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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So does the Dutch table;

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All scores from HusBos and Lasham; preliminary.

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

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

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

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

One more day to go.

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

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