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

First of all Liz with her view on yesterday;
“An impending front with high winds tipped the race director to cancel the club class early and just grid 18m and Standard with the chance to do minimum distance tasks in a short weather window. 1145 the grid began launching into a quickly changing sky. The first half of the race was under the sun with some stronger thermals present. The pilots were pleasantly surprised with the good conditions in such a short window. The race really came down to having a good start and nailing the final glide. It was a spectacle watching over 10 pilots in standard class all arriving back at the field within two minutes. Due to the minimum distance it wasn’t a 1000 point day so the overall leaderboard didn’t shift a lot. Tomorrow is looking similar but a tiny bit warmer so the chances for another short racing window are high.”
We’ll find out today.

When you wonder who is behind Claudia’s Gliding Page then, have a look this is Claudia.

In the evening they often have dinner together to look back at the day and to “just be together”

TUESDAY August 23;
for CLUB task 10…flying day 5…, for standard and open task 10 and flying day 7.

During briefing, Mandy Temple [Australia] ,one of the stewards in Hus Bos , who was the perfect CD in Lake Keepit, gave , as I heard an excellent presentation of the use of the parachute.
I know her already for a long time , not really good I must admit , but from comps and as “fellow-TC’s” or as her soaring-journalist at the/her last WWGC and I never knew she was an experienced sky diver.
With the recent JWGC we could see again, how important the knowledge of a parachute is when you have to bail out. Luckily that one went OK again.

“The weather this morning doesn’t look inspiring. Low clouds covers the site, with the occasional break. However, all gliders have been asked to grid, in all classes. The comp team is obviously hopeful for a weather window big enough to launch everyone”; Women Gliding

Prize winners from the day before were honored and the French “coq” created some fun. I remember the young man from Lake Keepit.

Tasks were set!!!! For all 3 classes this time. It is supposed to be better than yesterday, so a bigger window hopefully today.
BUT …then the message…changing to B task for ALL classes.
order; club….standard…18 m.
12. 15 first start. THEN…12.30….off they went….
At 12.45 the base was 1000 m. MSL and 1 m/s lift…..but whilst reading what is going on, I learned that the base was more going down,…. rather than up.
BY THE WAY……….All start gate openings are in BST. [British Summer Time]
So here in The Netherlands I have to wait for an hour ,as we are one hour later.
A few were really low and some needed a relight. A really VERY tricky day!!!!
In the end with “losers” who were in the top and winners who went UP.!!!!
You can nearly call it a lottery-day today!

Club; 212.36 km;…..changed to 160.13 km….gate opened at 13.10 . Klara the runner up overall had to land for a relight. And to get away from the field was too difficult.
She was out after 2.85 km. So sad!!!!
Some ,as our Dutch Lilian also landed out not long after they started.;15 km.
Also Olena from Ukraine landed out after 49 km.
Paula from Argentina ,yesterday runner up, could not get away. She tried 3 times..in vain!!
BUT,….there were finishes!!!!!
The first to finish was Ukrain pilot Valentina!!!It took her 3 hours and 17 minutes to fly over the set 160 km.
She was 3d for the day.
The German girls had a perfect day ; Inez in LS 1f and Ulrike in LS 4 finished as well. They are on spot 1 and 2.
4 in and Claudia was only 10 k out…… and 9 outlandings .
It’s waiting now for 5 pilots and I know 3 of them are out. Don’t know about Elena and Alizee.
A tough day for 456 points.
Will come back later on them.
UPDATE; Elena was out after 145 from the 160 km. I know Petra did not finish and ” poor” Klara and Paula good NOT get away!!!

standard; 221.23 km….changed to 172.13 km.…gate opened at 13.28. Some were at 1000 m others at just 600. Team Germany flew together ,but when one misses the “lift”, it gets difficult. Chrissie had to land, after 24 km, but she missed already out on a valid start…..ONLY o to 0.5 km. from the start line
58 km./h and Czech pilot Barbora is HOME!!!! equal 3d with Jana.
What a great day for the Czech team.
Also finished … Francesca Roberts from the UK. [5th today]
But then a few more arrive!!
Cornelia and Sabrina from Germany and Czech pilot Dana. POOR Sabrina it seems she forgot her PEV!!!!!
The French girls Aude and Anais are not yet counted for, as is Ayala, but already 6 finished from 13.
So it should be a valid day!
A tough day here as well for 350 points, but each point is important.
UPDATE: Aude and Anais just could not make it; 167 and 163 km…..Ayala is not yet counted for. more tomorrow.

