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

Thursday….AUGUST 18;
to start with…..not all pilots are in and scored, both in Husbos and Lasham, but I have to go for now. Will be back later with an UPDATE!!!!!
I am as anxious to know as you are. But here is already enough reading stuff.
Till later.
UPDATED!!!

After 3 non-flying days, it would be great to be able to fly again. BUT…the weather HAS TO co-operate.
Yesterday had no tasks, but straight after briefing the girls stayed for a good discussion about women in gliding! The rain gave the ladies no opportunity to race , but for sure time to talk about gliding.
“Another rest day, post briefing pilots took part in a discussion between countries about how to develop female participation in gliding lead by Fran Roberts and Claudia Hill“
Women Gliding
As Liz said; “We took the opportunity whilst having all these amazing women from all around the world, to see how we can work together internationally to built a community of women pilots and encourage more women in flying and aviation in general.“

The skies were dark , but early this morning there was a tiny little bit of hope and YES , tasks were set.
After a few days of real “English” weather ,there was enough hope for a window and the mood already good, even got better !! Gliders were put on the grid and the “normal” soaring-competition-routine was back.

The weather man expected a window of opportunity from 14.00 to 18.00
A sniffer went up , could stay up, but that was more or less all.
The sun started to shine,….. that’s better and the first expected launch would be at 13.15.
And ,…it was!!!!

ready to go,…..BUT,…. you need the pilot. Team Luxembourg TC George is waiting for his pilot Diana.

Club class; 175.94 km...task 5,…flying day 2....
has the longest task and starts first. Also this class went for the A task. Some pilots [3] needed a re-light as they could not stay airborne in the early thermals. All “Clubbies” were launched at 2.43.
They flew to the start point , then to TP 1, 60.26 km, then to TP 2 56.15 km, further on to TP 3 24.19 km , then to control point East to go to over the finish ring [7.23 km] ; 175.94 km.
For all those who not regularly follow comps, you can find all the info on www.soaringspot.com, look under task and you see the task and later the scores.
How they fly you can see via tracking on https://wwgc22.onglide.com
So and now we wait to see who did that best?
It was NOT easy, messages as “low ” not even at the first TP, worried me.
At 17.55 the FIRST FINISHER was back at the field. Lithuanian Edita in her ASW 20, was the one.
52 km./h a real struggle it must have been.
Klara from the Czech Rep just missed out on 2 km!!!!BUT she only missed out on 28 points.
Edita is still the only one IN.
At this stage 4 , from 18, have flown over 100 km.
UPDATE!!!!
Edita is still THE ONLY FINISHER!!!! TOP JOB!!!
A total of 10 flew over 100 km, so it looks to me as a valid day.
3 Are still not counted for,….. Day 1 winner Claudia is one of them

Standard class; 154.03 km.…
Straight after club the standard class went up, the sky looked “friendlier”. The gate opened at 14.32.
7 Girls flew together to make it home. They finished with between 50 and 55 km./h speed. 2 Girls from France, 3 from Germany and 2 from the UK.
Anais and Aude started and finished together with the others but they were in their Discus 2A, just a tad faster;55.71 and 55.65 km./h.
It’s waiting now for the Polish girls and from Czech Rep. The Polish girls were out and counted for, so waiting for the 2 Czech girls.
UPDATE;
13 flew and 7 were in and 3 were ONLY 14 k out.

18m class; 161.17 km...
at 3.24 ALL gliders including 18 m were up in the air and as Liz mentioned:
“Everyone is soaring, it’s looking good!“
Glider FM was the last to go……Astrid Galaret from France was launched in a nice looking sky.
All pilots were airborne at 3.28….the gate opened at 14.47!
The message that Diana was the first to turn the TP at 60 km and leading 18 m. class was a great pleasure to hear, but looking at the scores she was out after 68.06 km. A pity. She loves to fly by herself.
ALL scores were in around 7 my time.
Melanie was the best with 56.74 km./h , just a tad faster than Jane from the UK [56.60 km./h] . They clearly flew with 8 in a gaggle to make it home. The other 4 were out.

