“Namibia at its best.…….was the message I read.
Now the 1000s and 1100s are tumbling in Namibia. Some teams that have missed the big plus have to be jokingly asked in Michael Stoltze’s briefing in the morning: What was going on? Less than 1100 k?Wilfried Großkinsky and Bitterwasser Cup winner Eric Schneider set the bar on Wednesday: 1.270 kilometers, average speed 160 kph! The EB28 team achieved the best average speed over several hundred kilometers on the tailwind leg from the northwest to the southeast with 225 kph. After a good 100 to 150 kilometers journey in blue thermal, the first clouds were reached and the race along the lines could begin. The only question was: along the line up very close to the showers in the east or along those further facing the sun. In the evening, one had to take the maximum altitude and start the final approach through the blue over 150 kilometers back to Bitterwasser.

Yes what- a- day AGAIN!!!!Another 25x, a 1000 from Namibian airfields. And more to come as it is HIGH SEASON!!!
So on Thursday Markus Frank flew 1.300 km in his EB 29 from Kiripotib and another 23 Namibian over 1000-km-flights.
Friday was a more quiet day wit 2x a 1000 plus from Veronica, in Arcus M and TWINSHARK.
Saturday another 4x an 1.100 km-plus and another 15 1000 km’s.
Sunday was already day 5 from the 1000 km-camp for young pilots and Nils Fecker who started in Bitterwasser on December 6 with a 500 km introduction- flight in the EB 28 and an other one in this EB , flew now 1.090 km and then another 2 1000 km flights in the Ventus 3.
Monday was a TOP DAY again.
What about 1.321 km in the EB 29 from Alexander Mueller; speed 149 km./h
AND an FAI triangel from 1.171 km and a total of 1.253 km. by Markus Frank also in the EB 29.
Nothing wrong of course with the ARCUS M or TWINSHARK; on top 1 and 3 of the world wide OLC list that day.
And what about young Nils in “his” Ventus 3 M on the 7th day of the CAMP; 1.232 km. speed 150 km./h!!!!
And another 21x 1000km.plus flights….. 6 over 1.200 km.
It looks like a top year for long distances, though I hear they sometimes “struggle” with showers and “BLUE” as well.

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—-John Welsh shared news about wave flying in Australia;
“Some Beverley Soaring pilots and their gliders are operating out of the Wave Rock/Hyden airfield until next week on a cross country camp. They had some wave in the sky today as well as in the rock!”
LOOKING GOOOODDD!!!!!

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—-AND,…Sunraysia Gliding Club this news
“1000km flight flown from Sunraysia!Last week James winch launched early and came home late to an excited little crowd on sunset.The flight is up on WeGlide:
https://www.weglide.org/flight/114285
This is only the second 1000km flown from SGC, with the first being Steve O’Donnell in about 1982 – also in an LS3! Hopefully many more good flights left in this season”
A 1.012 km. free distance in an LS 3.
James Nugent was the pilot on November 29. I know James as a junior. A real talented young guy and [then when I met him] very involved with JoeyGlide.
Good on you James!!!!
“Winch launched out of Sunraysia on a 750 FAI. Realized on the second leg that some extension would be possible so improvised. Struggling to get home, fired up the SkySight convergence forecast and found a couple of knots of netto to come home on“
shared by Gliding Australia

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—-I promised you the progress of the 68th Argentinian National flown between December 6 and 17.
Standard class; 15 pilots.
Day 1 was cancelled .
Day 2 ..2 hour AAT….won by Nicolas Verdura in LS 4. ..213 km. in time 2.07
Day 3 ..3.30 AAT…now we “speak”…406 km in time 3.30 at the dot by Cristian Franzini in LS 4….and a speed of 116 km./h
By the way….8 LS 4’s in the top…AND a 1000 points-day!!!!
Day 4..2 hour AAT…and not an LS 4-day as 3 St Jantars and a Pegase were in the top 4, with a speed of 114 km./h.

Combie /15m class; 21 pilots.
Day 1 cancelled.
Day 2...2.30 AAT …won by Jose Dentone a well-known name in Argentinian soaring. Runner up ,…another well-known name, Lucas Goldenzweig . Both fly ASW 20., as do 14 other pilots in this class.
Day 3…3.30 AAT...404 km by Sebastian Luengo yes in ASW 20….1000 points for him; spoeed 115 km./h
Day 4…2 hour AAT and the same 2 winners as on day 2….128 km.h over 260 km.

