Post; 1.432 on Wednesday July 12 2023.

WWGC in Soria-Garray…Spain!
2 July 2023 – 14 July 2023

Sunday July 9 ; Blue skies and 36 dgr. C. Real Spanish weather!

Club class; 307.08 km….task 8 on flying day 4.Daniela Wilden in her LS7 was the only one with over 100 km./h. Good on her!3x an LS7 in the top, also the one from French Louise and her German “mate” Carolin, on 2 and 3.
18 started and 1 was out. The first 9 were close and flew around with a speed from 108 to 111 km./h.

Standard class; 357.79 km….task 8 on flying day 5. This time Lizzy took the initiative by starting early at 16.06, indeed another day with late starts making the days pretty long for the girls.
The line opened at 15.24, Lizzy was the first to round the first TP and her final glide started at 3200 m.!!!!She was on a daily spot 6.
Daily winner Cornelia [Germany] started 4 minutes later, but finished at the same time so 1000 points for Cornelia. She was the 2022, so current WWGC champion.

18m. class ; 409.50 km...task 8 on flying day 5. with 120 km./h 4 girls in the top 4; 2 from Czech Rep and 2 from France. So 1000, 999, 998 and 996 points. Michaela Rendlova in the AS 33es was the best, Anne, Elena and Melanie followed.
All 12 started and finished.

In the evening was the well known and for most , lovely event; the BabaYaga -evening. The witches -night , specially for all 13 new pilots, so also for Lizzy. But those Seniors still “flying their brooms” and introducing the young ones in this ritual, love it as much.

Monday July 10; another hot blue day and the more real Spanish conditions, so longer tasks!
Launches were delayed till 2PM. By the way Spain and Italy suffer from a REAL HEATWAVE!!!!!
Open day at the airfield.
Club class; 3 hour AAT..…Some left AFTER 5PM for 300 km!!! So did French Louise; 17.08.38 and she finished at 20.32!!!!! Another long and hot day and a “SLOW” one as Louise was the fastest with 69.43 km./h! She flew 235.52 km.
Petra Piskata who won in Husbos [2022] at the last WWGC was the first “outlander” after 233 km., costing her nearly 300 points. A pity!
The last finisher arrived at 21.14.
18 started [Unfortunately for Carol upon inspection of her glider following the field landing, she has had to withdraw from the competition., by British Gliding Team ] and “only” 7 finished, a bit of a tough day for the scores as p.e the other 2 French girls did not finish. Aude , the number 1 overall at that stage, was one of them and dropped from 1 to 5, but Louise is on top now!
Here is Claudia with her comment on this task: Claudia’s Gliding Page
“Eurgh. Today was awful. We all started late, and the forecast good weather never materialised. I got low several times and lost the pack, I was so fed up that I was checking to see if there were any airfields in the area I could flop into to make it end.I eventually dug myself out of several holes, then found some of the pack, who had slowed down due to the day coming to an end. Outclimbed an LS7 and a couple of ASW20s, which cheered me up.
Decided to abandon the task with just 40km to go as there just wasn’t anything happening in the sky anymore (hardly surprising at 20:45) and the area has very few landable fields.
So I returned to the airfield. Annoying but safe.Landed at 21:02, managed to put the glider to bed just before sunset.
Shout-out to Clubbie team mate Alison, who got the climb that made the difference, got round and came 2nd! “
AND…US Soaring Teams on this day, both Sylvia and Kathy fly in this class;
“Finally in the back of the grid again! It seems the ideal time to go on task is about 4pm. NUTS! The days are crazy long. Very interesting terrain with a mix of hills/ low mountains, forest, and farm fields and pastures. The club class has a 3 hr AAT. The primary tasking is to the south each day, to another set of mountains, varying SE or SW. This would be great, but when you get to the mountains south you also run into airspace that you have to duck under, so you cannot use all your climb.”

Standard class; 3.30 AAT….and those Czech girls in their LS 8 did well AGAIN. They even managed to get 2x 1000 points , for Dana and Jana. A pity I can’t find pictures from them at this WWGC.
They flew 353 km with a speed of 88 km./h . Barbora got 999 points!
Only 8 finished. Lizzy was unfortunately NOT one of them. She had an off-day with flying only 80 km for 152 points and dropped from 1 to 9,…ouch, that hurts, but she has done better than I expected, certainly after been out of soaring for 2 years. Great to see we have a young female Dutch TOPPER again.

