Post 1.471 on December 14 2023

Briefing at 10;

Task 9 prize winners were cheered on;

Unfortunately NO picture from standard class winner Pavel.

More briefing news;
Earlier start, 10,000ft, Cumulus Gusty NW wind turning W mid day. Storms possible (not predicted). Rain last night Trigger: 5,500ft 34° 1130; 9,000ft 36° 1230 (QNH) Thermals on task: 5 – 6kt, <3kt at 1830 Wind: Take off: 13kt W, Gust 26kt Landing: 14kt W, Gust 25kt Flying: 23-26kt W QNH 1009 Last Light 2036
No Total Fire ban today in our area.

That’s what the pilots saw at briefing this morning with more news of course.
The tasks were set and the first launch was supposed to be at 12.
First on the grid ;standard class with 526.8 km.
Then 15 m with 508.4 km and last club again with a 3.45 AAT.
But it turned out different.
And,……Interesting to know, it rained nearly all night!

On their way to the strip the Dutch pilots saw this;

And the UK team mentioned;”Today is looking interesting, with surface temperatures lower than forecast and blue/cu conditions hopefully appearing soon!“

The first official message was grid time and first launch delayed by 1 hour, first launch at 13.00
The 2d message was that C tasks were available to collect and for signatures at 12.30.

They flew;
Here is DAY 12 with TASK 10 on FLYING DAY 9.

15 m; 375.32 km….all 25 started pilots are counted for and 4 are in a paddock [2 Swiss and 2 Czech pilots] after between 76 km. and 55 km, it looks like the Dutch pilots Erik and Jeroen, did well with a 1 and 2 for the day! Nice speed 140 km./h!!! But only 865 and 855 points. They nearly all started together around 14.30 .
Though Sebastian was 11th ,Ricky 13th and Uys 17th they did not loose too many points.
Adam and Toby were on 16 and 18 with 746 and 687 daily points.
Adam;”One single climb? Yes, we didn’t get a reasonable (note I didn’t say good or great) climb at mid-convection on the first glide out. It’s all we needed to connect to the strong clouds & gust front up ahead.Instead, we got lower & were pushed to the side, further & further. The later starters eat is up in the first glide, by getting that one climb, then being able to go direct. I heard the Belgium’s got a 7kt climb, we would’ve been happy with 4kts, but such is life..” the interesting full story on Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures
Still 8 pilots in the 8000 range overall between 8.282 and 8.008.
Will there be pilots going for “all or nothing on the last day ?”

Standard; 413.34 km…..first on the grid and starts after 2 PM. Most around 14.15 , the 2 Polish pilots Lucasz and Tomasz started 10 minutes later and were out after 50 km.
2 pilots not yet scored!
What happened? Bruce explains as he was out after 78 km;
“If you look at these photos, you might well ask why on earth I’m parked on an airfield with a soaring sky like that in the background. Well, there was a storm in our way, and I was a little impatient to get on with the job when really I should have stopped and got really high before I moved. It’s been the story of my competition, so I’m not totally pleased with myself. Before the storm it was a bit sketchy, but afterwards to the north it looked fantastic, so I think there will be some good speeds today.“

club : 3 hour AAT….last on the grid and first starts around 3 PM!!!! Rasmus did well. He flew 372.64 km and did that with a speed of 109.66 km./h for 1000 points, which brings him to spot 4 overall.
Our Dutch Roelof flew himself like the day before to a runner-up-spot .Good on him! He moved from 12 to 10 overall.
4 are out at this stage and 1, Tony, not counted for/not yet scored. Hence no news from him yet.
BUT,…..
Here is his story ,so he is safely back “home”;
“The wx slide said “storms possible but not predicted”. Pre start a big cell built up over our old friend Warren, the wettest place in New South Wales where we were tasked over again on the second leg.
We started immediately in a good position. Possibly our best start of the contest. Found a few climbs. Didn’t banana left far enough after nicking the first turn and ended up in the dead air shadow. A few wisps were giving us hope. Mike had bubbled above and ahead of me. I angled back northwest for the clouds and some bogan castles but found nothing much.
A few bubbles down low briefly raised my spirits but the resulted in nothing solid so I retreated a bit to a nice airstrip.“

Well, back again with all kind of news .

Looking to STANDARD CLASS the biggest and toughest changes are in this class. For Lucasz this was a bad day. He dropped overall from 2 to 8 and that with 1 day to go. I feel for him.
Sjaak finished,…late at 18.33, but he was in , lost his 3d place overall to Enrique from Germany but only 26 points difference. Sjaak had to climb up from 350 m, he did!!!!!
The other way around was happening too; Great result for Aussie Greg …with his 3d spot today and some others, higher placed with a bad day, he moved up from 7 to 2!!!!
Silently all the German pilots are consistent and good.
Overall in 15 m on 2 and 3, in standard on 3 and 6 and in Club on 2 and 3!!!
And ,….from experience I know they mostly have a good last day as well.

Looking at the TEAM CUP with 1 day to go;
1. Germany with 902.54 p.
2. The Netherlands with 884.77 p.
3. Great Britain with 869.02 p.
4. Australia with 867.06 p.
5. Poland with 867.06 p.

I miss the French team in the top. At least they all look happy .
They are overall with one day to go on spots; 12 and 15 in 15 m, 7 and 9 in standard and 8 and 9 in club.

I am pleased with the performances from the Dutch team. All in the top 10.

Some pictures from Peak Pictures, I found out that the photographer is Michael Zupanc, Zuppie for insiders.

