—-If you have read my last blogs, you have seen how many top juniors represent at HIGH level their countries even after many years.
Look at Jez Hood from the UK, who won the standard class as junior in Nitra in 2003 and this year in 2021 he was 4th in Montlucon. Chapeau!!!
AND flying LS 8 in Nitra and now LS 8 again!!!!
Go,go Jez…on your way to Narromine 2023.

—-Those light- weight DIANA 2’s were, as Sebastian mentioned ,the best glider for the weather in Montlucon. With good pilots in them, they are really “winners”.1-2 and 3 in Montlucon.
I was a bit confused to see NO French or NO UK pilots in the top 3. Often they dominate the scores.
All in all, 4 German pilots, 2 Polish and one from Australia, Belgium and The Netherlands in the top 9!!!!

—-It took me hours to find a picture from St class from the prize ceremony. BUT I found one!!!
Finally the Belgium team shared one on Monday. I counted already on them as they were good in their updates!!! Thanks again.

And then DG Flugzeugbau GmbH shared this lovely picture yesterday so I add it too.

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—The Cup from the City of Rieti has finished. Rieti has been very busy for the whole month of August with top comps and top pilots.
And a top CD Aldo Cernezzi.
It was a great Rieti summer, no doubt about that.
Except of course for the fatal accident…you understand.
Last Sunday they flew their last task number 5 with in group 2 [ I concentrated on them ] 390 k. to fly.
On Saturday they flew already a 425 set task, won by the Bouderliques, who spend their august-summer-time in Rieti flying the C.I.M. as well.
18 Finished 4 did not.
It was either Alberto ‘s ARCUS T or the Bouderliques ARCUS M in the overall top 2 over the last days. So pretty clear one of those ARCUSSES was going to win the COPPA.
22 Started and 22 finished, so a good day.
Alberto was 2d [ 144.77 km./h.] , the Bouderliques 6th [140.37 km./h.] and Jon 3d. [147.22 km./h.] So the overall scores changed a bit, but number 1,2 and 3 remained the same.
The winners from group 2 are;
1. The Bouderliques with 5.371 points.
2. Alberto and Mr. Venturini with 5.284 p.
3. Jon Gatfield with 5.237 p.

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—-The 18m and 20 m Nationals started last Saturday at Lasham.
Day 1 had to be cancelled, but day 2 had small windows to fly a 179 km task in 18 m. and 164 in the 20 m class.
18 x 2 – seaters ; 8x an ARCUS type, 7x a Duo Discus type, 2x an ASG 32 and a Twin Shark.
Sunday news; “We are up and running for Day 1 of the 18M and 20M Nationals 2021. After some drizzly weather yesterday we are hoping for better luck today.”
They had!!!!
18 m. got 179 km to fly and Russell Cheetham [JS 3] was the best from 41 in this class; 97 km./h.
Many toppers , former world champions or European champions flying.
32 were in.
20 m. got 164 km...
Winner was, after looking at all loggers , THE TWIN SHARK with in it Edward Downham. Good on him!!!
10 Were in and 8 out!
Monday on August 23 ;
18 m; 299.29 km...later changed in a B task from 188 km. and then still only 3 from 42 finished!!!!
3x a VENTUS 3T in the top and some toppers who were out, as Russell, Pete and Liz.
20 m.; 181.58 km....changed in 179 km and in this class half of the pilots was in ;9 from 18. The ASG 32 was the best; 89 km./h.
The Jones brothers are doing well. Philip was runner up in 18 m. and Steve in this class.

Tuesday August 24;
18 m; task 4…2.30 AAT ….and they all left for the A task. AND they all finished!!!!!All 42!!!!!
Pete [Harvey]number 39 on task 3, was now the best BUT, ended on spot 4 due to penalty points for finish height; 293.60 km in time 2.33. [Speed 122.87 km./h.]
Gary [Stingmore] in the AS 33es won the day with 327 km in time 2.40. [122.18 km./h]
Former world champion Leigh [Wells] was 4th in a JS 3 [121.56 km./h] just behind Ian Macarthur . [121.98 km./h]
20 m; task 4…2.30 AAT...with a distance of 304 km. in time 2.57 Graham Mc Andrew’s was the fastest; 102 km./h.
As the day before Steve was runner up in the ARCUS M ![101.65 km./h]
More news next Wednesday!
17 from 18 were in.
More next week.

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—–The Polish JUNIOR NATIONALS are not lucky with the weather either.
Standard class started with a day on which except for one, ALL pilots were out. Then 2 days cancelled.
On Saturday they tried again with a 1.30 AAT and 15 from 21 finished!
Club class only flew on Saturday with a 1.30 AAT in which the best pilot flew 113 km in time 1.49 in a junior.
8 From 11 finished.
Sunday’s tasks were cancelled!
Monday there was NO TASK.

BUT,..on Tuesday standard got a 1.15 AAT as did Club .
Task 4 on flying day 2, was a fact but only for club as standard was cancelled. Club got a 1 hour AAT and 1 from 11 flew the task.
The other 10 still flew between 13 and 48 km…hard work, character building!
In the end the task of course was NOT VALID….so zero points for the hard work. BUT,…. Chapeau for Marcel Bulka who finished in his Astir CS; speed 51 km./h!!!
So task 4 on flying day 2 was not a fact.

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—-The UK juniors 38 in total, quite a lot!!!!, got a very small task from 85 km. on Sunday. This competition is flown parallel with the Cotswald regionals with 27 pilots, so busy, busy.
I concentrate on the Juniors.
With 90 km./h Finn [Sleigh] won task 2 with 85 km.; 92.79 km./h.
He was one of the juniors flying the European junior comps…he is the new EUROPEAN CHAMPION in club class…. so in a good flow ,as was Henry Inigo – Jones who was 5th for the day….3d in standard class at the Europeans behind Tom who won the silver.
Toby [Freeland] flew the Europeans as well,..he was 3d now. Tom [Pavis] was 22d.
Finn started at 3.18 the runner up at 4.13 PM !!!
Task 3, 80 km..24 from 33 flew the small task. They flew mostly between 15.57, an early start and 17.06 a late one.
Freddie Turner was the only one who flew the task in his ASG 29es under 1 hour and won the day.[ speed 86 km./h.]
Task 4 was longer so better weather; 229,91 km; long or short,…no worries for Finn he is “hot”!!!! He won again now with a speed of 107 km./h. Henry was runner up and Thom was 4th. Good practice that Junior EGC.
Toby had a less good day ,he was out after 248 km.
More next week.

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Last Saturday was a real good August day for soaring specially in France and Italy. The German squad flies from Puimoisson and have a great time “in Paradise” as they call it. Max Schaefer flew in the VENTUS 3 a distance of 1.052 km. Good on him.
Michael Sommer did so too in the EB 29R.
Rubbiano in Italy had 2 x a 1000 km. flight one by Vitotio Pinni in the LS 8/18 m.!!!! I knew from my time spend in Rieti he is fast.
Mind you end of August.
The other 1000 was in an ASH 31/21 m. by Giampaolo Bozzetti.
824 km. in an ASW 24 from there ,is worth mentioning as well.
Bert Schmelzer jr. started in his Ventus 3 from Hausen am Albis in Switzerland; 872 km. I really like his comment.
“Average speed after 150km: 52 kph …
Luckily, as soon as I entered the aera south of Mont-Blanc climbrates and cloudbase finally became decent.
The main goal of the flight was to check whether the house of my friends Dennis and Loes in Nice was ready for their return after the WGC in Montlucon. Congratulations with your beautiful 3rd place, Dennis!!!
After seeing the Mediterrean Sea it was time to turn around at about 16:00 for the return leg of 400km. Strong climbrates and high cloudbase made progress to the North easy and near Matterhorn I basically was on final glide.
Great day!”
4 PM…pffff…..400 k to go…..

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—-The German juniors have flown their NATIONALS in very bad- weather- circumstances in early August from Burg Feuerstein and here are the results from
CLUB class;
1. Eric Schneider…2. Nils Fecker….3. Toni Kittler
All 3 flew LS 4.
Standard class;
1. Simon Briel….2. Nuno Ferreira…..3. Johannes Dibbern

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News from Australia:
“Gliding Australia has engaged WeGlide to run our decentralized competition so once again we can give a focus to the many wonderful flights done across Australia, and award annual prizes.  Our competition starts on 1 October to March 31 (Summer) and 1 April to 30 Sept (winter).  It will also include the club league (weekends only), Juniors and Women.
In honor of one our most successful international pilots and one of gliding’s true gentlemen, Ingo Renner, we have decided to name our new competition the “Ingo Renner Cup”.

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And to finish…this pretty lousy summer is nearly over. The storks are on their way to better conditions already, smart birds. It really feels like autumn here.