This upcoming weekend the WWGC will share the space at the airfield as they are hosting a Family Fun Weekend at the Husbands Bosworth Airfield !
A nice poster with ” Something for everyone including watching the gliders launch, hanger visits, live aircraft tracking screen to watch the racing, children’s area and activities, glider simulator, full size aircraft, craft stalls, music, food stands, Eco & sustainability area including cars, machines, stands etc. Watch the Women’s World Gliding Championships as 40+ pilots from 12 nations compete.“

——————————————————————

THE C.I.M. in Rieti in Italy
10 August 2022 – 20 August 2022

Thursday August 18;
Day 8…task 8…flying day 7.cancelled due to rain
mixed class; 309.30 km.…cancelled
18m/open; 336.45 km….cancelled.
They wanted to start at 12 , but it was a blue day , with a possibility for sea breeze ,an increasing of clouds and possible gusting winds. No rain was predicted but it rained when they brought the gliders back from the grid.
The QNH dropped from 1013 to 1009.

More tomorrow. …2 days to go Friday August 19 and Saturday August 20.

—————————————————————————-

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

Till now they had “the best day ever, on day 1” and 2 flying days in the 18m. and 3 in 20 m.
Tomorrow they are a bit more restricted than normal, as there will be a RAF Red Arrows Display at RAF Odiham for their Families Day Airshow.
“Restricted Airspace (Temporary) will be in place between 1315 Local and 1355 Local. The airspace radius of 6 miles means that Lasham and the local area will be closed to all aircraft for the duration of the display airspace. Competition activity will only start on completion of the restricted airspace at 1355 (weather permitting.)”

TODAY,….after 3 non flying days in 18 m and 2 in 20 m…. THEY FLY AGAIN!!!!
“Hopefully today’s weather will work in our favor… the organization have spent the morning trying to maximize the day for all competitors, providing 5 possible tasks for each class, one of which will be selected closer to the time.“
All gliders are currently waiting on the grid.
First launch not before 13.00.

Tasks have been set and changed later , but launching started, rather late but they started;
18m; 263.57 km....
early “outs” after 30 and 86 km, do not give a lot of hope.
But at 18.20 Andy Davis FINISHED. The WGC champion from Borlange, who was that good in rainy weather in Sweden as well, flew around in his JS 1c with 75.67 km./h. Maybe the slowest flight in his glider ever. BUT he is IN!!!!AND,…for 1000 points!!!!
UPDATE!!
in the end Andy was not the only finisher. Tim , Chris and Simon did so too. 2 were 2 and 3 k out.
Tim flew over 4 hours, so did Chris. Simon was faster 69.10 km./h , got just in, but got a penalty .After checking the scores he was RUNNER UP.

20 m; 262.68 km….201.63 km…. 198.58 km….
they started at 4 and also here quickly pilots “out” . The HC [hors concours] pilot straight away turned home after 1. 67 km!!!!Later it was changed in 61.32 km.
BUT,…there were FINISHERS, 4 to be precise!!! Of course slow but IN.
Fastest was Matthew in the ARCUS T; 76.86 km./h. Garry, [74 km./h] Steve [74 km./h] and Graham [66 km./h]were in as well.

They started the day with “we are launching” they finished the day with “we have finishers”.
BUT, only 4 in 20 m [Matthew, Garry, Steve and Graham] and 4 in 18 m.[Andy, Tim, Chris and Simon.]
All scores of course preliminary.

CU tomorrow!

Cheers Ritz

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

AUGUST 17; Still no regular blog on Wednesday, as I try to cover the WWGC daily and….as I am busy writing anyhow, 2 BIG comps in Italy, the CIM and the UK the Lasham 18m and 20 m NATIONALS.
Most parts of Europe had the best soaring weather ever this season, though for us “normal mortals” the heat wave was a bit long.
Glider pilots “were” in heaven”.

In Husbos, they had NO TASK yesterday.
So IF they fly today it will be day 4 with task 2. But I could already see on TV this morning, that the UK was under a thick layer of clouds.
The yesterday evening news was ;
” Today was an official rest day with rain all night and forecasted thunderstorms from 1500. The Czech and Danish pilots visited the Imperial War Museum Duxford and got a fantastic tour around the aircraft. Everyone gathered together in the evening for the official quiz night which the Danish team won. Tomorrow is forecast to have 1200ft cloud base and a chance of thunderstorms again but the race office will convene at 0700 to assess the conditions.”

