Tow plane / remorquer / tug!!!! Vital for these classes.
Picture send by Hans.

A rest day on Wednesday , with a party in the evening…. BIG event, the INTERNATIONAL Party …and the expectation for better weather and more flying days.
Time for my friends to send me some more pictures so here you are .

 
The crew arrives with the trailer, the farmer has “made room” to reach the glider,…where is the glider ,…oh yes there!
Pictures as received from Hans.

From what I read and heard the PARTY was a great success. Enough to drink and to eat and most important,…to socialize.

 

On the above pictures all shared on FB, you see the Italian table, the Dutch table and the table from the USA with as special guest Frauke Elber .[with book]
Frauke is the editor of the W[omen] S[oaring] P[ilots] A[ssociation] Newsletter ” Hangar Soaring” in the USA, which is on line nowadays as well. It’s a quarterly publication.

As I read on the UK site , and I did not know that, “one of the traditions at the Women’s Worlds is that each team presents the other pilots with a little gift from their country.
This year the Team GB pilots’ three respective home clubs have all kindly donated some presents for the other teams.
We would therefore like to thank Oxford Gliding Club, London Gliding Club and Lasham Gliding Society for your support!”

As shared from Women Glide by Swaantje on FB.
By the way I liked the way they described their input at the International Event:
“We supplied Pimm’s and Marmite sandwiches. The former was eagerly expected, the latter politely nibbled on.”

Yesterday was cancelled, BUT the expectation is for good weather from now on. They had a task, moved the first launch further and further and then scrubbed the day. So ,..they tried hard, but you can’t do a lot with a cloud base at 450 m.

Today the girls will be busy again for day 3 of the WWGC, with a speed task in 3.30 for club, same but 3.15 for standard and a racing task over 350 km for the 15 m.

The Ostrow pilots had on their first official practise day tasks from 331.8 km. for the 20 m. 2-seaters, 308.3 for the standard class and 274 for Club. Not everybody used the day.
In St. class the Germans practised well occupying the first 2 places in the Discus a and ax.
In club class 2 Polish pilots were on top and in the 2 seater class Denmark with a lot of outlandings on that day as well and a lot of pilots busy with other things.

Yesterday on July 4 the weather was much better , as you can see on the picture below and tasks were set from 3 hours for the standard and 2 seater class and even 3.30 for the “clubbies”, later changed into 3 hours as well!

AAT; 3.30 for club, 3.00 for Standard and 20 m.

And,…… still not all pilots were practising! A good day with 3 hour AAT’s.
In the 20 m. class it was good old Janusz Centka , who won the day . Already in 1991 he won in an ASW 22b the WGC open class in Uvalde with 11.111 points.
In standard class my friends Bert and Tijl Schmelzer did well by being first and 4th. In between a young Czech and German topper Radek Krejcirik and Felipe Levin.
In Club class 2 Rumanian pilots were ahead of Roman Mracek, but with his competition experience , this might change during the comps.
It’s “only” practise, the reality will follow over the next 2 weeks, looking forward to that as it looks like a very interesting and competitive EGC.

In Hobbs, our friend Rick Walters had a good 6th day in the ARCUS , different than the others as he flew a longer distance , in fact the longest of the day,[ 168.30 miles/270 km. ] in a longer time [ 2.09] with 9 TP’s. But he was 3d for the day!, this time it helped to go far in a longer time.
Rick was our FANTASTIC help in Uvalde in 1991. He was not qualified to fly this WGC , and “gave” his glider , a DISCUS, to our Dutch pilot Bear Selen , who won the WGC in it. His glider was HOT, as we heard later the best in the USA!!!! And with Baer in it, already world champion in Chateauroux, the combination could only win. Great times, GREAT memories!!!!!

Day 7  yesterday was less good for him with a 9th place but Rick is still on spot 3 overall. The rest remained more or less the same with Ron winning the day and leading overall with a few more points now. And Dick on 2 for the day and overall.
In 15 m. Gary Ittner won the day and Dave is still in the lead. For both classes a 3.30 TAT was set, with big circles so nobody had to be “forced ” into thunderstorm areas.
Today is the last day in Hobbs, but it was cancelled so the CHAMPIONS  are known now.
In open class;
1.Ron Tabery                 6524 points  ASW 22BLE
2.Dick Butler                 6350              CONCORDIA
3.Rick Walters              5791               ARCUS

In 15 m. class;
1.Dave Mockler            6213                ASG 29.15m.
2.Mark Keene               6026               ASW 27
3.John Cochcrane        6011                ASW 27

Here is the reason of the cancellation and you can read the full story on www.ssa.org blogs written by Karin Schlösser. Thanks Karin.

—-“This morning, July 4th, we rigged and gridded for the last time, wondering if it would get too windy to fly. But that decision was not to be made as shortly before the 10 am pilots meeting the word was spread that the day was cancelled because the town of Hobbs was planning on opening the airport ramp by 4 pm for anyone who wants to watch the July 4th fireworks that is being staged here, and the contest staff was concerned about not being able to provide a unobstructed landing area for the pilots upon return from the task. Guess nobody saw that coming….

There were many unhappy faces and it is unfortunate that a contest that is so well run has to end like this. Many pilots packed up and left, but tonights Award Banquet is still on.—“

Nice competition to follow, a real pity about the last day and  congratulations to the Champions and winners of the 2d and 3d places.

More news tomorrow. With so many  comps going on and to make stories NOT TOO long, I publish a bit more . Cheers Ritz

On July 5 2013
ritzdeluy@hotmail.com      www.soaringcafe.com      www.glidinginternational.com