CU next week.
Cheers Ritz

In very short the WGC in Montlucon.
Drama for Ricky! I was wondering yesterday why he was not scored, so I checked. A 2d spot behind Sebastian on the last but one day…perfect!
But on the last day he was low before the start, no lift at all and he had to use his engine…end of day!!!!
What a way to loose a podium spot! He dropped from 2 to 6!
I truly feel sorry for him.
His bad luck was good luck for Matthew ,as he moved up to 3 behind the Polish guy’s Lucasz and Sebastian.

I wrote enough about the out-landings and the good day , task 7 with in club a 3.30 AAT flown by 32 from 36, in standard a 3 hour AAT with 28 from 29 finishing and in 15 m a 3.15 AAT flown by 25 from 28,….that was a good day. But you have to deal with what you get, both for the organizers and the pilots.
They did ,as I heard a really good job.…they performed under bad-soaring-weather-pressure and with COVID -19.
AND…… they are not used to bad weather, France is well known for their great skies full of wonderful cu’s!
They were missing at this WGC,…a pity.
Though I saw a few during the prize giving!!!!Grrrr….

A big THANK you also to the remorquers/ the tuggies and ALL volunteers/ local club members, to create a show we could follow all over the world.

Well it’s over now. Results are OK/ confirmed and there were no protests
Overall scores and some pictures is left for me.
As always it was MY pleasure!!!

CLUB CLASS;
1. Uwe Wahlig from Germany in LS3 with 4.614 points GREAT CHAMPION!
2. Thies Bruins from The Netherlands in ASW 20 with 4.499 p. CHAPEAU.
3. Stefan Langer from Germany in LS 3 with 4.457 points.
4. Tom Arscott from the UK in LS 7WL with 4.450 p. only 7 points less.
5. Ferenc Tamas from Hungary in LS 3 with 4.435 p.
6. Robin Smit from the Netherlands in LS 4 with 4.388 p.
7. Jake Brattle from the UK in LS 7 WL with 4.318 p.
8. Jakub Barszcz from Poland in Mini Nimbus with 4.163 p.
9. Mark Travner from Slovenia in DG 300 with 4.061 p.
10.Darius Gudziunas from Ukraine in ASW 20 with 4.048 p.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!!!!!

These were the Club-pilots with scores in the 4000 marge.
Number 9 to 4 get a diploma in each class.
By the way,….it was the first participation of Thies at a WGC!!!!!
WORLD CHAMPION Uwe mentioned that the day yesterday started ,very very weak. He thought first it ‘s so weak we can’t start or we land out after 10 km. Not really in the mood/flow to fly. BUT it improved and with Stefan, …they stayed together for the whole flight… they found thermals, hoping for a 1 and 2 strategy, but during the day with weaker conditions finishing the task was the only strategy. Small task little amount of points… so coming home was the only goal.
Team UK;”Club class were first on the grid and spent about 30 mins groveling below release height. They eventually climbed up and made a good start, caught most of the early starters.”

STANDARD CLASS:
1. Simon Schröder from Germany in LS 8 with 4.609 p. CHAMPION!!!
2. Jan Omsels from Germany in Discus 2A with 4.504 p.
3. Dennis Huybreckx from Belgium in LS 8 with 4.390 p.
4. Jeremy Hood from the UK in LS 8 with 4.229 p.
5. Norbert Scarlat from Romania in Discus 2A with 4.168 p.
6. Jeroen Jennen from Belgium in LS 8 with 4.159 p.
7.  Sjaak Selen from the Netherlands in Discus 2A with 4.129 p.
8.  Enrique Levin from Germany in Discus 2A with 4.105 p.
9. Robbie Seton from the Netherlands in LS 8 with 3.947 p.
10.David Leemann from Switzerland in LS 8 with 3.932 p.
Certificates for pilots between 10 and 4.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!!!

15 m. CLASS;
1. Sebastian Kawa from Poland in Diana 2 with 4.470 p. CHAMPION.
2 .Lukasz Grabowski from Poland in DIANA 2 with 4.286 p.
3. Matthew Scutter from Australia in DIANA 2 with 4.220 p.
4. Hadriaan van Nes from the Netherlands in JS 3 with 4.176 p.
5. Karel Novak from Czech Rep in JS 3 with 4.049 p.
6. Ricky Brigliadori from Italy in JS 3 with 4.017 p.
7.  Laurent Aboulin from France in JS 3 with 3.982 p.
8. David Bauder from Germany in Ventus 3 with 3.923 p.
9. Steffen Schwarzer from Germany in Ventus 3 with 3.891 p.
10.Daan Spruyt from Belgium in Ventus 2ax with 3.873 p.
10 to 4 got a certificate!!!
CONGRATULATIONS to all !!!!
It was interesting to hear that Sebastian was most “scared” of Matthew!!!

Here is the first part of his blog the rest …as always interesting….you can read on Matthew Scutter’s Gliding
“This took a long time to write and post, because I’m mentally and physically shattered after the last 4 weeks. It was by far the most difficult contest I’ve ever flown in, with strenuous conditions both on the ground and in the air. The organization had no shortage of enthusiasm or optimism and were very friendly and helpful, but they were short about 30 ground crew and most of the typical facilities you might be used to like wifi, running water, tow ropes were missing or limited due to COVID or otherwise. The flying involved more circling than cruising with my average climbs for the contest being less than 2kts. I have calluses on my feet from the rudder pedals (I have to fly barefoot to fit), and at the end I couldn’t turn left properly any more because of shoulder strain.“

The FAI flag travels now to Australia for the WGC for club, standard and 15 m. in November/December 2023. Hopefully covid-19 then is only a bad dream.
Official schedule;
Practice from November 26 on and official practice from November 28 till December 1.
37th WGC from December 2…opening and flying from December 3 till 16,….maybe I should celebrate my birthday that day there?!

In 2022 they host a 2 week pre world event during the last week of November and the first week of December.

I add the prize-giving -pictures from today later.

425 km. is the task for the group 2 pilots in Rieti.
Indeed what I expected happened ……yesterday’s task was cancelled!
More about today and tomorrow …last day from the CCR….in a post on Sunday evening. Then it is back to the weekly regular Wednesday posts.

In Ostrow …49th JUNIOR NATIONALS.….they fly as well today , after 2 no-flying-days.
Club ;task 2…..2.15 AAT….
Standard; task 2 ….2.15 AAT….Next time more
Also about the UK junior nationals from Aston Down , flown parallel with the Cotswold Regionals 2021!!!!!They start today with 76 competitors in 2 classes.

No more pictures yet….maybe tomorrow. I still miss standard class!!
Cheers Ritz
I looked at the stream and heard the German national hymn 3 times for club , standard and the team Cup.
Luckily it is nice music!!!
Well done to TEAM GERMANY….TEAM HOLLAND and TEAM POLAND!!!!!

Yes this foggy picture shows the early morning, but if the sun is strong enough it will be “burnt out”. I HOPE!!!
You can barely see the windsock.
I looked at the European weather as well this morning, with a low in the N of Europe and a high in the S, gaining more and more ground also over the Montlucon area. Hope,…like….
Good news,….. there is a grid order ,club, 15m and standard class.
Tasks have been set; Club 197 km….15 m 225 and standard 196 km.
Briefing at 10.30,….I will be ready.
weather;
The trigger temperature ; 21 dgr.C.
At 4 it will be 24 dgr. C. and the high clouds should be “gone”.
Wind N N E 10 km……..
Treats; incoming cirrus from the West
“end of day ” at around 17.30.

First expected launch; 13.30.
” Safe flights to everybody …enjoy your last day and take care“

As said I expected news about yesterday from Matthew;
” The final day of a contest is usually too hard to make points on as everyone is covering someone, so when I saw an opportunity to do something quite different today on the penultimate task I thought it was worth trying. There was a megastreet that nearly joined up between two AAT circles, but it was a long way off track in and out. The alternative involved flying the isolated cu and looked trickier although a lot more direct. I went for the megastreet and I’m pretty sure I was the only one to use it both ways, but it was a bit disappointing and tricky to find the cores by myself. I still had a respectable speed but I was coming into Montlucon alone which is always a high risk activity, with my class still averaging only a 35% task completion rate.Despite just being 10 minutes behind the gaggle I got a bad phase of the spreadout and was looking at a bleak sky to try and pickup glide along. I was only 300ft below glide but I instead opted to go deeper into the last circle, now 1000ft below glide, where there were still good cu to pickup a climb onto glide with. What I didn’t understand was I was flying into a different air mass – much lower cloud base, only 600m above ground, with very soft and narrow climbs. After an extended period of circling lower I finally gave it away and parked it. The sun did eventually come out again through the spread-out and the cu cycled to a bit more definition, so I think it was possible but just not at the time I tried.” Matthew Scutter’s Gliding
His attempt,…it all makes sense.

Quote ‘s from the last day’s ;
“No outlandings, no use of engine, we finally managed to have a day where all of our pilots managed to complete the task! “
AND;
“Time flies when you’re having fun, well, today at least! “
“But somehow it was possible for many pilots to make a lot of distance in a sky awfully close to a solid overcast.”
”  Sarah was some 15 minutes behind, and at 19:00 – long after the day was predicted to be dead – no view of the sky or her altitude & position offered even the smallest reason for optimism.  With her trailer on the road headed to the general area where she must now surely land, she somehow found the climb she needed and became the final finisher, just a few minutes behind the others.” On task 9 by John Good.

