few more comps finished, one of them the Junior National Championship in the UK. These comps were held in Keevil,[ United Kingdom] between August 20 and 28 and hosted by the Bannerdown Gliding Club
Out of 9 days they had 6 valid days, so enough to find out who the best UK junior would be.
They had short tasks,[87 km] longer ones,[ 251 km.] late starts [4 PM] and JWGC CHAMPION, Finn Sleigh , who won 4 days.
Like during the JWGC ,he teamed up with Toby Freeland, who was runner up.
1. Finn Sleigh in ASW 20 with 3.464 points.
2. Toby Freeland in ASW 20 with 3.267 p.
3. Alistair Emson in St Cirrus with 3.201 p.
4. Henry Indigo-Jones in St Cirrus with 3.053 p.
36 Pilots competed and another 12 2-seaters with experienced pilots to “help” out with coaching.

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From happiness to sadness!
TT, Tony Tabart passed away. Another gliding icon lost in Australia, in the world. Another MATE gone!!!AND,…one of my longtime mates and a good friend.

Some words from Tonies family, good friends and soaring mates;
“20 years ago I sat at a bar in Tocumwal and got talking to a man who had forearms like Popeye. As we addressed a couple of pints of wine, I had no idea I was talking to an Australian gliding legend. He was a man with whom I was to become a friend.”
AND
“Tony Tabart made it to 86 years of age. He was fiercely competitive, generous, fun, smart, mischievous, and a fine friend. Old mate, you will be missed.” by Simon

“Tony enjoyed a great innings over his 86 years; an adventurous, interesting and fulfilling life, and wonderful friends.” Jo.

“Mr Tabart has enjoyed considerable success in the sport. He represented Australia at home and overseas, in France, Sweden, Italy, Austria and former Yugoslavia. He was the first Australian to win a day in an international competition, in Yugoslavia in 1972. He was also the oldest winner of the Australian Open Gliding Championship in 2004, has been Australian Open champion four times and set several gliding records – including being the second person in the world and first Australian to complete a 1000-kilometre triangle.” Horsham Gliding, Tony loved to fly there, and since 1966 till recent he flew all Horsham weeks.

“He was steadfast in his love and support. Always tolerant, always available, always interested.
Through thick and thin, Tony and Jo have been a part of my life, Indea Moffitt’s life and then to his great grand children.
I can’t really express this loss… and my heart is with Jo, and Julie, for their loss is deep.” daughter in law Anita.

“I remember Tony Tabart doing a high speed water dump run in his Nimbus 2 as Gough Whitlam opened the Waikerie World Gliding Championships in January 1974. A wonderful pilot with a wonderful gliding record still competing at Horsham not many years ago too. We are sadly losing some of the very best.” Neil.

“Sad news for Australian Gliding with the passing of Tony Tabart at the age of 86.
Tony spent a lot of time as one of the very best glider pilots in Australia, representing his country at the highest level many times. Tony was very generous with his time as an elite cross country coach. It’s also worth noting that Tony was the last surviving member of the Australian team chosen for the 1974 World Championship held at Waikerie in South Australia, a landmark event in Australian Gliding.” Gliding Australia

I got to know Tony in the early eighties. We met the Aussie team in Rieti in 1984 at the Pre Worlds and Tony was one of them, a tall slim sheep farmer from Australia. When we talked he was not just a farmer, but he had thousands of sheep. We were impressed. An Aussie we only knew from “books and films”
Then we had already the feeling to once visit Australia and in retrospect, that visit to Rieti in 84 , changed our lives TOTALLY.
We moved to Australia and spend at least 30 Dutch winters in the Tocumwal sun , as I have written many times. We even lived there for just over 10 years and ran the SSC .
Tony and Jo stayed our friends all over the years till NOW. So did Bruce by the way and Griffo, all from the same ’84-holiday.
Over the last years I could see that Tony , every year I met him again became a bit older , but still full of spirit and we shared lots of long soaring stories, good wines and food.
His passing is rather unexpected, but with 86 and a double pneumonia , you know it might go wrong.
It did, but I am sure Tony was more than HAPPY with his life, he had ” his low’s, but also a lot of high’s.”
I will ALWAYS remember the SUPER FINE and SPECIAL times with him and with Jo.
I wish her and Tonies sister Julie all the best.

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To finish the final results from the World Gliding Aerobatic Championship 2022 in Issoudun

On August 28 the weather here was still good for soaring, so good, that one of our pilots Sikko flew a 500 in the ST Libelle from Soesterberg. He started, went straight up with 1.5 m/s to 900 m, had wind on the tail, cloud streets and flew till his battery was empty; 612 km[ 534 FAI triangle]
What do you want more that late in the season. Huge fun!!!
The German squad flies in Puimoisson and Michael Sommer is one of the coaches. A few 900 k’s in the EB, also not bad in this time of the year!

Last day of a fabulous SUMMER/August……
CU next Wednesday,
cheers Ritz

Liz get’s the last word about the last flying day:
“Hugs all round on the final day of racing here at the Women’s World Champs! The day started off with low developing cu’s but gradually the cloud base raised high enough to make cross country flying feasible. With tight points in all three classes, everything was to play for today. The first sector everyone managed to go deep into but the second sector caught a lot of pilots out. The tops of the cu’s began spreading and the lift turned off, half the field landed out, but those who made it back had really big gains on the leaderboard. AeroSPARX finished the night out right with an amazing aerobatic, pyrotechnic display here at the Gliding Centre.“

Of course the French were very happy with their 1-2 in 18 m. class with Anne and Melanie. So they should!!!As said yesterday , it is Anne’s 3d title as WORLD CHAMPION!!!
With the great French results they were runner up in the TEAM CUP!!!!!!

After 2 weeks of ” variable weather and challenging racing“…
The team CUP was for Germany with 922.74 points. They had 3 ladies on the podium.
Runner up was France with 919.11 with 2 ladies at the podium
Third Czech Rep with 918.85, with 3 ladies at the podium.
THE UK was 4th with 783.71 AND Claudia at the podium and the 5th spot was for Italy with 761.25 points.

The last finishes!!!!

AND NOW I would have loved to share the pictures of the CHAMPIONS and WINNERS in each class. Like every other comp I write about. BUT…. NO!!!!!
I waited all day, no pictures about the prize giving, no stream to follow it at home, as in Tabor or Szeged.
Maybe a a bit of a missed chance , from the organization, for the people looking at home at a laptop screen with for 20 hours the same news on the day of the prize giving!!
Finally in the evening Lilian from the Dutch Gliding Team shared 2 pictures; TOP!!!!! THANKS Lilian!
The prize giving was under a sky full of cu’s and a nice warm temperature, so no winter jackets necessary anymore..

