I start with the comps that finished and continue then with the cat 1 comps who finish on the 14th/15th.

KLIPPENECK.

Klippeneck ready to go.
As seen and shared by Fabian Mauchle.

I left you on Friday morning, just be able to give you the daily distances for all classes. Here is the last  day!!!!
Flying on Saturday, August 8,  was for private reasons cancelled.
5 out of 8 days !!!!
It was after day 2 , either Jeroen and Dennis or Dennis and Jeroen on TOP of the overall scores-list.Who is going to win this family get-together in St class???

August 7;So this was the LAST day in Klippeneck and one with hail and showers
“One of the most difficult flights ever, made it home by just 50m! Hard day to stay together, couldn’t follow Dennis today. Finished together though, amazing finish of a strange but excellent week.” as shared by Jeroen [Jennen].
Standard class got a 280 km. task and the Belgian boys/cousins flew 272 km. , best of the day but the handicap factor from the St Cirrus and LS 4 gave more points for the winners[258 and 264 km]  then for the 2 LS 8 pilots. Nobody finished.
The Klippeneck winner in St class is Dennis, ONE POINT AHEAD of Jeroen.They were in this class the only pilots with over 4000 points; 4366 and 4365. Number 3 with 3975 flying an LS 7 was Lutz Heydecke.
Don’t forget Jeroen is a JUNIOR!!!!
Jeroen; “ Overall winner of the standard class, second place and best junior performance at the competition! Proud to be part of the team, proud to fly with Dennis! Amazing week with difficult weather and hammer weather.. Credits to the organization and our helpers!”

In 15 m. 276 was set and ONE pilot managed to fly that distance;Stefan Knoll in the Mosquito. He “jumped”  from 6 to 4 overall. On the last day Winfried Schulz [ASW 20] missed out on just 10 km. and this brought him from spot 2 to 1 overall.

In 18 m. 364 km. and this last day was for “The Schmelzers” club mates from Jeroen and Dennis.With 6 other pilots they managed to finish on this difficult day.Only 7 from 28 did so.No real changes in the top Rolf Friedli won , 12 points ahead on Marcel Duenner , both flying ASG 29.

2 -seaters. All 22 gliders FINISHED in this class so they had a good run.292 km. was the set task . Hermann & Bieber [ARCUS T] were more or less EVERY day on  top in the overall scores , so also on the last day!!

open class ;Markus Gaumann won 4 from the 5 days and was the deserved winner;4348 points.

That was Klippeneck for this year! Next year version 48!!!

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DUTCH JUNIOR NATIONALS.

Happy crew members. Pilots are in bed,……….
As shared by Emmo Koetje jr.

5 Out of 8 days.
Last day , yesterday, had a 2.30 AAT. After Friday was cancelled,… one more chance to “shine”.
Guess the crews are tired I noticed on FB , happy party times.Good on them, they are young and still have the “power” to continue for hours.We did as well.
4 Young pilots are in the 3000 range so it looked one of them would be the WINNER.
Jelmer Vis [St Cirrus 3531] ] , Arne Kaas [Discus 3408] ,Mathijs Huls [LS4 3351]  and Sjors van Loon [LS8 3289] and well known Dutch pilots Andy van Helden and Rob Looisen are the SCOUTS today.
The weather did not co-operate straight away, AND also not later, so it was over and out for the juniors.The day was scrubbed.
Party time for some of the crews again, this time not with beer, but they could fly the glider!!!!
The Champion is Jelmer, runner up Arne and Mathijs did well with his 3d spot. Congratulations!!!
The first “injection” of competition-soaring is now in their blood, the future will show how this works out for them.

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13.5 m. WGC IN POCUINAI.

Just before he left Tony mentioned that it was hot and that it could be a tricky day. After some delay  the launches started at 13.30.
It turned out to be tricky for team USA, as they had to “motor” home. Good the USA team flies Silent electro’s. After 240 from the 255 km. they run out of thermals. Late starts at a quarter to 3 PM.The others finished between 5.12 and 6.08 PM.
Great job again for Stefano and the Diana as “they” won again and slowly the marge between him and the runner up grows over 200 points but local pilot Vladas keeps in the race being 2d again.
Tony had an interesting day ; he flew with eagles.