It’s a bit vague but still interesting enough to share

News from the USA!!! Yes indeed Sarah in a tree!!!!
“To say this contest hasn’t gone the way I’d hoped is an understatement. Today there was a storm on the first leg and I wasn’t able to connect with the shelf and got flushed instead. Knowing how hot and windy it would be on the ground, I landed close to shade trees near the edge of a giant wheat field. I had gotten a couple InReach messages out, but knew Jason would prefer to hear my voice. Way back at the WGC in Argentina, some advice given was to try climbing a tree if there is no cell service, and that is what I did. The phone worked fine up there, and I got to feel like a kid again. Ultimately Jason arrived in a Ute with 13 yr old twins (Will and Lochi) who drove him out to find me. They had been up running farm equipment since 3 am. This is an 80,000 acre farm and I was several miles from the homestead.“

Some sad news today as well;
William Stalenburg died in The Netherlands , last Tuesday on December 12, after being sick for a short time. He died still rather unexpected ,when his heart stopped beating.
William and his partner Evelien lived already for a long time, part of the year, in Narromine, on the border of the airfield having the best view over it. When I visited them in their beautiful house in 2015, I was very much impressed.
They are both real gliding fans. They flew in their ARCUS many Dutch records and were more than helpful, when the Dutch juniors arrived at the Narromine JWGC .They were allowed to put all their gliders every evening in their hangar.
Whilst partly in The Netherlands, they lived at their caravan at Terlet, where I visited them last summer. William was very fragile, but the sparkle in his eyes was still there.
They even planned and hoped to fly to Narromine for this WGC.
Sadly enough his health deteriorated in a very short time, no trip to Narromine anymore , but a trip to “heaven” now.
R.I.P. William and ALL THE BEST FOR EVELIEN.

Post 1.470 on December 13 2023

To be honest I have no clue who is going to win this 37th WGC not in each of the classes.
Mostly I have a gut-feeling, this time not.
With 3 days to fly including this one a lot can still happen as scores are pretty close.
That makes it EXTRA interesting!

Briefing;
A short one as the day before there were no winners . Very nice to find the briefing now on line.So I use it straight away to share some facts for today
Of course more important for those there, but nice to see it at home too.

Push Back Time: 11:30
First Launch Time: 12:00
Start Frequency: 120.125
Safety Frequency: 122.025
Finish Frequency: 130.00
Pre-Start Altitude Point Below [ft]: 7500 MSL
PEV: Wait Time = 10 min PEV Start Window = 5 min, maximum of 3 PEVs per launch
Minimum Finish Altitude [ft]: 2300 MSL
Airport Elevation: [ft] 782 MSL
QNH: 1015
End of Legal Daylight: 20:35
SAR Watch: 121.500

Earlier start, rain expected late, Storms possible 7,500 – 8,500ft,Cumulus expected, moderate N winds all day
Risks at the end of day: Cloud, Rain, Smoke Trigger: 4,800ft 33° 1130; 5,700ft 35° 1230 (QNH) Thermals on task: 5kt, <3kt at 1830 Wind: Take off: 12kt N, Gust17 Landing: 12kt N, Gust 19 Flying: 18kt N QNH 1015 Last Light 2035 No Total Fire ban today our area
First start at 12

TODAYS flying;

The tasks :
Club; AAT 3h15 191.3km/432.0km..upfront
Standard; speedtask 395.5
15m. speedtask 381.3 km

Extra tip; From friends over there I heard that the trick today was deciding when to start. The conditions got better during the day,but it was important to get home before the storms arrived from the W.

Task 9 on flying day 8 out of 11;
15 m; 381.34 km….with the weather forecast most started before 2PM ,some dared to start later, unfortunately they paid…Swiss Yves, winner from task 7 started at 14.11 and finished as number 22 from 25.
Who won? Poland’s Lukasz Grabowski, [136.83 km/h] who started at 13.57, 2 minutes later than Sebastian [135.37 km/h] who was 3d for the day. Both fly a DIANA 2. In between on 2 was French pilot Christophe [135.61 km/h] who started at 13.45 in his JS3. Good to see the French in the top, I missed them there.No 1000 points but 915 for Lucasz.
Nice speed!!!!
2 Had to leave the comps already, so 25 started AND finished. Some just made it IN.
With 2 days to go Sebastian leads with 7,482p closely followed by Uys [7.442] and Henrik and Steffen….., you tell me who will be in the end the winner.
Between the first 10 pilots in this class the difference is; 1. 7.482 and 10. 7.203 points.
Toby was 5th today , Adam lost some points as he was 16th , but he still believes he can do it:
“Today was a day not to lose, & I did achieve that. Tobias is now within 33pts of me & I’m just 143pts off Sebastian & 103pts off 2nd. The competition is tough, but I can do this“
Much more about the day on Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures

standard; 395.47 km….Pavel Louzecky from Czech Rep. started [13.47] and flew and nearly finished together with Miloslav and they were 1 and 2 with a speed of 119.37 km./h and 118.78 km./h. 1000 points and 991 in this class for them.
South African pilots Laurence and Phillip did well on 3 and 4.
Sarah [USA] with an early start was 5th.
The French , Julien and Max, on spot 18 and 20; weird they are such good pilots. Dennis from Belgium was out after 91 km. A pity!!!
UK pilot Tom lost 250 points [spot 14 for the day] but still leads the group with 7.277 points.
Lucasz has 7.061 p and Sjaak 6.917.

club ; 315 AAT.…29 left in this class and they all finished. Best for the day was Polish pilot Jacek Flis flying 363.65 km in time 314.45; speed 111,89 km./h for 1000 points! In the top 5 , also 5 different nationalities; Roelof from The Netherlands was runner up [987 p.] Stefan from Germany on 3 [969 p] James from Australia on 4[ 946p] and Michael from Denmark on 5 [ 923 p] Uwe was 6th.
James is on the good way…he is 1 overall with now 7,560 p, followed by Uwe and Stefan with 7.371 and 7.336 points.
Not a good day for UK pilot Tim, he dropped from 3 overall to 6 by being 18th for the day, after a rather late start, [13.55] but not much later than Roelof , [13.50] James [13.53] and Michael.[13.53]
A pity!
Tony mentioned about the day;
“A nice day. Trough approaching from the west threatened to shut the day down early. Expectation was rain at Narromine at 5pm. We finally had some nice climbs under cu.
We didn’t realize how shadowed the second area would get and should’ve went further in the first. Came in 5 minutes early.” Tony Condon
I heard there is a lot of rain and it will rain all night and maybe even tomorrow whilst gridding?????