Open /18 m class; 15 pilots.
day 1…cancelled.
Day 2…3 hour AAT.…327 km was the best result in time 3.05 in an 18m. Ventus CM. Winner in Ventus CM but 17.5 [handicap 115 against 118 for the 18 m version] Lucas Berca. Santiago Berca was runner up. Damian Goldenzweig, who I met for the first time somewhere in Sweden at the WGC was 3d.
5x a Ventus in the top 5.
Day 3…4 hour AAT...and Damion just won before Santiago;491 in time 4.02,26 and 490 km. in time 4.02, 41…speed of 121 km./h and 5 points difference between the 2.
Day 4…2.30 AAT...Juan Pablo Verdura won the day, ..315 km in time 2.16 but a nice speed of 139 km./h.

These Argentinian Nationals had , as you can see above, 3 days of flying till now and 4 cancelled days .
After those 3 days , 7 LS 4’s on top in Standard class, also 7 ASW 20’s in the combie class and 4 18m Ventus 2cM’s in open/ 18 m.
Yesterday they flew ,day 4 out of 9 till now and 2 hour AAT’s for 4 LS 4’s with 117 km./h not bad after the rain.
5 ASW 20’s even had between 121 and 123 km./h during their 2 hour AAT and 2 of “the big brothers ” 18m. Ventus 2CM, flew with a speed of 120 km./h. over a 2.30 AAT.
To be more precise…..Damion won with 121.22 km./h over 303 km and Santiago 120.8 km. over 302.74.
Damian leads at this stage with 3.386 points before Santiago with 3.362.
But it ain’t not over yet!

More next week with hopefully better weather and some great flights.

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—-The Victorian State comps finished on December 11 and were won by David Meredith in CLUB class in his St Jantar; 47 points!!
After 4 days it was Jack Hart in the Mosquito on spot 2 with 44 points and Tocumwal pilot/mate Grant Heany was on the 3d spot with 41 points.
In 15 m/standard it was Matt Gage he won in the Discus CS with 32 points. That was only ONE point more than Mike Durrant in his 15m.LS8. with 31 points.
In open/18 m. John Orton won 2 days as did Joris Vainius both in an 18m ASG 29. With ONLY one point John won before Joris; 31 and 30 points.

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—On December 11 the South African Nationals started till December 19, in 2 classes, from Welkom Airport; open/18 m [ 17 pilots] and sports class.[3]
They are so kind to share daily news on FB. BUT,…yes then there should be news.
I read; “Since many of the pilots have access to zoom, the briefings from tomorrow will actually be held via zoom – unfortunately the current omicron variant of covid seems to be a super-spreader, so everyone is needing to be cautious and not gather in the clubhouse.”
GOOD!!!
The first flying-days however were WET. Hence,…no soaring.
Last Monday ,December 13, there was hope for yesterday:
“Shortly before 12 noon – although the weather has remained dry at the airfield, and there is some clearing to the SW, there is also a lot of weather coming over the airfield from the north and eastern parts.
So the day has been cancelled and no flying.
Being eternally optimistic – we will hope for a better day tomorrow.“
NO flying so time for other important things Attie must have thought:
“Attie Jonker, the chief design engineer at JS, has the privilege to compete with the JS2 Revenant at the SA Nationals in Welkom, accompanied by his brother Uys in a JS3 Rapture.“The handling of the JS2 in 18m is just mind blowing… this is definitely a glider I want to have.” Attie ecstatically explains.A small bit of history is made with all JS models (JS1A, JS1B, JS1C, JS2, JS3) participating in this competition. Results can be followed: https://www.soaringspot.com/…/2021-south…/results

There were tasks for the 14th of December; A..B..and C…between 250 and 291 km.
The weather; “It is expected to be blue to the S and E, with some nice cumulus, and by 4 p.m. it could get to 14 000 ft at Welkom, but the temperature does need to get to 30 deg and of course the lower levels are still very moist. A line of storms is expected from Kimberley to Bloemfontein in a NW/SE direction moving from the SW from about 5 p.m., so competitors are advised to be back on the ground by then.” shared by South African Nationals
The start was delayed to 1 PM, so a short race before the bad weather would arrive at 5.
The 17 pilots in 18m/open had to go for a2 hour AAT. This was the A task but now in the form of a 2 hour AAT. At 2.23 the gate opened.
AND,…it turned out to be quite a good day with Attie in the JS2 as daily winner;244.86 km in time 1.55,36.
That was just ahead of his brother Uys in the JS 3 TJ, who missed out on 8 points. Oscar was 3d and brother Laurens missed the start gate so was 11th loosing at least 100 points.

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—-There were many readers for the subject on the 10th WWGC. Many reactions as well.
To be fair to ALL, I share the words from the president of the GFA[ Gliding Federation of Australia] Steve Pegler on December 10, as well;
“Dear Members,

The determination by the FAI International Appeals Tribunal of the WWGC Australian team appeal is now in the public domain. I have received several phone calls and emails from members seeking clarification of the GFA’s position. I will give you some background and information explaining the Board’s approach to this matter.