First the TEAM CUP winners with a smiling , clapping and laughing Mandy to the right. The German girls in the middle, The French girls to the l. and the girls from Czech Rep to the r.

I used over the last 2 weeks a lot of pictures and special THANKS go to the WWGC photographer Georgia and the FAI photographer Markus.
Other friends, who co-operated to make this blog successful,….. a HUGE THANK you!!!!!

That was that, all done and dusted….now…pfff….
A lot have to “race” to the harbor, to get their timeslot on a boat ,bringing them back to the mainland.
Another nice competition where life-long-friendships have been made again.
Soaring/gliding is such a nice sport!!!!!

CU Wednesday

Cheers Ritz

AND,…look at these skies in Tocumwal Australia, this morning in “not-yet-spring-time” and so nice green!!!!!

11th WWGC
Husbands Bosworth, United Kingdom
14 August 2022 – 26 August 2022

UPDATES ; after quite a spectacular day in Husbos with pilots dropping from 1 to 5, in club class and 1 to 3 in 18 m. Only Cornelia in standard could hold her first spot!!

August 26 VERY LAST DAY in Hus Bos!!!
After 5 practice days, and 13 days on which they flew in club class 6 valid days and in standard and 18 m. 8, it’s time for the very last day.
Day 1 was the absolute best day and set expectations for the rest of the days, but the weather is the weather, nobody has influence. Luckily they had that one TOP day!
And,…. you can only say they tried HARD!! EVERY DAY.
Yesterday parts of the UK needed winter coats, we here nearly melted with 35dgr C. in the shade.

BUT there is ONE MORE DAY!!! TODAY!!!!
No flying yesterday and the day before , so no “looking back ” report, by Liz.
But the pilots and crews were busy with paper -glider- throwing-comps and gummy-boot-throw-comps: “Welly Wang day.”…won by Team Germany ll.
A picture from todays weather published at 7.30 UK time.

First I thought this must be a British joke, UK humor, they are good in that, but when I checked I got the message ; NO JOKE, LONG AAT’s.
So that fog should burn away!!!! And …indeed then you could have a real good day.
Tasks were set and long tasks too , AAT’s from 3.30 and 3 hours .
Would they start with a top day and finish with one????
I really hope so!!!!! Though day 1, was as said, one of the best ever , maybe even the best, in the UK weather-wise…a one-of-a-kind-day!!!!

August 26; last day
Last briefing for Liz and her team and with the words “the next briefing will be in Spain” she finished that part of her job.
The next one will be in 2023 in Soria-Garray in Spain.

Order today; club, 18 m. and standard.
First launch at 12.
then…12.15.
The trigger temperature was not reached …more delay till 12.30 AND
a B task.
then more delay….12.45! Cloud base still only 2200 AGL.
The sniffer has no problem to stay up, but the cloud base is a bit of a problem.
Then…12.45 it IS!!!!
And,…off they go for the last time during this WWGC.

Thank you to the scorer Benedict Smith and task setter ; Harriet Gamble

With a big thank you to ALL TUGGIES!!!! Here is one of them……

AND,…
to all field runners.

Club class; 3.30 AAT…..changed in 2.45….Gate opened at 13.25.
Looking at the overall scores between at this stage Aude at 1 and Ulrike at 5 , the difference is less than 200 points. SO EVEYTHING IS POSSIBLE for them and Petra, Claudia and Ines!!!
UK pilot Carol was the first on the score board, …. unfortunately she was out after 106 km..
The Ukraine girls flew far South into the sector ….did they make more kilometers???
MAYBE YES…. Valentina has just finished at 16.48 BST! She flew 200 km with a speed of 61.66 km./h.
So to see, Ines was 200 m. higher than the rest …AND she was runner up for the day.
Edita , winning task 5 as the only finisher, was OUT, after 213 km. With her 11 more!!! .
One of them the number 1 Aude, was not counted for, she might celebrate already or be sad! So I had to wait with the final scores for this class.
Updated!!!!No Aude was not celebrating, after being on spot 1 overall for 4 days, she was out after 197 km and sad for her ,dropped from 1 to 5!! That hurts!!!! Petra is the new number 1 and world champion.
In 18 m Czech Rep’s Alena lost the first place, in this class Petra wins the spot.
More hectic in Club,…. as Ines with her runner up spot is now number 2 overall, AND an EQUAL runner up spot for Claudia!!! Hope they have 2 SILVER MEDALS!!!
NOT NECESSARY,..it changed again and with ONE point Claudia is runner up and Ines 3d.
Elena is 4th

Standard; 3 hour AAT…changed in 2.15…Gate opened at 14.02.
also here is the difference between number 1 Cornelia and the number 6 Aude [Untersee] not huge; about 300 points!!! Who takes risks and are the other team members ready/prepared to help the one above them? That seems NO problem.
The 3 German girls fly together , hoping to keep their positions on 1 and 2 , also the 18m girls could help out!
It helped,…. Cornelia won the day with French Anais as runner up. Chrissie was 3d. Sabrina 4th.
It’s reasonable to say with 3 not yet counted for, that the overall top 3 is nearly the same as yesterday. Only Jana [4] and Barbora [3] swapped places!!! Cornelia Sabrina and Barbora.
After 19 years [2003] Cornelia is WORLD CHAMPION again. Good on her!!!

18m; 3 hour AAT….changed in 2.15...gate opened at 13.42.
the numbers 1,2 and 3 at this stage have 4.402, [Alena] 3.878,[ Anne Ducarouge] 3,870 points [ Melanie ] Will she be able to defend her title??? The difference with number 4 Stefanie and 1 is nearly 400 points,…..too much for 1 day.
UK pilot Jane, used her engine to get home…after 150 km. So did Diana. The rest is still going well, but the last leg seems to be TOUGH!!!!
Only Katrin is not scored yet but I can say now that PRELIMINARY the new CHAMPION is ANNE DUCAROUGE from France. The 3 flew together…. Anne started 3 minutes behind Melanie , who lost her title to Anne with only 11 points!!!!
Alena lost her first place on the last day! She was there for 5 days. She was out after 201 km. and is 3d overall now.
Pfff what a day!!!!
Katrin is now scored and was 5th for the day and overall. She was 2 days on 1 overall.

After 13 days, 6 valid days in club and 8 in both other classes.…WE have winners and CHAMPIONS;

club class;
1. Petra Piskata from Czech. Rep in LS 4 with 4,282 points and WORLD CHAMPION!!!!
2. Claudia Hill from the UK in LS1f neo with 4,181 p
3. Ines Engelhardt from Germany in LS1f with 4,182 p. ONE POINT!!!!

