A new day,.. a new week…..new tasks and new challenges..no stress…just relax[ed] !!!!

There are 5 days to go. The last day is on Friday. In the evening at 8 , the farewell party starts and on Saturday at 10 the prize giving ceremony.
So hopefully 5 full days of good soaring by all juniors.
GOOD LUCK THIS WEEK!!!!!
David from the USA writes nice reports as often as he can. The one from yesterday started with :
“My three goals for this whole entire contest are to make it home every day, get hit with no big penalties and to not have any major f*** ups. Today I almost failed at all three of these goals.”
You can read the full story of this August 7 pilots report on US Soaring Teams

Team UK is ready for a new day.

Matej’s morning news;
“Today we woke up to a cold morning which will turn into a pleasant competition day. The direction of the tasks will today lead the pilots to the west according to the weather forecast. Few cumulus clouds can be expected. Pilots will fly over 300 km, which is appropriate training for the longer tasks, which are planned for tomorrow. The weather will probably stay suitable for the competition the whole week, so stay tuned for challenging but exciting races.“

During briefing , this morning, the daily winners got their prizes. Yesterday that was in Club class Jelmer from The Netherlands. In Standard Simon Briel from Germany.

August 8; day 9….competition day 7 ….task 8;

Launching started at 11 sharp. A blue day BUT, as before, they can see cu’s as well. Another day with huge differences in start time.

Club; 303.56 km.…gate opened at 12.08. For a moment I thought Tereza [ASW 20] from Czech Rep would win the day, but not everybody was scored , had an early start and….. she moved down on the list ,to nice shared spot 6!!!
And then BAM,….at one moment the 2 UK boys Finn and Toby topped the list. Start at 13.28, so another late start. Their speed was 109. 78 km./h and 107.34, as Finn’s final glide was faster .
4 ASW 20’s in the top today and the UK boys added a few more points to their total. Still 1 and 2 [ 5.280 p and 5.132 p] at this stage with French Alexandre on 3 [5.085] ! He was 6th today.
But Nils, Lars and Miles are on their heels!!!!
Start times between 12.23 and 13.28 !!!

standard; 310.37 km....gate opened at 12.39.
Here 2 German boys on the daily top list. Jan and Simon, flying together with a speed of 116.29 km./h. and 115. 83 km./h. after a late start.
Dutch pilot Maurits was indeed resilient and flew to a nice 3d spot ;115.26 km./h. Here 6 LS 8′ s in the top except for Simons Discus.
Start times between 12.44 and 13.27.
Simons overall lead is a bit stronger again, [5.258 p] Czech pilot Lukas follows [5.141 p ]

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THE CCR in Rieti

Tomorrow is the last competition day in Rieti from the CCR [Coppa City di Rieti] with 49 participants in 4 classes. The CIM also in Rieti , will be flown end of this week, from August 11 till August 20 with 35 participants.
I have visited the CIM several times, so I will check for you during the WWGC, also the CIM in Rieti.
With one day to go at the CCR, they had a small task today , only in open class, as thunderstorms were predicted over Italy today .
Till now they had 5 days.

UK Peter Harvey and Chris Dawes are flying the ARCUS M in open class and are doing well .So is Max Seiss [France] in his JS 1c.21m.. It ‘s between them who will win. THOUGH, the Austrians , frequent flyers in Rieti , Reinhard Haggenmoeller and Heimo Demmerer are not far behind .
but it feels a bit like the Max and Pete/Chris show.
A flash-back about the week;
Max won the first day and the UK ARCUS still had to get used to the area and circumstances; A 14th spot [from 24] was the result . Though I know Pete has flown there before.
The 400 km task 2, the day after was won by the UK boy’s and Max was runner up.

Task 3 ,453 km was won by Max , but cancelled on the end of the day. Max had a speed of 156.77 km./h. but only 9 from 24 finished.
Day 4 was again for Max; 484 km with a speed of 143 km./h. Heimo was runner up and Pete and Chris 3d.
Day 5 with a 2.30 AAT showed Max with 344 km. in time 2.37; speed 131 km./h. 10 km. faster then Pete and Chris.
Today task 6; 1.30 AAT….other classes do not fly….so they might try to have 5 tasks for each class. All pilots started before 1 PM and it was a tough day!
When a lot are back between 2PM and 2.30 and some are not scored at 4 PM , you start to worry if they still can finish. More low finish altitudes as well……mmmm……
Alvaro and Pete and Chris were not yet scored at 4.30, so were 6 other pilots. 2 Of them might not have started.
At 5.30 no more scores either though they might by out or virtual out.
A 1.30 AAT is not much but such a day can “make or break “you.
Austrian pilot Bernard Leitner,[ 18 m. Ventus 2CXM] combined his distance and speed best; 223 km in time 1.35 so a speed of 139.75 km./h .
Max had 145 km in time in 1.38 so a speed of 145 km./h, BUT also for his JS 1c the highest handicap; 124., so spot 4 for him.

In the mixed class with 16 pilots, the overall leader at this stage [after 5 days] is Polish pilot Przemysław Bartczak in a 15 m. ASG 29 e. He leads with a good marge ;4.559 p. Runner up Sandro Etalle from Italy has 4.104 p and Luca Urbani 4. 006 p.

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

The CCR in Rieti shows no- new -news, so tomorrow is another day.

The last words to close the day are for Matej;
“Another day and another successful competition. Even though the weather forecast was not the best the pilots managed to fly almost 110 kph in club class. Today, the UK team has cemented their first position in club class with Finn Sleigh taking the first place and Toby Freeland coming in second. In the standard class, another victory went to Germany and today’s winner Jan Knischewski managed to fly over 116 kph. The weather for tomorrow is looking good and we expect to have another 1000-point racing day.“

Have a good evening and CU tomorrow.
Ritz

12th FAI Junior World Gliding Championships
Tábor, Czech Republic,
30 July 2022 – 13 August 2022

After a rest -day and a rain- day the juniors had to “work” again as tasks were pretty good and they are of course EAGER to go again. Back on track!!!
RAIN,…..No worries for the young ones , NOT EVEN with mud and rain:

Matej [son from Tomas the CD] wrote in the morning;
“After two free days, in which pilots could rest and regain some energy for the next week of the competition, the weather will be good enough today for another competition task. A clear blue sky with occasional cumulus clouds is expected today. The weather will not stay flyable very long, therefore the pilots will have to fly fast, but that should be their goal every day. Some of them might use skills they gained yesterday when they had the opportunity to fly the Czech classic L-13 Blaník.”
So things to keep in mind , a pretty short day but good enough to go fast.

August 7…day 8…competition day 6…task 7.
First launch confirmed for 11. During briefing they got the weather, the tasks and some memories on using the PEV correctly [ wait time 5 minutes. start window 8 minutes and you can do it 3x]
The safety message was clear:
LOOK OUT, LOOK OUT, LOOK OUT.
STAY HYDRATED
STAY ALERT AFTER 2 FREE DAYS
FLY SAFE.
Tonight there will be a presentation about the next JEGC in Arnborg in Denmark in 2023.
Cloud base today is about 1700 m.

Club; 275 km…..start gate open at 12. 08….The early starters at 12.23 were back just after 3 hours of flying; speed 90 km./h.
Some of the later starters were faster and flew with over 100 km./h .
One of them ASW 20 pilot [handicap 1.059] flying the distance in 2 hours 43 minutes; Milan was in the end runner up. With his mate Samual , [ASW 20 cj] they were the only 2 pilots flying over 100 km./h.
A few started more than an hour after the gate opened.
For some a blessing, for a few other pilots not so much.
You remember,….The forecast was for an early end of lift.
It took French pilot Alexandre [he won task 2] ,who started early at 13.07, 3 hours and 7 minutes, so 88 km./h
Our Dutch pilot started at 13.37 and Jelmer was in his LS 4a ,[handicap 1.025] back after 2 hours and 47 minutes; 98.87, in the end the winning speed .
A risk, or a calculated risk or just after looking at the meteo and thinking with courage…. “I can do it” ….what ever it helped.I will try to find out for you.
His mate Lars was 3d today but he started a bit earlier, just after 1PM.
The 2 German pilots Toni and Nils in LS 4a, were 4th and 5th.

Standard; 285 km….start gate opened at 12.37.
Just before 4PM the first pilots returned and finished.
Also in this class late starters , as p.e. German pilot Simon, in Discus 2a, who departed at 13.46!!! He needed 2 hours and 26 minutes, so was VERY fast. Speed 117 km./h !!!!
That was in the end 10 km./h. faster than the runner up; French pilot Enguerrand….107.95 km.
Simon moved from 3 to 1 overall.
The last to go on track left at 13.52 .
Interesting to see;
Belgian pilot Henri, LS 8, departed at 12.52.59 and finished at 15.54.06.
Aussie pilot Ryan , LS 8, left an hour later, was back an hour later [16.54] and they were on a daily spot 22 and 23.
“Poor” Maurits he was out after 140 km…….and was a proud pilot on spot 1 overall , before the rest -day……now on spot 13.
I feel his pain!!!! But he is resilient, so is the team.

Words from Matej to finish this day:
“The majority of gliders are currently back on the ground, with a few of them still racing to the finish line. Today was not easy. The weather did not spare anyone, which significantly shuffled the total results of the competition and the overall leaders in both club and standard class have fallen from their podium positions. As predicted in the morning, the day started with about 4 octas of very thin cumulus clouds that quickly began to dissipate and completely disappear later in the afternoon due to the high clouds arriving. The winner in club class today is Jelmer Vis from the Netherlands and in standard class, the winner today is Simon Briel from Germany who has now moved to the overall first position. In club class, the UK team is now in the overall lead thanks to a very consistent performance from Finn Sleigh and Toby Freeland. We have an engaging race ahead of us because the pilots are true professionals and all of them fight very hard for the title of junior world champion.”