Note about yesterdays overall preliminary scores.
They changed over night in the 15 m. class. Not Ricky is runner up behind Sebastian but his Polish mate Lucasz…Ricky has 3 points less than Lucasz. [4.014…4.011]

AND ,…this is Montlucon as well. Interesting children for flying.

And that can lead to a JWGC….
The last JWGC’s have “produced” top pilots.
From the participants now in Montlucon, several were WORLD CHAMPION and even more important continued soaring.
In 2003 [ Nitra] Jeremy Hood flew already in standard class and became CHAMPION in an LS 8 , now he flies LS 8 as well. At this stage he is 4th!!!!
In 2007 in Rieti, I was there, Killian Walbrou became World champion in club class in a St Cirrus. Montlucon 2021 is not his year, 14th at this stage.
In 2015 in Narromine Matthew Scutter won in St class in a Discus 2A. Robin Smit was runner up that year. Matthew flies a Diana 2 now and is on spot 4. I was there as well.
Same year 2015 in Narromine it was Tom Arscott who was the world champion in club class in a St Cirrus. This year he flies an LS 7 WL and is on spot 6.
In 2019 in Szeged it was Simon Schroeder who won in an LS 8. Now, with today to go, he is on spot 1 also in LS 8.
Also in 2019 it was Jake Brattle who won in club class in an ASW 20. Now he flies LS 7WL and is on spot 8, but still current JWGC champion.
GREAT JUNIOR CHAMPIONS and still fabulous good pilots!!!!

What happens on the last day, when everybody ,certainly the top 5 in each class ,looks at each other. Tactics or just going for “all or nothing”.
Scores are so close that everything still can happen as long as the weather is good for fair flights and the day long enough.
It was NOT.
They postponed several times and at 2.15 the B task was handed out, so more waiting ,another late start with an early “glooming- end -of – thermals ” at 5.30.
Around 2PM the Belgian team wrote; “We woke up under a total overcast, but luckily, it started to break up around midday. By now, it looks very blue with a few small cumulus clouds here and there. Forecast is mainly blue thermals today, with a cirrus cloud layer coming into the area in the afternoon. Hopefully, all pilots can make it around today so we can enjoy the farewell party this evening together.“

August 20 :
task 11, flying day 9 out of 13 in club and 8 in standard and 15m.
“Today is about not losing, rather than winning.“

Club class; 197 km. …B task 135.39 km..…..first launches just before 14.30 . The ceiling was about 650 m. AGL over the field. I looked at the flight from Aude , accompanying the pilots in the air with her comments and what I heard was mostly c’est dommage [it’s a pity] and “malheureusement” unfortunately.
But club class, lucky enough to be the first to launch , went on track.
“Club class is now on the way to the first turn point, and it seems that conditions improve further north with blue thermals up to 900m in the task area.”
At 17.16 the first glider finished. Tomas [Suchanek] with 76 km./h .
As they mostly flew in gaggles quickly more pilots followed.
AND,….at that time ONLY 3 out!!
Well,…the 3 top pilots Uwe ,Thies and Stefan had such a good buffer that they made it and stay on spot 1, 2 and 3. Even with a 20thiest day-place for our Dutch hero Thies!!!
Uwe was only on a daily spot 21 , but he is such a CLEAR GREAT winner and Stefan, on spot 18 with a speed of 63 km./h like Thies.
Jake and Tom share spot 1 again,…how they do that???….and got 427 points .
Thies’ spot 20 gave 300 points, so not a lot to loose or to win.
Only 7 were out. The last pilots finished just before 7, so a nice long day.
Tomorrow the official results.

Standard class; 196 km….B task 141.18 km….the last to be launched and most pilots dropped their water already during the launch. They continued launching, but circumstances were not really better, around the field. You need height to go on track.
Some indeed did and found some better weather, working hard. All starts were after 4 so a small window, but the day luckily turned out longer than 5.30. Daily winner Luca Urbani from Italy with 62 km./h
Benjamin Neglais from France was runner up.
Then the German team [Jan on 3 and Simon on6] , the Dutch [Robbie on 4 and Sjaak on 7] and Belgian. [Dennis equal on 4 and Jeroen on 8]
13 from 30 were in! From them 4 are not yet scored!
So I’ll wait for the official overall results but it looks like also in this class the German team has 2 pilots in the top 3 with Simon on 1 and Jan on 2 with my Keiheuvel mate Dennis on 3.
13 from 30 finished today, Jeremy as last one at 19.18.

15 m; 225 km.….B task 158.57 km...Also this class struggled close to the field. The organizers waited 10 minutes after club class was up , to see what was happening. Not much ….but they continued launching.
On the tracking I could see a few pilots higher than 1000 m. amongst them glider R P Sebastian and KW with Laurent .
At 6 PM, there were 6 outlandings .
Matthew won the day with 4 points more than Sebastian and Lucasz was 4th behind USA pilot Tim.
BUT,…later Matthew was punished for a too low finish; 502 m. That cost him the first daily place ; spot 5.
So Sebastian on 1 , Tim on 2 and Jeroen on 3 for the day!
7 from 29 were in. No scoring yet for Ricky, so things might change.
Sebastian has never flown a competition in which he had to dump all water from his Diana. He was happy to be home and tired and very tired. The little clouds in the end helped a lot to make it home, he said.
In “one” word he called it the WGC for the light Dianas.

More tomorrow, quite an exciting day. It kept me busy ALL day and evening.
This WGC was more or less “an end-of-the-day-competition”. Late launches, late starts and a race against the clock to be back in time before “the- end- of- the -day -time” to finish! Or before the window closed!
It looks like the German team wins the TEAM CUP with 920.56 points ahead of The Netherlands with 904.78.
CONGRATULATIONS guy’s

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NO weather in Ostrow, hence no flying today! A nice picture though, a glider surrounded by flying-mates/birds.

The CCR in Rieti has interesting weather as well;
” Rainfall with possible thunderstorms south of Rieti: isolated showers, and possible thunderstorms also on north area -Cumulus base: From 2.200 to 3000 m -Wind: W NW in west side. E NE in the East side and weak variable in the middle. -Temp. Max from 29 up 32 ° C“

A 2.10 AAT was set for group 2. A difficult pretty marginal day with only ONE finisher team Alberto Sironi /Andrea Venturini in the ARCUS T; 260 km. in time 2.18.
Runner up Jon in his brand new AS 33es/18 m; 146 km. but no finish.
It might be that the day will be cancelled as only 5 flew over 100 km due to a storm around the first TP. Will let you know.

Enough writing for today!!! CU tomorrow with pictures from the prize giving and maybe from the party which will be busy Now [9PM. here in the Netherlands.

“Tonight it’s time for our pilots to relax and sink a few beers. Well done everyone for what turned out to be a challenging comp. The weather threw us some curve balls and I’m sure there are still a few stories to tell.” British Gliding Team

Cheers Ritz

36th WGC for club, standard and 15m. class in Montlucon..France.
8 August 2021 – 20 August 2021

AUGUST 19 2021;
It seems the weather is good enough for small AAT’s.
Looking at the weather-briefing…..mmmmm?????
Hope they are not too optimistic again and have to go to B tasks …hence late starts and too many out-landings, as till now ,the days finished early.[ this time of the year and with the weird pretty dark weather from the last week[‘s].
Today they expect the day to finish around 6 PM.
The warning was again; finish ring is 5km at at 700 m. QNH
If below, penalty is 1 point per meter.
Caution; Inside finish ring ,very few fields are landable.

So on the last but one day we see task 10 for club [ flying day 8 out of 12 till now] and for standard and 15 m. [flying day 7.]
I REALLY hope for both the pilots/ crews and organizers for 2 TOP days!!!
At briefing 2 proud moments for team USA . They have n’t been too lucky till now , so a win for Daniel in club class and a spot 2 for Tim in 15 m. on task 9 was well deserved.

First expected launch today 13.30.
That did not happen…I heard a Frisbee game gave some waiting- joy! Lot’s of socializing around the gliders and waiting till 2PM for new possible launches.
They have got a B task already for when necessary; in each class 15 minutes less.
Grey and no sun, but it should improve, it will clear from the South…..so another difficult day is what Aude the weather- woman said.
Tomorrow should be much better she said as well….increasing temperatures and sunnier skies.
First launches at 14.45…..but the sniffer could not really stay up….he/she slowly got lower and lower….
It takes at least an hour to get everybody in the air, when the thermals indeed stop at 6 , a quick and good start is necessary.
Maybe if the clearance from the South,[ Aude forecasted that ], indeed arrived ,that would be great as sunset is at 18.52 UTC ,..20.52 local time.
Let’s see what happens?!

but later,…INDEED as promised sun and better circumstances. Cloud streets even, best day till now some said!