Standard class;
1. Cornelia Schaich from Germany in LS 8 with 4,692 points and WORLD CHAMPION!!!
2. Sabrina Vogt from Germany in Discus 2a with 4,503 p.
3. Barbora Moravcova from Czech Rep. in LS 8b with 4,350 p.
That ‘s only 2 points more than Jana [ 4,348 ]and 3 more than Aude. [4.345] SO CLOSE!!!!!

18m class;
1. Anne Ducarouge from France in JS 3 with 4,411 points….WORLD CHAMPION!!!!
2. Mélanie Gadoulet from France in JS 3 with 4,400 p.
3. Alena Netusilova from Czech Rep. in ASG33es with 4,369 p.
Anne is for the 3d time WORLD CHAMPION. She won already in Issoudun [2013] , Herning [2015]
All preliminary.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CHAMPIONS AND TO ALL PARTICIPANTS!!!!

Now it is time to look at my garden ,house, friends and specially my family again.
Writing EVERY day for 4 Cat.1 events [ EGC/ 13.5 WGC in Pocuinai, WGC in Szeged, JWGC in Tabor and WWGC in Husbands Bosworth] is VERY time consuming!!!!
But it was my pleasure.
Tomorrow some pictures from the prize giving and then……
back to the normal regular Wednesday blog.

CU next Wednesday
Ritz

Tonight party time in Hus Bos

And for the FUTURE this message from Adam;
“Entries for the Australian Pre-world‘s are building nicely, Beryl runs a fabulous competition, & with such a great task area with associated conditions, it’s set to be another top one! Entries & form found here: http://www.narromineglidingclub.com.au/…/AusGlide2022…

P.s. 15m & Club as a stand alone class already, come on Standard pilots, get your entries in“

And last but not least, The Netherlands won for the first time in history medals in aerobatic gliding…. category Free Unknown. Bjoern Straijer and Erwin Vorenhout were those TOPPERS!!!

11th WWGC
Husbands Bosworth, United Kingdom
14 August 2022 – 26 August 2022

After a spooky evening, with witches from several parts of the world , the WWGC starts it’s penultimate day.

After the fun night, NOW the more serious …..last-but-one-day!!!
It started grey however and with the message “no gridding before briefing!!!!”
That’ s what you do not want to read/hear, on such a day!!!

August 25; it’s cold there, they put on their winter jacks……HERE in the Netherlands it with 35 dgr. C .
Another heat wave!!!!
Briefing delayed till 11 !!!!

It took a long time before we heard any further action.
But gridding was NOT BEFORE 13.15.
So late starts in a hopefully nice window.
Whatever would happen…..Tasks were set for all classes.
Task 12.…out of 12…flying day 5 in club and 7 in standard and 18 m.

club; 105 km....
standard; 121 km….
18 m; 145 km….

But THEN, there was the last message for the day…day cancelled for all classes!!!!
A pity , but it is as it is!
It seems NOBODY was sad about the cancellation.

Hopefully tomorrow ONE MORE DAY!!!!

Cheers Ritz

11th WWGC
Husbands Bosworth, United Kingdom
14 August 2022 – 26 August 2022

AUGUST 24 2022; task 11 today on flying day 6 out of 11 in club and 8 in standard and 18 m.
AND,…I just learned a new word after I learned penultimate day, which is tomorrow , I now know the word;
ANTEPENULTIMATE day. TODAY…...

First of all Liz with her view on yesterday;
“A low and messy day for all, there were those who climbed away from 500 foot and those who didn’t. The course was switched to B task on the grid to make the most of the good weather in the East. Upon being launched, all three classes struggled in their dropzones. Although launching began at 1230, it was 1540 before the final pilots got away through the startline. Landouts ranged from 15km after the start to 3km before the finish. The pilots who could make a clean getaway really extended in the East, it was only 2500 cloud base near the airfield but increased at the far end of the task. Once most of the landouts had returned to the club we partook in a quiz night. With the final day of competition on Friday, we will have a closing celebration on Friday night with food stalls, music and an aerobatics performance by AeroSPARX’

Enough out-landings yesterday ,one of them was Claudia;

As I said yesterday already, a day of big losses for some and high “climbs” for others. But still 2 days to go.
In Club ,Petra still flew 157 km. yesterday!!She remains on spot 2 overall. Ines [4] is only 20 points behind Claudia [3] now. Aude [Grangeray] is still on 1.
In standard Aude [Untersee] was only 5 k out, but “paid” with a loss of 2 places; 4 to 6. Jana moved up from 6 to 3!! Cornelia from Germany has a nice lead of 155 points on her team mate Sabrina. On the last days they might have to “fight” for their selves.
In 18 m the outlanding from Katrin hurt, she moved from 4 to 6. Alena is more than 150 points ahead but between the number 2 and 3, Anne and Melanie , both from France the difference is 8 points!!!!

What happens today on August 24;
Order, club, 18m and standard.
Tasks have been set, straight away 3…
An A, [ area task to the east] B [ racing task to the east] and C task [short racing task to the south] have been set for each class.
FIRST LAUNCH AT 12!!! THEN at…12.30! Then 13.00!Then the day was CANCELLED in all CLASSES.

club; A task….AAT 2.45...CANCELLED
standard; A task…2 hour....CANCELLED
18 m; A task…2.15...CANCELLED.
…NO TASK 11…..

Short after, ” a weird” flag appeared under the FAI flag!!!??? A Witch!!!!

So to see not the best weather so time for “serious” Fun!!

Today is Baba Yaga, an important event for the ladies. The “old witches” welcome the new witches in their middle. Very special!!!! For the die-hard readers of this blog, you recognize this picture from USA pilot Kathy Fosha last time in Lake Keepit, straight away.
I attended it last time , for the first time and it had quite an impact on me.

No soaring today, so not much more news.

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Yesterday I shared the picture of the French Junior Winners.
I got a comment on that news from Marie-Christine and I share it with you with HUGE pleasure .
“Comment on the French junior championship, it is worth noting that the class club winner, François-Xavier Poisson, was the youngest in the comp and the youngest to ever win at just 17. Well done indeed and good luck to him for future competitions.“

What a great young man , with a bright future!! I share the picture again; indeed he looks young and very happy. Great talent!!!!!

Hopefully 2 more days to follow. Certainly for CLUB CLASS.
More pictures from todays event , hopefully tomorrow.