2 pilots are not counted for yet. I will add them later .
AND,…they have been scored now. One

Jakub from Poland in club was out after 66 km and one from Standard after 88 km.
But GLAD they are both counted for now.
A real off- day for Team Holland in standard class. Mark was after Maurits, also out ; 85 km.
They started about the same time as the winner, so that was good. …..
Life can be tough!!!! A daily winner and number 3 in club and 2 disappointed pilots in standard.

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A FEW LOOKING BACK’S on Szeged.
Looking back on the WGC with Jeroen Verkuijl, who was on spot 4 in 18 m., a place you do not really “like” . GREAT SPOT THOUGH!!!!!!
“What an amazing weeks.
4th. No podium, but nevertheless proud of my results in the Royal 18 meter Class world championship. So many champions, some not even making it to the first ten.
I’m not a fan of the heat, but you need it for that ridiculous good weather we had. Flying above 2 kilometres most of the time, luckily temperatures were more comfortable.
But the weather wasn’t the only thing that made it a success. Good atmosphere within the team and a VERY well organised championship are main factors. But there is more. The field is very close to the city of Szeged, witch has a lot to offer. That made it so much more fun for the family. The water organ in front of the museum and the Aquapolis, with all its amazing slides, were favorite for the kids. A treat, you don’t often have in the vicinity of an airfield.”

Looking back with Jonker Sailplanes;
“Open Class was dominated by the EB29Rs with Felipe Levin and Oscar Gaudriaan taking gold and silver. Radek Krejcirik secured bronze medal in a JS1C showing how competitive these machines still are. The Krejcirik family really made gliding history with dad Peter Krejcirik taking gold medal in 20m Class.
But it was not all about gliding. JS once again provided technical support and assistance wherever needed. As a result, many new friends were made and Attie and Uys were awarded the Airmanship Trophy for FAIR PLAY.
The South African Team with captain Jason Adrian made history by finishing second overall – the best ever performance to date!
Thanks again to the organization and all pilots and crews who made this such a special event.
Hope to see you all again at the next WGC.”
And also from Jonker Sailplanes;
“The 37th WGC is done and dusted!
Yes, a lot of dust but the most amazing gliding conditions any pilot can dream off. 2500 m cloud base with 3 to 6 m/s climbs – gliding heaven.
Hats off to the team of volunteers let by competition director Andras Gyöngyösi who did a marvelous job. Most pilots regard this World Gliding Championship as the best they ever participated in.
It was exactly 12 years ago when JS entered the WGC in Szeged with 6 JS1 – four of them finished in the top ten.
2022 almost 2/3 of all gliders in 18m Class were JS gliders with 7 JS3s in the top ten at the end.
It seems that most of the top 18m pilots selected the JS3 and clearly, they understand how to operate these machines! An astonishing 12 JS3 were in the top 15 including the first 6 positions.“
They are definitely allowed “to show off”!

Looking back with Mélanie Gadoulet , soon on her way soon to defend her title in the WWGC in Husbands Bosworth.
She was very grateful to the French team to allow her to fly in 18 m. with them and with the other French pilots who welcomed her warmly between them.
It was a great competition and she finished on sport 14. She hoped and thought a place in the top 10 would/could have been possible too. She is as everybody else very enthusiast about the weather, the long and good set tasks and the perfect organization.
Very well trained now, better than ever before ,she starts next week the WWGC.
Good luck to her in the UK.

Looking back with Arne Boye Moeller:
“What a World Championship! Proud of my 8th place in the company of such skilled pilots and friends, family, team mates and with my super Crew Chief Allan Frank Madsen without whom all had been very difficult. The Hungarians made a fantastic setup that just ran like clockwork. Ground organization, weather forecast, tasksetting, scorers and tugpilots were unnervingly correct every day. That the weather was extremely good every day was a huge bonus factor in the overall experience and fairness. We flew some 4.800+ km in total in the course of 10 competition days at speeds typically well above 135 kph every day in ground temperatures well above 37 deg. Now awaits a 1.700km ride with trailer and then serious cleaning of my glider, trailer and equipment….”

Looking back with Oscar Goudriaan;
“Although gliding is not traditionally considered a team sport, it certainly takes a team behind the scenes to achieve results. Thanks to my co-pilot Riaan Denner for his sharp eyes, technical ability and ever-sharp input. Also our team on the ground – in our case Dave Robbie, Jackie Denner and Charlene Goudriaan back home for all the positive thoughts and encouragement.
South Africa’s pilots achieved a silver medal in the combined team cup due to our consistent high average performance, and with the support of our ground crew and team captain, getting the latest weather and other relevant tactical information before flying.
For a nation with so few gliding resources and pilots, we are punching well above our weight.”

Looking back with the Belgium team with former WGC champion Bert Schmelzer jr.
“Szeged, you have been wonderful!
Our Belgian pilots enjoyed a last bombastic flying day yesterday, in partly blue conditions up to 2800metres, before we could all enjoy a very well organized farewell dinner and party.
Good food, cold drinks and many nice conversations made it into a very enjoyable evening.
At 10AM today, the closing ceremony and the prize giving took place. In open class, Daan and Koen (8th place!!) and in the 18m class, Bert Schmelzer (10th place!!) received their diploma’s for being amongst the worlds top 10 pilots in their respective classes. Tijl never gave up his fighting spirit and managed to get back to place 27 in this strong pool of pilots.
Even if we didn’t manage to have a spot on the podium, we all concluded that the 37th wgc was a fantastic competition with good team spirit, lots of laughter and nice memories made.
Hungary, we will be back to enjoy more of your South African weather and thermals (and worlds best home-made lemonade ).
Over – and – out !“

Still one important item: The IGC/FAI flag was handed over by president of the jury in Szeged ,Marina Galetto, to John Good, as the next WGC for long wings will be in 2024 in Uvalde in Texas, where I was twice in 1991 and 2012.

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO SHARED THEIR NEWS ABOUT THIS WGC.
I was able to write with your help some good read stories.

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I promised you the picture from the winners in LIVNO. Here it is.

The next one is in France in Vinon sur Verdon. September 4 – September 10 and the last change IN Europe to qualify for the grand final.

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And, we had PERFECT weather here in The Netherlands too . Yesterday 2 of our “just not juniors”
anymore, but still very young flew amazing flights FROM HOLLAND!!!!!

What about a nearly 1000 in an ASW 20?
Caspar, one of the well known Dutch Kuijpers family ,…his brother Tim was JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPION in 2011 in Musbach in club class…. just did n’t make a 1000 triangle, but what great effort; 954 km [813 km FAI triangle]in ASW 20 JWL, from Malden.
Same great performance, now in an LS7 with winglets from Wenzendorf in Germany; 907 km [795 FAI triangle]
Lars [Groot] declared a 900 km. out and return to Luesse close to Berlin,. He started at Terlet and flew it yesterday with a speed of 112 km./h. To make the day even more brilliant, he added a few k’s to achieve his 1000 !!!!
The O&R seems good enough for 2 Dutch records in 18 m and open!!
“The best weather I flew in from Holland“[ASG 29E/18 m] He started at Terlet.
TOP JOB!!!!
https://www.onlinecontest.org/olc-3.0/gliding/flightinfo.html?dsId=9114560

Another out and return to Luesse was flown by Francois and Bas. This was the first 1000 k for Bas in 42 years. A MILESTONE and so deserved; 1.017 km in the ARCUS T.
His comment;
“What a day. Claimed the club’s Arcus 20T, took a winch launch and went. The first part of the flight wasn’t easy but it became better every hour. My first 1000 km flight from my own club and the first of the Arcus 20T. I hope many will follow.“
AND, the first 1000 for Frank [ a former JWGC pilot] flying in the EB 28 with Bart also to Berlin/Luesse;
“What a legendary day. My first 1000 km distance. I have seen rarely such strong and reliable lift in Germany. And,…so late in the season. Awesome”
We had 6 over 1000 km. flights from HOLLAND.
One in an LS 3 from Soesterberg!!!!1.014.45 km. and 5 from Terlet.
2 in a NIMBUS 4 DM, 1 in ARCUS T , 1 in EB 28, and the one in the LS 3 and ASG 29.
“WE” were high on the OLC list…… reason to “show off ” a bit!!!!
Several pilots called it THE BEST DAY EVER!!!!!

Also the UK is in heavenly modus:
“What a weekend so far!!
Congratulations to the numerous Bronze, Silver, Gold and Diamond Claims from pilots so far from what has been a truly spectacular 48 hours of Gliding.
Special Mentions to
Nigel Mallender- First 750km in a LS8 15
Chris Bennett- First 750km in a DG400
Tim Robson- First 750km in a Duo Discus
Malgosia Marczynski- First 750km in a Discus 2cT
Dave Tanner and Dave Masson- 950km (OLC) in a Nimbus 3DT
Andy Aveling and Jordan Bridge- 1001km (OLC) in an Arcus M
Martin Clark- 950km Declared in a JS1
About Andy and Jordan and their flight last Friday ;
“850 kilometres Declared.
1000 kilometres Completed OLC.
10 hours 30 minutes airborne in one flight.
From the Welsh Borders to the flatlands of Nottinghamshire and the Isle of Wight. Still soaring at 8pm at 5000ft!
Gliding in the UK simply doesn’t get better than this.
Being able to fly distances of 750km and over isn’t common in the UK. That’s equivalent to the distance of flying London to Geneva in Switzerland in a straight line. All without an engine!“
As shared by the Lasham Gliding Society, as enthusiast as I am!!!