World Gliding Championship 2023 shared pictures and good interviews with Rick Sheppe President of International Jury WGC Narromine and Uys Jonker on the JS5 and the Future of Glider Design.

A THANK YOU FROM and FOR ALL VOLUNTEERS!!!!

AND for ALL TUGGIES, here they go to do their job

Time for breakfast back later with some nice pictures I received in my box from Czech Republic Gliding Team by Peak Pictures. Another top photographer.
“World Championship Gliding. Narromine.The 15 meter gliders have been flying for a week already, so here are a few photos from what will be the third last day of the competition (better late than never)Part 1 for today. Tag your mates“

UPDATED;

A REAL French crew member. I met him at several comps!

Finishing the day with the actions on ONG

CU tomorrow with the last -but -one- day...PENULTIMATE DAY!!!!
Did I see the approach from a cyclone from the West?????
Hope not, the rain now is OK but cyclone-wind is not!!!
Cheers Ritz

Post 1.469 on December 12 2023

SMOKE!!!!!!!

YES tasks,….but cancelled…..
I was VERY worried ,when I heard about bush-fires not that far away, about 200 km. In Lake Keepit it cost a day or 2 as well at the WWGC , [though they flew also through the smoke] , so I hoped the wind would drive them away. But I just see that did not happen.
Such a pity when the comps are going so well with great tasks and mostly happy people.

I heard that there was a milky grey sky today. They were unlucky to be over -run by a narrow band of smoke. Impossible to forecast of course. All 3 classes were gridded and ready to go and the tasks were cancelled one at a time, with the last class [Club] at 2.40.
I also heard that visibility was thick 500 m.

My Czech mates shared these pictures, also the one above;

Tasks were, but that’s irrelevant now ,281.20 km for 15 m, 282.41 km for standard and a 2 hour AAT for club. They hoped that club could be launched and fly the task direction South away from the smoke, but not such luck.
Then there was the OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM THE ORGANIZERS;
“Heavy thick smoke from the fires in the Piliga Forest today have shut down flying for the day. Day cancelled.”

Anne mentioned;”it was so thick that when I went out mid-afternoon I could hardly see gliders on the grid from the aero club! Hopefully it will clear for tomorrow.”

Belgian Gliding Team shared an interesting picture as well;
“With the heat wave in Australia, the bushfires have picked up… Needless to say that this is impacting the air quality and the weather. The smoke and dust decreases the heating of the ground.
Task cancelled y’day, and delayed today.”

For yesterday’s prize winners you have to go to Sean’s interviews on https://www.facebook.com/people/World-Gliding-Championship-2023/100093208068838/
they shared NO pictures today from Yves from Switzerland winner in 15 m, James in Club and Tomasz from Poland in standard class.

Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures today
“Just three possible days to go now before the WGC is all over, I’m currently sitting in 5th place with 108 pts behind the leader & 29 points behind 2nd place – you could say things are hitting up!
I’m feeling good & charged with positive energy to fly strongly to the end, my eyes are firmly set on the prize – “I Can” do this, words that George Lee helped me believe in since my course with him in 2004″

I just spoke with my family and they are very optimistic about the weather AND flying over the next 3 days.So I am in better mood again.

–—-Looking back to Narromine 8 years ago.
The JWGC was won by Matthew Scutter and Dutch pilot Robin was there as runner up; silver for him!
8 Years ago time flies!!!

I updated the international post with NZ and Luxembourg, Italy and Poland.

CU tomorrow, 3 days to go!!!!
Ritz

Post 1.468 on December 11 2023

Looking back at some of the countries present at the INTERNATIONAL NIGHT.Unfortunately a few “hided” and I have no pictures from them.
If I do find them, I share them under these ones later.

Team Denmark ; made Risalamande, 8 liter, cherrysauce and port-wine to go with it. Very popular .
Very nice evening.

Team Germany ; with gluhwein and Christmas Cookies

Team South Africa; with South African Lamb Stew and South African wines.

Team Lithuania; looks as good “poison” “only” 43 % haha.

Team Czech Rep; They always have really good beer. USA team captain Pete tries it out.

Team USA; with Melissa, Leah and Sarah.
“Great comradery, food and drink. Team USA had bite sized pineapple teriyaki meatballs with rice, fruit skewers and Mai Tais.”

Team Belgium; with Dennis and Lux. mate Diana AND their FAMOUS Belgian waffles this time the recipe of Joëlle Litt’s family recipe.

And to finish this item words from Gliding Australia:
“From WGC Narromine , Sláinte agus saol agat, Na zdrowie, santé, saluti, prost, and in every other language, we wish you good health and good cheer and may there always be a thermal beneath you, a wave above you and a ridge to bring you home.“

Tomorrow it’s back to soaring again.
4 very special days as scores are close and you can be out before you know,….. BUT also high on the list.

The blog from today is below. CU Ritz

UPDATES;
Team New Zealand; Team effort . Bernie and Derek sourced the materials , Bernie learned how to use a mixer and whipped the cream, Derek and myself chipped fruit and I decorated the top!
Wish I was there MY FAVORITE!!!!!Michael Strathern’s Gliding

Team Luxembourg; with a lovely and what I heard delicious drink.

Team UK; Monday 11th was declared a rest day late on Sunday evening due to high temperatures (ironically several degrees lower than the preceding few days), which meant the team had plenty of time to prepare for International Night.
Good fun was had by all!!!!

Team Italy; with real Italian food.

Team Switzerland with yesterday’s winning pilot Yves in good mood.