Dutch Women Gliding Team  shared news too. TC Sjaak Selen, a former WGC champion[ 2018 in Poland] and his partner Lilian, who flies in club class, spend time as tourists exploring the area and Foxton locks.
“Foxton Locks are ten canal locks consisting of two “staircases” each of five locks, located on the Leicester line of the Grand Union Canal about 3 miles (5 km) west of the Leicestershire town of Market Harborough. [where the opening was] They are named after the nearby village of Foxton,” according to Wikipidia.
I missed that too whilst being in Husbos in 2005.
“The day was cancelled before the briefing and declared a rest day. It looks like we used the good weather for the next days, after the first TOP DAY. ” she mentioned as well. “unfortunately” BUT it will get better!!!!
They put like many others the glider in the trailer and wait till the weather improves.

Elena from Italy is an interesting, nice and out going young lady. I met her in Rieti a few times when she was still really young. In Lake Keepit ,she was more or less unexpected ,the new WORLD CHAMPION after the problems with the AUSSIE team . After I did not see much of her gliding and now she flies the WWGC and is doing well. Her dad, brother and younger sister all fly. Very nice family.
Here is there way of telling us at home what happens in Husbos on August 15.

Back to AUGUST 17; Unfortunately the day is cancelled during briefing, for all 3 classes .
I hear the mood is still very good and WHY NOT?????
After rain there will be sunshine.
More tomorrow!!!

—————————————————————

From Lasham came the morning news and a picture which says enough;
“Day
Good morning! Both classes were SCRUBBED at 8am with a thunderstorm warning in force that may include hail.
See you tomorrow!”

————————————————————-

The CIM in Rieti in Italy
10 August 2022 – 20 August 2022

August 17….day 7…. flying day 6 [task 5was not flown] ….. task 7;
YES,…they fly! Launces expected at 12.45 and A and B tasks have been handed out.
Yesterday’s scores were not complete in 18m/open. From the 4 who were not scored 2 were out and 2 teams did not fly anymore , one of them team Bruno Gantenbrink who flies nearly every year in Rieti in his ETA. The other Mauro in his AS33es. He landed -out on task 4.
Winners in the mixed class , The Bouderliques, were honored with a ” bottle” each.

Mixed class; 3 hour AAT…The gate opened at 2PM …..After 5 PM, they slowly arrived back at the Rieti-airfield. Some even after 6. Not an easy day, hot and blue in the beginning , but later the base went to 2000/3000 m.
In 3 hours and 17 minutes Team John Coutts finished with a speed of 128.41 km. over 423.56 km.
Team Alberto Sironi was runner up; 384 km. in time 3.03; speed 125.83 km./h.
Ukrainian pilot Marius , who won task 2 and 3 in his Ventus 2 ax was 4th.
17 from 21 finished .
Off day for UK/Lasham team Flewett & Perley, they flew 433 km, BUT DID NOT FINISH.
They dropped from 3 to 7 overall …ouch.
Top 3 overall at this stage; Sironi, Bouderlique and Coutts….so Italy, France and UK/NZ.

18m/open class; 2.50 AAT...On the other hand….UK pilot Jon was the daily winner in his AS 33es. Their gate opened at 2.50 PM.
NOBODY could finish within the 2.50 time limit, but Jon flew 397.47 km in time 3.06; speed 127.88 km./h.
Runner up was Boris. His JS3 flew over 379 km. in time 125.89 km./h
For today their forecast was ; convergence lines (maybe in blue) and finally west, southwest wind, not so strong/weak.
20 started and 16 finished, 4 were out among them MM, Manuele, one of the Italian mates from my Rieti time.
The top 3 overall is still the same. Boris, Werner and Jon, so Slovenia, Austria and the UK.

—————————————————

When our days here are getting shorter, they start down under with the preparations, for their spring-time, as the early season more or less starts then. In the WW2 hangar from Tocumwal Soaring Centre, they prepare their gliders for the 22/23 season.
It’s always great , but also a bit emotional, to see “our” former hangar. It is such an historic beauty. I lived in it…in a flat… for a few years, with great pleasure.

Whilst waiting for the CIM, I can do other things, so I will update later. UPDATED!!!!
Cu later or tomorrow.
Ritz

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

This morning I got the message from one of my friends over there ; “Another day lost“.
So no flying in Husbos. Liz expected it already as you can read below.
But …..tomorrow is another day.