AND today the weather looks as good. IF YES , I will mention it tomorrow!

Due to my long stay in this soaring world [from 1967] I know more people from the WGC’s I have been visiting than the JWGC’s , so there are many contacts and lot’s of ways to find out, when I am not there, to see what’s going on.
That’s more difficult with the juniors.
Still I have been at the first one at Terlet in The Netherlands in 1999, as guest.
In 2005 in Husbos as TC from 6 Dutch young ones. One of them is now in Tabor . Robbie Seton. His wife is the TC from “our” team.
In 2007 in Rieti, as competition editor .
In 2009 in Rayskala as competition editor. There I congratulated Felipe Levin with his title in standard class, now he is the new WGC champion in Szeged.
In 2015 in Narromine [Australia] as guest.
BUT,….as you know, in the year they turn 25 they are not a junior anymore, so the wastage is huge.
It’s easier to write about people and pilots you know, contacting them is easy.
But I really like how the young ones deal with comps, open minded, sometimes a bit “wild” /over-enthusiast and eager. Their friendships during such a WGC last long,!
So I try to do my best to find and write enough interesting “stuff” about this last JWGC week.

The British Gliding Team is helping already.
“JWGC Czech – The internet situation seems to have improved so we’ve been able to upload all the summary videos from the past week onto our youtube channel!
Follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/c/BritishGlidingTeam/videos
And don’t forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell to be notified of any new uploads – we have lots of new content coming your way”

More tomorrow

Cheers Ritz

Yes, on the last flying-day the podium turned a bit “orange” with 2 daily prizes for the Netherlands.
Joost and Erik [speed 136.7 km./h] won in 20 m and Bas [150.30 km./h] was runner up in open class. Good on them!!
I still have to get used to the idea to “loose with 3 points”, but in the past I have seen pilots loose with ONE point.

More happy daily winners;

At 10 this morning the prize giving started.
A good mix of international and European toppers, with Italy and Czech Rep each with 2 gliding heroes, France ,the UK, Poland and Germany with one, and South Africa, as non-European country.
I could see part of it on a stream, and sitting at home you still feel part of this WGC.
Eric Napoleon heard the National hymn as TC for winning the team cup.
South Africa was runner up and shared a picture of the beautiful prize,

THE HEROES OF THIS 3th WGC.

18 m WORLD CHAMPION , runner up and 3d prize winner

OPEN CLASS

the 20 m podium

The closing ceremony, I heard, was as good organized as the rest of the days; good food, nice drinks and great company at the farewell dinner and party. All in all a VERY SUCCESFUL WGC, without accidents!!!
CONGRATULATIONS SZEGED!!!! For a long time we all will talk about this 37th WGC.

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12th FAI JUNIOR WORLD GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIP
Tábor, Czech Republic
30 July 2022 – 13 August 2022

No early message from Matej, but an early tweet ;
“Good morning,
6/8 – Competition Day 6
Briefing in main hangar: 11:00
No access to the gliders by car before briefing.
Do NOT drive on grass! Use access road behind hangar and park cars at the parking lot by the access road.“

That “sounds” like it rained! And it did even a thunderstorm with 30 mm of rain.
But there is hope for a “window’ in the afternoon.
Matej’s morning news confirmed that.
“After a well-needed and well-deserved rest day, the weather seems to be playing games with us and due to yesterday’s heavy rainfall and more possible showers today, it is still unclear if pilots will fly today. The airfield is soaking wet but there is still some hope, that the aeroplanes could launch later today. Fingers crossed!”

Briefing at 11 with the daily prizes for the UK winners Toby and Finn from Thursday.

At 1 PM there would be more news.
That news was NOT good.
NO FLYING, the window is not big enough, the field TOO wet!
More tomorrow!

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SAILPLANE GRAND PRIX 2022
Livno Brda Bosni, Bosnia & Herzegovina,
0 July 2022 – 6 August 2022

Last day with a race from 329.81 km.
“This is the last day of the Qualifying SGP in Livno and all pilots are getting ready for a nice 300km air race!
Sky is clear and we can expect great race again in the sky with the 4 top pilots Stefan Langer (Germany), Gintas Zube (Lithuania), Christoph Limpert (Germany) and Matthias Sturm (Germany) all in the points to be crowned tonight and get their ticket for the Final next year in Pavullo, Italy!’ by the organizers.
https://www.crosscountry.aero/c/sgp/results/63

So it’s all about a fast last flight and the points belonging to that flight.
At this stage it’s VERY close.
Stefan has 30 points , Gintas 29, and Christoph and Matthias 24!!!
The 3 REALLY held a TOP RACE on this last day, to “amuse” us all. SO CLOSE!!!!!

Regatta start …”latish” …at 13.30. I had time to follow the race on WEGLIDE.
Matthias flew around with a speed of 161 km./h after 301 km!!!
Height 1.559 MSL.
BUT,………Gintas finished first with 162.4 km./h. and Matthias with 162.3 km./h .
AND,….. On the last day the winner gets an extra point.
Stefan who leaded with ONE point, had a speed of 162.1 km/h.
The difference in time is NOTHING, in points HUGE. 9 for the winner and 6 and 5 for number 2 and 3.
A fast race as ALL 7 flew over 150 km./h.

So Gintas wins this FAI SGP and will fly next year in the WORLD final in Pavullo in Italie.
1. Gintas Zube from Lithuania in ASG 29e with 38 points
2. Stefan Langer from Germany in ASG 29 with 35 points
3. Matthias Sturm from Germany in JS 3 with 30 points.
Scores still preliminary .

When the scores are official and when there will be pictures later of the prize giving, I will be back.
For now, I am having a little rest.
Cu later or tomorrow.
Cheers Ritz

37th FAI WORLD GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIP
Szeged, Hungary
24 July 2022 – 5 August 2022

AUGUST 5….FINAL DAY!!!!!
…….Now we still talk about Uvalde 1991, I guess in 40 years they still talk about Szeged in 2022.…….

Grid time 10.30….18m upfront…20 m……open …….briefing at 10, start launches at 11.30 with tasks long enough to decide the winners…not TOO much time to play start games and for some who dare, to wait , start as last and pass them all!!! But that does n’t always work….it can be a risk.
[it did today!!!!!!]
But when you have nothing to loose????

A few changes on the last day of flying??!!!
The scores are not yet official as “there might be penalties for dangerous flying” [have n’t seen anything yet] AND the PEV will be changed. Not everybody likes PEV and there were already several who forget to put it on and got 50 penalty points.
TODAY it is; 10 minutes waiting time, just a 5 minutes window to start in.
A strategic chance and such a change on the last day might cost somebody 50 points he/she needed so badly.

Looking back on yesterday with John, who is there as TC for the USA;
“It’s high time for me to note the excellent job the contest staff has done here. It’s often said that great weather can make up for many shortcomings in a glider contest’s organization and procedures. Here, it has found essentially none to make up for. Competition Director András Gyöngyösi gets a huge share of the credit, with just the right mix of authority, firmness and willingness to listen and adjust when it makes sense – also for pilot briefings that start on time, convey useful information efficiently, and end promptly. Task setter István Rumpler has got it almost exactly right every day, fitting three (usually long) tasks into Hungary’s somewhat restricted glider airspace – which could not have happened without good contest weather forecasting. The tow operation has been consistently first-rate. There really have been no weaknesses. Kudos to the entire staff of WGC2022.” more on US Soaring Teams

You might have missed the THE BROQUEVILLES in the scoring yesterday in 20 m. class . “Due to unforeseen circumstances the team had to go home. ” Hope it is not because of fires close to their chateau.
And,…my Aussie mates Allan and Harry entered Kecskemét MTMA3B and that IS NOT GOOD. It’s about 65 km. from the field ,so only 49 points for them.
AND,.…the day yesterday was less blue then expected. Great clouds popped up and high speed was gained.

Winners yesterday in 20 m class

August 5; task 11…… day 13…competition day 10…..FINAL DAY!!!!!
Hot 36 dgr. C or more even up to 40 …..base between 2600 and locally up to 2700 / 2800 ,…but NO CLOUDS ,a blue day!!!! Though…..?????

Looking at the tracking system, they go fast and fly high….2700 m. . Top ingredients for a beautiful day. AND, there seem to be a few cu’s in the WEST. They did not dry out straightaway. They even appeared over the field around 2.30….1/8.
“So much for blue skies! Some small Cu’s popping !Up to 38’C on the ground.” South African Gliding Team

It is a long wait……you just want TO KNOW!!!!!

Nearly 5 PM now , so it should nearly happen.

GOOD LUCK to ALL,…may the best win!!!!