With the biggest drought ever in 500 years , here in Europe, I say CU tomorrow, hope “no witch had to disappear.”
Cheers Ritz

11th WWGC
Husbands Bosworth, United Kingdom
14 August 2022 – 26 August 2022

First of all Liz with her view on yesterday;
“An impending front with high winds tipped the race director to cancel the club class early and just grid 18m and Standard with the chance to do minimum distance tasks in a short weather window. 1145 the grid began launching into a quickly changing sky. The first half of the race was under the sun with some stronger thermals present. The pilots were pleasantly surprised with the good conditions in such a short window. The race really came down to having a good start and nailing the final glide. It was a spectacle watching over 10 pilots in standard class all arriving back at the field within two minutes. Due to the minimum distance it wasn’t a 1000 point day so the overall leaderboard didn’t shift a lot. Tomorrow is looking similar but a tiny bit warmer so the chances for another short racing window are high.”
We’ll find out today.

When you wonder who is behind Claudia’s Gliding Page then, have a look this is Claudia.

In the evening they often have dinner together to look back at the day and to “just be together”

TUESDAY August 23;
for CLUB task 10…flying day 5…, for standard and open task 10 and flying day 7.

During briefing, Mandy Temple [Australia] ,one of the stewards in Hus Bos , who was the perfect CD in Lake Keepit, gave , as I heard an excellent presentation of the use of the parachute.
I know her already for a long time , not really good I must admit , but from comps and as “fellow-TC’s” or as her soaring-journalist at the/her last WWGC and I never knew she was an experienced sky diver.
With the recent JWGC we could see again, how important the knowledge of a parachute is when you have to bail out. Luckily that one went OK again.

“The weather this morning doesn’t look inspiring. Low clouds covers the site, with the occasional break. However, all gliders have been asked to grid, in all classes. The comp team is obviously hopeful for a weather window big enough to launch everyone”; Women Gliding

Prize winners from the day before were honored and the French “coq” created some fun. I remember the young man from Lake Keepit.

Tasks were set!!!! For all 3 classes this time. It is supposed to be better than yesterday, so a bigger window hopefully today.
BUT …then the message…changing to B task for ALL classes.
order; club….standard…18 m.
12. 15 first start. THEN…12.30….off they went….
At 12.45 the base was 1000 m. MSL and 1 m/s lift…..but whilst reading what is going on, I learned that the base was more going down,…. rather than up.
BY THE WAY……….All start gate openings are in BST. [British Summer Time]
So here in The Netherlands I have to wait for an hour ,as we are one hour later.
A few were really low and some needed a relight. A really VERY tricky day!!!!
In the end with “losers” who were in the top and winners who went UP.!!!!
You can nearly call it a lottery-day today!

Club; 212.36 km;…..changed to 160.13 km….gate opened at 13.10 . Klara the runner up overall had to land for a relight. And to get away from the field was too difficult.
She was out after 2.85 km. So sad!!!!
Some ,as our Dutch Lilian also landed out not long after they started.;15 km.
Also Olena from Ukraine landed out after 49 km.
Paula from Argentina ,yesterday runner up, could not get away. She tried 3 times..in vain!!
BUT,….there were finishes!!!!!
The first to finish was Ukrain pilot Valentina!!!It took her 3 hours and 17 minutes to fly over the set 160 km.
She was 3d for the day.
The German girls had a perfect day ; Inez in LS 1f and Ulrike in LS 4 finished as well. They are on spot 1 and 2.
4 in and Claudia was only 10 k out…… and 9 outlandings .
It’s waiting now for 5 pilots and I know 3 of them are out. Don’t know about Elena and Alizee.
A tough day for 456 points.
Will come back later on them.
UPDATE; Elena was out after 145 from the 160 km. I know Petra did not finish and ” poor” Klara and Paula good NOT get away!!!

standard; 221.23 km….changed to 172.13 km.…gate opened at 13.28. Some were at 1000 m others at just 600. Team Germany flew together ,but when one misses the “lift”, it gets difficult. Chrissie had to land, after 24 km, but she missed already out on a valid start…..ONLY o to 0.5 km. from the start line
58 km./h and Czech pilot Barbora is HOME!!!! equal 3d with Jana.
What a great day for the Czech team.
Also finished … Francesca Roberts from the UK. [5th today]
But then a few more arrive!!
Cornelia and Sabrina from Germany and Czech pilot Dana. POOR Sabrina it seems she forgot her PEV!!!!!
The French girls Aude and Anais are not yet counted for, as is Ayala, but already 6 finished from 13.
So it should be a valid day!
A tough day here as well for 350 points, but each point is important.
UPDATE: Aude and Anais just could not make it; 167 and 163 km…..Ayala is not yet counted for. more tomorrow.

18m; 248.46 km…..changed to 188.14 km….gate opened at 13.47 MM [ Diana] and BK [Katrin] put on their engine just before 3 PM after 35 and 37 km. Around that time the lift was only 0.3 m /s.
Whilst waiting for scores, that takes longer when many are “out” , I noticed 5 pilots in in 18 m; TOP.
The 3 Czech girls Alena, Jana and Hana and 2 French girls Anne and Melanie.
With a rather late start Elena flew around with 79.51 km./h, whilst the other 2 had 74km/h. and The French 74 km./h.
It looks like a valid day in this class! 6 in and 5 out, one not yet counted for.
Mind you, Alena was already world champion in 2003 in 15 m. class in Jihlava, the same year that Chrissie won in club and Cornelia in standard class. NEARLY 20 YEARS AGO and then all 3 WORLD CHAMPION and now all 3 participating in this WWGC!!!!
Max amount of points today is 336.
UPDATE; Sandra is not yet counted for, more on her tomorrow.

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And to finish this HUSBOS -DAY a great picture AND story from 14 year old Kai Gray, the young scout who walked with the sign LUXEMBOURG in the parade. He adopted team MM from Luxembourg , as his team and visits regularly.
He is a super aviation enthusiast, who wants to become a professional pilot.
At home he has already an airbus simulator and flies around the world in it.
Every day is at the field as one of the field runners.
What a great young man!!!!!
On the picture thumps up from Kai for Diana.

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In the French place Beynes the French Nationals for Juniors were flown and they finished yesterday. Due to bad weather they only had 3 flying days out of 7. Not a lot of flying , but fun enough so to see!!!

In club class the winner was François-Xavier Poisson. They had 2 days with over-300-km-tasks and one 2.30 AAT. So only 3 competition days!
Nicolas Caudrelier won 2x 1000 points by 2 daily wins in the Pegase. Not enough to win as the consistent flying of Francois-Xavier gave him 2.437 points and Nicolas 2.266 .
Nicolas was out on task 2, loosing about 300 points that day.
12 Pilots and 2 HC one from Belgium and one from Switzerland.

The other class with standard class gliders, 2-seaters and 15m gliders was won by Timoté Gard in LS 8.
Out of 17 he was the best with 2.617 points.
4 LS 8 gliders in the top.
They had a 2.30 AAT, a 408 and 350 racing task. Nice tasks, unfortunately not too many.
17 participants and 3HC pilots , 2 from Germany and 1 from Belgium.