Yesterday the day was cancelled ,but the Danish girls had fun anyhow. This time in a plane with an engine!

BBC Radio Leicester, visited Husbos and one of the female reporters , Sofie, had a flight in a 2-seater. She loved it, but you could nearly hear her cry out loud, in the Netherlands…..” OH MY GOD……
I guess a mix from tension, excitement and fun. All was organized by Georgia, who is the the media coordinator for the event.

About yesterday, here is Liz;
“Prepared for anything the task setters had ready A, B and C tasks for all three classes but the weather did not play ball. The first rain shower came through during briefing and it never cleared up enough to encourage thermal activity. So after delaying the grid launch to 1300 the Race Office made the call to cancel the day, known as “scrubbing” in Britain. Pilots made the most out of the off day with hiking , sight seeing and some even getting rated in motor aircraft with The Gliding Centre. Tomorrow the forecast is not looking overly promising but there’s always a chance.“

Today some went to Duxford to the MUSEUM /Airspace Center…..a branch of the Imperial War Museum in Cambridgeshire .…the largest in the UK.
When you cannot fly you can at least look at planes.

Now I see it, I wonder why I never went with the boys to this museum in 2005 during the JWGC over there. Guess too busy!
So off to Duxford when you have time , on a non flying day!
www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-duxford

More tomorrow.

——————————————————————

CIM, Coppa Internationale del Mediterranio
Rieti, Italy
10 August 2022 – 20 August 2022

Over to the other competition which is in progress now in Italy.
Yesterday they did not fly, the weather decreased during the early afternoon and pilots with their families visited Roma, a go-cart in Rieti-town or spend time in or around the pool!
Today their weather improved again , so it’s back to action at the field and tasks have been set.
Small ones, BUT they can fly.

AUGUST 16; task 6...
A relative easy day, catching up with mails etc. Checking in between the scores in Rieti. And before I knew they were there.
Mixed class; 2.15 AAT...Bouderliques day again….they flew 335 km. in time 2.24.50. VERY nice speed of 138.92 km./h!! Their 2d daily win. They started at 13.15.
UK/NZ team Coutts and Walters were runner up. They started 10 minutes later [13.26] , as the very last to go on track, but had the same speed ;138.66 km./h.
So the ARCUS M and ASG 32 MI had about the same speed.
After 5 out of 6 days The Bouderliques lead with 4.246 points, on team Alberto Sironi, with 4.192 p. Only 1 pilot was out after 90 km.

18m/open; 2.05 AAT….342 km. in time 2.08 means HUGE speed!!! Indeed 160,32 km./h! Werner Amann from Austria was the “Speedy Gonzales”. A staggering 9 km faster than Boris [Zorz] , the runner up.
All pilots started about the same time!
It looks like the “fight” is between Boris [ 3.777] and Werner [ 3.736] as Markus had a bit of an off-day today being on spot 11 and moving from 2 to 4 overall. [ 3.572]
In between is UK pilot Jon Gatfield. [ 3.600 ] He and Werner fly a Schleicher AS 33es.
But still 4 days to go.
4 Are not yet counted for, so results are very preliminary. I come back with the full results tomorrow.

——————————————————————————-

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

VERY TRICKY weather yesterday and only the 20 m pilots were active,….and HOW!!!!
They all managed to reset their brain, from flying with 7 m. lift, to nearly no lift and scratching around.
And after a day-off ,for the 18 meter pilots ,they will be extra motivated to go for it again,…that is if the weather co-operates.
It did not! No tasks , means no flying.
“Both classes SCRUBBED today as the airfield gets a much needed drink!” Lasham Comps
Tomorrow is another day!

Easy day,
Cheers Ritz

Pleased to see how the main site from the WWGC has been updated[ https://wwgc2022.co.uk/ ]
You can easily find soaringspot now for the scores, the tracking and the news.
There is also news on: https://wwgc2022.co.uk/news/
Here is CD Liz!!
“The weather could not have been better for day one of the Women’s World Gliding Championships, with 10,000 cloud bases and cumulus cloud streets all round, local pilot Claudia Hill said “I’ve had a day like today once in the last 24 years that I’ve lived here in the UK”. The classes were set 3h and 3h30m AATs around the South West of Husbands Bosworth, most of the pilots finished with above average distances and in the 18m class the top pilots flew within 20km of the max distance and still finished just 3 minutes over AAT time. Everyone reported their biggest difficulty was not breaking the FL 100 airspace. The energy on the field was ecstatic when the pilots returned home reporting of 6 knot average climb rates and 130-140kmph cross country speeds.”