About day 6 some news from the organizers:
“A combination of a short towrope and a sudden prop blast resulted in Stefano Ghiorzo (Italy) losing control of his glider on takeoff. He quickly released, and there was no harm done. During the preparation for his second launch, somehow his tracking device was left behind. So those of us on the airfield did not know how he was doing until he flashed across the finish line, ahead of everyone else. His speed of 103 kph made him the winner of the day, with 795 points. His barogram confirms his report that it was a struggle until he reached the forest in the south part of the task area.

Vladas Motuza (Lithuania) had a similar experience and was second across the finish line, earning 783 points. Third place went to Frederic Hoyeau (France), with 636 points.” Ricardas Rusteika.

The Aussie team is now used to Europe and here is their news;
” Day 7 and more good weather. When was the last time we saw 7 consecutive competition days? Tomorrow we may get a task. Monday will be a rest day (and probably bring some needed rain)
Visibility is not the best here, so Morgan is enlisting some help for the Flarm from one of the clip on koalas we brought.”

August 8;
This day 7  ,yesterday , gave the pilots another good task with 378.64 km.
The weather; Sun and clouds mixed. Very hot. High 33C. Winds S at 10 to 15 km/h.
Next message; ” Tony launched at 1:45 pm and the task opened at 2:14pm. He and Francois are out on task over Poland.”
Not such a good day as Tony had to “motor” home again; 85 km. for him.
” Bad day for me. Didn’t make first turn point.”
9 pilots finished and it happened the TOP 3, was among them. 2 Just missed out on 10/15 km.
Good to see Morgan is “hanging in” during his first competition.
Stefano won with a speed of 97 km./h. and his lead is increasing.

August 9;as shared by Team USA

—” Lots of hope going on today. First Launch at 1. Temp peaks about 2 PM. Front approaching from the west.  Vytas confirmed today is flying day, tomorrow rest day. Finish ring with 250m minimum and 500m maximum. Penalties for being low or high.” —
Task 1.45 AAT.
team cup after 6 days.
1 Italy with Stefano and Alberto ; 876.
2. France with Antoine and Frederique ; 808.
3. USA with Francois and Tony; 748.

And as shared by the Aussies:
—” Yesterday was good for Morgan. With a late start to the day and predicted early cut off, everyone started close together.
The early cut off happened, trapping all except Morgan, Vladas and Stefano before the up wind turn point. Most of them made it back, but slowly.

Today we have a 1:45 AAT with late start and storms predicted for the end of the day. Cloud cover right now may make the start even later.
Tomorrow is a rest day (today may become one as well)”—
Today is cancelled!!!!

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WWGC in ARNBORG.

Low flight  and traditional rituals as shared by Arne Boye Moeller.

  

AND
One shared by Frans Guise with the Dutc witches.

No, the pilots are not SO frustrated by the weather that they move to brooms instead of gliders. this is TRADITION and it is an honor to belong to this exclusive club of girls/witches.
But yesterday,  they flew again as well,…in gliders ….and yesterday a task was set from 301 km. in standard, 258 in club and 307 km. in 15 m. class. Finally the weather gods are good for the girls,….maybe the witch dances……??????
A cold air mass , for the ladies today, was the message from the meteo.

Standard class; The Czech girls , Jana and Dana, flew well again.There is only a difference of 10 points between them, so this upcoming week will be interesting. Former World champion Sue from Germany is slowly making her way to the top as well; from 7 to 6 and now on 4.
12 from 13 Finished today.

Club class; 1000 points for German pilot Sarah who just flew a tad faster[69,79]  than the French girls Amelie and Aude.[69,69 and 69.50 km./h.]16 Finished in this class.
7 Girls in this class are between 1926 and 2071 points; 2 from France, 3 from Germany and 1 from Lithuania and from Italy. So a lot can happen next week.

15 m. A German day with 3 girls in the lead. Then 2 from France. though the overall-differences in this class are bigger , it can go ALL ways.

August 9 …today’s tasks. Standard class 316.53, club class 303.96 km., 15 m. 310.70 km.More in my next blog.