18m; 498.10….Start gate open at 12.37…. 2 longish legs after TP 1 and 2, with 120 and 123 km.
The early starters as Rasmus [12.42 ] and Mac [12.52] arrived at 16.22 and 16.36 and were the first to appear on the score board with a speed of 135.47 km./h and 133.16 km./h .
139. 45 km./h for Wolfgang…..[start at 12.52] that sounds better, but???Still only 6 from 42 scored. And Marek [139.68] is just a tad faster than Wolfgang.
144 km/.h for Attie and Uys!!!! BAM,….. DAILY WINNERS !!! Jeroen had 142.44 km./h.
Christophe had 141.58 km./h That should keep him on top overall
Still waiting for Ricardo and Davide to finish and 12 other pilots [5.20 PM] !!!!!!
Starting late was the key for today. …..the top 4 started at 13.34!!!!!
And yes Ricardo was 3d for the day; 143.41 km./h

20 m; 462.26 km...start gate open at 12.50…After TP 2 they have a 140 km. long leg passing Szeged. The crews at the ground should be able to see them. That’s always great fun!!!
There was 1 finisher just after 5 PM at the score board.
Last starter and best speed for the day: team Erik and Joost from The Netherlands ;136.07 km./h. OH no, they miss out on 3 points to be on the podium. But still great effort and daily winners!!
Stefano/Frederico was runner up; 135.44 km./h

open; 526.66 km...start gate open at 13.06….In the end, after the 3d TP, they have one long leg from 170 km. [062 gr] and then 62.8 km. to race home.
OH,….Felipe flies around with 145.35 km./h and Lucasz with 153.73 km.h. Big difference!!!
Daily winner clearly Lucasz , BUT with a great runner up spot for “our” Bas;150.30 km./h .
Oscar had a great race [and came even close to a spot 1 overall; missing out on 72 points ]
And what about Radek??? 7th for today speed 145.69 km./h. ENOUGH!!!!!
He is 3d overall and his dad 1 in 20 m. TOP. Congratulations to the Krejcirik’s.

WORLD CHAMPION and winners in 18 meter class ;
1. Christophe Abadie [France] in JS 3 with 8,957 points.
2. Riccardo Brigliadori [Italy] in JS 3 with 8,865 p.
3. Davide Schiavotto[Italy] in JS 3 with 8,843 p
On 4 Jeroen Verkuijl [Netherlands] with 8.784 p.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!! Great effort!!!!

WORLD CHAMPION and winners in 20 m class;
1. Ivan Novak / Petr Krejcirik[Czech Rep] in Arcus M with 8,898 points
2. Jakub Barszcz / Lukasz Kornacki [Poland] in HpH 304 TS Twin Shark with 8,783 p.
3. Steve Jones / Garry Coppin [UK] in ARCUS T with 8,666 p.
And on 4 Erik and Joost[The Netherlands] with 8.633 p.

WORLD CHAMPION and winners in open class;
1. Felipe Levin [Germany] in EB 29 R with 9,088 points.
2. Oscar Goudriaan [Z.A] in EB 29 DR with 9,016 p.
3. Radek Krejcirik ]Czech Rep] in JS 1c/21 m with 8,646 p
On 4 Sylvain [France] 8,626 p and on 5 Andy [UK] with 8.600 p.
A real fight for the best spots, between 1 and 2 and 3, 4 and 5.TOP JOB!!!!
Still preliminary .

TEAM CUP;
1. France…912.38 points
2. South Africa…902.85
3. Italy …898.32
4. The Netherlands ….893.18
5. Germany …886.04

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12th FAI Junior World Gliding Championships
Tábor, Czech Republic
30 July 2022 – 13 August 202

Matej’s morning news;
“Yesterday’s successful competition day was ended by a Czech evening organized by Aeroclub Tabor. Just after 7 pm, the competitors could admire the skills of the former Red Bull Air Race pilot Martin Šonka during his airshow and low passes. The evening continued with a buffet dinner and a musical performance by Tábor Superstar Band.
Today will be an official rest day so competitors can use the tropical temperature to relax somewhere by the water and regenerate before further competition flying. The forecast for Saturday is mixed, but we expect good gliding weather again from Sunday.”

So no worries about tasks and strategies to day. I guess a good long sleep will have them all on their legs again for the weekend.

Quite a few travel to AQUALAND, the biggest water park in Central Europe.
“ it houses 3 palaces namely the Palace of Relaxation, waves and adventure along with a sauna and a spa in its wellness center. The water park is famous for its longest water slide in the Czech Republic. Other rides to look out for are the wave pool, Wildwater river and a space bowl.”
For sure they will have fun there and relax!

More tomorrow.

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FAI Sailplane Grand Prix Bosnia & Herzegovina 2022 – Livno
Livno Brda Bosni, Bosnia & Herzegovina,
30 July 2022 – 6 August 2022

Race 6….400. 25 km….
Another day in Livno , the penultimate day, with race 7 tomorrow to go!
regatta start at 12.50.
Quite big distances for SGP’s. But when the weather is so good, you have too.
It’s getting more and more exciting!!!!

At 2.30 PM the message; “245km at 170.4 km/h !!! Livno mini Namibia. Flight still ongoing.“….
The first pilots arriving back “home” were from Germany.
Stefan with 147 .3 km./h. for 8 points!!! Christoph with 141.5 km./h for 6 and Matthias with 135.6 km./h. but in the end that was only good enough for spot 5 and 3 points.
Jože Verdev flew in his JS 1 around with 139.9 km./h
Gintas flew around with 134 km./h and that was only enough for spot 7 …..1 point.

So tomorrow will be very exciting /nail-biting with Stefan now with 30 points , Gintas with 29 and Christoph and Matthias both with 24.
I will keep you informed.

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That was Szeged. I really enjoyed it. Now we still talk about Uvalde 1991, I guess in 40 years they still talk about Szeged in 2022.
Tomorrow hopefully some pictures with the top 3 from each class. ALSO with their photo gallery the organizers do a great job!!!!

Prize giving at 10AM tomorrow. Party time tonight and I am going to have a real nice glass of bubbles to relax.

I will continue with the juniors in Tabor and SGP in Livno and then wait for the WWGC again in Husbands Bosworth ….HUSBOS..

Well, there are SO MANY people checking in on soaringspot that it does n’t work here any more. I will look later if things have changed. I guess and hope I have it all CORRECT.

Hope you enjoyed the daily reports.
cheers Ritz

37th FAI WORLD GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIP
Szeged, Hungary
24 July 2022 – 5 August 2022

Only today and tomorrow you can read this news on the scoring site;
” Dear Competitors,
Grid on RWY34 from 08:30;
Grid time: 10:00;
Grid order: 18m — Open — 20m;
Confirmation of launch time/delay: 10:40 on FRQ122.810Mhz.
First Launch not before 11:00.
Task briefing at 10:00 in the Briefing Hangar“

More and more I hear or read;
“Another day in paradise” a huge compliment for the Hungarian organizers, though the weather is “a gift”.

John’s view yesterday was on the tuggies and so well deserved. Where would we be without them.
This is what flies around, tows and makes some good gliding-field noise;
“I’m remiss in not having mentioned WGC2022 towplanes. We have a mixed fleet that (if I have it right) includes two Robins (French low-wing tricycle gear design), three Pawnees, a Cessna 182, two Zlín Z–37 Čmeláks (Czech radial-engined ag plane; Čmelák = “bumblebee”) and one turbine Čmelák (690-hp turboprop, with winglets). This last one is easily the most notable – it’s said to represent one pilot flying 2.5 normal towplanes. In an Arcus at max allowed weight (800 kg) Karl reports that climb rates routinely exceed 1000 fpm. Apparently this is not at full power – because the climb angle that would involve is beyond anything that normal glider pilots have ever seen or could be expected to deal with. And it has “beta” for its propeller, which allows alarmingly steep descents and short ground rolls after landing.

This fleet manages to get 82 gliders in the air in about and hour and 10 minutes (to be fair, assisted by some glider pilots that choose to self-launch). It’s one of many aspects of this contest whose smooth operation we’ve come to take for granted.”
More on US Soaring Teams

“Our” Jeroen won 18 m. yesterday. He flew many WGC’s but never won a day. That’s over now!!!! Of course as a Dutchie , I am very proud on him.

AND
This is the overall number 1 at this stage

August 4; Day 12…..Task 10…competition day 8...2 days to go….
“Two days till the fat lady sings” according to team S.A and “the penultimate day ” according to our UK mates….much more sophisticated as my “one-but-last-day.”
Early in the morning cu’s popped up already. The forecast is for 2500m. in the beginning and later up to 3000 m. It’s hot again.
There was a security briefing too. It seems that quite a few pilots have complaint about the aggressive flying style of some other pilots. VERY important, ALWAYS important, but certainly on these last days as pilots are more tired.
Driving fast over the dry field with too high speed was a topic too. It happens EVERYWHERE, it should not happen ,it is so easy, keep the advised speed .
So indeed……KEEP IT SAFE AND CLEAN.
For 50 years I say; going to a competition is nice, good flying is nicer, but safely coming home again the nicest….

Prize-giving for the day before was on too. Here is 18 m. class;

Let’s look what happened on the last-but-one-day….18 m is upfront, then open and 20 m.
Lift was super with 5.8, to 6.2 and even 6.5. Speed around 160 km.
The S.A. team mentioned: “the pilots are screaming along at 160kph Average! Based on this, we expect them back just before 5pm! With even higher speeds!!”
The weather at 4

18 m; 654.94 km....start gate opens at 12.21…A lot started 20 minutes after the gate opened. So did Christophe . He flew for 4 hours and 13 minutes which means a speed of 154.95 km./h AND another number 1 spot, his 4th during this comps!!!!
Runners up for 2 and 3 were Michael Rass from Austria in AS 33es and Uys. With 5 pilots they flew with 154 km.h. also Wolfgang and Jeroen.
All 42 finished .LIKE….
Yes tomorrow: Christophe has 7,998 points. …Riccardo has 7,880 p and Davide 7,859 p.
Very close as well….Adrien with 7,822 and Jeroen with 7,816.
Tactics will be important! Tomorrow is THE DAY!!!!
And there is maybe also Wolfgang [7,788] or Uys. [ 7,784] or Arne [7,764]….
Let the best win.