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AND,….for the Free Known Program this World Glider Aerobatic Championships 2022 is over;

CU tomorrow! Then only 3 day’s to go in Hus Bos.
Might take a while ,when Liz keeps travelling like this!!

Cheers Ritz
All scores very preliminary!!!

11th WWGC
Husbands Bosworth, United Kingdom
14 August 2022 – 26 August 2022

The day started with the message that” 18m and Std. Classes have been asked to grid this morning. Club class is getting a day off!”
Club has already one day less!!!
The met man said;
“We have 2 occlusions coming. If one does n’t get us, the other one will”.

Liz had some words too yesterday evening about day 8;
“All still to play for half way through the competition, with very tight points on the leaderboard all three classes still have the chance to mix it up. Although it was forecast today to be similar conditions to yesterday – with rough weather and high winds – it really cleared up nicely to be a fine soaring day. It wasn’t without its challenges, the two AAT sectors were both amazing and awful depending on the timing that you were going through. With 6 knot thermals and 4500’ cloud base in some zones and the complete holes in others, today had a lot of luck involved. Back on the ground we had Suzanne Morgan and Mandy Hickson give inspirational speeches to the crowd gathered at the open day. They shared stories from their aviation careers – Airline Captain for British Airways and Tornado GR4 pilot in the RAF respectively. It was fantastic to host the local community at The Gliding Centre for the open weekend and we hoped they enjoyed it as much as we did.”

I was wondering how many tow planes there are and how many tuggies and if there were maybe female tuggies and YES there is one.
There are a total of 12 tug pilots available.  They try to operate 7 tugs each day, but it is usually only 6.

“Yesterday I flew together with my honorary team mate @la_nena_blu for a bit but then she left me for dead as usual , and she won the day (but I’m back up to 4th so that’s ok).
Well done Elena! ” Claudia’s Gliding Page

It’s Monday August 22 now and they start with task 9 for 2 classes.
Everything is early today, due to the expected rain.
Briefing at 10 and first expected launch at 11. It turned out to be at 11.45 for the A task.
When they can fly THEY FLY.….so they should.
Off they went , 18m upfront and then standard.

Standard; 121.77 km.…gate opens at 12.37…All pilots flew the task!!!! Most started 10 min past the gate opening and raced over the track to be back before the rain. All were back just after 3.
Daily winner is Aude with 87 km./h for 257 points. The UK girls did well, Ayala and Francesca had a speed of 86 and 85 km./h.

18 m; 148.94 km..….gate opens at 12.18…Within 10 minutes they were all on track! Pretty good speed for Astrid from France;106 km./h for 282 points. The 3 Czech girls followed and 2 more French girls , all flying over 100 km./h.

Another flyable day in Hus Bos was created in a short window!
They were all in and it started to rain.
Good set task!

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I owe you a picture of the winners from the CIM, here they are. First the mixed class winners , then the open 18 m. CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN!!!!

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And I owe you some pictures from THE KEIHEUVEL, where history was written , without I knew it.
The 2d day was unfortunately cancelled . I was a bit worried , but in the end not necessary.
There was a scramble at the military airfield of Kleine Brogel, very close to Keiheuvel. Such a thing never happened, but it did now.
A Turkish plane was on his way to London WITHOUT radio contact and had to be intercepted and escorted by F 16’s from Kleine Brogel which was QRA.
Everybody in the air had to stay under 2500 ft and return to the airport!!!!
In the organization from this competition was also an airline pilot from KLM and a traffic controller from Kleine Brogel and they solved the problem very professional.
All pilots were grateful, for the solutions to the problems and in the end they had a partial good day of flying as well…no scores though!!!
But what a way to loose a nice soaring day??!! HISTORY!!!
BUT, an important mission in these weird times.
So the winners from day 1 , were the winners of this 2 day-event.
1 in the sport class local “hero” Jeroen Jennen with 704 points.
1 in open 3 pilots team Snyers & Bielen in the ARCUS T and Daan Spruyt in the Ventus 2AX both with 849 points. Daan was on spot 8 from 24 in open class, in Szeged during the last WGC. [EB 29dr]

The Junior cup was , indeed, for the best junior and that was this time Noud Kaay flying in the 18 m. ASG 29 on spot 7.
This CUP is in MEMORY of the late father from Bert Schmelzer sr and the grand sons Tijl and Bert jr.
He was the very first instructor at the Keiheuvel, made the first winch start at the , at that stage new airfield on a sandy and dusty plain, which opened in 1956. He flew the first 300 km in an  Olympia-Meise , from Keiheuvel to Dieppe in Normandie in 1958, to achieve his Golden C and till 2002 when he died he was a member of the LSV Viersen at the Keiheuvel.
An interesting cup with huge history behind it, to receive.
Some pictures not from gliders but from pilots;

All happy young people who are the bright future!!!

Cheers Ritz.

11th WWGC
Husbands Bosworth, United Kingdom
14 August 2022 – 26 August 2022

Another good day for the ladies. Though a bit doubtful was the weather in the morning, as a slow moving front was supposed to arrive later in the day.
So all 3 classes got AAT’s with big circles. The first launch was estimated for 11.30.
Club went up first ,then 18 m and standard as last.

IMPORTANT people first , so here is Liz with her view on yesterday.
“It was a festival of flying and fun at The Gliding Centre! Visitors got more than they bargained for with two grid launches and landings. Mel the weather man said that with the Welsh mountains creating wave there could be tough rotor around. The grid got away smoothly but shortly after the final launch, the field starting floating back down to earth. Half the sky had overdeveloped with rain showers and the other half turned blue, even the tug pilots had reported how difficult the flying was. Soon with everyone back on the field, the competition director Liz Sparrow decided to cancel the Club class for the day and switch the 18m and Standard Classes to their task C’s. The first leg was very tough, in standard class there was a lot of deviation between the teams but they all arrived at the turn point together. With good energy lines over the rest of the course it was an easier run home. In the 18m class they found the task easier with the ability to push into the wind, the thermals out on the course were 3-4 knots all the way up for them. Back at The Gliding Centre there were a lot of spectators enjoying the flying, market stalls, food trucks, glider simulator, winch demonstration and full orchestra playing as everyone took off.”