Indeed it was a splendid day for the “girls and there were some reactions;
—“Piloterne landede glade og tilfredse med en rigtig god flyve tur og oplevelse” by the Danish team, mentioning the girls were happy with their great flight.
—“Erfolgreicher start fuer in der WM der Frauen in WWGC”….successful start of the German ladies at the WWGC.

And Gliding shared a picture by people who are doing pretty heavy jobs , certainly in the heat but do it a volunteers with big smiles.
To not forget them here they are;

Enough help ..also from the children from the pilots;

Monday August 15…day 2…task 2…
Today is another day with totally different weather and smaller tasks. I heard that it was raining a bit during briefing. So let’s wait and see.
NO PEV today.
The next news; first launch not before 12.30 BUT…then 13.00.
For all classes!!!
Waiting for a “window”!!! BUT,…the window stayed closed, so no flying today.
Club; 188.91 km….scrubbed
Standard; 224.99 km.…cancelled
18 m; 257.48 km....no competition flying today.

Looking back at the scores from Club Class;
Judyta was yesterday on spot 2 ,then on the last spot ,but I guess after looking at the 2d logger, she is back on spot 2 .Good on her.
In standard; 3 were out due to penalties. Among them the 2 Ukraine girls.

The return of the pilots yesterday after a MAGIC flight.

Hopefully the weather improves and it will be back to soaring again tomorrow.

———————————————————————–

The UK 18m and 20 m NATIONALS LASHAM 2022.
Lasham, United Kingdom,13 August 2022 – 21 August 2022

It was a truly busy day at Lasham yesterday. Even “they” thought so.
“Busy airfield today with close to 350 movements in just the afternoon. Over 130 launched in two hours.
It can be a bit manic if a gaggle of gliders comes back at once as seen in the photo!
Thankfully plenty of people on hand to help & all overseen by competition officials on the finish tower. Land long is the policy to keep everyone safe and there’s always plenty of space on our 600+ acre airfield.“

The Lasham Gliding Society was as happy!
“Today was exceptional, probably one of the best competition days in UK gliding history with speeds of over 150 kilometres per hour achieved on distances of over 600km. That is nearly 100 miles per hour average speed traveling across England and Wales in something without an engine!
Gliders from Lasham flew as far north west as Denbighshire in North Wales and up to 10,000ft above sea level where airspace allowed. Simply awesome in a soaring year that will be remembered for decades to come.”

I owe you the scores of 18 m, so here they are ;
It’s good that I called Leigh as a potential winner, he was runner up behind the fast Russell who flew with a speed of 157. 80 km./h.
Russell was pleased with his flight, possible the best flight he had flown in the UK. The highest cloud base he had ever seen. He had a particular good line, and was very happy to get back with ease!
There were 3 pilots that fast…flying over 156 km./h!!!!
Leigh had 156.26 km./h in his JS3 and Derren 156.12 km./h in his Ventus 3TS.
Top speed during a National competition.
On the other hand there were 11 violations, and 2 pilots had a day- disqualification. That happens not often either!
A really good day as all 43 pilots flew the task.

All 14 pilots in 20 m. finished yesterday as I told you already, but also here changes in the scores due to penalties.
Garry and Andy were pleased as well, starting off the day looking at a good strategy. Finding the best energy lines was one of them, and sticking with them.
The game changer came after the first turn on the second leg, so they said, after that, it was much easier with lift shy of 10 000 ft. which put us in a nice position!!

Monday ….August 15; day 3…task 3….
Another weather type, less good for gliding, but tasks were set anyhow and gliders gridded.
Tasks A/B/C have been set for both classes and” we are awaiting a decision depending on the weather.“
The tasks had to be changed to smaller B tasks.
18 m; 208,68 km... changed in 157.29 km…then scrubbed/cancelled!

20 m; 213.79 km...changed in 150.82 km…..So they tried hard to get 14 teams in the air and one HC team.
Time to look at the gliders; 7x an ARCUS type M [2x] or T [4x] and “just” an ARCUS.
8x a variation on a Duo Discus,….2x just a Duo Discus, 2x a T, 1 XT and 2x XLT and a W !