Team Poland;

Post 1.467 on December 11 2023

“Today, Monday December 11th CD does not believe there is a viable and safe task option due to the ongoing heat wave. No flying today but team will be busy preparing for International Night tonight.”
As shared by team USA US Soaring Teams

Also smoke from the fires ,not that far away create hazy circumstances so that a good visibility could not be guaranteed, might be a reason. Temperatures however dropped from 42 to 37!!!
The messages from CD Michael Durrant

YESTERDAY’S OUTLANDINGS!!
It was a tough day yesterday specially for the club class pilots. Most of all I think for Thies ,as he had to withdrawn from the comps, but also for 8 other pilots who had to land “out”.
Landing options are not difficult down under, as paddocks are HUGE, but still you want to fly “home”.
Look at what field Tony landed in.

Another great paddock to land in , was found by Michael from N Z. He had such good practice in Australia earlier , won nearly every day and now he was just “out”. Such a pity!!!
“I flew the farthest distance in my class today, I was ripping up the sky for speed but I didn’t get home.Bollocks!A local fella passed by and when I asked where I was he proudly said I was ‘ miles from *#%?! everywhere!”
446 km!!!!!! for 517 points.
Diana was IN but the upload of her task created problems again hence no score yesterday for her. She was the last finisher [555 p] and Michael the first out-lander on the list.

All in all there were 8 out-landings in club, 4 in standard and unfortunately Simon was among them too …dropping overall from 3 to 8,…SAD and in 15 m only 1.

NO BRIEFING TODAY!!! So no pictures of daily winners. Tomorrow!

—–Nice ,interesting and honest but critical 8 minute interview with many-times-world-champion Sebastian Kawa with Sean Young on World Gliding Championship 2023

—–Adams view on the day was late so here it is for those who always read his stories
“Another pearla of a day, well, half of it was, plus the results, a second overall! The other half was crazy hot weather, blue & not so certain at the end of the day – but Tobias & I played our cards right & caught another podium” more on Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures

—–Preparations for the NIGHT are in full swing .
A Dutch delicacy is a Tompouce. Orange glaze over cake with vanilla pudding in it. YAMMIE. Aussies call it vanilla slice.

——Danish Gliding Team is preparing their Danish delicatessens as well.

More about the NIGHT of NIGHTS later !!.

Last but not least VERY IMPORTANT PEOPLE; The super crew on the finishing runway.

CU later Ritz

UPDATED!!!!

They are TOO busy celebrating, eating ,drinking and talking…good way of socializing. So they should,..pictures tomorrow then. Here is already 1.

About the social part of our sport during word comps.
—–Here is; François Delfosse from team Belgium flying in 15 m class with Manu Litt.
At this moment Francois is on spot 12 overall and Manu on 19.
“Today is a rest day, so I have some time to give a quick update!
The start was a very nice flight under cumuli, flying to the south/west part with strong conditions. Going back to the North was challenging (blue, weak thermals, dumping water…). But the pair with Manu worked well, we could help each other out in turns:-). On the last leg we could use a nice confluence, unfortunately only for 20km…
But, what truly makes these flights possible is the incredible support I receive on the ground. A huge shoutout to Grant, who has been my wingman throughout the week. His dedication and unparalleled sense of service are the wind beneath my wings.
Also, a special thanks to Arnie [ Hartley a great guy and very technical specially with radio’s] and Grant for helping me fix my brake today – teamwork makes the dream work!”

—–Also the help after the incident with the ASW 20 by a broken tow-bar and gusting wind created help from every site. Even Uys was ready to repair whatever he could do. Pilots/crews/ organizers helped with ideas to even fly- in- parts or tried to find another ASW 20, but time ran out.
The solidarity between all people from 21 different countries is HUGE, that’s why I/we still like soaring so much.

Some pictures and stories I found on the net;

—–Talking about the German team, I was worried about Simon [Schroeder] yesterday. He landed at 7 , just before he could start the last leg. He decided to fly further in the first sector than his mates and had to fly the rest of the flight by himself. He had to fight nose- wind there were no clouds anymore and no lift. The German team had to go for their first retrieve, as an aero-tow retrieve was not possible.
A special event for them. Luckily Simon found a paddock with a farm and even more important one with a net to reach his mates . That’s if you go more inland important, as not every farm has that.
The crew left at 8 PM with the co-ordinates. It took them an hour over dark and lonely roads to be at the spot about 90 km out. Not too bad!
After arrival they noticed that the brakes of the trailer were hot. BUT,..they could still use it.
Whilst emptying the cockpit a little animal had hided at the wheel of the glider, they carefully helped him/her to leave. Then the de-rigging was easy.
It took them 3 hours to drive back, being extra careful for the brakes on the trailer.
Back at the field it was 1 in the morning, but the good news was NO BRIEFING and NO TASK for the next day.
These are parts of a translation from the in German written blog by Franziska Pawel. I like her style of writing, to the point and witty.
https://segelflug.aero/blog4/author/wmsc152023/?fbclid=IwAR2gRnOmNGaFCtWyA1avwECeblOJqeBsvYKQ0a-QKEXNKm2iVoCV-w9DEac

——-To finish here is Adam:
“The international night was a great success with really nice atmosphere & cheer surrounding one & all I have to start this post with a huge thank you to Allan & Katie Barnes, who took charge & came down from Keepit to help us. Massive thanks to my parents & all the other helpers to make this a fabulous night I was particularly excited & proud to serve my friends Kangaroo, which it’s been one of my dreams since my first Junior World’s in 2005!
Time for bed now, tomorrow should be another days racing“

—–Several teams are sharing their goodies;

CU tomorrow ONLY 4 days to go.
Ritz

Post 1.466 on December 10 2023

Good morning, 9 AM here, Good evening 7PM there.
I slept in and good I did, as most scores are not yet available. Pilots still fly AND they have BIG tasks again.
Time to surf the web for interesting news and all about the prize winners from task 6 yesterday.
Here are today’s tasks and again long ones with 15 m. upfront, with a 4 hour AAT, club behind them with a 3.30 AAT and last but not least standard with 3.15 AAT.