18 m; 3.30 AAT…12 started and finished and starts just before 4 PM helps. 377 km for the French girls Melanie and Anne and a speed of 107 km./h.
Alena [Czech REP] started 3 minutes earlier, was 5th for the day but still proud on top overall at this stage. [5,250 p] Melanie and Anne however are “closing in” on her. [5,195 and 5,122 p]

Tuesday July 11; At 7 PM…. “As a hosts, the organization and the city of Soria will make a good and typical Spanish dinner. It will be an event to laugh, enjoy, talk and get to know each other a little more deeply.”

Club class;  272.05 km…CANCELLED!!!! Some started around 4 PM, to fly 12 km and turn back home others did not start at all. Too much head wind!
In the end SCRUBBED IN THE AIR!!
After 5 out of 10 days including a rest day, with today and 2 more days to go Louise from France leads [ 4,425 p] ahead of the German girls Carolin and Daniela. [ 4,253 p and 4,238 p] All fly LS7.

Standard class; 314.75 km….One of the Swiss girls did not start so 15 left in this class and another “crazy” day. 3 Girls from France, Germany and Czech Rep had the same speed ; 105 km./h. for 933,932 and 931 points. Jana was out , so was Lizzy and Joanna.
9 finished after starts around 4PM.
With 7 out of 10 days, and 3 days to go the overall scores are international; 1. Barbora [Czech Rep] with 6,133 p. 2. Sabrina [Germany] with 6,059 p and 3. Aude from France with 5,910 p.

18m; 346.83 km…Also in this class “one missing” Hana did not start again. Her Czech mates did well with a daily 1 and 2 spot for Michaela and Alena.
11 left over and 7 finished.
With 3 days to go including today [no tasks yet] the overall scores are ; 1. Alena [C.R] with 6,151 p. 2. Melanie [Fr] 5,968 p and 3. Anne [Fr] 5,888 p.
All 3 fly a JS 3.

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46th International Issoudun
7 July 2023 – 15 July 2023

After 2 pretty good days, both won by Matthew, last Sunday had rain,….so NO FLYING.
Looking back at those days, Diana from Luxembourg , was 10th but did not fly on the 2d day; a short -circuit in the vario- system ruined the day,… no working instruments.
Then a day with NO TASK so flying continued on
July 10;
Multi-class; Task 3….307.67 km, with 92 km./h Daniel Vincent-Genod in an AS 33 won the day, Interesting to see the performances from this new glider. Matthew was runner up also with 92 km./h He started 20 minutes later than Daniel.
20 started and 16 finished. Good to see young South African pilot Philip Jonker [son from Uys] on a 3d spot!

Club class; Task 3 …..238.68 km….Ben Hughes and Tim Milner had about the same speed 82 and 80 km./h.
16 started and 11 finished.

July 11; NO TASK
So only 3 tasks till now in also HOT France with showers.
On www.soaringspot.com you find the scores and 3 links to their gallery.
July 7 https://photos.app.goo.gl/iDyMGXixMSpr7SiC9
July 8 https://photos.app.goo.gl/nggNtTkJpC86V64t8
July 10 https://photos.app.goo.gl/3VjxZ7hhnvr95AtL6

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UK 18m and 20m.multi class NATIONALS.
 Husbands Bosworth
 1 July 2023 – 16 July 2023

Another very interesting competition, flown from HusBos, a great area for flying. As often when a competition starts the first day had rain and dark skies. But on day 2 they could fly ;
July 9;
18m; 245.61 km and 38 pilots started and for 19 it was a good day. They finished. Ian Macarthur in the JS1b was the best with a good speed of 121.81 km./h . Followed by Russell Cheetham in the JS 3 with 118.81 km./h and by Pete Harvey in the Ventus 3T; 109.69 km./h

20m multi class; 210.99 km and a German team won task1; Martin Theisinger in an ARCUS M, with just over 100 km.h.
9 started and only 4 finished among them Matt Cook, Steve Jones and Mike Young. All in an ARCUS type.
The other participating gliders are Duo Discus-types 3x and DG 1000 T.