18m; 248.46 km…..changed to 188.14 km….gate opened at 13.47 MM [ Diana] and BK [Katrin] put on their engine just before 3 PM after 35 and 37 km. Around that time the lift was only 0.3 m /s.
Whilst waiting for scores, that takes longer when many are “out” , I noticed 5 pilots in in 18 m; TOP.
The 3 Czech girls Alena, Jana and Hana and 2 French girls Anne and Melanie.
With a rather late start Elena flew around with 79.51 km./h, whilst the other 2 had 74km/h. and The French 74 km./h.
It looks like a valid day in this class! 6 in and 5 out, one not yet counted for.
Mind you, Alena was already world champion in 2003 in 15 m. class in Jihlava, the same year that Chrissie won in club and Cornelia in standard class. NEARLY 20 YEARS AGO and then all 3 WORLD CHAMPION and now all 3 participating in this WWGC!!!!
Max amount of points today is 336.
UPDATE; Sandra is not yet counted for, more on her tomorrow.

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And to finish this HUSBOS -DAY a great picture AND story from 14 year old Kai Gray, the young scout who walked with the sign LUXEMBOURG in the parade. He adopted team MM from Luxembourg , as his team and visits regularly.
He is a super aviation enthusiast, who wants to become a professional pilot.
At home he has already an airbus simulator and flies around the world in it.
Every day is at the field as one of the field runners.
What a great young man!!!!!
On the picture thumps up from Kai for Diana.

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In the French place Beynes the French Nationals for Juniors were flown and they finished yesterday. Due to bad weather they only had 3 flying days out of 7. Not a lot of flying , but fun enough so to see!!!

In club class the winner was François-Xavier Poisson. They had 2 days with over-300-km-tasks and one 2.30 AAT. So only 3 competition days!
Nicolas Caudrelier won 2x 1000 points by 2 daily wins in the Pegase. Not enough to win as the consistent flying of Francois-Xavier gave him 2.437 points and Nicolas 2.266 .
Nicolas was out on task 2, loosing about 300 points that day.
12 Pilots and 2 HC one from Belgium and one from Switzerland.

The other class with standard class gliders, 2-seaters and 15m gliders was won by Timoté Gard in LS 8.
Out of 17 he was the best with 2.617 points.
4 LS 8 gliders in the top.
They had a 2.30 AAT, a 408 and 350 racing task. Nice tasks, unfortunately not too many.
17 participants and 3HC pilots , 2 from Germany and 1 from Belgium.

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AND,….for the Free Known Program this World Glider Aerobatic Championships 2022 is over;

CU tomorrow! Then only 3 day’s to go in Hus Bos.
Might take a while ,when Liz keeps travelling like this!!

Cheers Ritz
All scores very preliminary!!!

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

The day started with the message that” 18m and Std. Classes have been asked to grid this morning. Club class is getting a day off!”
Club has already one day less!!!
The met man said;
“We have 2 occlusions coming. If one does n’t get us, the other one will”.

Liz had some words too yesterday evening about day 8;
“All still to play for half way through the competition, with very tight points on the leaderboard all three classes still have the chance to mix it up. Although it was forecast today to be similar conditions to yesterday – with rough weather and high winds – it really cleared up nicely to be a fine soaring day. It wasn’t without its challenges, the two AAT sectors were both amazing and awful depending on the timing that you were going through. With 6 knot thermals and 4500’ cloud base in some zones and the complete holes in others, today had a lot of luck involved. Back on the ground we had Suzanne Morgan and Mandy Hickson give inspirational speeches to the crowd gathered at the open day. They shared stories from their aviation careers – Airline Captain for British Airways and Tornado GR4 pilot in the RAF respectively. It was fantastic to host the local community at The Gliding Centre for the open weekend and we hoped they enjoyed it as much as we did.”

I was wondering how many tow planes there are and how many tuggies and if there were maybe female tuggies and YES there is one.
There are a total of 12 tug pilots available.  They try to operate 7 tugs each day, but it is usually only 6.

“Yesterday I flew together with my honorary team mate @la_nena_blu for a bit but then she left me for dead as usual , and she won the day (but I’m back up to 4th so that’s ok).
Well done Elena! ” Claudia’s Gliding Page

It’s Monday August 22 now and they start with task 9 for 2 classes.
Everything is early today, due to the expected rain.
Briefing at 10 and first expected launch at 11. It turned out to be at 11.45 for the A task.
When they can fly THEY FLY.….so they should.
Off they went , 18m upfront and then standard.