Club class; 2.15 AAT…B task 2 hour AAT....All preliminary scores are in and only 8 pilots were out from 36.
So a pretty nice late afternoon.
Tom from the UK won in his LS 7 with ONE point difference with Robin from Holland in LS 4;187.88 km in time 2.04 for 172.99 km. in time 2.01 [85.92 for 85.77 km./h]
They all started between 15.53 and 16.15. Both UK pilots Tom and G. started as last in the class. Tom won, G was 5th.[181 km. in time 2.09]
How does it look for tomorrow? Preliminary overall scores now.
1. Uwe 4.305…2. Thies 4.189….3. Stefan 4.160…4. Ferenc 4.094…5. Robin 4.090…6.Tom 4.023.
Some very close EVERYTHING/ANYTHING can still happen.
Only one really good 1000 points day in this class.

Standard class;2.30 AAT...B task 2.15 AAT....St class was the first to go on track. And they did , within 20 minutes they were all on their way.; departure times between 14.30 and 14.51.
AND,…only 2 pilots outlanded!!!!
The teams flew together and team Germany with Jan, Simon and Enrique flew 222 km in time 2.19 , [95 km./h] creating another joint number 1 place for Jan and Simon . Enrique missed out on ONE point.
The Dutch team flew together and Robbie [218 km] and Sjaak[210 km.] were 4 and 5; 92 and 89 km./h.
The Belgian team flew together and were 7 and 8; 2.15 and 212 km in time 2.27 [speed 86 and 87 km./h]
In between, on 6, all by himself Miloslav Cink from Czech. Rep with 223 km. in time 2.32. Not totally alone as team mate Pavel Louzecki was 9th…they started together too.
Danish pilot Filip was the last to finish [27] ,….he did so well in the beginning of the comps.
All these scores are preliminary but for tomorrow I give you already the differences overall.
1. Simon 4.355…2. Jan 4.248….3. Dennis 4.135…4. Jeremy 3.996…5. Enrique 3.931 …6. Norbert 3.924…7. Jeroen 3.907…8. Sjaak 3.875…
Flying together is fun and you help each other, BUT, you can both out land as well.
Scores are so close, we have to see what happens tomorrow.
Tactics…all or nothing…
Due to loosing 4 points for a too low finish there is NO 1000 points day in this class.

15m. class; 2 hour AAT...B task 1.45 AAT….One of the first messages I read before starting was “15 Meter Task We are very skeptical that we are going to get a day in.”
That was too negative. They were the last to go on track and they have the most out landings ;13 from 28 finished!
KAWA -day again with 187.68 km in time 1.49 he was the best. Team Belgian did well here too with a 2d [Manu] and a 4th place Daan.
Start times between 16.12 and 16.20. The last to start was Matthew , he flew 161 km. but could not finish. Mind you ONLY 8 minutes difference in start time, so that could not be the reason. We will surely hear about his flight.

To keep in mind for tomorrow…the overall scores now…
1. Sebastian with 4.163…2. Ricky with 4.091….3. Lucasz 4.008…4. Karel 3.959….5. Matthew 3.944…6. Hadriaan with 3.929 points
all still potential top 3!!
Till now only 1 x a 1000 points day. in 15 m. Hopefully one tomorrow.

Quote of the day; “At last something that was a bit closer to a racing day.“
Back tomorrow with the last day!!!!

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C.C.R. in Rieti.
15 August 2021 – 22 August 2021

The Coppa [Citta de Rieti] had a rest day due to bad weather… “Thunderstorms are forecast on the Terminillo, Rieti Valley, Velino, L’Aquila, the entire southern area of ​​the race field.”
But on Thursday it was back to flying again , task 4, after Aldo had explained in briefing what the criteria were for infringing the firefighting exclusion zone . [Rules of the Air]. On task 2 several pilots did so.

Group 2 got a 402.97 km. set task. Most starts after 2PM. Speedy day with up to 150 km./h.[EB 29DR]
20 from 22 finished. The Bouderliques won the day in their ARCUS M; 148.29 km./h. Alberto in the ARCUS T was runner up with his mate [143.59 km./h] and Jon Gatfield 3d in his AS 33es./18 m.;146 km./h.
3 days to go. I follow them for you.

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In Poland the OSTROW GLIDE 2021 started on August 18 parallel with the Polish National Championship for JUNIORS.

Poland always had, through the years , great glider pilots. They still have!!!!
So it’s interesting to see that so many young ones participate in this junior championship!
In Club class I counted 12 and in standard 19.
In standard, they started yesterday , also with NOT the best weather, but ONE junior Filip Durda, flew the 1.45 AAT in time 1.51 and he flew 135 km. GOOD ON HIM!!!
4 Others flew over 100 km. so a valid day, hard work for nearly no points [81] but a satisfying day.
Most pilots in this class fly a Jantar.
In Club most gliders are juniors. They had a 1.30 AAT , but not enough kilometers [15 was the best, but they tried!!] were flown for a valid day.

They did not fly today in Ostrów Wielkopolski Michałków in Poland.
I keep an eye on it for you.

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CU tomorrow for the last day of the WGC in Montlucon…I really hope for an excellent day, we get better weather here too, but our best day here will be on Saturday.
Don’t let that happen there!!!As so often,… the best weather at prize giving!!!
But what can you do, it is as it is!
I truly hope Aude is right.
Cheers Ritz

Wednesday evening. August 18;
No flying in Montlucon means, more time for writing also for crews, pilots and TC’s. So I searched the internet to see how the people feel in Montlucon.
–—––Tim Taylor, runner up in standard class on task 9 in 15 m. class;
“The day started out dark and didn’t get much better. I thought we going on a one way trip to an outlanding. I hit a big patch of sink after climbing out on my first tow and had to dump my water and relight. I found a good thermal near the gate after the relight and was in position to start when several others were going.”
“Coming out of the third turn I had climbed to the top of the group in the thermal and was able to join with Sebastian Kawa. He still had some water so I couldn’t run with him, but it was nice to have an other glider searching for lift. I knew Sebastian had started well behind me so he would be much faster for the day, but two gliders are much better than one searching for lift in the darkness. There was a little spot of sun on the ground ahead and we still needed one more climb to reach final glide. Fortunately as we reached the sunlight there were several weak thermals developing that got us home. Still amazed we got around in a nearly cloud covered sky and that I will get to stand on the podium tomorrow for the first time at a world’s. #usteamfrance2021

—–WGC 2021 – Day 10 Day scrubbed . Team UK

—-about out-landings;….Terrorizing the French Fields |.Team USA

—-More TEAM USA , they did well, so have a right to more room in this blog
“The excitement really started when the Club Class gliders were approaching the last turnpoint. Thies Bruins (IV) and Daniel had moved well out front and started down the final leg. All of club class was getting low and falling further behind. Daniel and Thies headed home getting out in front of each other several times. Then Daniel approached a thermal that Thies was in, bumped it and kept going. Thies stayed a bit and then moved east a little then turned south. Daniel soon acquired final glide and finished. Meanwhile the rest of Club Class began landing out and trailers began leaving the field.” USA captains report on Daniel winner of task 9 in club class.

—-The German team has several pilots at top spots so they deserve some “room” too in this post.
At this stage Stefan Langer is 5 in club class , his mate Uwe Wahlig, leads in this class and David Bauder is 11 in 15 m.
In standard class they top the overall scores at this time with a 1 and 2 position, with Simon Schroeder and Jan Omsels!!!

—-Matthew Scutter;
“I don’t know whether the wing had too much polish or the thermal phase was out of resonance with the wing or the tanks were full of heavy water, but I just could not manage to string a climb and glide together for the first half of the flight.”

—-Mind you,….in between we have the same lousy weather here in the Netherlands!!!!

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In between I looked at Rieti as well as after the C.I.M. the Coppa Citta de Rieti was flown and a lot of C.I.M participants stayed for that competition too. There are 40 pilots, in the end 34 showed up, divided in 2 groups.
I concentrate on one group, as that’s where most of the pilots I know fly and that just makes writing easier.
After 3 days with good weather, tasks and speed there were 3 different daily winners.
On task 1 it was the French Bouderlique team [ARCUS M] who flew the set task of 383 km. with a speed of 129 km./h.
Runner up was Jon Gatfield from the UK in his AS 33es/18m.;128 km./h.
14 From 23 finished.
Task 2 on August 16 was a prey for the ARCUS T team with Alberto [Sironi] even ,when he like many others, got a penalty; Firefighting exclusion zone infringed (Rules of the Air)
They flew the 433 km. with a speed of 151 km./h.
19 From 23 finished.
Task 3 was won by Alvaro in his ASH 31 Mi 21m.; 149 km./h. during a 2.50 AAT ; 427 km. in time 2.52 good effort!!!!
No flying on Wednesday.

Now most of the big [CAT 1] comps in Europe are over ,some pilots look ahead already to the overseas season in Africa Namibia , Australia and New Zealand.
With covid-19 still hanging around I guess the last 2 might not be an option for this upcoming down -under -season.