On July 10 tasks were set, but also cancelled/scrubbed.
On July 11; same same. I noticed at the European weather station that they have showers. Those showers slowly move away,…to us here in The Netherlands. We don’t mind a bit of rain in this heat. 33 dgrC.
Hopefully better weather the next days. I’ll let you know on Sunday.

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News from Romain Fhal ; Aerobatic coach/instructeur bij Romain Fhal Aerobatics

“Very happy to be first to present the EXTRA330SX. Thank you very much to Walter Extra and Extra Aircraft for this opportunity to fly this beauty at the German national open of aerobatic. this championships have been a real success with 33 pilots 12 nationalities and 102 flights done in 3 days.

Congratulations to my students that took the first five places and the progress of the other students and pilots at this championships. Thanks a lot to the organisers of the this great event to make it possible.”

!!!!!A MEA CULPA /SORRY to Jim [James] Lee.!!!!!
I wrote about his excellent flight from July 2; 1.360,71 km.
I was so involved in those long FAI triangles that I called Jim’s very special GOAL flight, an FAI- triangle!!!!
STUPID!!!!!
So,…. NO it was not a triangle but a GOAL FLIGHT. Even more special!!!!
Here is Jim’s comment I received;
“Hi Ritz,
A correction.  You reported my 1360k flight (along with Keith Essex triangle flight) as a triangle.  It was a straight out flight from Minden NV to Moriarty, NM.  It is the second time that I have flown the longest straight out thermal flight in the world.  Cheers, Jim“

I asked him how he got back, as it is “pretty far from home”.
AND,..I got an answer, which I share with you.
Logistics are important with such a long flight.
“July 2 was the flight.  I had already asked Keith Essex the day before, if I could use his hangar if I made it to Moriarty, and of course he said yes. 
On the evening of July 3 my friend Mark Mocho drove me to the Albuquerque airport.  On July 4 I flew the airlines to Reno, Nevada, where my wife Kathy picked me up and drove us 40 minutes back to Minden.  She already had me packed up with clothes, a cooler of drinks and food, and a bed made in the back of our car.  We hitched up the trailer and I began driving immediately.  I drove 6 hours that night.  The next morning I was up at dawn, and drove 12 hours to arrive in Moriarty.  The next day (July 6) was a nice flying day so I flew 1C to my old stomping grounds in Taos, New Mexico, and back to Moriarty.  Mark helped me derig and I hit the road for home.  After another 18 hours of driving I was back home in Minden on July 7.
So to answer your question, it took 4 days and 36 hours of driving to do the self-retrieve.  I always do it this way (7 straight-out flights) because I can’t bring myself to ask someone to do all of that driving for me.
(20+) Facebook
Cheers,
Jim

CU next Sunday again with the latest on the comps!!
Cheers Ritz

Post 1.431 on Sunday July 9 2023.

12 th WWGC in Soria-Garray in Spain.
2 July 2023 – 14 July 2023

July 5; Wednesday, competition-day 3 task 4.
The daily news; There will no longer be a delay on the tracker on the WWGC site. They expect launches not to be before 2 PM. Then postponed to 2.15 PM. And then…..Cancelled!

Club class; 1.45 AAT …CANCELLED
Standard class; 2.15 AAT….CANCELLED
18 m. class; 2.45 AAT….CANCELLED

They tried hard,…..started and as I heard, some flew to nearly the first TP and then came back….in the end the day was scrubbed.

July 6; Thursday, competition day 4 task 5
A very weird day with a cancelled club class and expected starts at 1.30 PM in the end very late starts,…one even after 6 PM in the other 2 classes.
But in retrospect a “good call”.
In the evening International Night.
Club class; 3 hour AAT….CANCELLED!! “Some club class took off, the rain came, they landed. Club class scrubbed.” British Gliding Team update.
5 days till now and 2 tasks.

