Post 1.465 on December 9 2023

Started straight away at 8 AM, my time with the tasks, 546.93 km for 15 m, 545.62 km for standard and the clubbies go for 470.46 km. with as you can see, Club Class heading North and Standard/15M heading South.
Whilst writing here , those who have not finished yet …club class….I catch later.

I was wondering about Diana’s logger this night. Could they read it out. YES…to my pleasure they did, she was 22d [from 30] for the day, so her feeling that she had a good day was absolutely correct.
More morning news as 1 of the Dutch gliders , the one from Thies got damaged during ground transport due to the tough wind and with all help from everybody it was not possible to have it ready for flying. So Diana who has less to loose to not fly on a day, gave her glider to Thies [on spot 2 overall with only 1 point behind] and she stayed “home” .Great gesture. Not easy for Thies either to continue ,hopefully for 1 day in another to be honest less good but pretty looking glider.

There is more on briefing than just announce the prize winners.

TODAY in NARROMINE: big tasks, first on the Dutch news for me this morning was “Heat wave in Sydney”, so for sure more inland as Narromine is , there as well.
Racing tasks in all 3 classes;
15 m; 546.93 km….the first 17 received between 900 and 1000 points. With 3 not counted for and 1 out of the comps, the winner is ADAM. He and Toby started at 13.48 and in 3 hours 36 minutes they “were ready”;151 km./h for 1000 and 998 points. Dutch pilots Erik and Jeroen started later at 13.54 but nearly were as fast for 995 and 986 points.
Here is HAPPY CHAPPIE Adam;”Adam; “Waaaaa-hooooo! Finally some classic Australian weather, we can all rest easy now, I hope this day will stick in the memories of the STD & 15m pilots at least” much more on
Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures

standard class;545.62 km….Lukasz Blaszczyk from Poland won with 151,71 on the “clock” only just as Tom was runner up with 150.67 km./h . Sjaak ,with the top-rope- runner, was 4th just behind Lithuanian pilot Joris. And good to see Bruce was full of spirit again ..he was 5th for the day!
Not a good day for Mac being last for now with 1 pilot not counted for. Still 134.83 km./h!!!
USA pilot Tom ended up in the end as last with 133.51 km./h.
Bruce recovered greatly from yesterday’s early out landing and here he is;
“What a day of racing we had today! The forecast said it was going to be booming, and the weather matched the forecast perfectly, at least in the area we flew. Initially we were set a 600km racing task to the south and north-west, but that was dropped back a little to 550km due to the strong winds. If it hadn’t been for the wind our speeds would have been crazy fast, but what fun it was anyway! Huge climbs and very fast glides, the photo shows the sky and the numbers on my panel. Cloudbase was well over 13,000 feet, climbs were up to 13 knots, and cruise speeds in our little Standard class gliders were a steady 110 knots (200 kph) or more.
I managed 147kph which was good enough for 5th place today… just a whisker more satisfying than yesterday“

Club class;  470.46 km…..only 9 are in at the moment and 2 already out. They were launched as the last ones. AND,…had to fly in less good weather circumstances.
So we continue but not all are counted for yet.
There are winners however ;James who won with a speed of 114.37. Adam called him in the past when they were both much younger his “right-wing-man”.
I expected a lot from him, but I am VERY careful now. You can fly good, but when disaster strikes at the ground by wind, as with Thies, hope might be gone.
He out landed today and of course Diana is not scored as she gave her glider to Thies.
I am distressed!
Going from one to another moment, from an ASW 20L in which you flew so well, you have to really get used to a St. Cirrus ,with different instruments.
Here is Tony about flying in their class:
“Task was about 500 km to the north. Wind was strong. Forecast is good for cu all over the area and convergence lines galore.
At briefing there was discussion about landing out in the sparsely populated task area. It was mentioned that we could survive three days without water!!
Launch was delayed and we went to task B which was merely 470km. We went to the north where the sky was mostly blue while the other classes romped in the cu field to the south.
There was one great line of cu that bisected the second and third legs which we out to good use. A long glide through the blue, a thermal over the turn point. Then another line of clouds to cross before getting to final glide in the blue.
We had a bubbly run to the finish and made it just above the minimum height. All good, a very nice day, again, of flying with Mike.” Tony was 12 th today and Mike 11th.

All in all the Aussies had a real good day with in 15 m Adam and Toby on 1 and 2, “ Thanks for another great flight Tobias, let’s do it again tomorrow“, in Standard Bruce on 5 and Greg on 13 and James in Club on 1 and Daniel on 9.
Also the Netherlands did well, with a 3 and 4 in 15 m and 4 in standard. Roelof was 13th in club and for Club is a “sad” day. Thies is not scored yet after he out-landed.
I am not writing as an official editor, just as Ritz in my ow blog, so I am allowed to show emotions .

Some other news;
A nice picture from team Denmark today!!!

AND, the brown snake is still “happily” crawling around and close to Adams hangar. BE CAREFUL! They are MEAN!!!

On the rest-day some of the crews were allowed to fly. Also members from the Dutch team and they shared these pictures from the airfield.,

Others went to Wellington, as the German team did ,about an hour driving, to a cave where it was nice cool.

The French team used to warm/hot weather at home as well, feel the difference.
Whilst Santa Claus visited families the French ones too, they mentioned that it was 43 drg.C and that when the convection was on its max the cloud base could be at 4400 m.
About their day:”Pour le camp Français, du “moyen ,du bon et du très bon“.” Results average, good and very good!

Our Belgian mates had a good day as well;
“Today we had the first real Australian weather with high speeds in all classes. Dennis started and landed first and really enjoyed his day all though some other pilots were faster. Francois had a great day and ended 6th today!” Dennis was 9th for the day.

Enough writing now.
Still no news about Thies , so I might be back later.
It is 10PM in Narromine now. Time to be back from a retrieve. Hope George and Diana went with them as they know how to de-rig the glider.
You can be VERY GOOD, your glider might BE VERY GOOD, the team is PERFECT, but unforeseen circumstances can change dreams also on a WGC, not the first time this happens.
I know all about it, but it still has a huge impact on me , but even more to those involved!!!!

Cheers Ritz
Do girls TOW!!! Yes OF COURSE……. they are good tuggies , as I know from close by with Inge and Diana.
Here is one of the girls in Narromine.