Emotions from yesterday are under control again. Thies flew brave in the for him unknown St Cirrus , but was out after 403 km. Great effort!!!!He landed on a “strip” and could be retrieved by aero- tow.

Briefing with yesterday’s daily winners and I found one with all on in.

TODAY’s soaring!!!!
15 m; 4 hour AAT….at this stage not all are scored [ missing 2 ]but the last pilot’s who were scored finished just before 7PM among them the French,ouch and then the air is not good for spectacular lift anymore as you know.
So I carefully write down what the preliminary scores are.
Yves Gerster from Switzerland, a new face for the top position and for sure NOT a new face in competition soaring. Yves flew 505.84 km in time 4.18 so a speed of 117.59 km./h.
He was followed by Adam..my Aussie mates are in a great flow right now…with 500.62 km an a speed of 419.57 km./h.
20 started as I see now , 2 are out of the race and 1 not counted for yet.
With 5 days to go S.A pilot Uys still leads the class, ahead of Henrik and Steffen from Germany.
UPDATED: All pilots who started are counted for. AP from SA and Zoltan from Hungary are out of the competition.
Nobody reached 700 km , but the 506 km. from Yves was combined with his time , indeed the best result. 1000 points for him!

standard class; 3.15 AAT and…..more pilots have found the good rhythm and are in a good flow. 2d Win for Polish pilot Lukasz Blaszczyk. Good to read he “felt” for his club class mate Thies, who’s glider unfortunately was damaged and touched the car and a runway light. He must have seen it.
Though 5 are not counted for yet. Among them Simon from Germany.
Unfortunately Mac is out.
UPDATED; Well,…Good old Tomasz Rubaj was number 1 today. Good on him!!! So Lucasz was runner up. No 2d daily wind but he only lost only 32 points. Tomasz flew 447 km in time 3.56 with a speed of 113.68 km./h gaining 1000 points!!
Simon [Germany] is still not scored, so I worry about him.
A tough day for Bruce , so I had to wait long [no worries] for his daily report. Bruce was IN but on spot 17, the last finisher in his class.
Here is Bruce ;” Today was tough again, a flight of three parts for me. The forecast was for another strong day, but a shorter window and slightly lower heights.
The first part was really fast down to the South-West with a tailwind and scattered cu beginning to appear. Three very strong climbs meant we arrived there with a really high speed. We turned that area on another good climb feeling pretty pleased with our progress… That was the end of the first part.”
“Changing direction is always interesting, as it sometimes takes a little time to figure exactly where the lift is when you are approaching the clouds from a different direction. Well, it certainly was today, as I lead Greg into the heaviest run of sink you could imagine. In no time at all we had lost all our hard-earned height, we flew over a glider parked in a paddock, and shortly afterwards we were really low and in trouble. For me the next 45 minutes was atrocious, three times below 1,000 feet above ground, initially not a house to be seen, and I was just stuck low. The ratty little climbs would not push up through about 15-1600 feet AGL and I was going nowhere in the headwind. Finally I got a stronger bubble that punched through this layer and kept going up to about 5,000 feet. By now the late-starting gaggle had caught me, and that was the end of the second stage.”
“Amongst the crowd things actually went much better. Not because they were giving much help, but because I managed to stay in front and find a few nice climbs. From there it was a long steady grind back home, with the only bright spot being a lovely convergence line which carried us home after we’d been watching it in the distance for more than 100km.” Taylor’s Gliding Page
With 5 days to go the overall scores look like this;
1.Tom Arscott with 6,525 p, 2. Lukasz Blaszczyk with 6,275 p and 3. Sjaak Selen with 6,155 points.
By the way Tom flies the LS 8 from Andy and his wife Claire;
” Huge thanks to Claire Scutter and Andy Maddocks (Maddog Composites) for their generosity in lending Tom their LS8, Cobra trailer and car for the competition!”

club class; 3.30 AAT....it looks like a great flight for James again; 429.70 km in time 3.53.50 so a speed of 110.26 km./h. Most pilots needed 4 hours but some , like former hang glider pilot Tomas Suchanek, flew 444.70 km.
2 are already out and 6 not counted for yet and Thies had to withdraw from the comps.
UPDATED;
The club class is hit again by several out-landings. I feel for them in the heat and terrible dust and what I heard the smell from bush fires about 200 k NE of the field. You can even see them in the evening.
7 Are not yet counted for.
Tony [ so no story yet] is out, so 3 outlandings by now.
So,…with 5 days to go and Thies out of the race the overall scores at this stage are :
1. James Nugent with 6,614 p. 2. Uwe Wahlig with 6,442 p and 3. Tim Milner with 6,403 points.

About the very unlucky pilot Thies; Club class pilot Thies told his story this morning and though EVERYBODY helped out ,the glider could not be repaired in time ,so he is out of the comps. He told, that the TOW BAR broke off whilst he drove his ASW 20 backwards and the glider is damaged on 3 spots [ailerons, flap and something at the fuselage] by a runway light and the car .In the end it was beyond repair and he had to withdraw. SUCH A PITY!!!!

Other news about the comps;
—-the snakes …. Teresa {Toivonen from Sweden] mentioned on FB a situation in Benalla. We were both there then in 1987
“Make sure it doesn’t get in to a glider.., that happened in Benalla, luckily the pilot was a farmer from Texas so he knew how to handle the situation…in the air...”
Indeed also IN a hangar , a snake can crawl in through the wheel doors.
—– great picture by one of the pilots from the Czech Rep.

—-At Gliding Australia you can hear every day what the winning pilots from the day before, have to say. Sean Young from Gliding Australia does the interviews

It’s 12.30 my time now, . With a last check on all the scores, 2 remain out in standard class , Simon and Paul [UK] and no big differences since earlier in club. 5 Are out and 4 not counted for/scored.