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EGC IN RIETI

August 7;a difficult day.
” 5th day. The air was very unstable: there were good thermals with base of cumulus at 2800m, from the start to Val Roveto, and some thunderstorms from Poggio Bustone to Val Nerina. Some pilots said that the visibility was very poor and was difficult to see the cumulus in the distance. Peter Hartman was very fast, 130 Km/h, but he said the yawstring was wet for more than one hour!” as shared by the organizers.
For some even a “terrible” day.Par example for Davide who out-landed after 233 km. from the set 370 in club class.
2 St Libelles in the daily top with German pilot Helmut Koelle and UK pilot Ge Dale. Juhani JUST made it home but lost a few [over 400] points and dropped from 1 to 7!! Ge moved up from 4 to 1 and Roman Mracek, who flew so well in Ocseny, is doing so again; he is now 2 overall.
Standard class;a 3 hour AAT was set and Couttsie did well;” 1024″  points for him but HC.[373 km. in time 3.05;120.67 km./h.]
Daily winner……SJAAK. Good on him and 1000 points for him , bring him back to spot 2 overall.He flew 365 km in time 3.04; speed 119.03 km./h.

John Coutts [NZ] as HC winner of the day and Sjaak Selen …..both got a bottle.
As shared by the organizers.

15 m. also a 3 hour AAT.
as said already a speedy day for Peter Hartmann, who knows the Rieti-mountains as well as the  mountains in Austria; 401 km. in time 3.03; speed 131 km./h. Speedy day as well for his mate Michael Rass and also former WGC Champion Leigh Wells had a great day;he was 3d with 407 km. but needed 3.20.

  

Worried faces in the tower during the finishes and after the sunshine from the last days…..some cool rain.
As shared by the organizers.

The day seen through the eyes of the steward Terry;
” Well, that was a surprise. A nice day expected again, with 3 hour AAT for the heavy gliders and 370km fixed task primarily in the northern part of the task area for club class. The cloud base was 8-9000 ft but visibility made it alittle tricky – when you cannot see if there are clouds ahead until you get there it is a little unsettling. Despite that all classes has a great day – until the thunderstorms hit. A couple of spits of rain which upset my afternoon in the shade suddenly escalated to a fierce thunderstorm over the top of Rieti with lighning and thunder and torrential rain. Perfectly timed to coincide with the expected return of club and Standard class.  Many gliders finished at 2-3000 feet so they could cross the finish circle and then escape to the east to wait for the storm to move away. G Dale did confess that this extra 3000 feet was gained in a 9 knot climb so not a major imposition. One glider has supposedly gained a small burn hole in the surface of the glider, from a lightning strike. 5 gliders outlanded, a couple quite close to the airfield. One glider suffered major damage in a paddock and will not be able to fly again. Another needs a bit of work. I spent my evening earning my keep with holding a Jury meeting to review a protest. Brian Spreckley and Max Bishop are the remote jurors and we held the meeting using a rather shaky skype connection. More on that later.” 

And by the UK TC;
” Leigh was blinded by multiple huge flashes of lightening whilst on final glide, he was 4600’ feet over glide and lost 3000’ having no choice but running through the heart of the storm with awful visibility, mountains on each side and sinking at 12 and when he landed there was a hole in his left wing about 5-7 mm round, we have no idea what could possibly have caused it.”
Leigh was 3d that day.

AND the still full of adrenaline story from TEAM UK;
“A bit different today… Our start was aimed pretty much straight away, to attempt to get round the thunderstorms before they got bad, but not to be too early in the weaker first area to the north. I started too late again after a minor delay but made good progress by taking large detours off track to score some strong climbs. I caught G as we ran back south back towards the higher mountains, but it was already too late and the storms had developed with large showers and lightning starting. We had to dive through some strong rain to get to the bottom point, where we climbed in the sunshine to cloudbase at 9000ft. Now we had to get back past the storm so headed back around the other side. It wasn’t looking good as another large cell had developed just to the north. We saw a small gap on track between the rain and it seemed to be the only option.. With regular lighting all around we hit 6kts lift which built to 10kts. As we climbed, the two large showers merged, closing the gap just behind us. We raced out of there at 100kts and a line of lift was marked in the clearer skies for the remaining 50km to our last turn. All the while, the radio was alive with the status of the storm at Rieti – Dave and jay were on glide and it was pouring down at the airfield with rain, thunder and lightening, and all classes were approaching home. G and I found a strong climb which peaked at 9kts to get to a really safe height before racing back into the stormy valley. The rain had just cleared the airfield as we approached but the run into the valley was adrenaline filled.