20 m; 549.03 km....start gate opens at 12.54… They were the first to arrive back at the field and Joost and Erik, were fast; 3hours and 48 minutes is not bad!!!! Speed 144.71 km./h.. They left 7 minutes after the line opened and raced away. BUT it was not enough.
With 151.77 km./h the UK pilots Steve Jones / Garry Coppin raced to the finish. They were the last to start, and moved up to overall spot 3.
Nearly as fast and also a late starter , Italian team  Stefano Ghiorzo / Federico Mangano; 151 .13 km./h.
And on spot 3 our Czech friends Ivan Novak / Petr Krejcirik; 150.29 km./h.
What does that mean for the last day???
There are still 6 teams in the race. …I think.
1. Ivan Novak / Petr Krejcirik with 7,953 p.
2. Jakub Barszcz / Lukasz Kornacki with 7,840 p.
3. Steve Jones / Garry Coppin with 7,713 p
4. Aku Jaakkola / Juha Sorri with 7.665 p
5. Erik Borgmann / Joost Wolff with 7,663 p
6. Louis Bouderlique / Ulysse Merlin with 7,660 p.

Let’s wait and see!!!!

open; 661.24 km....start gate opens at 12.35…Today there was ONE point difference between Michael and Felipe ONE point; 1000 and 999. Their speed ; 157.10 and 157, 05.
Lucasz came close with 156.39 km./h.
Not such a good day for Radek on spot 12, he is still on 3 OVERALL, but with ONE point as Sylvain now has 7.750 p and Radek 77.51
How does it look?
Felipe and Oscar have more than 8000 points they are pretty “safe” BUT, then there is Radek and Sylvain to “fight” for spot 3 . Andy has 54 points less than Sylvain.
Think about it tonight!
I will do too.
Nerves???? maybe not both Felipe and Oscar are very experienced . Radek is the youngest, so sleep well Radek.

Around this time tomorrow WE KNOW!!!!

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12th FAI Junior World Gliding Championships
Tábor, Czech Republic
30 July 2022 – 13 August 202

Matej’s early morning news;
“We had another very successful day here in Tábor and both classes finally have 1000 points tasks. The podium positions were more diverse today. In the next two days, we expect very hot tropical days with temperatures soaring past 30°C and correspondingly blue thermals.”
Expected first launch: 12:00. Later confirmed at 12.15.

AND…..”We are happy to have another exciting flying day here in Tabor ahead of us today. However, today will be much different than the previous days. We expect a clear blue sky, no cumulus clouds and very hot weather. Hopefully, the pilots will have some spare energy after the challenging and exhausting week, because there will be a Czech evening today. We look forward to show our guests from all around the world some shreds of the Czech culture.”

9 more days to go.
Some pilots did it “tough” yesterday, during what they called the longest , hottest race yet.
“A difficult day, both in terms of tasks and due to a number of equipment failures (stay tuned tomorrow). Both teams stayed in the air for over 5 hours and fought well!” team UK, but in club, Finn was 3d and Toby 13th. In standard 10 and 11 for Henry and Thomas.
Others have never seen such weather ,so fast, so good with 6 kts. climbs, like in Namibia or Australia..

After the long flight’s from yesterday, the tasks for today are smaller. Blue skies, no clouds, is not liked by many, but still high ceilings.
That new system learned me that Jelmer [Vis] is on his way to TP 1 with 88 km./h height 1652m.
He started at 13.59.
AND,..at 4 he was leading the pact after turning the last TP with still 46 km. to go.
A Swedish pilot flies around with 102 km./h. He had a late start at 14.22 .
BUT then in an hour it’s ALL different!!!!

So looking at the point of arrivals;
club; 226.21 km..start gate open at 12.52…There were huge differences in start times. Some started at 1 PM , others at nearly 3 PM. AND,…that’s what the UK pilots did. Finn and Toby started at 14.53. AND,…they earned the 652 and 646 daily points for a speed of 106 km./h. .
In the end Jelmer was on spot 37.
2 were out, maybe 3 as one is not yet counted for or he did not fly.
All scores on www.soaringspot.com

friendships for life. David from USA[r] and Mark from Slovenia.
David was 11th today!!!!Mark 5t,both fly ASW 20. Good on them.
” are collaborating with some team prep and flying .” It seems to work.
as shared by US Soaring Teams

standard; 236.93 km....start gate open at 13.22…The French team-building-meeting in the bush helped. They were on spot 1 [Engeurrand] ,2 [Florian] and 3 [Kevin] today, with 116, 115 and 112 km./h.
Jan and Simon [Germany] followed on 4 and 5. Our Maurits was 7th BUT, he goes steady and leads after 5 days the overall scores! BUT ,…with only 4 points on Lukas Kriz from Czech rep. And then 100 points between Lukas and Simon [Briel]
Start times here closer; between14.32 and 14.57.

Have fun at the special Czech EVENING with the buffet at 7.30 , the music , there is a BAND from 8PM onward and with each other!!!!

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FAI Sailplane Grand Prix Bosnia & Herzegovina 2022 – Livno
Livno Brda Bosni, Bosnia & Herzegovina,
30 July 2022 – 6 August 2022

Race 5 is on today!!!! 402 km....
regatta start at 12.50.
With 144.9 km./h Stefan won the day…..so 8 points. Total now 22.
Matthias was runner up with 143.4 km./h for 6 points. His total now 21.
Gintas finished nearly 8 minutes later. His speed was 138.5 km./h. He has a total of 28 points and leads.

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In between also the CCR started in Italy for the Coppa Città di Rieti 2 August 2022 – 9 August 2022
They fly in 4 classes you can find their scores on www.soaringspot.
I always love the CCR and CIM in Rieti. So I had a quick look at open class with 24 participants, where after 2 days Max Seis leads in JS C/21 m. He won day 1 and was runner up on day 2.

Well,…you are up to date,…..time to do something different now.
CU tomorrow again for the exciting final in Szeged, what a great competition it is/was and my goodness me, were they lucky with the weather.
All scores are preliminary!!!!

Cheers Ritz

37th FAI WORLD GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIP
Szeged, Hungary
24 July 2022 – 5 August 2022

It’s Wednesday morning , normally the regular day of publishing this weekly-blog. Now I am not finishing the post, but wait for things to happen. Great fun!!!
3 more soaring- days including today.

In Szeged it is a day as usual. Briefing at 10 and estimated time of first launch not before 11 AM.
18 m. upfront, then 20 m and open as last today.

So time to look back on that long day yesterday. It’s pretty heavy on the body , certainly of those like Karl …in his eighties and Harry in his nineties, but then they fly ALL their lives and are used to the sun and long flights, indeed they are up to it!!!!

First I look back again of course with John;
“A big day today, with some of the longest tasks ever set at a World Gliding Competition. 18-Meter class had 756 km, Open 757, and 20-Meter (last to launch) 645. Speeds were typically excellent – as they would need to be for pilots to fly that far on solar energy. All but 3 pilots completed their task, yielding (by my quick calculation) a total scored distance of 59,841 km. That’s very close to one and a half times around the Earth, and slightly more than 15% of the distance to the moon.

Will such a day ever again be seen? Well, Hungary is enjoying a remarkable stretch of weather, and the forecast this evening says we might see another tomorrow. (In reality, I think not – even if the weather would support it: All pilots had 6+ hours in the cockpit today, some substantially more. Asking them to do the same tomorrow would be inviting problems.)”
More to be read on US Soaring Teams

Everybody was still enthusiastic about yesterday. Only superlatives….!!!
AND,… pilots are ready to go again. Most are well rested after a tiring day.

At briefing this morning at 10 AM, all winners were cheered on. AND WELL DESERVED!!!!!
These are the winners in open class from yesterday.

And these from 20 m.

And last but not least;18 m.

They do fly today and after today there are only 2 more days;
August 3 task 9....temperatures in the mid thirties.
Task postponed and confirmed to 11.15.
There were cu’s all around , but not yet over the airfield.
Base about 2500m. maybe even up to 3000 m. This could be another REAL FAST DAY!!!!
By the way the points for the TEAM CUP after 8 days of flying is;
1. France with 908 points.
2. Italy with 893.94 p.
3. South Africa with 882.43 p
4. The Netherlands with 877.64 p
5. Czech Rep with 871,34 p.

18 m; 550.68 km....Start line open at 12.23. Uys came back for a restart , something with the “pitot” , but he turned around quickly and before the 20 m. was launched, he was launched again. He could start together with his brother and they even finished together after a race with 150m km./h.
Lift from 2,5 to 4 m. per sec. is dream soaring. And before I knew they were on final glide, with eta on 4.30!!!!????
AND YES INDEED, when I looked the first pilot on the score board was “our” Jeroen, with a fabulous speed of 152.33 km./h .
When 31 pilots were scored it took a long time before the Italian pilots appeared on the scores.
The scorer had some problems.
With this kind of Rieti-weather, they could be even faster.
NO, they were on spot 28 and 31 and must have had difficulties en route.
So Jeroen won the day …GOOD!!!! He moved from 7 to 5 overall. He enjoyed EVERY minute of the flight. Even more than yesterday.
With the French and the Italians having a less good day today, Jeroen is not even 200 points behind Christophe, but Christophe wants to win too!!! So do Ricky and Davide. It ain’t over yet!!!!