Just back from Belgium, so here we go with what happened today in Hus Bos.
Club; 3.15 AAT….gate opened at 12.11…..early starters went straight away , one minute later at 12.12! Others waited till 12.48! Elena went rather late at 12.40 ,but had a great run; she flew 283 km in time 3.28; speed 81.73. About 5 k/h faster then Argentinian lady Paula Drazul, who had 76.94 km./h! and was runner up. Most km for Aude with 294 in time 3.44.;spot 3.
Mind you, to fly by yourself is more difficult than in a group with 2 or 3 mates from home.
2 were out.
After 4 days out of 8 ,it’s Aude ,Klara and Petra in the overall top.

standard; 2.30 AAT....gate opened at 12.26...257.41 km for Czech pilot Jana in time 2.36 who went on track like most other pilots at 13.22.Speed ; 98.77 km./h. for 842 points.
Anais from France left at 14.31 and was 10th from 13.
Ayala unfortunately was out after 200 km.
After 5 out of 8 days the 3 German ladies, Cornelia, Sabrina and Chrissie are on top.

18 m; 2.45 AAT….gate opened at 12.43…another Czech pilot topped this class; Alena, with 318 km. in time 2.51.Speed 111 km./h That was MUCH faster than runner up Katrin with 103 km./h!!
After 5 out of 8 days Alena leads ahead of the French girls Melanie and Anne.
Still 5 days to go.

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The UK 18m and 20 m. NATIONALS.
13 August 2022 – 21 August 2022

LASHAM morning message;
“Final day and it’s all to play for…” I read at 3, when 20M class just was launched and the 18Ms were on their way up.
Small tasks to set the final scores.
18M – 159.75km…….The weather was good enough for a strong last race. Chris Starkey was Fast.; 136.15 KM./H!! BUT, only for 273 points.
Followed by Kim Tipple with 129.98 km./h. It took a long long time before Gary Stingmore was scored and for the final results we had to wait for him. He was 18th for 196 points, just enough to remain runner up. Leigh was 19th for 196 points together with Derren.
.We know now who the new UK NATIONAL CHAMPION in 18 m. is:

In the end the overall scores in 18 m. are very CLOSE:
1. Leigh Wells in JS 3 with 4.360 points. and NATIONAL CHAMPION. Congratulations LEIGH.
2. Gary Stingemore in AS33es with 4.354 points , just 6 points short!
3. Russell Cheetham in JS 3 with 4.347 p.
4. Pete Harvey in Ventus 3 with 4.322 p.
With the daily win today Chris [ASG 29es] moved up from 7 to 5!!!
All scores still preliminary.

20M – 157.55km……Tactics were played on the last day!
Start times vary between 13.27 and 14.06.
The last to go was Matthew Cooke; speed 114.88 km./h , a tad faster than Steve Jones with 114. 74. Garry Coppin was 3d, so we can see now who the new 20 m CHAMPION in the UK is;

1. Garry Coppin in Arcus with 4.573 points. NATIONAL CHAMPION!!!! WELL DONE.
2. Matthew Cook in ARCUS T with 4.547 p.
3. Steven Jones in ARCUS M with 4.139 p.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!!!! PARTY TIME NOW. ENJOY!!!!
All scores still preliminary.

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The KEIHEUVEL CUP 2022
This weekend August 20 and 21 2022

When possible I visit this 2 day competition every year, to catch up with lots of old and new friends gathering for a great weekend out. I missed day 1 but wrote anyhow about it yesterday.
Today I visited the briefing and where you normally get a task B which is smaller here it was bigger.
From 127 km to 188 and 223 .49 km.
The weather looked marvelous, the 4 tuggies did their job quick and GOOD and with the launches at 12.30 sharp , it turned out to be a joyful day for ALL. Some old and new friends:

My brother and I eat the best -ever- pancakes for lunch in The Kei and just when we had to go home again, the pilots returned with big speed!!!
BUT NO SCORES,…..the day was cancelled ,..it worried me a bit…..but, I worry quickly.!!!
More tomorrow with pictures

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Today is the last day from 3, cycling through The Netherlands as the start from the VUELTA was here. Utrecht had the honor and already for the 3d time a big cycling event started there, the Tour de France, the Giro and now the Vuelta.
Farmers tried to find attention along the road for their nitrogen problems, others,….. as the Gliding Club from Soesterberg used it for nice PR. INDEED, the helicopter saw them, they were on TV…world wide!!!

Ever heard from Femke Bol????? She is a sprint phenomena,….. 2 gold medals individual and one for the relay[4x400m] with one more evening to go.[4x100m]

CU tomorrow.
Cheers Ritz

11th WWGC
Husbands Bosworth, United Kingdom
14 August 2022 – 26 August 2022

Already early in the morning 3 racing tasks were set just under or just over 300 km in club and standard and 349 in 18 m.
GOOD,…another day of soaring.

A bit of a weird day for Team Denmark, as yesterday after the long flight the girls were on 7 and 9. A bit later Julia was on the lowest spot, problems with her oudi; admin penalty as they call it.
Luckily she could borrow one from an English gentleman and she is ready again to go today!!
HusBos people are very kind. In my year there in 2005,[ JWGC] one of the boys had a car incident with the trailer, which was pretty badly damaged. Somebody brought from rather far away a fitting trailer. PERFECT!!! That’s soaring too!!!

As every day Liz looked back yesterday evening with an excellent analyze of the day:
“Due to the slow departure of the front today’s task was set East to West. The pilots had decent conditions for the start, in the 18m and Standard classes most pilots went deep into the first sector and struggled in the second with a very strong Westerly breeze making it a long trek across. In the Club class the winning pilots opted for a shallower first sector as for them it was looking blue to the East and then they pushed it in the second right to the back. Winning pilots seemed to be operating in a narrow height band – staying high and climbing more often paid off. Although the competitors found the day extremely tough, every class still had a 1000 point day and only a handful of gliders landed out. Tomorrow’s forecast has the chance to be even better depending on the progress of an overnight front. The Gliding Centre is hosting a family fun free weekend with glider simulator, STEM activities, shopping and food stalls, music and much more! Hopefully there’ll be plenty of racing for the public to follow while they are here.”

Katrin Senne was not yet scored late yesterday but she was in the morning; she was 4th behind the 3 French girls.
The Czech girls did well yesterday in club class with a number 1 and 2. Petr their TC is a huge part of the success of the Czech girls.

And when you want to see a nice and funny picture- story about yesterday you can go to Claudia’s Gliding Page

Time to look at today Saturday August 20 ; NOT an easy day due to” overdevelopment in the NW and a “Blue hole” in the east.” I read and heard.
You can’t say they are not trying HARD.

Club; 282.06 km….changed in 217 km at the grid…. gate opened at 12.25. BUT then the message that club class had troubles to get away due to over development …several landed back….
then club class was cancelled. For those still up, the day was cancelled in the air, but most were already back at the ground.

At 3 , they started the other 2 classes and off they went again in a tricky sky.

standard; 301,65 km… 12.38 gate opening,….changed in 125 km….. BUT also they landed back …. they re-planned the launches of this class with a new launch time at 3….for a C task.
Gate opened now at 15.39!
It turned out to be a “German” day . Cornelia, Sabrina and Chrissie flew together and had about the same speed; 88 km./h!!! So a difficult character building day!!!
The 2 Polish girls followed then the 2 French girls, the Czech girls and last but not least the 3 UK girls.