Standard class; 3 hour AAT…..changed in 2 hour AAT…..AND an exceptional good day for Dutch Lizzy who started at 5.06 PM, finished at 7.17 PM, flew around over 303 km with a speed of 138.75 km./h . in “her” LS 8, “deserved” 1000 points for her effort, but the rules only could give her 674 points. BUT GOOD ON HER!!!!
Lizzy about this day: “we ran the edge of a storm front both to and from the turn point in the first sector. We only thermalled 5x , the rest was straight on forward. Once she was low, but others found her lift . Great speed so full of adrenaline to bed for the next day“
Joanna Biedermann [Discus 2A] from Poland was runner up , flew 286 km with a speed of 136.97 km./h.
Till now [July 6] 5 days and 3 flyable.

18 m class; 3 hour AAT... changed in 2 hour AAT….Melanie, Anne and Astrid started at 5.30 PM. Alena even at 6.04!!!!Anne still flew over 300 km with good speed 142.38 km./h. for 659 points.
Liz from the UK was 4th but 20 km./h slower.[119.26 km./h]
The number 2 overall Michaela Rendlova was out after 28 km …that really hurts…. and dropped from 2 to 7, but it “ain’t over yet”.

July 7; Friday is an OFFICIAL RESTDAY! NO TASK!!!
Here is the early morning-news from British Gliding Team
“WWGC Race day 5 update & Race day 6 outlook:
Ayala, Liz and Fran all completed their task yesterday. It certainly wasn’t without its challenges, the rain came in across some of the task area however a convergence led to some high speeds and altitudes at times. Just as the 18 metres neared the airfield very gusty winds arrived. This led to two sudden changes of runway direction (catching a few crews out) and some very awkward landings.

The camp took a battering. The team gazebo has moved to a permanent state of ‘nozebo’ and the Spanish teams HQ is now a tangle of metal….

As for race day 6, that’ll now be tomorrow as just after all the crews dragged their sore heads from their beds, following last nights international evening (the Czech teams draft beer wins) we got a message to say that today is a rest day.”

More news next Wednesday about Sunday, Monday and Tuesday’s flying.

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2023 FRENCH 18m and open class NATIONALS.
2 July 2023 – 8 July 2023

From Coulommiers-Voisins these comps were flown with 17 pilots and 4 HC pilots, 2 from Denmark Arne Boye Moeller [JS3 jet] and Peter Eriksen [As 33es] and 2 from Belgium Pierre de Broqueville [EB 29DR] and Lois Dresse [As 33es] They get points but cannot win the title.
TASK 1, was on July 2 and 431.43 km. had to be flown. Arne straight away “got” 1000 points for a speed of 124.27 km./h which was just a tad slower than the EB from Piere and Sylvain [Gerbaud] ;125 km./h.
French pilot Clément de Péchy [JS1 c EVO] won the day; 120.53 km./h.
TASK 2; 2 hour AAT and a prey for the other Danish pilot Peter; 261.18 km , speed 106.34 km./h. Sylvain was runner up but won the day for the Nationals.[260 km, speed 108.52 km./h]
TASK 3; CANCELLED.
Task 4; 3.30 AAT...Young Clement [ son from Philippe and a member of a real gliding family] won the day; 374 km ,speed 106.91 km./h. Good on him!!!!! Such a pity he was OUT on task 2.
19 started and 1 was out.
TASK 5; 460.35 km.….2 HC pilots upfront. Arne and Pierre for 1000 and 965 points. Comps winner was Sylvain; 119.17 km./h.
22 started and 3 were out, one of them Peter.
TASK 6; 2 hour AAT CANCELLED.
TASK 7; LAST DAY!!! 2 hour AAT…..With 240 km and a speed of 118.40 km./h Sylvain won the last day [611 p] and with that he is the new French open class CHAMPION!!!
Arne was on spot 5 lost 64 points, but still is the number 1 overall. Arne is the WINNER with 4.151 points. not the champion.
Also Pierre did well; overall he is just behind Sylvain with 3.997 points so on a 3d spot.

After 5 out of 7 good days the French National Champion is;
1. Sylvain Gerbaud in EB 29DR with 4.144 points.
2. team de Péchy & Merlin in ARCUS M with 3.910 p.
3. Nicolas Bernhard in Ventus 3 T/18m. with 3.784 p. who is the French 18m NATIONAL CHAMPION!