CU tomorrow for the beginning of the last 5 days with a farewell dinner on December 15 and the prize giving on December 16, with a spectacular Aerobatic display by Paul Bennet. Not long ago they were in Tocumwal as well. GREAT SHOW, I heard!!!!!

Cheers Ritz

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.

Post 1.464 on December 8 2023

GOOD morning, Good evening! It looks like another day in hot paradise.

Here is Bruce about yesterday’s “day off”;
“Today’s competition task would be cancelled, we knew that last night. We were all slightly sad, but I was told tonight that we needed to have a rest day on one of the next three days, and today seemed to be the best (or more accurately… the worst) option. It was hot, as hot as hell, but the forecast storms never eventuated here. We did some socialising, some resting, some bill-paying and shopping, and now we are waiting for the sun to come up so we can go flying again.”
Matthew from Sky Sight added:
“Having a rest day on one of the next three days is an *Australian Nationals* rule. There is no such rule in the IGC rules.“

Briefing at 10;

The winners from day 4 were presented and cheered on during briefing , ALL 3 very happy chappies;
Club class Rasmus from Denmark.

Winner in Standard class; Simon Schroeder. from Germany.

And the winner from 15m. Uys from South Africa.

Today’s soaring …..Most scores are ready now for the classes ,so I start straight away.
They got a B task, so a delay in launching from 12.30 till 13.00. same tasks but 15 minutes shorter.
Day 6 task 5;
15m; 2.45 AAT...YES, that’s what you can expect, when you combine flying from 2 aces , you get great results and that’s what I saw over the last days. They needed some practice on the first 3 day’s but now it works.
Uys and Ricky combined their efforts in their JS 3’s and won the day; 335 km with a speed of 110.58 km./h for Uys and 333.41 km with a speed of 110. 37 for Ricky.
2d day in a row with rest in between.
4 Points difference in points.
5 Pilots started at the same time , 14.51 . Phil from the UK was 3d with 110.18 km./h.
4 Ventus gliders in the top 6, with also the German pilots Steffen and Henrik and Aussie Adam, who started at 14.40.
2 out 1 and 2 not yet counted for.

Standard; 3 hour AAT...I was waiting for good results from team UK and here they are; Tom and Paul were 1 and 2, started at the same time but Tom flew 325.88 km whilst Paul flew 315.33 km.
Tom won with a speed of 106.55 km./h . They fly LS 8 so do the 2 German pilots on 3 and 4, Enrique and Simon. Simon was just under the 100 km.h range.
Weird day as some good pilots did n’t do so well.
Mac was just in ;83.88 km./h but 4 were out and 2 not yet counted for.
The Czechs , I know Pavel and Miloslav are GOOD, were out.
One of them also Bruce after 98 km., who was pretty sad;”Well, it’s just mid-afternoon here, and the field is (mostly) still out racing on what should turn out to be a reasonable day. However, my day is done. High overcast made things uncertain, and being me we left before the crowd. Greg and I became separated, and after a few very scratchy low spots… this happened…”
Ouch,……POOR BRUCE!!!!!

Club; 3.15 AAT... Jacek Flis from Poland flew 332.61 km with a speed of 99.44 km./h. and that was the best daily result; 1000 points. He moved up from 13 to 7 overall.
Scores are VERY close so a lot can still happen.
The runner up Dutch pilot Roelof flew 322.35 km but was much slower; 90.04 km./h.
between the number 1 and 10 is a difference from nearly 250 points.
From 30 1 is out at this stage and 2 are not counted for yet.

Will be back later with updates. Breakfast first.

UPDATES:
Back on track with some news written by the pilots who finished their task and still felt like writing.
15 m.…Adam ; some parts of his blog more on Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures
“Another big day in the skies & a hot one on the ground, 42°c at its peak.“
“Tobias & I picked our overall time right, as a few things were evident. On task, heavy shadow & locally, not going to the heights we wanted. So a 15min delay ensued to start upwind, with sun on the ground ahead & as much altitude as we could muster with the big pre-start gaggles blocking the extra height that we’d all want.”
“We had a great first few climbs & were soon joined by the French. Clearly it was a good idea to have company today. Both teams took their turn in leading out, which worked nicely.“
“The French went on a bit further hoping for a low downwind climb, but it appears that they never got it & rather, the shadow of the upper level cloud caught them out.”
“Unfortunately Tobias missed one bubble.“
Kevin and Christophe [Fr] finished on spot 7 and 10.

Club by Tony;
“No photos today. Too busy flying low.“
“The forecast was for like 12 k, cu and possibly storms shutting down the day early. Instead we got mid level clouds slowing the start, blue climbs from 1500 to 5000 agl, and a lot of working trying to stay mostly into the sunshine.
The only place the sun was shining was to the north where the ground is naturally wet and where it actually rained last night. Joy.”
“The finish altitude was set high and the ring was 10km because of concern about storms. Instead the issue was that a lot of the last leg was in shadow and the day was dying anyway. We found a few weak climbs to limp over the line just at minimum. Several others finished low. There was no trouble making it to the airport.
In the end we’re exhausted and very happy with today’s result.”
Also in club class; Diana [Lux] was very pleased with her flight as well. A St.Cirrus is from another level than an ASW 20, but she finished and felt good about the flight. It was very windy and the forecast was less than the forecast.
Only problem now is that the upload from her flight creates problems. Hence no scores for her yet. BUT,…they work on it.

My Dutch mates shared, that there are a lot of problems with punctures in tail-wheel -tyres and even from wing walkers. In Tocumwal we called them “bindies” and they are a pest, also for the bicycle and even bindie-proof tyre’s don’t help then. Even in a big town as Dubbo they are sold out. Also water bottles are a problem. Those towns are not prepared for such a huge influx of people.
Certainly not when it is BLOODY HOT!!!!