20 m; 518.46 km..…Start line open at 12.38. a fast day for them as well. With a rather late start at 1PM, Ivan and Petr raced with 148 km./h over the track. …they were a class apart.
Louis and Ulysse were runner up [138 km./h] . Ferenc and Attila 3d and Joost and Erik 4th, together with Sarah and Karl…good company.[137 km./h]
ALL pilots finished and 130 km. was the ” slowest speed” .
Indeed fabulous weather!!!! I can’t say it enough.

open; 579.96 km.... Start line open at 12.54. I could read on the German site already that Felipe and Michael were leading the pact. With a speed of 158.95 km./h. they topped the scores.
Both on 1 again.
Polish pilot Łukasz Wójcik started ONE minute later and flew around with 157.84 km./h.
Oscar was 4th.
All pilots finished, the last but one still with a speed of 140 km./h!!!!!
A competition for the history books!

More news tomorrow.
Now it’s waiting for the scores from the “young ones”.

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12th FAI Junior World Gliding Championships
Tábor, Czech Republic
30 July 2022 – 13 August 2022

“POOR” young ones ,510 km. today for standard and 447.91 km. for club.
Pfffff …..BUT with the heat, it’s better high up in the air ,than on the ground.

De/pre-briefing yesterday by the French team with their TC.

AND,….. more about yesterday; The German team had 3 top-places in club and the first spot in standard. That is just GOOD/excellent.
I read that they were invited in the studio for an interview and here they are;

AND,…..The UK pilots had a good day yesterday as well and 2 were still full of adrenaline from the final glide:
“A tricky day that saw both teams stick with their class gaggles but saw an epic Grand Prix style finish from the standard class“

Something in between, but a great job…..Yesterday another young German pilot, Matthias Arnold, flew 1009 km[ 675 triangle] in Germany from Weinheim, in an 18m Discus 2c.; speed 110 km./h.TOP!!!!

And now over to today;
August 3; task 4.…
Matej’s view on the day;
“Another day, another gliding day! We have a boiling hot day ahead of us, which might not be the most comfortable for us who stay on the ground, but the pilots can definitely appreciate it. Due to the high temperatures, the clouds will be very high and thermals will be strong. Today pilots can look forward to long tasks which are planned to follow the best available weather conditions. Club class pilots will be flying almost 450 km and standard class pilots over 500 km.”

First launch postponed and confirmed at 11.45.
There are 7 tow planes at Tabor and the tuggies introduce them selves in a nice video to be seen on YOUTUBE.COM [JWGC2022-August 2-towpilots]

Impressing!!!! THIS IS REALLY IMPRESSING!!!!
Thanks to the amazing work of Wojcieh Scigala we now have live scoring during the flight! You can find it here:
Live Scoring Club Class – http://livescore.iq.pl/club.html
Live Scoring Standard Class – http://livescore.iq.pl/standard.html

Luckily the scores came in later than the WGC, so I could keep a GOOD eye on things.

Club; 447 km….start gate opened at 12.52. Quite a distance for club class gliders during a WGC, but I am sure the weather will be that good that they can fly it.
On that live-scoring system, I noticed that Dutch pilot Lars, was on his way to TP 5 with a height of 1748 m. and a speed of 108 km./h. He landed at 17.30….
Maciej was even at 2.694 m. with 66 km. to the finish. I could even see that he landed at 17.20!!!!!
In my time they went with a camera and barograph to the scores. LOL.
Believe it or not, that system works fabulous. Indeed Robert [Romenia] and Lars flew 111 km./h and were 1 and 2. Finn from the UK, was 3d was faster but, the ASW 20 has a different handicap.

standard; 510 km.….start gate opened at 13.22. It looks like Áron Érseki [Hungary] won the day, but not all pilots are counted for at 19.15. With 119.52 km./h he was the fastest.
Then Lucas and Jaromir from Czech.Rep …..then the French pilots Kevin and Enguerrand. [difficult but very nice name]
Maurits [ The Netherlands] on 6 and the 2 German pilots , Simon and Jan, on 7 and 8…..with all around 117 km./h
At 19.30 Swiss Claudio, Dutch Mark and Australian Ryan were sill not scored, so I look at that later or tomorrow!!
They finished and ALL pilots were IN.

More tomorrow on how their day was.
All scores of course preliminary.

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FAI Sailplane Grand Prix Bosnia & Herzegovina 2022 – Livno
Livno Brda Bosni, Bosnia & Herzegovina,
30 July 2022 – 6 August 2022

Race 4….413 km today for the 7 pilots in Livno…. 3 more races to go.
SO ,..also top weather;
regatta start at 12.50.
And they are ready.. Here are the 3 German pilots.

And indeed Matthias did with a speed of 125 km./h . Runner up was his mate Stefan with 122 km./h . Gintas was 3d with 114 km./h.
So the totals are now;
23 for Gintas, 15 for Matthias and 14 for both Stefan and Christoph.
2 were out after 188 and 114 km.
All scores preliminary!

Another EXTRAORDINARY day. 2 More to come for the WGC in Szeged.
I guess then they need a real REST.
CHEERS,

Ritz

37th FAI WORLD GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIP
Szeged, Hungary
24 July 2022 – 5 August 2022

August 2; It should be a great day with nice long distances. First start already at 11 and 18 m is upfront , then open and then 20 m.
I have written already often about my trip to Rayskala for the Europeans where Silva [R.I.P.] set a 1000 km task for open class on the first day! I remember the 18 m. was a bit upset, as they wanted to have such a distance too. In retrospect quite a few of the class would have flown in too. It will be a buzzing day, huge distances at comps, trigger the imagination. Not only for the pilots , but also for the crews, the organizers and all who follow these comps.

Looking back on yesterday with John is every morning a pleasure. He gives SO much info. Here is a small part again . He writes also about the border with Serbia as well on US Soaring Teams
“As we’ve come to expect here, the task-setters got it right: all classes were sent on area tasks that first went west (toward the clouds), then east (back near home), then northeast. This fit the actual weather well, thought it did lead pilots into areas with cloud and even rain threats (west) and areas with blue, weak lift (northeast). Thermal tops ranged from 8000’ (west) to 4500’ (northeast). I’ll note that from a task-setter’s perspective, a variety of conditions during a task is a feature, not a bug.”

After an evening with good food, music and lot’s of talking/camaraderie in and in front of the hangar outside, pilots are ready for some LONG tasks. Why not, if the weather is there!!!!

At this 10 AM morning briefing, yesterdays winners were honored. 18m…20 m…and open class.

Let’s look at what happens today. I write and read and search all day, but after all scores are in, I publish. When you are not interested in tracking, to see how the pilots fly, maybe you like to do this on the last couple of days. Just try it out? Here is the link.
https://wgc2022.hu/tracking

August 2; day 10….task 8...Looking at the West, the cu’s pop up already. It looks like a TOPDAY!!!
Early activities at the field, to be ready with gridding before the briefing at 10 AM.
They started launching at 11 sharp!!! As the forecast was for LESS lift around 5.30, pilots will start straight away for their long flight.
During the long flight you do not hear a lot, but can look at the tracking. Often when they are out of reach, you can’t follow them over the radio either. Whilst they were flying I saw pictures with 200 km./h on it. PROMESING!!!!

18 m; 755.92 km…with 7 TP’s. Start line open at 12.06.The longest leg is nearly at the end; 153.59 km.
The pilots making this day extra special, were 2 from Italy, 2 from France AND Arne from Denmark!!!!
They all flew over 136 km./h!!!! Pretty fast over such a distance and with no wave.
Then a bunch [ 5 ] with 135 km./h. So I counted 10 pilots over 135 km./h.
1. Ricardo, 2 Arne ,3 Davide, 4 Christophe ,5 Adrian , 6. Wolfgang, 7 Derren, 8. Jeroen,9. Attie, 10. György 
Another 5 with 134 km.h. Melanie , Bert , Michael, Philip and Roman.
Have a look at www.soaringspot.com for all the fabulous results!!!

With 3 more days to go the overall score is CLOSE!!!!!!!
1. Christophe Abadie with 6,082 points
2. Davide Schiavotto with 6,050 points.
3. Riccardo Brigliadori with 6,049 points.
The numbers 4 till 12 have a difference from 5.908 points to 5.721, so a lot is possible!!!!

20 m; 645.50 km….with 5 TP’s. Start line open at 12.35. The eastern countries did well , so did Allan and Harry as flying in this kind of weather is what they are used to down under.
With 126.11 km./h Ivan and Petr won the day. Followed by Anton and Sandi . The Twin shark with Jakub and Lucasz was 3d!
Only 1 pilot was out after 598 km. OUCH….
Not a good day for Sarah and Karl and for The Broquevilles [ they flew for nearly 6 hours] they were 17 and 18 from 19.

The overall scores at this stage with 3 days to go;
1. Jakub Barszcz / Lukasz Kornacki with 6,035 points.
2. Ivan Novak / Petr Krejcirik with 5,970 points.
3. Erik Borgmann / Joost Wolff with 5,867 points.
The next 3 couples have chances as well; 5.847 till 5.835 points.

open; 757.38 km... with 6 TP’s. Start line open 12.20.
7 pilots with a speed over 140 km./h TOP!! certainly with such a distance.
Daily winner; Felipe with 142,81 km/h. Runner up in about the same time Sylvain with 142.52. AND what about our Belgian friend Daan; 142.46 km./h. Great effort!!!
Off -day again for Michael , who had the same speed 142.81 but got a penalty for “Self-launch above alt.limit.” Same punishment for Lucasz.
So in fact 9 pilots flew over 140 km./h
I try to find ALL the stories for you tomorrow.
After such a long and intensive flight everybody is worn out.
Maybe the TC’s will have a word tonight as well.