Standard; 121.77 km.…gate opens at 12.37…All pilots flew the task!!!! Most started 10 min past the gate opening and raced over the track to be back before the rain. All were back just after 3.
Daily winner is Aude with 87 km./h for 257 points. The UK girls did well, Ayala and Francesca had a speed of 86 and 85 km./h.

18 m; 148.94 km..….gate opens at 12.18…Within 10 minutes they were all on track! Pretty good speed for Astrid from France;106 km./h for 282 points. The 3 Czech girls followed and 2 more French girls , all flying over 100 km./h.

Another flyable day in Hus Bos was created in a short window!
They were all in and it started to rain.
Good set task!

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I owe you a picture of the winners from the CIM, here they are. First the mixed class winners , then the open 18 m. CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN!!!!

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And I owe you some pictures from THE KEIHEUVEL, where history was written , without I knew it.
The 2d day was unfortunately cancelled . I was a bit worried , but in the end not necessary.
There was a scramble at the military airfield of Kleine Brogel, very close to Keiheuvel. Such a thing never happened, but it did now.
A Turkish plane was on his way to London WITHOUT radio contact and had to be intercepted and escorted by F 16’s from Kleine Brogel which was QRA.
Everybody in the air had to stay under 2500 ft and return to the airport!!!!
In the organization from this competition was also an airline pilot from KLM and a traffic controller from Kleine Brogel and they solved the problem very professional.
All pilots were grateful, for the solutions to the problems and in the end they had a partial good day of flying as well…no scores though!!!
But what a way to loose a nice soaring day??!! HISTORY!!!
BUT, an important mission in these weird times.
So the winners from day 1 , were the winners of this 2 day-event.
1 in the sport class local “hero” Jeroen Jennen with 704 points.
1 in open 3 pilots team Snyers & Bielen in the ARCUS T and Daan Spruyt in the Ventus 2AX both with 849 points. Daan was on spot 8 from 24 in open class, in Szeged during the last WGC. [EB 29dr]

The Junior cup was , indeed, for the best junior and that was this time Noud Kaay flying in the 18 m. ASG 29 on spot 7.
This CUP is in MEMORY of the late father from Bert Schmelzer sr and the grand sons Tijl and Bert jr.
He was the very first instructor at the Keiheuvel, made the first winch start at the , at that stage new airfield on a sandy and dusty plain, which opened in 1956. He flew the first 300 km in an  Olympia-Meise , from Keiheuvel to Dieppe in Normandie in 1958, to achieve his Golden C and till 2002 when he died he was a member of the LSV Viersen at the Keiheuvel.
An interesting cup with huge history behind it, to receive.
Some pictures not from gliders but from pilots;

All happy young people who are the bright future!!!

Cheers Ritz.

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

Another good day for the ladies. Though a bit doubtful was the weather in the morning, as a slow moving front was supposed to arrive later in the day.
So all 3 classes got AAT’s with big circles. The first launch was estimated for 11.30.
Club went up first ,then 18 m and standard as last.

IMPORTANT people first , so here is Liz with her view on yesterday.
“It was a festival of flying and fun at The Gliding Centre! Visitors got more than they bargained for with two grid launches and landings. Mel the weather man said that with the Welsh mountains creating wave there could be tough rotor around. The grid got away smoothly but shortly after the final launch, the field starting floating back down to earth. Half the sky had overdeveloped with rain showers and the other half turned blue, even the tug pilots had reported how difficult the flying was. Soon with everyone back on the field, the competition director Liz Sparrow decided to cancel the Club class for the day and switch the 18m and Standard Classes to their task C’s. The first leg was very tough, in standard class there was a lot of deviation between the teams but they all arrived at the turn point together. With good energy lines over the rest of the course it was an easier run home. In the 18m class they found the task easier with the ability to push into the wind, the thermals out on the course were 3-4 knots all the way up for them. Back at The Gliding Centre there were a lot of spectators enjoying the flying, market stalls, food trucks, glider simulator, winch demonstration and full orchestra playing as everyone took off.”