They “found” a window and a D task was handed out.
18 m cleared the runway and launching started for 20 m.

Starts after 4 PM and first finishes around 6 PM.
The ARCUS 20 with call sign 66, flew around with Garry and Andy ; speed 90 km./h !!!
Yesterday they won with 135 km./h. BUT..on both days Andy and Garry were the winners.
It all happens at Lasham!!!!!
Most interesting was that all pilots went for it.
Steve Jones and David Masson and Graham McAndrew were sadly enough out.
The max amount of points today was 433.
I saw pilots loose during the WGC a podium on 3 points, yes the Dutch boys lost from team UK then, so EVERY point is important!!!
A valid day….TOP!!! NO …excellent!!!

—————————————————————

No news from the CIM, as the weather in Rieti was not flyable either.

The weather really changed in parts of Europe. From one side I am happy with it, weeks with over 30 dgr. C…..3 heat waves in my area….. is not a real pleasure anymore.
But hopefully for the comps some more flyable days will come. I am pretty sure about that….

Cheers Ritz

I am still having troubles with the lay-out of my blog. Sorry.
Not too many pictures!
But the ones I had promised.

Finally I found some pictures from the JWGC from team Germany.

Cheers Ritz, hope tomorrow everything works NORMAL again!!!!!

Picture belonging to Rieti

First the last daily evening news from Matej yesterday;
“One last time during this competition, the pilots took off from the planes of the Tabor airfield today. After the two weeks full of excellent weather and exceptional performance, the competitors are currently attempting to achieve the highest average speed in today’s AAT tasks. Like everyone else, even the sky is mourning and crying today, causing some showers through out the day. Luckily, the local weather wanted to be remembered as extraordinary and except the showers, it remained very favorable. After the pilots will arrive from their final flight, pack their gliders and maybe have some rest, they can enjoy the farewell party, which will take place today at 19:30. It is the best way to celebrate the amazing time we all have spent here at the beautiful Tabor airport.”

AND here is David from the USA with another long but interesting story and his view on these comps.
“This morning I was sad, sad, sad that this amazing adventure was coming to an end. That sadness quickly turned into excitement as I was in the front of the grid and had a beautiful sky ahead of me.”
AND
“The amount that I was able to learn and the distance that I was able to fly was absolutely incredible. The learning curve was quite steep but I was able to cope rather well. The fact that this is a full team effort was the biggest shock to me.“
The full story on US Soaring Teams

Team UK via British Gliding Team
“A very close battle right to the end. Podiums for both Finn Sleigh and Toby Freeland! Gold and Silver respectively – Absolutely amazing! Well done to both!” I can only agree.

Whilst typing I was looking at and listening to the prize giving.
10 from each class were asked to come forward. 7 Of them for the certificate and 3 for the medals.
For the NEW WORLD CHAMPIONS there was the National anthem of the UK and Germany.
The winners also got a huge model of a glider!!!

The TEAM cup was won by Germany; GOLD.
Silver was for France.
On 3 the DUTCH team
ALL members of the team and their TC were cheered on.
These results are different to the ones on soaringspot , so I can’t give you the numbers.
Unfortunately the UK had no points on the last day [ damage and illness in St. class, Henry even had to be brought to hospital!!!!] so they were not on 1 anymore.
All the more CHAPEAU for Finn who flew ,when he really was n’t feeling too good. If you are on the gold position you don’t give up easily…… so VERY WELL DESERVED this “fight against all odds ” for gold!

The FAI flag was lowered on with their own FAI hymn and CD Tomas handed it over to Poland for he next JWGC.

Tabor will have the Europeans in ’23 and in ’24 the WGC as well , is what the president of the jury mentioned when he closed the 12TH JWGC!!!!!A splendid one!!!!
If those comps are AS GOOD as these, we can look forward to more great flying in a very pleasant atmosphere. Hopefully the weather is then as glorious as now.

Out of 13 days they had 10 valid soaring- days in both classes!!!!
Life-long-friendships have been made, experiences ,which a lot of young people their age will never have , created and for me as an elderly person, I can only say…… I enjoyed every minute.

Waiting for pictures on the prize giving and then ” full throttle” to the WWGC as priority, but also to the 18 m and 20 m Nationals at Lasham and the CIM in Rieti.