18 m. class :
Nicolas Bernhard..gold medal
Clément de Péchy…silver medal
Francis Svobodny…bronze medal

Open class;
Sylvain Gerbaud… gold medal
Philippe de Péchy et Ulysse Merlin…silver medal
Nicolas Bernhard ….bronze medal

Congratulations to ALL!!!

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46th International Issoudun
7 July 2023 – 15 July 2023

With 35 pilots in 2 classes, MULTI CLASS and CLUB this 46th edition is indeed very INTERNATIONAL again with among them 17 pilots from the UK. 15 Of them had the British Team training Camp 2023 in Issoudun just before this competition , so they had good practice.
Their training was good, had 4 out of 6 days in one handicapped class ,with flights over 300km and overall winners as 1. Tim Milner in LS 3 [1.887 p] , 2. Henry Inigo-Jones in LS 8 [1.826 p] and 3. Tom Ascott in LS8/15m[1.794 p]
The international pilots competing now are besides the UK, from Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands , Australia, South Africa, Italy and Ireland.

They started with a 2 hour and 1.45 AAT. Not a real French task but alas the weather is sometimes weird .
Multi class;
Task 1; 2 hour AAT...Aussie Matthew Scutter [18m.JS3] was the best with 265.46 km ,speed 112.20 km./h. The runner up Henry [ Inigo-Jones] flew 232.20 km., speed 101.70, in an LS 8.
As always Matthew keeps a blog and you feel then, as if you are there with him.
Matthew Scutter’s Gliding
Task 2; 2.45 AAT..…280.50 km. speed 98.61 km./h AGAIN best daily scores for Matthew. Late starts , after 3.30 PM. UK pilot Andy Holmes [LS8] was runner up with 247 km and a speed of 85 km./h.

Club class;
Task1 ;1,45 AAT....you could see that the UK boys had practiced in Issoudun before this competition, and they practiced well as they knew what to do. Spot 1 to 5 were for them; Ben, Tim, George, Jonathan and Oliver flew between 190 and 151 km with speed between 95 and 78 km./h.
16 started and 4 were out.
Task 2; 239.88 km....Lapo Alessandro Busi in an ASW 20 was daily winner with a speed of 74.67 km./h.
UK pilot Tim [Milner] [ I say it once again; he was “our” tuggie at Sportavia long ago and now airline pilot] was runner up.
16 started and 9 were in.

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Some great flights over the last couple of days in GERMANY!
July 6 on Thursday; 1. 264,89 km /1.087.44 km FAI TRIANGLE!!!! Max Schaefer was the pilot in the Ventus 3 M/18m. flown from Dahlemer Binz. He flew together with Fabian Reich., also in a Ventus 3M/18m. Great effort from both!!!!
WeGlide ; “How to earn 20 Badges is one flight? Together with Maximilian Schäfer Fabian Reich flew a very special triangle offside all famous race tracks in Germany. And of course for such a flight you earn a ton of badges especially when you uploaded only two flights before – 20 Badges in one flight a new Record“
https://www.weglide.org/flight/299931
Around 50 1000 km flights that day!!!!!

July 7 on Friday ; Michael Sommer showed his class again with a 1.250 FAI triangle!!!! A total of 1.301.25 km. and another 13 over 1000 km flights.

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I told you last Wednesday about the SUPER-storm called Poly here over The Netherlands. It seems now the WORST ever over our country…. DAMAGE over 100 million Euro.
Schiphol cancelled 400 flights between 9 and 3 .Trains and trams , did not drive up in the upper part of our country. We ,here in the SE had windy, but sunny conditions. What a difference in such a small country!!!
Sadly enough one lady was killed due to a falling tree in Haarlem. Several people got injured by falling trees.
Later in the day the code red turned in orange and later yellow for the provinces in the Nord and then the storm moved to the NW of Germany and Denmark but with only showers.
We really were with a part of Holland in the “eye” of this MONSTER- storm.

Look at the A9[ N of Amsterdam],one of the highways from Amsterdam direction Nord.