Just back from Belgium, so here we go with what happened today in Hus Bos.
Club; 3.15 AAT….gate opened at 12.11…..early starters went straight away , one minute later at 12.12! Others waited till 12.48! Elena went rather late at 12.40 ,but had a great run; she flew 283 km in time 3.28; speed 81.73. About 5 k/h faster then Argentinian lady Paula Drazul, who had 76.94 km./h! and was runner up. Most km for Aude with 294 in time 3.44.;spot 3.
Mind you, to fly by yourself is more difficult than in a group with 2 or 3 mates from home.
2 were out.
After 4 days out of 8 ,it’s Aude ,Klara and Petra in the overall top.

standard; 2.30 AAT....gate opened at 12.26...257.41 km for Czech pilot Jana in time 2.36 who went on track like most other pilots at 13.22.Speed ; 98.77 km./h. for 842 points.
Anais from France left at 14.31 and was 10th from 13.
Ayala unfortunately was out after 200 km.
After 5 out of 8 days the 3 German ladies, Cornelia, Sabrina and Chrissie are on top.

18 m; 2.45 AAT….gate opened at 12.43…another Czech pilot topped this class; Alena, with 318 km. in time 2.51.Speed 111 km./h That was MUCH faster than runner up Katrin with 103 km./h!!
After 5 out of 8 days Alena leads ahead of the French girls Melanie and Anne.
Still 5 days to go.

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

LASHAM morning message;
“Final day and it’s all to play for…” I read at 3, when 20M class just was launched and the 18Ms were on their way up.
Small tasks to set the final scores.
18M – 159.75km…….The weather was good enough for a strong last race. Chris Starkey was Fast.; 136.15 KM./H!! BUT, only for 273 points.
Followed by Kim Tipple with 129.98 km./h. It took a long long time before Gary Stingmore was scored and for the final results we had to wait for him. He was 18th for 196 points, just enough to remain runner up. Leigh was 19th for 196 points together with Derren.
.We know now who the new UK NATIONAL CHAMPION in 18 m. is:

In the end the overall scores in 18 m. are very CLOSE:
1. Leigh Wells in JS 3 with 4.360 points. and NATIONAL CHAMPION. Congratulations LEIGH.
2. Gary Stingemore in AS33es with 4.354 points , just 6 points short!
3. Russell Cheetham in JS 3 with 4.347 p.
4. Pete Harvey in Ventus 3 with 4.322 p.
With the daily win today Chris [ASG 29es] moved up from 7 to 5!!!
All scores still preliminary.

20M – 157.55km……Tactics were played on the last day!
Start times vary between 13.27 and 14.06.
The last to go was Matthew Cooke; speed 114.88 km./h , a tad faster than Steve Jones with 114. 74. Garry Coppin was 3d, so we can see now who the new 20 m CHAMPION in the UK is;

1. Garry Coppin in Arcus with 4.573 points. NATIONAL CHAMPION!!!! WELL DONE.
2. Matthew Cook in ARCUS T with 4.547 p.
3. Steven Jones in ARCUS M with 4.139 p.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!!!! PARTY TIME NOW. ENJOY!!!!
All scores still preliminary.

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The KEIHEUVEL CUP 2022
This weekend August 20 and 21 2022

When possible I visit this 2 day competition every year, to catch up with lots of old and new friends gathering for a great weekend out. I missed day 1 but wrote anyhow about it yesterday.
Today I visited the briefing and where you normally get a task B which is smaller here it was bigger.
From 127 km to 188 and 223 .49 km.
The weather looked marvelous, the 4 tuggies did their job quick and GOOD and with the launches at 12.30 sharp , it turned out to be a joyful day for ALL. Some old and new friends:

My brother and I eat the best -ever- pancakes for lunch in The Kei and just when we had to go home again, the pilots returned with big speed!!!
BUT NO SCORES,…..the day was cancelled ,..it worried me a bit…..but, I worry quickly.!!!
More tomorrow with pictures

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Today is the last day from 3, cycling through The Netherlands as the start from the VUELTA was here. Utrecht had the honor and already for the 3d time a big cycling event started there, the Tour de France, the Giro and now the Vuelta.
Farmers tried to find attention along the road for their nitrogen problems, others,….. as the Gliding Club from Soesterberg used it for nice PR. INDEED, the helicopter saw them, they were on TV…world wide!!!

Ever heard from Femke Bol????? She is a sprint phenomena,….. 2 gold medals individual and one for the relay[4x400m] with one more evening to go.[4x100m]

CU tomorrow.
Cheers Ritz

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

Already early in the morning 3 racing tasks were set just under or just over 300 km in club and standard and 349 in 18 m.
GOOD,…another day of soaring.