—-And news about the Nationals from South Africa;
They will be in Potchefstroom:
“Entries are now OPEN for October Nationals – This will include classes for Club, 15m, and Double-Seater.We will be hosting this in Potchefstroom from 3-9 October 2021, with an official practice day on 2 October. Please visit https://gliderank.com to submit your entry. This is a new system that we have been developing to ease the process of competition admin, and hopefully make it easier for the pilots too. ENTRY DEADLINE IS 4 SEPTEMBER 2021 – thereafter a late entry fee will be applicable.
There will also be a December Nationals for Open and 18m classes in Welkom, more to be communicated about that at a later stage.“

—-and from Kiripotib;
“We are looking forward to our time in Kiripotib. Our gliders will be packed in the containers in two weeks, to arrive in Namibia in time for this years gliding season. If you think of gliding in Namibia, send us your enquiry. We still have Arcus and and Ventus 3M, also in the best time, available. Yesterday we picked up at Schempp-Hirth a new Arcus M. On this glider are also some days free, don’t wait to ask for it.”

and from Bitterwasser; this news is from Mai 23 ,so there might be changes.
“Indeed, everything has already been set up for service at the lodge: Michael Stoltze and Dirk Skura look after the flight office. In the main time they receive additional support. And if something breaks Manfred Dieterle steps into action in the workshop. Many already know him from the previous season. In the kitchen Louis is again responsible for an outstanding menu.
Corona should no longer play a role at the beginning of November. In Germany and Europe everyone should be vaccinated by then. And the lodge staff will be too! Nothing stands in the way of a carefree gliding vacation.
It is already largely certain who the administrators Luzaan and Rodrik van Neel will welcome as guests. Most of the interested pilots have already registered. The containers have been booked out for weeks. And with the charter gliders it is high time to book only a few time slots are still open.
For those interested in safaris: A herd of impalas has now joined the giraffes and zebras.“

—–and from the GRAND FINAL OF THE FAI SAILPLANE GRAND PRIX between September 5 and 11 2021 flown by 20 pilots from different countries organized by the CNVV Saint-Auban
“Joining the 10 pilots who qualified from the events that took place are 8 pilots invited by the cancelled event organizers [ due to COVID- 19]and the SGP team, the reigning champion and a wild card entry for the host country. 
We are pleased to announce there are 20 pilots accepted to compete in the 10^th final from 10 countries. We are looking forward to a very competitive and exciting final in September!”

Hopefully tomorrow is a better day with some good soaring…..no lottery for the last 2 days.
CU then
Cheers Ritz

Wednesday August 18;
Looking back at yesterday and as there is no soaring today there is only Thursday and Friday to go.
Looking back at the scores from August 15, which were very preliminary , when I shared them, there were changes as not Killian won the day in club class,[191 km.] but G Dale; best distance; 195 km. Good on him!!!
NO FINISHERS!!

A total of 74 pilots were out in real or virtual.[coming back on engine-power
18 in 15 m. ….20 in standard and 36 in club class. NOT GOOD!!!!!
It turns out to be more and more and “out-landing” competition.
BUT,…you have to deal with the circumstances you get.
Hopefully this last week [only 4 days] will show all the guests the REAL French weather!

Even the official rest day , yesterday had not nice weather for sightseeing. Rain and overcast, but with an umbrella everything is possible.And I guess a lot needed a good rest after all the travelling, they did not ask for.
A warm tribute for all crews who have to work hard during this competition.
A lot of “thinking” by more than one pilot, about the first week. Again I advise you to read Matthews article about task 8. Here is part of it;
“Unable to feel out the good climbs under the massive cu’s, I dropped all my water for a few low saves and ended up getting very very close to the airfield. The finish ring height is about 350m above ground, and I parked in lift about 2km from the finish ring at 200m above ground, under total overcast with 20kts of headwind. I couldn’t figure out why this thermal didn’t go above 250m or so, nor why it didn’t seem to drift downwind when I circled, requiring aggressive re-centering upwind every turn. Eventually it clicked – this isn’t a thermal – I’m on the ridge. The topography near the airfield is rolling, and in the strong wind this location was making a bit of ridge lift. Unable to go anywhere with this height, and unsure if the field I could see just ahead inside the ring was really safe, I pushed forward until I got that tingly feeling in my toes before an accident, then went back to outland in a little postage stamp of a field I’d been keeping my eye on near the ‘ridge’ – easily the shortest and most difficult outlanding I’ve ever had to do, probably not abnormal by European standards, but I’m used to Australia’s 2500m fields, not 250m fields. The length wasn’t the problem so much as the turbulence necessitating keeping 120kph until near the ground, which made it float a long way, but I got it stopped 10m before the end with only airbrakes and moderate wheel brake.” Matthew Scutter’s Gliding
Pfffff……

Sarah [Arnold] WWGC champion in Lake Keepit, from the USA reflected as well:
“If you win all the time you might forget how to lose. Nobody wants that. When you’re losing you get to a point where you can learn more than any other time. And you have the opportunity to grow in mental strength. You want to be gracious. And at the end you must learn to believe that although you lost you are not a loser.”
INDEED,…..GOOD!!!!

So the WGC continues and what I heard the forecast is not for superb weather. ONLY 4 days to go as Friday is the last flying day and Saturday the prize giving.

Tuesday August 17 ;
Task 9 flying day 7 for club and 6 for standard and 15m.

Club class; 264 km....was launched and the gate was opened straight after the last one was up plus the extra time. The full 264 km. for them AND 2 really flew it and finished. USA pilot Daniel Sazhin and Dutch pilot Thies. Good on them. It took them nearly 4 hours but they were in! That’s more than all the others ,as some have not been finishing at all during this competition.
I get the feeling that pilots and crews after this week are “resigned.”
Another 33 out!
Killian was 3d with 248 flown kilometers!
The overall scores are close ….1. Uwe,2. Thies and 3. Darius 4, Stefan and 5 Ferenc. And look how close they are; 3.700, 3.666,3.640,3.598 and 3.545 points.

standard class; 258 km….now 206 km...launching was postponed and B tasks were handed out. So an hour after club the rest was launched, they could go as well. 19 were in, 10 were out.
Bad day for Filip who was 1 overall but dropped due to an outlanding from 1 to 6. With close scores and a bit of lottery-weather this can happen, but it can go the other way as well over the next 2 days.
Polish pilots Lucasz had the best speed in his Discus 2a;59 km./h. It took him 3.30 hour.
Sarah was on spot 19, the last finisher in this class after nearly 4 hours!!
Close overall scores as well; Simon 3.666, Jan 3.559, Dennis 3.555, Jeremy 3.495 and Norbert 3.471 points.

15 m. class; 294 km... B task..219 km…..as owner of SKYSIGHT, Matthew knows about weather. This was what he mentioned;
“One of the strangest days flying I’ve ever had. 8/8ths overcast of stratus/cumulus/spread out all merging and swirling. The airmass was cold and unstable so just a ray of sun would kick off a few knots, but the wind was oppressive, totally chopping everything up.”
More in his Matthew Scutter’s Gliding

So what happened here in this class?
Sebastian showed why he won so many comps; he flew around with a speed of 81 km./h which was nearly 10 k. faster then Timothy Taylor for the USA , the USA really had a good day!
Dutch pilot Hadriaan had 71 km./h and Aussie Matthew still made the best out of his day with 69 km./h on spot 4.
Only 9 from 28 were in, I even get desponded whilst writing!!!!
Ricky nearly made it, 216 km, so just in or out of the finish circle.
Also here close scores; Sebastian 3.668, Ricky 3.664, Matthew 3.641, Hadriaan 3.621 and Lucasz with 3.565 points.

I was shocked to read the next news from the Belgian team;
“Over the last few days, we also found 2 of our glider sabotaged, this has been shared with the stewards and the organization. Let’s hope they take this seriously and implement additional security measure.”
I sincerely hope so too!!!

To finish. I promised you an update , when I had it, about the fatal accident in Rieti; this one is from AVIATION ACCIDENTS;
“Fatal accident…(8/August/2021)- Italy : A Lange Antares 23E glider, registration D-KVLS, experienced an apparent stall/spin and a subsequent impact with mountainous terrain during the Mediterranean Cup in Rieti, Italy. The glider was destroyed and the sole pilot onboard was fatally injured.“
Sad very sad!

CU later this evening or tomorrow morning. Just heard that the weather is not good today so NO FLYING. Such a pity!!!
Cheers Ritz

36th WGC for Club, Standard and 15 m. in Montlucon
8 August 2021 – 20 August 2021

With good distances , shared at briefing today, Sunday morning August 15, the “bad-weather” period seems over for now.
Meaning less out landings which is good for everybody.
Matthew Scutter’s Gliding still informs you about what pilots deal with in his “way of writing” . He is there, so feels and “lives” this WGC.
He writes , flies well …number 1 at the moment overall…helps out wherever necessary and is adopted by team UK.