The overall scores with 3 days to go:
1. Felipe Levin with 6,198 points.
2. Oscar Goudriaan with 6,162 points.
3. Radek Krejcirik with 6,023 points. CLOSE!!!!!!!
The numbers 4 till 8 have chances too; 5.944 p till 5.708 points.

www.soaringspot.com

This WGC in Szeged turns out to be a WGC as a WGC should be !!!!!!

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12th FAI Junior World Gliding Championships
Tábor, Czech Republic
30 July 2022 – 13 August 2022

The morning news from Matej;
“Very nice cumulus streets have formed and competitors are already on their tasks. The standard class is flying 355 km racing task today and the club class is flying 318 km. We are expecting another day with high speeds. As always, you can follow most of the competitors on tracking:”
 https://link.glideandseek.com/jwgc2022

One of the high lights yesterday was the Turbo Cmelak. The towing seems to have been much faster!
One of the minor points for the young pilots yesterday was the wind!!!

What brings today???
The first launch was confirmed for 11.15 after a delay from 15 minutes . With the “fast wonder tug” and of course the other tugs, the pilots were quick up in the air and the start gates were opened.

Club class; 317.50 km.... Start gate opened at 12.21. The race to the first TP was fast. Within half an hour some pilots reached the first TP ; 63 km. At 3 some were 80 k out and looking forward to an early swim in the pool. It turned out to be a “German” day ; with a speed of 120 km/h. Toni and Nils in their LS4 were equal on spot1. Eric as part of the 3 German musketeers, was 1 minute slower and on spot 3.
Alexandre , who won yesterday, was faster in his ASW 20 ; 122.97 km./h [handicap 1.059] Now he was 5th.
only one pilot out, but such a pity he was so close , only 10 k out!!!

Standard class; 355.89 km.…Start gate opened at 12.51. Cloud base at 1000/1200 m.
“40 km in 20 minutes sounds good!!!” Their trip was a bit more difficult as I read, but some passed the 3d TP at 3 PM.
And an other German pilot , Simon , won the day as well; speed 118.82 km./h in the Discus 2A.
My Dutch mates had a really good day. The weather was super they mentioned. They flew with 3 together and finished on spot 2,4 and 5 . Maurits in the LS8 NEO, speed 118.43 km./h was runner up. Then there was Jaromir on spot 3 [Czech Rep.] . 4 Was for Mark ;113.19 km/.h and 5 for Nick;112.74 km./h.
All pilots have finished, so a terrific good day!

Great effort today from ALL the juniors!!!! All scores are preliminary.
Tomorrow is another day.

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FAI Sailplane Grand Prix Bosnia & Herzegovina 2022 – Livno
Livno Brda Bosni, Bosnia & Herzegovina,
30 July 2022 – 6 August 2022

Race 3 with 316.2 km. with 4 races to go
…..regatta start at 13.30.
Another win for Gintas; speed 126.8 km./h and 8 points for him.
German pilots Matthias and Stefan followed with 123 and 122 km./h.
Their mate Christophe was slower today ..spot 6… with 113.5 km./h and lost some points.
Yesterday he had 10 now 12.
Gintas leads overall with 21 points and Matthias has now 15.
BUT,…that changed as after the loggers had been read , it turned out that Matthias had an incorrect start and was disqualified!!!! So no points for him today and 9 in total.
Tomorrow race 4.

CU tomorrow!
Cheers Ritz

37th FAI WORLD GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIP
Szeged, Hungary
24 July 2022 – 5 August 2022

It was a more than challenging day yesterday. Not only for the pilots ,but for the tuggies as well. Compliments!!!
Also the wing runners had it tough, Benjamin Neglais from France mentioned:
“Wing runner must be also wise. Use the wingtip to the wind and lower it to avoid gust raising the wing when released. This is the basic,…. plus good fast legs to give it all.”
Again some damage ! This is a very special picture and shows the love and fraternity of our sport.
Wolfgang [WO] flies a Ventus 3 TS and as you see ,this time not in the little workshop from Attie and Uys from Jonker sailplanes, but in the hangar, the glider is repaired by them and Tilo [Schempp-Hirth] who was only in Szeged for a short visit.
GREAT PICTURE!!!!

John Good who is there has another good story on yesterday also on the damage of Wolfgang’s glider:
“,It seems that Wolfgang, in compliance with instructions here that insist on a long landing (to leave the runway clear for others) rolled long enough to cross the concrete marker that denotes the end of the grass runway. There’s plenty of grass beyond it, but this concrete object is not flush with the ground, and the impact managed to smash WO’s tailwheel up into its fuselage.”

And there was more on yesterday from John ;
“Today marked an end to trouble-free weather and straightforward soaring. Plenty of wind, extensive clouds and even some wave effects produced the first “shake up the score sheet” day at WGC2022. In 20-Meter class, Karl and Sarah managed to take advantage in a big way, taking first place in Arcus N1 by a convincing margin.” US Soaring Teams

Yesterday’s winners in 20 m. class with Sarah and Karl proud on top. Great to see Aku and Juha on 3 and Frenc and Attila on 2.

During briefing today, Wolfgang said a few words on what happened to him.

August 1 ;
day 9…competition day 6…task 7…. and after this,… still 4 days to go.
At 11.30 the first gliders were launched under a blue sky, for a “sit” of 3 hours and 30 minutes in their glider. BUT,…some cu’s popped already up in the West. With the early launches the pilots had a long day to do what they think they should/could do. It seems the first sector was OK, some flew it really to the end, others went to the next sector. So there will be differences in arrival times.
After the 2d sector it became more difficult. Height 1000 and 1500 meter , occasionally 1800 and lift with 1.5 up to 2 m.
What did the pilots do?
18 m; 3.30 AAT….Bad day for 5 pilots who flew out of the competition area. They got points till the violation; 124, 3x 122 and 121 points. They flew into Serbia, which is out of the boundary.
Winners!!!! YES,…. from Italy Ricky and Davide! They flew 453 km in time 3.35, 3.40 for 1000 and 973 points. Christophe missed out on 2 points on Davide. He was 3d and still leads the class, but with only 35 points.
Good to see Wolfgang was flying. He was 4th. He will be for ever grateful. He is such a nice , enthusiastic and kind guy AND still the current world champion!!![Hosin in 2018]

Roman Mracek flew 468 km, but needed 4 hours and 13 minutes. 7 Pilots flew over 4 hours.
32 Pilots finished, 10 were out.

20 m; 3.30 AAT….An INTERNATIONAL TOP 5. 4X an ARCUS and one Shark.
Winners; Louis Bouderlique / Ulysse Merlin with 421 km in time 3.30 at the dot!!!!speed 120 27 km./h . FRANCE.
Runner up; Steve Jones / Garry Coppin with 426 km in time 3. 36. speed 118.28 km./h. UK.
3d; Erik Borgmann / Joost Wolff with 428 km. in time 3.37, speed 118.22 km./h. THE NETHERLANDS
4; Ivan Novak / Petr Krejcirik with 419 km in time 3.34. Czech Rep. 117.28 km./h.
5; Jakub Barszcz / Lukasz Kornacki with 439 km. in time 3.47. speed 116 km./h. Poland.
ALL pilots finished! One team needed 4 hours!
Overall scores are very close so everything can still happen.

open; 3.30 AAT...Very pleased to see that Radek won the day. Good on him. He flew in his JS1 C/21m. 485 km. NOBODY flew that far. And with a speed of 119,83 km./h so in time 4.03. His dad was 4th in 20 m and he number ONE. BUT, Radek won the day together with Felipe ; equal 1000 points. He and Michael keep on flying together and Michael was on spot 3.
4 Pilots were out.
Felipe leads with 13 points overall on Oscar who was 6th today.

All scores still preliminary.

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12th FAI JUNIOR WORLD GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIPS.
Tábor, Czech Republic
30 July 2022 – 13 August 2022

Looking back with USA pilot David is possible. Here is a small part of his long story;
“I was gridded in the second row and my new flying buddy Mark Travner from Slovenia is also in my row so I was thinking that finding each other after launch will be easier. Alas, we had no problem navigating the start game shenanigans. We started about 5 minutes after the main gaggle and then caught up to them on the first leg. From there, for me, it was a matter of not losing the gaggle nor Mark.
Everything seemingly came together today, using what I have been able to learn about team flying, Mark and I flew fast and efficiently.” More on US Soaring Teams
He expected rain for today. But ….as you can see, they try to fly. AND,…they did!

“ It was a really hard day. The standard is really high. Lot’s of pressure, some tactical errors. ” Is what the UK boys said after the flight. In short; Challenging conditions and some technical issues made this first competition day interesting...” Team UK about yesterday.
AND
“The Turbo Čmelák has been woken from its slumber and the pilots have been warned “that everything happens really quickly“. Indeed today the Cmelak was towing and a lot of the juniors looked out to that moment. It is a very strong tug.
Matej Rendla , when I am correct Tomas son, said;
“Even though the weather conditions today do not ease the competition, the pilots fighting for the title of the junior world champion should succeed even in conditions like this. “
The first launch was confirmed for 12 .00.

August 1…Day 2 …competition day 2 …task 2
Club; 2 hour AAT…the line opened at 12.56 . Only in the 3d circle to the S. was a bit of rain , mentioned our Dutch team. The weather is GOOD!!!!
Just after 3 the first pilots finished already with French pilot Alexandre Fierain, flying 257.48 km. in time 2.01, so a nice speed of 126.82 km./h. Would he be the daily best???
yes he was!!
His mates had the same great flight, they flew with 3 together. Starting at 13.19 and the other 2 finished in time 2.05.
Alexandre leads the overall score now too.