A bit of a weird day for Team Denmark, as yesterday after the long flight the girls were on 7 and 9. A bit later Julia was on the lowest spot, problems with her oudi; admin penalty as they call it.
Luckily she could borrow one from an English gentleman and she is ready again to go today!!
HusBos people are very kind. In my year there in 2005,[ JWGC] one of the boys had a car incident with the trailer, which was pretty badly damaged. Somebody brought from rather far away a fitting trailer. PERFECT!!! That’s soaring too!!!

As every day Liz looked back yesterday evening with an excellent analyze of the day:
“Due to the slow departure of the front today’s task was set East to West. The pilots had decent conditions for the start, in the 18m and Standard classes most pilots went deep into the first sector and struggled in the second with a very strong Westerly breeze making it a long trek across. In the Club class the winning pilots opted for a shallower first sector as for them it was looking blue to the East and then they pushed it in the second right to the back. Winning pilots seemed to be operating in a narrow height band – staying high and climbing more often paid off. Although the competitors found the day extremely tough, every class still had a 1000 point day and only a handful of gliders landed out. Tomorrow’s forecast has the chance to be even better depending on the progress of an overnight front. The Gliding Centre is hosting a family fun free weekend with glider simulator, STEM activities, shopping and food stalls, music and much more! Hopefully there’ll be plenty of racing for the public to follow while they are here.”

Katrin Senne was not yet scored late yesterday but she was in the morning; she was 4th behind the 3 French girls.
The Czech girls did well yesterday in club class with a number 1 and 2. Petr their TC is a huge part of the success of the Czech girls.

And when you want to see a nice and funny picture- story about yesterday you can go to Claudia’s Gliding Page

Time to look at today Saturday August 20 ; NOT an easy day due to” overdevelopment in the NW and a “Blue hole” in the east.” I read and heard.
You can’t say they are not trying HARD.

Club; 282.06 km….changed in 217 km at the grid…. gate opened at 12.25. BUT then the message that club class had troubles to get away due to over development …several landed back….
then club class was cancelled. For those still up, the day was cancelled in the air, but most were already back at the ground.

At 3 , they started the other 2 classes and off they went again in a tricky sky.

standard; 301,65 km… 12.38 gate opening,….changed in 125 km….. BUT also they landed back …. they re-planned the launches of this class with a new launch time at 3….for a C task.
Gate opened now at 15.39!
It turned out to be a “German” day . Cornelia, Sabrina and Chrissie flew together and had about the same speed; 88 km./h!!! So a difficult character building day!!!
The 2 Polish girls followed then the 2 French girls, the Czech girls and last but not least the 3 UK girls.

18 m; 349.74 km... 13.00 opening gate BUT changed in 170 km.… as also they landed back. All went for C task, first launces at 3 PM.
Gate opened now at 16.04….And Alena was with 99 km./h. the daily best;, she started 5 minutes after the opening. Then 2 and 3, Anne and Melanie [France] with 96 and 95 km./h. I guess their ‘mate’ Astrid tried as well but maybe could not get away ,as she started at 5 PM and was out after 127 km..

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

So ONE more day. The penultimate day starts with Leigh Wells on top and Andy and Russell with equal points as runner up in the overall scores.
What will the day bring??
In any case TASKS and no overdevelopment or blue holes, as in Hus Bos , so no change of tasks.
BUT,….when I checked at 5 Dutch time I noticed already 3 out-landings in 18 m, but all over 100 km.

18 m; 329.14 km.…BUT,….then at once….. 3 pilots IN. Chris Starkey, Derren Francis and Leigh Wells finished ,…but Andy Davis was out after 134 km!!!! That means his 2d place overall is in difficulty.
When I looked again, totally different scene; Pete Harvey on top in his Ventus 3T with 1000 points in the pocket, just not enough to be on the podium and Gary Stingmore as runner up in AS33es.
And Chris and Leigh were now on 6 and 7!!!
For the last day tomorrow this means that Leigh [4.158] , Gary, [4.153] Russell [ 4.147] and Pete [ 4.084] are very close, so it will be an exciting last day!
And between the number 5 and 6 is ONE point difference.

20 m; 277.65 km....with 114 km./h Matthew Cooke won the day in the ARCUS T . Steven Jones flew around with 110,91 km./h and Garry Coppin with 108.54 km./h….2 and 3.
Their last day “might” be less exciting, MIGHT be, as Garry [4.250] and Matthew [4.218] are very close 32 points difference, but Steven is more than 400 points behind, but that was ONE out-landing……and an out-landing CAN happen even to the best, as we saw today with Andy.. He moved from 2 to 20, that really HURTS!!!!!