Thanks Team Australia Team Captain Miles Gore-Brown for photos of last night’s Narromine World Gliding Championships mayoral reception held at Soul Food;

More High Sophisticated news;
Netherlands Embassy and Consulate General in Australia welcomed the Dutch glider pilots who participate in this 37th WGC. They had some beautiful words about our sport.
“Gliding is an exciting, beautiful, and serene sport that takes place in the sky. The modern glider is an advanced, extremely aerodynamic, engine-free aircraft that can reach heights of over 10,000 meters and travel at speeds close to 300 kph. In the spirit of sustainability, the gliders exemplify eco-friendly aviation, with no reliance on traditional engines, leaving behind a minimal carbon footprint. The World Gliding Championships provide a unique platform to appreciate the beauty of flight while promoting a commitment to sustainable practices in aviation.” Dutch Gliding Team

The best 3 in the OVERALL scores after 5 days in
15m. and VERY close
1. Sebastian Kawa from Poland in Diana 2; 4,792 p.
2. Steffen Goettler from Germany in Ventus 2ax ; 4,790 p.
3. Uys Jonker from South Africa in JS 3 ; 4.786 p.

Standard class;
1. Tom Arscott from the UK in LS8; 4,602 p.
2. Simon Schröder from Germany in LS 8 NEO; 4,442 p.
3. Sjaak Selen from The Netherlands in Discus 2a ; 4,432

Club class; very close as well.
1.  James Nugent from Australia in LS3; 4,623 p.
2.  Thies Bruins from The Netherlands in ASW 20 L; 4,621 p
3. Uwe Wahlig from Germany in LS3; 4,584 p
4. Tim Milner from the UK in LS3 ; 4,544 p.
5.  Stefan Langer from Germany in LS3; 4,536 p
6. Adrien Henry from France in ASW 20; 4,525 p.

———————————————————–

The Argentinian Nationals for 15 m and standard class with 60 pilot ‘s [there was a third SENIOR class as well] , between 27 November 2023 – 8 December 2023 , are over.
On December 7 , which turned out their last day, they had in standard class a 4 hour AAT in 15 m. [24 pilots] and they flew 5 out of 11 days.
Nicolas Verdura won 3 days in his LS 4!!! He clearly is the winner with 4.098 points
Dino Ghioni was runner up with 3.960 points.

In 15 m. 2 young men are flying in these Nationals. I met them at WGC’s in the past, real nice fellows and I still have some FB contact with, Damian and Lucas Goldenzweig. I follow their flying for years on internet.
They have had 5 days and yesterday they had a 3.30 AAT with Felipe Girado and Martin Bossart both on spot 1 for 1000 points whilst Alejandro Hernandez missed out on ONE point.
Lucas finished on spot 5 overall and Damian on spot 14 from 32.
He and his brother were both out on task 6 ,and whilst they both started at 15.35 on task 4, Lucas was 3d for the day and Damian was out….that cost!
Task 1 had a 3 hour AAT flown by both but Damian finished on spot 16 and Lucas on 20.
Mostly ASW 20’s in this class and at this stage the leader is Manuel Darrain with 3.538 points. That’s only 8 more than Sebastian Luengo. Excitement and possibilities enough on the last day!
The last day was flown a tad better by Manuel. Difference in points; 994 for 991
So the new 15 m. champion is; Manuel with 4,532p
Runner up; Sebastian with 4,521. Both fly ASW 20.

Nowadays the Goldenzweig-children are going to the airfield as well. AND,…they keep their selves busy on non flying days!!!

Post 1.463 on December 7 2023

Good morning dear readers here AND good evening dear readers down under.
We wake up with 0 dgr. C, fog and slippery roads and here in The Netherlands a morning traffic jam from 800 km. . In Australia it is HOT!!!
But for the afternoon the forecast was for rain and thunder storms.

Yesterday I got the message that today would be a rest day, so I slept in this morning. After 3 good practice days and 4 top competition days, a wise decision.

Enough to do in and around Narromine and after so many busy days some domestic things have to be done too. I noticed already trips to the pool and the huge TELESCOPE in Parkes, also called the the “DISH” and Leah was so kind to take a picture from the sign out side.
I passed it many times , but there was never time to visit it. It’s on the road from Narromine to Tocumwal. Nearly 400 km driving by car.
From Narromine to Parkes is about 100 km.

Gliding Australia shared this message which is very true!

After 4 good flying days it is young James from Australia who leads the overall scores.[3.856 p]
The margins are very small as Stefan from Germany only misses out on 10 points at this stage. Only 8 points behind Stefan is our Dutch pilot Thies and 8 points behind him is French pilot Hugo.

In standard class Mac leads the class after 4 days, with 3.714 points, followed by “our” Sjaak, with 3.651 points and Aussie Greg is on 3. UK pilot Tom misses only out on 23 points on Greg.

In 15 m class it is Sebastian who leads after 4 days with 3.821 points followed by German pilot Steffen 3.808 p and Uys from S.A. with 3.786 p with close behind him German pilot Henrik with 3.782 points.
Never underestimate the German team…they are so well organized and have good pilots.

Looking forward to the rest of the comps.
Off for breakfast, maybe back later to surf the web and share what the pilots have done.

CU later.

12 at noon.
Checking the sites I noticed that everybody seems to be happy. Some keep today, their media updated with news they could not share when they were busy, others as some crews flew around over Narromine with Aussie pilots as Bernie.
More went for a swim and others fiddled around their gliders/instruments.

WGC2023 Day 4 as seen by British Gliding Team
“A very interesting day of weather, with climbs up to 13,000ft under blue and cumulus with some rain on final glide to keep things interesting!
Tomorrow has been declared a rest day due to a chance of rain in the afternoon, exactly like today. Can’t blame them as the terrible forecast of 12,000ft 6kt+ climbs and a 500km PFD before the sprinkling of rain would be enough to dissuade even the most hardy of pilots.“
I love their sense of humor!!!! Every year again.

I shared pictures and text from Leah and Tony from team USA….. here is a picture from them so you know also who they are.
I met Tony in 2012 in Uvalde, but I never met Leah, but looking at the pictures she is an “open book?
Lovely people.