Proof of the 9.8 lift. As shared by Team UK.

Behind Ge in poor visibility . as shared by team UK.

August 8 yesterday;
After all the hectic from the day before and still thunderstorms around , some smaller tasks. Also a morning with fog but burning off later.
Club – 2:00 AAT   15 m. and Standard. – 1:30 AAT
” Short and snappy day – incredible climbs, best peaked at 10kts to 11,200ft above terminillo“.
” some blistering speeds, Cb’s locally now“.
You can only LOVE the UK comments.
Not a lot of points to give, but great fun!!!
Club class; a great pity he out-landed yesterday, but today he won again ; Davide!! With 118 km./h. he raced with his St Cirrus over 236 km. just in 2 hours ..at the dot,…!!!!All 20 pilots finished and raced ,…as local thunderstorms were predicted for later in the day.
Standard class ; French pilot Christophe Cousseau,  raced harder than hard; 160 km.h.!!!
He flew 244 km. in 1.30 .01.
4 Discus 2 gliders in the top. All 21 gliders finished . Sjaak was on 6 with 146 km./h.!!
The SLOWEST pilot flew 134 km./h. over 200 km. What weather again in Rieti!!???
15 m. class; 166 km./h. for Italian pilot Luca De Marchi !!!!!! He flew 250,73 km. in 1.30 AT THE DOT!!!One outlanding and the slowest pilot flew around over 207 km with a speed of 135 km./h. WOW!!!Crickey!!!

Words from the organizers;
” A very fast day, as we can see on Soaringspot, 166 km/h in the 15m class! The early start at 12pm and the short area task were a good choice to allow the gliders to come back to the field before the thunderstorm. Gliders could exploit the instability of the air before the thunderstorm, flying back to Rieti. During the landings there was a spectacular sky: dark and full of rain to the east, blue with beautiful cumulus to the west (see the photos). When the landing finished we had a very strong wind gusting up to 30 km/h and some rain.”

August 9 ;Today 
News shared by the UK team, GREAT GUY’s they KNOW about PR!!!!!
—” Another sunny start to the day here but trouble is on the way in the form of Cb’s later on. At the moment we aren’t sure whether there will be time to get a task in before it starts to go bang. Briefing is at 10.30 so we’ll
know more then. International evening this evening, Gin and tonic, Eton mess ( if we can find any strawberries) with a rest day tomorrow, probably in the rain guaranteed..”—

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BAILLEAU .

The last 2 days had to be cancelled.

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What’s happening more?

My friends in Australia shared some news I want to support. The Snow family did not only rebuild Canberra Airport to the best, most modern and innovative one in Australia, but son Tom is a “fighter” for equal marriages as well.
” This evening from around 5:30 pm Canberra Airport will be taking a big stand on marriage equality. This is an issue that you all know is close to my heart [ Tom Snow]  I’d ask that you all “share” some of the images I post. And please retweet @CanberraAirport on Twitter. ‪#‎WeCanDoThis‬

Canberra Airport welcomes politicians with rainbow terminal.
As shared by Tom.

Our Soaring world does n’t exist ONLY out of comps. You might think so , as I write a lot about it, I know,..but I LOVE to follow them.
Pilots just love their flying where ever , how ever. A good day is a good day and gives EXTRA joy.
Last Friday a few 1000 km. flights have been flown again, from Bex in Switzerland and from Sisteron and Puimoisson in France.
940 in an LS 6 from Vinon is worth mentioning as well and 951 with an LS 6 with winglets from La Motte also.

Cheers Ritz,
CU you on Wednesday or earlier when I write TOO much [again!!!].