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THE C.I.M. in RIETI in ITALY
10 August 2022 – 20 August 2022

After 2 non flying days the pilots will be eager to finish this competition with a good day.
The weather has been pretty wild in the middle of Europe, so I hope they CAN fly. Tasks have been set;

Task 10; day 10….flying day 7.…last day!
the North looked perfect, the Terminillo [ I have been on top of it several times, the nicest thing is that you see gliders pass by at eye-height] was still a bit covered but they all left at 1800 m!!!!
-The winds at all altitudes are NW, weak in the low layers.
– Very light isolated rains east and south east of Rieti
-Cumulus base variable from 1.600 to 2.500 meters in the race area.

mixed class; 328.60 km….start gate opened at 14.25. The Austrian ARCUS M team , Pirker & Richter-Trummer won the day; speed 110 km./h. and moved from 5 to 4.
8 Pilots were out on the last day.
Winners from this interesting competition after 7 out of 10 days;
1. Sironi & Venturini from Italy in ARCUS T with 6.037 points.
2. Bouderlique & Bouderlique from France in ARCUS M with 5.964 p.
3. Coutts & Walters from NZ and UK in ASG 32MI with 5.792 p

18m/open; 350.03 km…The top pilots all started just after 3 PM.
French Guillaume and Slovenian Boris flew with a speed of 113 and 111 km./h. and were the daily best. Just not enough for Guillaume to enter the podium.[5.221]
UK pilot Jon was 3d. Austrian Werner on 8 .
So in the end the final scores after 7 out of 10 days are;
1. Boris Žorž from Slovenia in JS 3 with 5.491 points.
2. Jon Gatfield from The UK in AS 33es with 5.299 p
3. Werner Amann from Austria in AS 33es with 5.276 p.

Time to party now. ENJOY!!!

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The 2- day-competition in Belgium at the Keiheuvel starts today; the KEIHEUVEL CUP 2022.
I will be visiting them tomorrow so maybe less news on the above comps for once.
Today they have tasks for all 3 classes with 50 pilots, several from The Netherlands as Keiheuvel is just over the border ,where I live.
There are 19 pilots in the sports class with transponders, 25 in open and 9 in the friendly class, who are pretty new to competition flying and will have shorter tasks more fitting to their gliders as St Libelle, KA 6e and an Astir.

sport XPDR class; 247.36 km….All 18 pilots finished! Interesting to see is, that the top places are for pilots who just flew cat.1 comps.
Jeroen Jennen, a real local pilot who lived all his life at the Keiheuvel-airfield, , won with a speed of 109,42 km./h. He was the last to go on track in his LS 8. Jeroen flew the EGC in Pocuinai and was 6th.
Runner up was Robin Smit in the LS 4 NEO, who flew already in the 13.5 m WGC.; speed 104.94 km./h
At 3 and 4, “our Dutch juniors ” flying in Tabor, Simon v.d Eijkel [LS8..104 72 km./h] ] and Lars van Bremen[Discus 101.85] . That team was then 3d as group !
These 4 pilots were the only ones flying over 100 km./h.

open XPDR class; 287.98 km.…the winner was team Snyers & Bielen in the Arcus T, local pilots; speed 109.81 km./h
Daan Spruyt in the Ventus 2x was as fast , so 2 pilots on spot 1.
Wim Akkermans another local pilot was 3d in the Ventus 3 F, 114.42 km./h.
4th Tijl Schmelzer in Ventus 3 also a local pilot; 114.35 km./h.

Tomorrow they continue and I will visit this airfield!

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And to finish this nice picture of the

Off tomorrow to Belgium, so no time to search the internet, but for sure I gather enough news to share the most important items from the day, later in the evening. CU then.

Cheers Ritz

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.

—————————————————————————

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.

——————————————————————–

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.

——————————————————————

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

——————————————————————

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

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

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

—————————————————————————-

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

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

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

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

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

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

CU tomorrow!

Cheers Ritz

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

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

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

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

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

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

—————————————————————

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

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

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

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

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

—————————————————

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

More tomorrow.

——————————————————————

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

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

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

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

——————————————————————————-

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

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

Easy day,
Cheers Ritz

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

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

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

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

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

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

The return of the pilots yesterday after a MAGIC flight.

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

———————————————————————–

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

—————————————————————

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

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

Cheers Ritz

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

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

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

Picture belonging to Rieti