18 m; 349.74 km... 13.00 opening gate BUT changed in 170 km.… as also they landed back. All went for C task, first launces at 3 PM.
Gate opened now at 16.04….And Alena was with 99 km./h. the daily best;, she started 5 minutes after the opening. Then 2 and 3, Anne and Melanie [France] with 96 and 95 km./h. I guess their ‘mate’ Astrid tried as well but maybe could not get away ,as she started at 5 PM and was out after 127 km..

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The UK 18m and 20 m. NATIONALS.
13 August 2022 – 21 August 2022

So ONE more day. The penultimate day starts with Leigh Wells on top and Andy and Russell with equal points as runner up in the overall scores.
What will the day bring??
In any case TASKS and no overdevelopment or blue holes, as in Hus Bos , so no change of tasks.
BUT,….when I checked at 5 Dutch time I noticed already 3 out-landings in 18 m, but all over 100 km.

18 m; 329.14 km.…BUT,….then at once….. 3 pilots IN. Chris Starkey, Derren Francis and Leigh Wells finished ,…but Andy Davis was out after 134 km!!!! That means his 2d place overall is in difficulty.
When I looked again, totally different scene; Pete Harvey on top in his Ventus 3T with 1000 points in the pocket, just not enough to be on the podium and Gary Stingmore as runner up in AS33es.
And Chris and Leigh were now on 6 and 7!!!
For the last day tomorrow this means that Leigh [4.158] , Gary, [4.153] Russell [ 4.147] and Pete [ 4.084] are very close, so it will be an exciting last day!
And between the number 5 and 6 is ONE point difference.

20 m; 277.65 km....with 114 km./h Matthew Cooke won the day in the ARCUS T . Steven Jones flew around with 110,91 km./h and Garry Coppin with 108.54 km./h….2 and 3.
Their last day “might” be less exciting, MIGHT be, as Garry [4.250] and Matthew [4.218] are very close 32 points difference, but Steven is more than 400 points behind, but that was ONE out-landing……and an out-landing CAN happen even to the best, as we saw today with Andy.. He moved from 2 to 20, that really HURTS!!!!!

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THE C.I.M. in RIETI in ITALY
10 August 2022 – 20 August 2022

After 2 non flying days the pilots will be eager to finish this competition with a good day.
The weather has been pretty wild in the middle of Europe, so I hope they CAN fly. Tasks have been set;

Task 10; day 10….flying day 7.…last day!
the North looked perfect, the Terminillo [ I have been on top of it several times, the nicest thing is that you see gliders pass by at eye-height] was still a bit covered but they all left at 1800 m!!!!
-The winds at all altitudes are NW, weak in the low layers.
– Very light isolated rains east and south east of Rieti
-Cumulus base variable from 1.600 to 2.500 meters in the race area.

mixed class; 328.60 km….start gate opened at 14.25. The Austrian ARCUS M team , Pirker & Richter-Trummer won the day; speed 110 km./h. and moved from 5 to 4.
8 Pilots were out on the last day.
Winners from this interesting competition after 7 out of 10 days;
1. Sironi & Venturini from Italy in ARCUS T with 6.037 points.
2. Bouderlique & Bouderlique from France in ARCUS M with 5.964 p.
3. Coutts & Walters from NZ and UK in ASG 32MI with 5.792 p

18m/open; 350.03 km…The top pilots all started just after 3 PM.
French Guillaume and Slovenian Boris flew with a speed of 113 and 111 km./h. and were the daily best. Just not enough for Guillaume to enter the podium.[5.221]
UK pilot Jon was 3d. Austrian Werner on 8 .
So in the end the final scores after 7 out of 10 days are;
1. Boris Žorž from Slovenia in JS 3 with 5.491 points.
2. Jon Gatfield from The UK in AS 33es with 5.299 p
3. Werner Amann from Austria in AS 33es with 5.276 p.

Time to party now. ENJOY!!!

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The 2- day-competition in Belgium at the Keiheuvel starts today; the KEIHEUVEL CUP 2022.
I will be visiting them tomorrow so maybe less news on the above comps for once.
Today they have tasks for all 3 classes with 50 pilots, several from The Netherlands as Keiheuvel is just over the border ,where I live.
There are 19 pilots in the sports class with transponders, 25 in open and 9 in the friendly class, who are pretty new to competition flying and will have shorter tasks more fitting to their gliders as St Libelle, KA 6e and an Astir.

sport XPDR class; 247.36 km….All 18 pilots finished! Interesting to see is, that the top places are for pilots who just flew cat.1 comps.
Jeroen Jennen, a real local pilot who lived all his life at the Keiheuvel-airfield, , won with a speed of 109,42 km./h. He was the last to go on track in his LS 8. Jeroen flew the EGC in Pocuinai and was 6th.
Runner up was Robin Smit in the LS 4 NEO, who flew already in the 13.5 m WGC.; speed 104.94 km./h
At 3 and 4, “our Dutch juniors ” flying in Tabor, Simon v.d Eijkel [LS8..104 72 km./h] ] and Lars van Bremen[Discus 101.85] . That team was then 3d as group !
These 4 pilots were the only ones flying over 100 km./h.

open XPDR class; 287.98 km.…the winner was team Snyers & Bielen in the Arcus T, local pilots; speed 109.81 km./h
Daan Spruyt in the Ventus 2x was as fast , so 2 pilots on spot 1.
Wim Akkermans another local pilot was 3d in the Ventus 3 F, 114.42 km./h.
4th Tijl Schmelzer in Ventus 3 also a local pilot; 114.35 km./h.

Tomorrow they continue and I will visit this airfield!

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And to finish this nice picture of the

Off tomorrow to Belgium, so no time to search the internet, but for sure I gather enough news to share the most important items from the day, later in the evening. CU then.

Cheers Ritz

11th WWGC
Husbands Bosworth, United Kingdom
14 August 2022 – 26 August 2022

Looking back at yesterday evening, ALL girls in club class were counted for and Claudia , who was not scored when I finished my blog, finished on spot 4 after 162.53 km.
Good on her, she leads her class overall.
CONGRATULATIONS to EDITA the only one finishing in club class.