This morning I read the first part of his long blog;
“The last two days have had a lot of on-grid surprises. Yesterday as I was getting in my glider I heard a shout of “putain!” from the glider next to me – airbrakes somehow jammed, so I got to help with derigging a fully ballasted glider for them to diagnose it. Today’s challenge was the discovery that there were active parachute drop zones that weren’t in the airspace file just prior to launch, so there was some very quick scrambling of paper maps and pens to avoid a potential disaster.“
Tonight INTERNATIONAL EVENING and after 5/6 days most probably a rest day tomorrow.

Yesterdays winners in 15 m. class;

Yesterdays winner in club class, with 91.96 km./h….. FASTEST of all classes!!!!…was Darius Gudziunas from the Unkraine; here is Darius with his team.

The head quarters of the TC’s are for quite a few at the airfield. High antennas help to keep the contact.

Sunday August 15 ;
Task 8, flying day 6 for club and 5 for standard and 15 m.

“Today, the weather conditions keep on improving and more cumulus clouds are expected in the sky. Competitors will head to the north and northeast on racing tasks of 300km in club class, 350km in standard class and 377km in 15m class. we wish them all a great task !” from the official site.
And then the waiting starts again, though skies rather look nice.
B tasks have been handed out as the weather did not develop according to expectations. First launches postponed!
THEN,….the noise of starting engines and you know it’s about to happen again. 94 gliders will start for their race.
First launches at 13.30.
At 7 PM, only a few scored pilots, and more and more out-landings….what’s happening to the mostly good weather in France,……it does n’t look too good for the International Evening.

Club class; 303 km... changed in 222 km; and then the task still was too long. The Belgian team wrote already “The sky is drying up and for the club class, who were launched last today, the start is looking difficult. The other two classes seem to have had an easier start with better defined clouds. Also the wind is picking up. Let’s hope for the best.“
At 8 PM, no finishers and already 16 out-landings. Some really did well with 186 km!!!!
At 9 PM, still no finishers so the conclusion will be ;ALL visited a French farmer!! No or a late International Evening.
A lot are not yet scored but it looks ,…all preliminary of course… that Killian [Walbrou] won the day with 191 km. Ferenc [Tamas] from Hungary flew 187 km, Thomas [Suchanek] from the Czech Rep .186 03 and Dutch pilot Thies 186.14 km.

standard class; 351 km.... changed in 269 km ; Dennis from Belgium won the day good on him. 84.79 km./h! Unfortunately his best mate and cousin, Jeroen was just out; 266 km. not far from the finish ring. It’s a tough competition!!!
” In standard class, Jeroen en Dennis flew very well again, with Jeroen leading most of the team flight, and Dennis took the lead at the end. Jeroen had to land out just a few km before the finish ring, we feel so sorry for him! Dennis just got some slight better thermals at the end, with a 2nd Belgian day victory as a result! Great team work again, but so unfortunate for Jeroen.”
Belgian Gliding Team
Only 9 pilots finished !!!
Dennis moved from 9 to 6 to 3 now overall.
Filip Bojanowski still leads. The Danish pilot is some kind of quiet achiever and very consistent.

15 m; 377 km….changed in B task 277 km; The scores from 15 m came it first. It was Ricky [Brigliadori] in LEO the JS 3 ,who clearly won the day with a relative late start at 14.50.
96 km./h….. 10 k faster than Laurent. Some others started at 14.19 as did Laurent [Aboulin] who was runner up!
Only 10 from 28 finished. Some landed close by as Matthew after 275 km.
Must be in the finish ring!
Jeroen [Verkuijl] who was runner up yesterday in the overall scores dropped from 2 to 11 and that really hurts!!!! He was out after 222 km. Also the daily winner from yesterday Roman was out after 233 km. dropping from 4 to 10.

AND,….I was hoping for less out-landings!!!!It’s a weird competition!!!
BUT,…you should NEVER give up!!!!

Tomorrow is indeed a very well deserved rest day.
So looking at the overall scores after a pretty difficult first week;
Club:
1. Uwe Wahlig from Germany in LS 3 with 3.151 points.
2. Darius Gudziunas from Lithuania in ASW 20 with 3.079 points.
3. Stefan Langer from Germany in LS 3 with 3.046 points.
4. Thies Bruins from The Netherlands in ASW 20 with 2.996 points.

Standard class;
1.Filip Bojanowski from Denmark in Discus 2A with 3.115 points.
2. Simon Schröder from Germany in LS 8 with 3.091 points.
3. Dennis Huybreckx from Belgium in LS 8 with 2.986 points.
4. Jan Omsels from Germany in Discus 2a with 2.977 points.

15 m. class;
1. Riccardo Brigliadori from Italy in JS 3 with 3.181 points.
2. Matthew Scutter from Australia in Diana 2 with 3.069 points.
3. Hadriaan van Nes from The Netherlands in JS 3 with 3.041 points.
4. Sebastian Kawa from Polands in DIANA 2 with 3.039 points.
5. Lukasz Grabowski from Poland in DIANA 2 with 3.018 points.
6. Karel Novak from Czech Rep. in JS 3 with 3.014 points.
All scores are pretty close so EVERYTHING is possible in the 2d week.
All scores are still preliminary!!!!

Still perfect soaring weather in Rieti by the way.
Yesterday 4 good flights from just over 1000 km. by Vittorio Pinni and Roberto Sala in the Duo Discus XLT.
And a just over 1000 k in a Ventus 2ct18m.
992 [ARCUS M] and 988 k.[Ventus 2ct/18m] and 915 [ ASW 24] , were other good flights.

CU on Wednesday again , with a day off in Montlucon tomorrow and visitors on Tuesday for me.
Cheers Ritz

FIRST a great picture by Arne [Boye-Moeller] on the last C.I.M. -day.

And as promised some pictures from the prizegiving.

————————————————————————–

Further on the as always fantastic organized FCC in Prievidza finished on a high with a 458 km. task in the combi- class won by German pilot Michael Streit in AS 33/18m.
15 m. Had to fly 404 km with the 2 Czech “Jana’s ” on a 2d and 5th place.
Jan Kotan won the day,……he won 6 days in total in his Ventus 2b/15m.!!!!!
4 From 10 were out.
In Club 370 km. with as last daily winner Ivan Novak in the St Cirrus. With a huge lead he was the overall winner as well.
They flew 10 out of 13 days. .GOOD!!!!

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WGC in Montluçon-Guéret, France
8 August 2021 – 20 August 2021

The preliminary scores from Friday…yesterday….in standard class changed a bit when they were official. Happens more with AAT’s…no worries.
2 Daily winners NOW,…Jeroen [Jennen] from Belgium and Simon [Schroeder] from Germany with equal points; 767.
Total different circumstances…Jeroen started his 2.30 AAT at 15.36 and flew 244 km in time 2.52 . Simon started at 15.55 and flew 230 km. in time 2.42.
Both fly an LS 8 , both on a joined spot 1.Speed 84.85 km./h
Dennis [Huybreckx] was 3d with 753 points.
Enrique [ Levin] was 4th. His brother just won in open class the C.I.M. in Rieti.
Also in club 2 first places by Tom and Jake.

AND
by Jeroen and Simon.

And the 15 m. winners

Saturday August 14 ;
Task 7…flying day 5 for club and 4 for Standard and 15 m.

Clearly better weather, a bit more French!!! So “work” to do.
By the way I noticed a nice video on you tube about the accommodation from the German team in France, NO not at the camping or a B&B or motel , but in a real CASTLE, with it’s own runway and an military aircraft wreck. NOT TOO BAD!!!!
The briefing was not flawless, I read.
“The airspace briefing was a total disaster, with an incomplete airspace file and 2 changes within 30 minutes after the briefing ended. Anyway, launching is scheduled for 13h00 and it looks like we will start as foreseen for the first time. The forecast was blue thermals around Montlucon and cumulus clouds in the north, but clouds are already forming overhead the airfield. So, better than forecast, nice! It looks to be a very good day with nice tasks!” Belgian Gliding Team. They are very GOOD in informing us on a frequent base. Good on them!!!!
There are 2 ladies performing in this WGC. Sarah from the USA and Diana from Luxembourg.

Club class; 3.30 AAT...The clouds disappeared earlier than thought so a pretty difficult day again and a challenging last leg .
Darius Gudziunas won the day in his ASW ….not TOO BAD as it was 1000 points-day! He flew 339 km. in time 3.41 and was the only pilot with a speed over 90 km./h
Again some warning points entering the finish ring. I checked the height and it is 300 m AGL and 700 MSL.
Robin found on final glide a thermal up to 1600 m so it was a good final glide and day for him; 3d spot for today!!!