Jerolamo Radman from team France takes great pictures. Here is one from pilot Kevin and crew .The lady, her names seems to be Monique, I met in Lake Keepit.

He made a series of 3 pictures from my daughter Inge as well. Great pictures!

CU tomorrow again, after fog there is sunshine now ,time to go outside and stretch my legs.

Cheers Ritz

Post 1.462 on December 6 2023

About yesterday and last night;
After a day with out- landings another day ,now even one with wave. The weather spoils the pilots.
Adventures for the crews on retrieve, in fact you should have done that once during a competition. It’s part of the fun!
The crews on retrieve had good and bad news. They loved” the skies full of stars” [COLDPLAY] , as there is around big paddocks not a lot of light from towns and no pollution.So very clear skies, I always loved them.
Less news was that one of the crews hit a kangaroo but all was more or less OK. ..a dent in the bumper of the car.
My family “found” flooding en route, so had a detour of 60 km!!!
But they found the glider as well. A farmer[in red] helped them .
I heard they were all happy with the explanation about the route and maps, they got from the organizers. GOOD!!!

About the daily winners from yesterday racing day 3;

About today;
December 6 task 4 on day 4;
15 m; 544.51 km…..best speed by Sebastian, but he had a “fight with his PEV” and lost points; His speed was 149.25 km./h!!
The winner from SA, Uys flew around with 147.55/h. The same as Ricky [Italy] , both started and finished about the same time.
26 now in this class and 2 were out .
All preliminary of course.
Adam; “Another good day in the skies over Narromine, though I did feel we left about 10 min too early. Why? At the time of starting, I didn’t feel that the thermals had enough definition in them & they lacked feel. We also were about 6km in front of the line, a bit too far to judge for the perfect start while using the PEV system. Having said that, there are those who started later & had a miserable time, & those that had a winning time! So who really knows. For me, it put a lot of pressure on the first climb, which only came after many failed tries. Finally we cracked the first 7kt climb & we were off for the rest of the day“
‘ much more on Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures

standard class; 422.21 km….Also in this class new faces at the podium. Simon Schroeder from Germany was the best in his LS 8, 128.40 km./h , followed by Philip Jonker …it stays in the family….with 126.05 km./h.
Mac was 3d and leads the overall scores after 4 days. Good on him.
All 22 started and 2 were out.
Bruce; “This is a tough game, this WGC thing. Today was meant to be huge, and quite simply, it wasn’t. The weather window was meant to be short, but lift was forecast to go to 12-13,000 feet during that period. The problem was that our task took us south outside the cumulus field, and by the time we dribbled around in the blue at much lower altitudes and finally turned under the cu, they were dying and starting to produce virga.” much more on Taylor’s Gliding Page with pictures about cu’s which were n’t cu’s, but also with this beautiful lenticularis !

club class;  3:30 AAT….won by RASMUS.[Denmark] 122.15 km./h over 436.44 km ! Followed by “our” Dutch Thies ;119.28 km./h.
Quite a lot of low finishes in this class.
All 30 started and 3 were out.
After 4 days young Aussie James Nugent is on 1 overall .
Jens Trabolt , the Executive Editor of NORDIC GLIDING & AVIATION MAGAZINE , mentioned :
“Flot, flot! (Det er virkelig syret at følge et VM på den anden side af jorden her fra DK – man åbner computeren om morgenen med nyheden om, at der er blevet fløjet konkurrencer i nattens løb. Godt, at du kunne holde dig vågen Rasmus Ørskov)”
Which means as much as; A WGC on the other site of the world is weird. You open in the morning your laptop to see that your mates have flown. Jens was happy and was joking: “Good you did’nt fall a sleep Rasmus.”

Some random news;
—-The PEV is sometimes a bit of a struggle for some. Bruce said already that Mac was faster than he on day 3 . Mac missed the window out by ONE SECOND,…very expensive!!!!
Today Sebastian had some problems.
—-Thies managed to climb up 2800 m.in one thermal.
—–“ Oauh congrats great Belgium day Gogo bravo.” Belgian reaction on day 3!
—-Jonker Sailplanes; “Breaking news from Narromine (Australia) – Uys Jonker won the day in the 15m class with his JS3 Rapture JET! The WGC has hit full throttle after an exhilarating day 4, and today’s 544km task with splendid thermal conditions and a high cloud base saw Uys seizing the moment.
Opting for an early start to evade the gaggles from prior days, Uys and his team mates AP Kotze and Riccardo Brigliadori (Italy) made a bold move that paid off immensely. Holding his ground, he clinched the first position, leaving the 26 other participants trailing behind. Bravo, Uys, now securing the impressive overall 3rd place!”

—-Yesterday (Contest Day #3) proved a challenge. Multiple team USA gliders landed out. Multiple retrieval methods were utilized: trailer, tug aka tow plane and motor. DK and FY were in a great paddock though a bit remote to access. Lots of wildlife spotted yesterday including wallabies, kangaroos and wedge tail eagles known locally as wedgies”US Soaring Teams
—–some of the crews arrived only this morning at the airfield. Long day and night and again long tasks for today.
—–The German team-blogger mentioned that the team yesterday got the best out of the day with no outlandings. She mentioned too that” an outlanding down under is another piece of cake than at home.”
German pilot Simon won today. The other pilots are doing well too. In 15 m Steffen and Henrik finished on spot 3 and 4. In club Uwe was 9th and Stefan 5th. Stefan is on 2 overall after 4 days!
This shows on the scores of the TEAM UP after 4 days.
Germany leads with 922.92 p, followed by Australia with 921.33 and The Netherlands with 908.65. Then Belgium with 898.92 p. and Poland with 881.88 points.
MANY MORE DAYS TO COME!!!!

Picture as seen by Indya, the rest unfortunately is TOO big over 3 MB per picture and my blog does n’t accept that. Have to check how to do that first. Sorry.