Liz finished August 18 with ;
“Although the day started off very overcast and cool, our meteorologist’s forecast was correct with the cloud burning off around 1100. In the morning we hosted our supporters at the club for a morning tea and introduction to gliding. Pilots grid squatted for a couple of hours and aided by a sniffer they got away shortly after 1300. Only three competitors needed to return for a relight, but all three classes got away inside a good weather window. It was a very tough day, at many points the racers did not think that they would get around the course, patience was key. In the 18m most of the competitors finished very close together with a split of 53kmph- 56kmph for the top 8. Half of the Standard class finished whilst only one Club class pilot, Edita Sklaskienne, finished their task. Fun was had by all at the International Night where teams brought food and drink from their home countries to share.”

Specially in club class many pilots were “out”. But retrieving together is less hard than all by your self.
Here is Claudia:
“Last night was international evening, where each nation provides some typical food and/or drink for all to sample. It’s one of the highlights of an international competition, but alas, it’s also traditional for the organisers to send lots of gliders into fields on that day. I ended up sharing a field with the complete Czech Standard Class, half of the Polish Standard Class and one third of the French Club Class, only 20 minutes from Hus Bos.” Claudia’s Gliding Page I like her writing style.

I missed a picture on Claudia’s great win on day 1 , so here it is.

AND a picture from this morning with yesterdays winners in 18 m class;
there were 3 ladies equal on spot 2 with 270 points , ONE point less than daily winner Melanie.

After the tough day yesterday, it was INTERNATIONAL EVENING. …time to relax.

So does the Dutch table;

Time to look at today!!!
Weighing was on,….. gliders are on the grid,….. so we might expect a soaring day again.
And indeed, pretty tough tasks as in long, were on the list.
So the weather MUST be very good.
And indeed a message; “Today looks soo much better! A nice sunny start and our teams are raring to go!” by Women Gliding
Today 18 m is upfront on the grid, then club and last but not least standard.
At pictures I noticed at least ONE female tuggie…GOOD!
I am still trying to figure out how many tow planes there are in Hus Bos. 7/8.

Club; 3.45 AAT...gate opened at 12.31. Really nice to see Petra , who is a young mother, [Czech Rep] on top of the list with 335.57 km in time 3.27 so a nice speed of 89.49 km./h as good as her Czech friend Klara. For 1000 and 993 points!!!
The French girls followed and then Elena.
NOT a good day for Claudia who was 16th for 690 points.
She drops from 1 to 6 , but,…so many more days to go
Klara leads now just ahead of Petra.
All pilots are counted for, one was out, after 44 km. due to a penalty.

standard; 3.30 AAT...start line opened at 12.50. ….378 km. for Aude in her Discus 2A, in time 3.34.55 ; speed 105.53 km./h!! 15 minutes after the gate opened she went on track.
Ayala is REALLY doing well, she was runner up with 366 km in time 3.30, good planning!!!
Speed 104.13 km./h!
Not a really good day for the German girls finishing on spot 10,11 and 12 from 13. BUT…Cornelia is still runner up behind Aude. Ayala moved from 6 to 4.
All are counted for only out out.

18 m; 4 hour AAT….start line opened at 12.05. Longest task ,first on track. I heard the cloud base was at 1500 and they had 2 to 3 m. lift. Not too bad. It’s good I have start gate opening times, as when we add 4 hours , we know what time to be back. But they were very late to finish. Club started to finish after 4, standard close to 5 PM.
In this class there was one early start, at 12.38 from Diana . Others started an hour AFTER the gate opened!!! Most finishes were after 5.
The 3 French girls dominated in their JS 3’s. 1, 2 and 3 with 431 km. in time 4.01/4.04.
About the same speed for Alena and Stefanie.
2 Are not yet counted for one of them Katrin.

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The LASHAM 18m and 20 m NATIONALS.
13 August 2022 – 21 August 2022

With big tasks in Hus Bos, you might expect good tasks more to the S in the UK as well. And yes indeed pretty good tasks at Lasham too, BUT later changed in B tasks.
Between 13.15 and 13.55 the field was closed ,as I told you before , due to a RAF Red Arrows Display at RAF Odiham for their Families Day Airshow.
“Competition activity will only start on completion of the restricted airspace at 1355.“
So a later start today.

August 19; day 7…task 6…flying day 4 in 18 m and 5 in 20 m;

18m; 301.92 km…changed in 254.32 km....41 are still in the race and 3 TOPPILOTS start today knowing they are on top in the overall scores after 4 out of 7 flying days;
Russell on 1 with 2.630 points, Andy on 2 with 2.618 p. and Leigh on 3 with 2.595 p.
late starts , 20 past 3, late finishes around 5.30.
At this stage Leigh is 1 with a speed 129.92 km./h About the same as Pete,[128 km./h] Derren [ 127 km./h] , Rory [126.99 km./h] and Gary126 km./h/ But Russell is not yet scored.
30 from 43 finished1 was out. More tomorrow.

20 m; 300 km…..changed in 252.73 km….from 13 pilots “fighting” for the title there are, with 3 days to go, 2 who have all possibilities as they are far ahead. Garry in the ARCUS and Matthew in the ARCUS T;
2.861 and 2.804 points overall. Steve who had one off-day [ out on task 3] is 400 points behind on 3.
This time Garry and Steve started together[14.45] and finished together at 16.54; speed 119/118 km./h.

All scores from HusBos and Lasham; preliminary.

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CIM – Coppa Internazionale del Mediterraneo
Rieti, Italy….10 August 2022 – 20 August 2022

The official morning weather;
“– The announced depression at 500 hpa has entered the Tyrrhenian Sea with the center in the Gulf of Genoa.
– This brought yesterday’s bad weather especially to northern Italy and thunderstorms on Rieti this night.
-Today we are in a transitional phase with winds that with the displacement of the depression towards the East, will tend to rotate from south to southwest.
-Cumulus base variable from 1,500 to 2,600 meters in the race area: higher in the East
– In same area turbulent and wind-broken thermals.
– Isolated rainfall in south area, strong in North area.”

Looking at the meteo info for Europe this morning, I saw that the North of Italy could expect severe thunderstorms,. Austria and Corsica had already terrible weather with several casuals.
But Rieti is more to the south , in fact it is the heart of Italy. I stood at that point one day in the past.

mixed class; 297.11 km..cancelled due to 16 kts gusting wind and rain. It changed rapidly!
18m/open ; 286,48 km....cancelled.

One more day to go.

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In between the 24th FAI World Aerobatic Glider Championship has started in Issoudun. They fly between August 18 to 27.
The contest director is former WGC champion [ 1987 in Benalla] Brian Spreckley.
I don’t know enough ,to write about that ,but I can give you some info about the planes flying there;
“18 aerobatic gliders : 1 SZD 59, 1 Solo Fox, 4 Fox et 12 Swift for 29 advanced category pilots and 18 unlimited category pilots.“

CU tomorrow. Rushing down to the TV as the VUELTA started in Utrecht in The Netherlands.
Cheers Ritz