Standard class; 3 hour AAT...Norbert Scarlat from Romania flew his Discus 2a over 308 km. in time 3.30.
Only 1 from 29 out, so a good day, specially for a few who had to outland a few times.
A good day but also a tricky day though there were cloud streets with thermals from 2.5/3 m. p.s. in the West up to 1600 m. BUT,…. the best weather till now according to Jacek Flis from Poland. ]5th for the day]

15 m. class; 3 hour AAT...Good day for the Dutch again. Frequent WGC pilot Jeroen Verkuijl was runner up behind Czech top pilot Roman Mracek.
4 JS 3 gliders in the top 4 as Dutch mate Hadriaan was on 4 and Czech mate Karel Novak on 3.
Hadriaan had a very early start as he noticed how the clouds more and more disappeared. He found Robin [club class] on his way and for a while they flew together and helped each other. With lift up to 1200/1300 m. they could finish rather easily.
3 out in this class. No warnings but penalties for the finish height for 5 pilots amongst them Laurent, Sebastian and Lucasz who started and finished [too low] together and were on a daily spot 19,20 and 21. Moving from 1/2 to 5/6 overall.
Max Seiss had no penalty points but must have had a tough “ride” he had the longest flight of the day;4.21.56. Pretty unusual for him.

Mind you all scores from today are preliminary.

More news when there is more!
International night tomorrow, good weather as well…they say.
Cheers Ritz

WGC in Montluçon-Guéret, France
8 August 2021 – 20 August 2021

Friday August 13;
TASK 6..flying day 4 for club, 3 for standard and 15 m.

After the ” thunderstorm-related-race” back and landings with nearly all competitors at the field , another day in the books in which the weather refused to be kind during this first week of the WGC.
Some,[ club and 15 m. ] were ready before the rain, a lot of the standard class , who were on track already, had to dry the glider or divert to Issoudun. But as always in hectic situations, EVERYBODY helps out !!!!!

So on Friday, the 13th….today, a new day started, not blue, but grey this time, HOT and HUMID….hence not too long tasks. First launches not before 2PM….2.30. “
Weather improved, “the layer of high clouds has disappeared and thermals are generally well marked with cumulus clouds.”

Club class ; 2 hour AAT...
I was waiting already for a daily-win from Jake and Tom from the UK. Today it happened.,…both started and finished together in their LS 7WL and both are on spot 1. [ 2.14 km. in time 2.12] Behind them the LS 3 gliders from Stefan and Uwe with 2.13 km. in time 2.12.
Late starts again , just before or after 4 PM.
2 were out and 3 not yet scored!
” Average speeds in the club class were the highest of all classes. ”

Standard ; 2.30 AAT....
My Belgian mates had a real good day on spot 1 and 3 with Simon[Germany] in between. Dennis and Jeroen flew 244 km. in time 2.52/54. Congratulations guy’s!
“A new day of success! For the first time all pilots of our team landed back on the airfield! Our standard class pilots were not convinced of their performance after the flight, it’s difficult to compare to other gliders in flight with an AAT. However, they did an outstanding flight today and finished 1st and 3rd! Congrats to Jeroen en Dennis for their great team work!! ” Belgian Gliding Team
5 From 29 were out!

15 m. ; 1.45 AAT... When they were launched, most gliders already in the air ,were struggling between 400 and 800 m. But the promised better weather they found straight away on track.
All starts were after 4 PM .
190 km. was flown by Max and Laurent [France] in 2 hours in their JS 3.
3 Diana’s followed with Matthew, Lucasz and Sebastian. And the 2 Dutch pilots Jeroen and Hadriaan [JS 3]
“15m class pilots had difficulty on the way to the first sector and already had to dump some water ballast early in the flight. Nice clouds, but broken and weak thermals.” Belgian Gliding Team
24 from 28 finished!

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LAST DAY OF THE C.I.M. in Rieti.

This version of the C.I.M. was as moving as my last one , somewhere in 2010/11.
I guess you never forget the year a mate died in competition, due to our sport.
In open class Peter Hartmann, went back home after loosing his mate. I do understand.
But as said, life goes on, so the last day was an interesting one, with small tasks.
With 9 out of 11 days, better than anywhere in Europe at the moment, including one already announced rest day after 6 days of flying and one “reflex-” day, you might still call Rieti the MECCA of SOARING.
The weather for today;
“The African anticyclone carries north west wind currents rich of moisture in the medium and high altitude. In north east area NE surface wind.
Good convergences!”
Cumulus base: from 3.000 m up to 4.000;
Temp. Max 35/37 ° C

Combi class; 2.20 AAT….
still possibilities to win for a few teams.
3 Dutch pilots involved; Team van Houweninge with Austrian mate Hallbrucker are on spot 1 with 6.609 points.
Joost and Eric …by the way all 3 Dutchies are members of the Gelderse where my grand children fly…have 6.429 points and only 2 points less it s a strong Italian team ,former world champion Stefano Ghiorzo with Roberta Passardi. I never underestimate Alberto Sironi either , he is on 6.303 points and with him you never know!
I forgot another speedy pilot Vittorio Pinni …..AND,..he won the last day….in the Duo Discus XLT!
346 km. in time 2.19,58!!!!!So 148 km./h another fast day.
The toppers were all with the first 7 :
Final result in the combi class is ;
1. Van Houweninge & Hallbrucker in ARCUS M with 7.314 points.
2. Borgmann & Wolff in ARCUS T with 7.141 p.
3. Ghiorzo & Passardi in ARCUS T with 7.110 p.

18 m. class; 2.45 AAT...and 404 km…pff …speed 147 km/h!!!! By Arne Boye Moeller….good on him. A late start , just after 2 PM. He moved from 7 to 5.
Davide, ….did I see well on pictures that he has 4 children????….was 3d.
3 Airspace violations spoiled the day for 3 pilots.
Overall scores;
1.Davide Schiavotto in JS 3 with 7.793 points.
2. Jon Gatfield [UK] in AS 33es with 7.260 p.
3. Felix Schneebeli [Switzerland] in Ventus 3TP with 6.916 p.

Open class; 2.15 AAT...
It’s all about Michael and Felipe. Today it was Michael, who flew with a speed of 168 km./h 378 km. in 2 hours and 13 minutes. Felipe was a tad slower; 700 and 697 points. Those EB 29R’s are “mighty machines” certainly with top pilots in them.
Final scores;
1. Felipe Levin in EB 29R with 6.499 p.
2. Michael Sommer in EB 29R with 6.398 p.
3. Markus Frank in EB 29R with 6.245 p.

The huge mountains where the pilots fly to and over, are the Terminillo which I was at the highest top you can go to, looking at gliders passing by at eye-height,….very spectacular and the Grand Sasso.
You can see the Terminillo from the field.
The other mountain the GRAND SASSO, I only heard of , but CD Aldo shared a picture.
Seen by many pilots flying in the Rieti area.

The prize giving was modest, even after such a fabulous C.I.M. but loosing a mate does n’t invite for a huge wild party.
CD Aldo asked for ONE minute of silence dedicated to Christian.
The 4 women flying in this comps [also in the 2 seaters] got flowers from the president of the club.

And as always a BIG THANK YOU to the tuggies.

Hopefully this weekend some more pictures .

Cheers Ritz

WGC in Montluçon-Guéret
8 August 2021 – 20 August 2021

After a few difficult days, they have arrived at task 4. I had to leave yesterday early, so I checked the preliminary scores from Tuesday first….on task 3.
In the end all 36 were scored in Club class, with 3 pilots not flying over 25 km.
Some pilots still struggle with the finish altitude, no wonder when tasks are so marginal. There is a minimum altitude to cross the finish cylinder;
John Good from the USA wrote about club class :
“ In Club class, of 36 pilots, 27 finished the 128 km task – but only ten of these managed to cross the finish cylinder above the minimum altitude. Curiously, five of the finishers incurred penalties big enough to yield scores lower than some of the outlanded pilots – they’d have improved their scores by landing just short of the finish cylinder.  (I’d thought that – as US rules do – WGC rules had a provision that avoided this strange incentive.)“
Anyhow task 3 was won by Austrian pilot Miquel Schwan in LS 4WL followed by Robin Smit [LS 4] from Holland both flew just up and under 60 km./h.
Robin was not unhappy/ ” reasonable happy” he called it , with this blue day,..” the beginning was tricky and everybody came low , but later it was more stable with quite good thermals, and a higher inversion” .He was pleased with his” reasonable” final glide AND,” I did n’t finish too low today“
23 from 36 finished! Most starts after 5 PM.
In standard class all 29 were scored now, but the result I wrote was the same .
In 15 m. only 5 from 28 finished!!!! So not a good day for them a [blue] day with alto cu’s adding to the struggles of the pilots.
The sniffer had to sniff twice and was both times quickly back, but pilots had to try and do better.

August 11;task 4 flying day 3 for club and standard ; 15 m. flying day 2.