After tea and cake, I looked again and they were still on 1,2 and 3, so a great day for the French. One of the members from the Jonker family flies an LS 3 and was 4th. He flew 122.67 km in time 2.01. Those young ones are really good in timing.
The UK boys were on 5 and 6 . My Dutch mates on 7,9 and 10.
The young Danes who flew so well yesterday were on spot 22,23 and 25.
43 from 45 were in, 2 out….GOOD DAY!!!!
19 Pilots have over- 1000- overall -points, all very close!!!
BUT,…there is a very long way o go!!!!

Standard; 2 hour AAT…their start line opened at 13.25, and most went straight on track. 13.43 was the last start time by Dutch pilot Nick. In the end he was 19th.
At 3.30 the first pilot appeared on the score board. Ryan from Australia; 222.27 km in time 2.01. Would that be good enough ?
No it was n’t! In the end he was 18 th.
With 135 km./h Wiktor Lacinski from Poland 285.34 km in time 2.06. He was the daily winner!!!!
Jacob Bøgelund Lassen from Denmark had enough kilometers, 348, but needed too much time ;2.53, but he was 6th for the day.
His mate  Emil Dalboe-Pedersen was runner up with 290 km. in time 2.17. speed 126.87 km./h.
So Wiktor was REALLY FAST!!!!!

The juniors had 2 pretty good days till now. More tomorrow.

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FAI SAILPLANE GRAND PRIX BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA 2022
From LIVNO
30 July 2022 – 6 August 2022

“Race day 2 task set, an interesting route across multiple valleys and mountains.”
Follow live tracking on
https://bosniaherzegovina22.sgp.aero/race-coverage

Race for today; 331 km.
With 7 pilots still in the race Matthias [Sturm] had the best race today. The regatta start was at 13.30 and with 133.2 km./h he won the 7 daily points. He has 8 in total now.
Gintas [Zube] was runner up , nearly as fast with 133.1, for 5 points. He has 12 points now.
Christoph [Limpert] was 3d and has a total of 9 points now.
More tomorrow.

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And not long anymore and the next BIG event another [ cat 1 ] the WWGC in the UK flown from Husbos.
Here is already the schedule they shared. Their news will be on WWGC2022.CO.UK
“Saturday 13 August – opening ceremony. All welcome! Free entry!
Sunday 14 to Friday 26 August – contest flying
Saturday 20/Sunday 21 August – public open weekend. All welcome! Free entry!
Friday 26 August – last night party. All welcome! Ticketed event.
Saturday 27 August – closing ceremony“

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You are up to date.
Have a good night…..and enjoy this picture from the German team.
And for all teams…ENJOY THE HUNGARIAN NIGHT later tonight. Goulash????
cheers Ritz

37th FAI WORLD GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIP
Szeged, Hungary
24 July 2022 – 5 August 2022

After a party and good food at the INTERNATIONAL NIGHT, a day off to relax or recover from the “booze”, this new and last week starts in Szeged with enthusiasm, new hopes and hopefully the same great weather. Luckily the huge overnight-thunderstorm just passed by.
When you go to John’s link in this blog, more excellent writing about a lot of interesting topics, from the party and the rest day. AND I guess the WEATHER!!!!
US Soaring Teams

July 31, last day of the month.
“With great joy the South African team can report, that after serious investigation, interrogation and deliberation, we have successfully located and restored the FAI flag to its rightful position.
So we don’t have to worry about that anymore,….I hope.
Further on they mentioned;
“Weather forecast for today – lowish, slowish and windyish. “
The organizers hope for a “good window”, but B tasks have been set as well.
Temperature “only” 26 dgr. C, so long-sleeve shirts got out of the suit cases….20 kts wind with gusts.
Max it could be even 40 kts.

Further on …very interesting…. part of the tasks are very close to the border. There is an area where you have to stay above 457 m.!!! But the wind blazes in that direction!!!
That border is the Serbian border and 20 m. class comes close there . Serbia and Rumania DO NOT BELONG to the competition boundary.
At briefing tasks were set.

Day 8 , task 6, competition day 5; The wind is blowing, the wind sock in horizontal and the launches have been postponed; 12.15 now and still task A.
And …YES…off they went. First 18m ,then open and last but not least 20 m. Some needed the whole runway, 250 m. wide , to start with this cross wind. BUT,…all did well. Specially exciting for the self launchers, as I noticed on a SA video.
The cloud base after start was about 1500 m. Some went on track , whilst a quite a few hung around , waiting for better circumstances. It looks like a day with interesting scores , a shake up from the leader board and very challenging circumstances.
A day with the weather god, using for some, his sledge hammer!!!!
Let’s see,…..
18 m; 307 43 km…..start line opened at 13.20. The early starters had reasonable weather. Some late starters did not want to start so late, but had no choice. At around 3 some were on their way to TP 2, whilst others were still at the airfield.
At 3 some could only start as Uys , Attie and Arne. They finished just before 6PM.
8 Were out and 1 not scored yet.
There was a daily winner too. Polish pilot Tomasz Rubaj in the AS 33es.; speed 119.87 km./h. Chapeau. He started at 13.47.58 and finished at 16.21.31.
A runner up as well; Joris Vainius in the ASG 29.
Overall it looks with the preliminary scores that Christophe is still on 1. He was on 21 today . And Italian pilots Davide and Ricky follow with “our” Jeroen on 4 and Bert jr. now on 5 all small margins.

20 m; 294.52 km….start line opened at 13.54. Some had to start their engines [WK] not late after the start and were out today’s race. After the 18 m was up, a layer of high clouds moved in , creating problems for both 20 m and open class. Some flew straight back to the airfield. Still 13 from 19 finished.
It was a TOP DAY for Sarah and Karl from the USA in their ARCUS T with call sign N1. They were the only ones over 100 km./h. ;103. 93 km./h. The first starters left just after 2, but they left at 14.44 ,as the last on track. They might have been forced to wait that long, we will hear it tomorrow from John.
They moved up from 16 to 6!!!
The twin shark is still on top!!!!
2 have nor started .One is the German glider [WK] but I know they have used the engine to fly home.
It took Pierre and Arnaud over 4 hours to come back,…but they did!!!

open; 347.18 km….start line opened at 13.36. And when Michael Sommer has to start his engine, something is not right with the weather. He just motored back home after 18 km.
It might have been UK weather . Andy won the day ;122.03 km./h!!!!! He started with Russell but must have lost each other en route as Andy finished at 17.33 and Russell at 18.11 [ spot 13 for the day].
7 Flew over 110 km./h , runner up Oscar [121.72 m./h] , Radek with 117 km./h, Alberto with 114 , Felipe with 112 and Alena Netusilova in her JS 1C with 111 km./h TOP JOB!!!!!
Late delivery by Yves Gerster but he flew well; 3d for the day with 122 km./h.
Oscar leads now for Felipe and Alberto , and Radek moved from 8 to 4.
Michael dropped from 2 to 17, that really hurts!!!!
Landings with crosswind and strong winds are more difficult for the long wing pilots. But they did well.

More tomorrow!!!! WHATADAY!!!!!!
Some said “It could be the decisive race of the championship“.
Compliments to ALL who flew so well with this head- and cross wind .

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12th FAI Junior World Gliding Championships
Tábor, Czech Republic,
30 July 2022 – 13 August 2022

The opening was a nice event and everybody is eager to go flying. As eager as young ones can be.
I shared a picture from David {USA} yesterday but he looks totally different now.

July 31; day 1….The 74 under-25-year-old pilots , boys and girls, started their competition. The web cams over there, showed pretty good conditions, so off the went.
Launching at 11.15.

At around 3.15 the next message; “First gliders arriving in 10 minutes“. GOOD!!!!!!

club; 262.62 km.…The start line for the club class opened at 12:15.
At 15.14 the first pilot Zsombor Wéber, from Hungary landed already in this class with a speed of 111.24 km./h. and with that he was not the first back at the field, but also the daily winner!!!!Good on him!!!
It looks that the best start time was just before 1PM, as early starters so around 12.30 were slower or out.
Team DENMARK did well with a number 2 Lasse, 3 Jens and 4 Miles Kjær, his surname is at least Danish.
From 45 a total of 44 finished!

standard; 308.22 km….The start gate for the standard class opened at 12:49. It took a bit longer for these boys/girl , of course they had nearly 50 km. more to fly.
But, Czech pilots Jaromir and Lukas in their LS 8 and Ignas from Lithuania also in LS 8 were the 3 daily best. All 3 flew with a speed of over 100 km./h.
29 started and 3 are not yet counted for in the scores.
The beginning is there, tomorrow more.

“Please join us every evening at 20:00 CEST for a live broadcast of interviews with competitors hosted by Michaela Rendlová. The first broadcast will start today:” as shared by the organisers.
 https://youtu.be/WLHR3DTmf30

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FAI Sailplane Grand Prix Bosnia & Herzegovina 2022 – Livno
30 July 2022 – 6 August 2022

A task has been set for today
RACE 1; 309.40 km…. ready to go .

Take off from 12:30 CET.
Regatta start at 13.50.
With 143.5 km./h Gintas Zube won the day in his ASG 29E. So 7 points for Gintas.
German Pilot Christoph Limpert [ASG 29es] was runner up with 143.07 km./h.
 Jernej Lokovsek [JS 3]also flew around with big speed as number 3; 143.06 km./h
Only 6 started .

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To finish I HAVE to write about Max Verstappen who was in Hungary as well ,not in the air ,but at the Formula 1 ring.
In the qualifying race he had problems with his engine. Today he started from spot 11 to win the race, even with a “spin’. Great performance.
Now it’s off to see the soccer girls from the UK and Germany.

CU tomorrow. Cheers Ritz