CLUB CLASS;

AND
An extra picture from team UK without Henry.

————————————————————————

11th FAI Womens World Gliding Championship

Husbands Bosworth, United Kingdom,
11 August 2022 – 27 August 2022

Today the ladies and their crews gathered together in a small town called Market Harborough.

Tomorrow on Sunday is the first flying day.

The VERY STRONG French team with as TC Eric Napoleon.

UK 18M & 20M Nationals Lasham 2022
Lasham, United Kingdom
13 August 2022 – 21 August 2022

Day 1 with task 1 is set and done .54 Pilots were ready for this high-levelled championship.
AND ,…it was a really good first day!
18 m; task 1.…375.38 km;
all 43 pilots in this class started and finished and Gary [Stingemore] was the best with a speed of 141.43 km./h! Gary flies an AS33es.
Just a tad slower was Derren [Francis] Ventus 3TS; 140.91 km./h!
20 Flew with a speed of over 130 km/.h.

20 m; task 1…. 359.09 km…..14 2-seaters participate, either a conversion of Duo Discus or ARCUS. With 127.42 km./h. Matthew Cook was the daily best in his ARCUS T , closely followed by Steve Jones in an ARCUS M. Interesting point. Steve flew the WGC recently together with Garry Coppin, they won bronze and they just “kicked” the Dutch team of the podium.[3 points]
Now he flies together in the ARCUS with call sign 66 , with Andy [Aveling] against Steve.
” It will be an interesting duel!” I heard.

You can follow them daily on;
https://www.lashamcomps.co.uk/tracking

———————————————————-

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

They have started already and have flown now for 3 days, so 3 tasks in a mixed class and in 18m/ open class.
The MIXED class had tasks as 2 .50 AAT and 3.10 and a racing task from 360.65 km. today.
21 fly in this class and team Alberto [Sironi] won day 1 in ARCUS T followed by team John Coutts in AS G 32MI. Speed 122.34 km./h. and 119.22 km./h.
I got to know John as a junior in Rieti in 2007. I even remember his dad was there then too. Time flies!!!
The next 2 days were won by Marius Pluščauskas from Lithuania in Ventus 2AX.
Task 2 with a speed of 134.90 km./h for 1000 points and today task 3 with 127.54 km./h.
In 3 days ONLY ONE out-landing.

In 18 m./open class task 1 was won by Alvaro in his ASH 31 MI;130.55 km../h….. have n’t see Alvaro for a long time, may- be during the last CIM I visited. Markus [Frank] in the EB was runner up ; Faster but handicap;132.92 km./h.
task 2 , a 3 hour AAT, was for Boris Zorz in the JS 3 followed by 2x a Ventus 3T from Thomas [Gostner] and Giorgio [Galetto] Alvaro was 4th. Speed 138, 136 and 135 km./h.
Task 3 a racing task from 361 km. was not too good for Giorgio. He was “out” after 248.80 km. and last on the list. A pity!!!!

Not yet found ONE picture of the standard class. Unbelievable. Will try tomorrow again as some heads might be clear then.

Had some problems with my laptop as well, overheated from working TOO hard.
Hence less pictures.
Hope to solve the problem tomorrow.
It was 35 dgr C here today. Still a heat wave in The Netherlands From Monday on, thunderstorms and cooler still 27!

For now sleep well.
Cheers Ritz

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

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

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

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

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

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

Well the last day of flying has started!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

————————————————————

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

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

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

More tomorrow.

——————————————————–

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

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

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

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

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

Normally it looks like this.

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

Cheers Ritz

THURSDAY AUGUST 11;

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

Teams had more than enough fun at the INTERNATIONAL evening.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All scores are preliminary.

——————————————————————

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

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

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

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

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

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

Whilst waiting I found some nice pictures for you.

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

———————————————————-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Over to today!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

—————————————————————-

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

Briefing on the 2d unofficial practice day
WWGC 2022

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

CU tomorrow!

Cheers Ritz

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

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

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

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

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

Our German mates helped with a picture

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE CCR in RIETI
2 August 2022 – 9 August 2022

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

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

—————————————————————–

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

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

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

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

The standard class winners from Lake Keepit;

Club class winners from Lake Keepit;

———————————————————————————————————–

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

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

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

Cheers Ritz