A day pretty similar as the day before, with again many out-landings. BUT,….
“Today’s briefing brought us A and B tasks of between 110km and 150km for all classes. Rather small tasks, as weather forecast is a tiny bit better than yesterday, but we thought it was a reasonable decision as tonight is the French Evening Party, so it would be nice if all pilots have the chance to land back at the airfield. Then, at 12 o’clock we got the surprise message of the day that a larger C task is activated, and that we have to keep A and B tasks as alternatives. Organization is doing their best to have a little surprise everyday. Today’s launch order is club, 15m, std. class, and is now scheduled at 14:00.” Belgian Gliding Team

Club class; 166.65 km….With around 84 km./h the German pilots Uwe [Wahlig ] and Stefan [Langer] , both in LS 3, won a day with less outlandings in their class. As far as I have followed them both real good pilots.
Most of the club- pilots went on track around 15.23. I was a bit sad to see that Killian [Walbrou] and Eric [Bernard] from France ,flying together both in LS 7,were OUT after 96 km. Killian is a former WGC champion and in Finland I had a nice interview with him about his military helicopter mission. A nice guy and a top-pilot.
Also G Dale from the UK was out,…a pity.
So 5 out from 36,…not too bad!

St. class; 170.68 km….they were the last at the grid, to be launched and stayed around the start line, as nobody wanted to go. BUT,…NOT Luca Urbani from Italy in his Discus. He left straight away at 15.46,… some others ONE hour later….and Luca was the ONLY ONE to fly and finish the task. Smart move!!! Good on you Luca!
So 29 from 30 OUT!!!! Luca was the only one over 100 km, 9 over 90 km…. so an invalid day!
Team UK wrote;” Hopefully you will have realized from the lack of updates we have been busy bees. Lots of trailer racing. We did have finishers well done Tom and Jake.[ In club class] Everyone else ended up dotted around the beautiful French countryside.”

15 m. class; 202.10 km....3 x a DIANA 2 in the top 4!!! Sebastian, Matthew, and Lucasz. Daan Spruyt from Belgium was on spot 3 with a real good flight in his Ventus 2ax.
They were the only 4 finishers from the 27 still flying in this class!!!
Sorry to say,…but the rest was OUT!!!! It was difficult to get height to fly over the line.
20 flew between 100 km. and 193 km.
According to Sebastian ,who won the day, was “dumping water in time ” the clue of the day…..very weak thermals and light gliders.
His first time flying the Diana empty. According to him his mate Lucasz dumped a bit too late and was 4th.
The French who know the area well, started and went ahead , Sebastian stayed with a group. With 0.6 they progressed slowly forward. Going ahead was “wrong” in the end, as the forest the French moved too, did n’t work.
here is Matthew;
“A day of lows and lows, weather worse than the day before with 1-2kt blue thermals to 3000ft AGL at best. The wing loading range really is showing as the critical factor here – those of us in Diana’s are not afraid to play start games until late, because we can climb much better in the end of day thermals than the turbo and jetted V3 and JS3’s. Eventually some of the heavy gliders seemed to panic start and the whole gaggle started moving, but it was too late – 80km from home the thermals dropped to 0.5kts and while we could eek towards home, the heavier gliders all either lit up or outlanded beneath us. I finally climbed in 1kt for 3000ft onto a 48:1 glide and crossed the finish line with 30ft, one of the only finishers.”
The day was NOT over for him!!!
“Then the fun started. My undercarriage folded up beneath me on landing – there’d been a heavy landing(?) some time in the past which had been fixed(?), but it seems there was more delamination below the repair which had given way and the whole undercarriage packed up. Through the heroic efforts of Jake Brattle, Tom Arscott, Jon Pring, with advice from Sebastian Kawa and Lukas Grabowski, we stayed up most of the night repairing the glider in Thierry’s workshop. I can now fly again today, albeit with only partially closing undercarriage doors. D2 lives to fight another day, but it’s again very difficult conditions and fatigue has long since set in. Hopefully we can survive until a rest day.“

By the way, I did not read or see anything about the French night!!!

August 12; Task 5 .. flying day 4 for club and 3 for standard and 15m

Finally the better weather arrived hence slightly bigger tasks and hopefully less out landings!!But it was waiting again…..The sniffer “sniffed” and had to land again.
“Today we will have the first AAT tasks of the championship, standard class will launch first for a 3h task. The two other classes, club and 15m class, will go up for a 2h30m AAT task. Weather will be mostly blue thermals again with a possibility of cumulus clouds and even thunderstorms in the late afternoon and evening. Temperatures are creeping up everyday, it’s about 30°C now and much warmer on the hot asphalt runway. Max for today will be 32-33°C. Staying cool and hydrated on the grid is very important for the pilots. First launch is pushed back to 13h15” Belgian Gliding Team

Club class; 2.30 AAT...
Standard class;3.hour AAT,...
15m; 2.30 AAT….
and then the message;
“All 3 classes scrubbed in the air. Impending thunderstorm approaching. Runway is somewhat busy at the moment.”
Pffff,…. not a lot of luck for the pilots and the organizers.
BUT…. seeing it on the sunny side…NO out landings today!!!!
Though,…as everybody was in the air, some standard class pilots already over the start line, all gliders had to land back at the airport. Some returned in the rain and got a hand from many to de-rig quickly, a few went to the airport of Issoudun.
HECTIC ,… was the most used word for this mass-landing!!!
What I heard the decision from the CD was indeed the correct one!!!
And what happened to Matthew today? “My new undercarriage passed it’s test of a full ballasting, launch and landing, so I can continue the contest. Will tackle the gear doors in coming days.“

NOT a lot of overall points of course after 3 flying days in club after nearly one week;
1.303 for Dutch pilot Thies Bruins…..1.288 for Uwe Wahlig[Germany] and 1.191 for Rasmus Orskov [Denmark]
In standard class the overall scores are after 2 valid days; 672 for Danish pilot Filip Bojanowski…659 for Jeremy Hood from the UK and 645 for Sjaak Selen from The Netherlands.
In 15 m.Sebastian Kawa from Poland leads after nearly a week and 2 valid days with 1.104 points followed by Polish mate Lucasz Grabowski with 1.097 and Aussie Matthew Scutter with 953 points. All 3 fly a DIANA 2. Followed by 4 JS 3 gliders.

Another part of John’s report . I met John at many occasions and he truly is a nice guy!! VERY wise, certainly when you talk soaring. AND his reports are really GOOD READING.
“The WGC2021 task area is something impressive: 240 turnpoints cover an area about 40% the size of France.  In theory, pilots here could be sent north almost to Paris, or northwest to Mont Saint Michel (just over 400 km from Montluçon-Guéret airport). Only a few turnpoints are found in the rising ground south of here, presumably because landability declines there.  But we’re now told that this vast collection has been deemed inadequate, and we will soon receive an updated collection.  The idea is apparently to add some points near home, the better to cope with weak soaring conditions.  Whether this can be accomplished smoothly remains to be seen.”

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The C.I.M. in Rieti
August 3-August 13.

A few days to go after the heavy circumstances specially for the open class pilots, who had to deal with the loss of a mate.
Task 7 was cancelled due to the weather and the day before NO task was set to reflect and mourn.
Then there was
Task 8;
Combi class; 2.10 AAT…140 km./h for the Bouderliques in their ARCUS M. 309 km. in time 2.12.
[I guess] Sylvain [Gerbaud] and Arnaud in the ARCUS T were runner up.
20 in 3 out!
18 m. class; 2.30 AAT...354 km was flown in the AS33 by Jon Gatfield in time 2.29,…brilliant! Davide was a good runner up ….missing out on ONE point!!! Arne was 3d …all started more or less together.
22 from 24 still in competition , 3 out.
Open class; 2.15 AAT...sadly enough only 9 flying in this class now. I do understand!!!!
6 Pilots from Germany and 1 from Austria and 2 from Spain.
347 km by Filipe in time 2.22 gave him a runner up spot behind Arne Neumayr in the JS 1 c/21m.

Task 9 today ; with good convergences. Cumulus base: from 3.000 m up to 4.000; temp. max 35/37 ° C.
Combi class; 451 km…With a speed of 134 km./h Stefano Ghiorzo and his mate seem to have won, the day; preliminary 1000 points.
They are 3d overall at this stage , 2 points behind my Dutch mates Eric and Joost.
14 From 22 finished. Off day for the Bouderliques , they were out after 276 km. loosing nearly 700 points. OUCH….that hurts…
18 m. class; 528 km….Davide turns out to be a REALLY excellent pilot now. Another daily win for him.;153 km./h “gives” him the 1000 points.
At this stage with one day to go he is overall, more than 500 points ahead on runner up Jon Gatfield in the new ASes 33.
3 were out
open class; 507 km….The EB combination with Felipe is a great one; 1000 points and 147 km./h on the clock. He leads with less than 100 points on Michael, when they fly again tomorrow for the last day.
Good to see Alvaro flying again in his ASH 31 MI/21 m. Runner up today!!!
yesterday he was the best ,Arne Neumayr, today he was unfortunately out, after 362 km. A pity.
Scores from today are preliminary.

Tomorrow or Saturday, depending on what happens, the final/last day of the C.I.M. and the continuing story on the French WGC, with hopefully much better weather, but it is as it is!!!
Cheers Ritz

Storms in CIM 2021!https://youtu.be/_-ACXjqLhOI
Great short video “Raiders of the storm” with Alberto Sironi and A. Venturini.