Following the competition in early 2020 the Gliding Australia Board appointed an investigator to examine the circumstances around the penalty applied against the team and to make recommendations to the Board for further action. Everyone has access to those findings and the Board’s general acceptance of the report. The team decided to lodge an appeal, but as the Board had decided not to support such an appeal, it was lodged directly through the Air Sports Australia Confederation (ASAC) that is the GFA’s and its members’ link to the FAI.

Throughout the appeal process there have been serious concerns from both the team and ASAC as to the way in which the appeal has been handled with the appeal processes being questioned. In August this year the team approached the Board and requested financial support, should the team lose its appeal, to mount a final appeal to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS). The Board considered the matter and decided that it would not provide financial support to the team for defence of an applied penalty. However, the Board was satisfied that there were inadequacies in the appeal process. The Board is strongly of the view that any GFA member has a right to be treated in a manner that ensures procedural fairness and should be supported in that quest, and hence made the following determination: 
“The GFA Board believes there is prima facie evidence that the FAI’s handling of the Australian WWGC team appeal is flawed. Should the team fail to win their current appeal to the FAI, the GFA will provide $5,000 to the team to assist with legal costs in mounting an appeal to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport to ensure the team has been treated according to the principles of procedural fairness. “

The issues associated with the WWGC have created vastly polarised opinions and I understand the Board’s decision may be considered controversial and will further aggravate some people. Comments in various magazines, social media,  emails and forums have contained differing accounts, opinions, conjecture and blame. Members should understand that the Board has acted not to defend the charges against the team per se, but rather to defend the team’s right to have their appeal conducted in a manner that will ensure their appeal has been considered in a just and fair manner. Whether you support the penalty that has been applied against the team or not, I would like to think that we would all defend a person’s right “to have their day in court”. Giving our members and pilot representatives a “fair go” is important, for something that affects their reputation and wellbeing.

It is my understanding that not all members of the team are supporting the appeal to ICAS. Once the team has lodged its appeal with ICAS a final decision will be handed down within 6 months. 
Regards,
Steve.

So far the opinion of the president of the GFA.

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To finish this funny but oh so true story from Kerrie, who can be so witty.
“When I arrived in Benalla last week for the Vic state comps, the word round the airfield was “shoulda been here last week – we were doing > 700k in club class”
During the comp we lost 3 days to rain and flew 4 days battling strong winds, total overdevelopment, more winds and blue.
Today as I leave Benalla, the word round the airfield is “gunna be 10,000′ today, should stay this week!
“And as I drive home this is the view…Ahhhh good to know some things in life never change!”

And she was right.
Sunday was pretty good down-under . Tobias [Geiger] flew 876 km in a 15.m. Ventus 2AX from Benalla and Matt Woodhouse 574 km[ 500 k. FAI triangle] in a Hornet!!!”Excellent Cu day“
From Temora Mac flew in his JS 3 719 km and Akemi 625 in the LS 8.

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And to really finish now, I have to tell you as a DUTCHIE about MAX. Yes, F1 driver Max Verstappen from The Netherlands . Together with 7 times World Champion Lewis Hamilton ,he started on the last day in Abu Dhabi with exactly the same amount of points. The daily winner would be the WORLD CHAMPION.
IF,….yes the IF, Mercedes drivers Lewis and Valteri had not “kicked him off the track ” in earlier races, Max would have been world champion already weeks ago.
BUT,…last Sunday it looked like Lewis was going to win. His start was much better and he managed to stay ahead of Max, nearly till the end. Not for nothing the 7 times world champion in the best car.
Checo [Perez] was a great help this race “A legend” Max called him.
The orange legion became more and more silent, but with Checo’s driving the grandstand woke up again!!!!
Then a miracle happened! The yellow flag ……the safety car up front…only 5 rounds to go….would this magic year , the best ever in Formula 1, finish behind a safety car as an anti climax?????
NO…..CD Marco Masi rightly, decided to finish this season in style.
Lewis upfront and Max behind him, could drive their last round.
A bizarre round with real EPIC racing.
Max with new tires ,but very painful , massive cramp in his leg, managed to pass by ,to just beat Lewis before the line. This time Max finally was the lucky one.
I was stunned…in tears and as a MAX fan, extremely happy.
Sir Lewis was gracious in defeat , congratulating Max. Mercedes was less gracious, as they started straight away with complaints, as they did all year.
” After filing two unsuccessful protests, Mercedes has indicated it intends to appeal to the FIA over the controversial finish to the season-ending race.”
I do understand however the British fans from Lewis, when it would be the other way around WE would be disappointed too.
Sport history was written!!!!!

CU next week
Cheers Ritz