Today we have code orange again…thunderstorms with hail and storm are predicted, BUT now in my area. Still 33 dgr. C here and 35 yesterday, we are not really used to that.
CU next Wednesday,……. we suffered from 35 dgr. C last Saturday.

As promised some pictures as the system in the middle of the blog, failed.

Post 1.430 on July 5 2023

WWGC 2023….Soria-GARRAY.
2 July 2023 – 14 July 2023

Spain is the host this year and the airfield of Soria-Garray the place to be.
On the practice days not a lot was flown. Best result over those 4 days was 89 km on a 3 hour AAT task by Dutch pilot Lizzy van Zomeren.
A north- wind was bothering them and on the first official day it had a bad influence on soaring, so no scores, difficult landings from those who dared to start and tent’s “going with the wind”.

The opening was on July 1 .

And,….On July 2 the WWGC started, what better way to show you the full action, than with this great picture from Jerolamo Radman !!!

Club class;
Task 1; 2 hour AAT.….won by French Louise Rodriguez in an LS7, [220.10 km…speed 102.53 km./h !!!] and Claudia with 208.78 km in time 2.07, speed 98.40 km./h. was a great runner up. Pretty good day for the UK as Alison Mulder was 5th
19 started and 17 finished .Team USA was last on the grid and had a difficult day . They finished on spot 16 and 17.
Kevin from their team reported:
“Today the wind has finally slowed down, but the trick is the day is predicted to have thunderstorms in the high counrty, (not that far from the airport) beginning early and possibly causing difficulty getting home. Minimum distance for 1000 point day is 250 km, 100 km for completed task in club class. According to the forecast it will not likely be a 1000 point day.”
Task 2; cancelled due to expected thunderstorms. So time for a picture from the opening.

Standard class;
Task 1; 2.15 AAT….Barbora Moravcova [Czech Rep] in her LS 8 was the best 273.16 km in time 2.25; speed 112.93 km./h. Runner up from Switzerland, Barbara Kuttel also in LS 8. …great performance . And on spot 3, 2 Czech girls equal with 755 points….perfect start, flying and finish.
Our Dutch Lizzy did VERY well all by herself, no team mates, no pair flying….she was on spot 9 .
Weird/Interesting start times as some started at 15.06 as the winner did others at 16.36, surely the weather had everything to do with it.
Cornelia Schaich the WWGC champion from 2003 and 2022, was last for the day.
Task 2 ;cancelled

18m. class;
Task 1; 2.30 AAT.…The Czech girls really trained hard for this WWGC and they were already GOOD. They showed straight away their intentions with a 1-2 and -3- first- day. They started and flew together but finised on different times so the scores are; 872, 832 and 828 for a speed of 132.45 km./h for Alena Netusilova, [ she was WWGC champion in 2003 in Jihlava , 129.09 km./h] for Michaela Rendlova and 128.82 for Hana Treslova.
No I don’t forget the French girls, flying in a team as well and on spot 4,5 and 6.
12 started and 12 finished.
Task 2; cancelled

July 4; Task 3 on flying-day 2 .
British Gliding Team mentioned; “The conditions are challenging today according to our very own reporter who was assistant sniffer today. Cloud base is quite low and turning blue later.”

Club class; 303.72 km....Aude Grangeray in her LS7 was the daily best! Aude was already world champion TWICE; in 2015 in Herning and 2017 in Zbraslavice.
Followed by Elena the WWGC champion from Lake Keepit in 2020; 1000 and 995 points for a speed of 84.86 km./h for Aude and 86.05 for Elena in her Discus.
Grandissima Elena was an Italian comment.
All 19 started and one was out.

Standard class; 386.77 km….As always they started together, flew together each in a DISCUS 2 A and finished within 7 minutes from each other, ……indeed the top 3 French girls!
Marilyne Abadie-Bérard was the daily winner for 1000 points with a speed of just over 100 km./h and with that she was the only one in this class. She was followed by Anais and Aude.
I was most impressed with our Dutch Lizzy, who started just a minute earlier than the French girls [ 14.50 ] She flew her LS 8 to a 4th place!!!
16 started and 14 finished.

18 m. class; 424.90 km.…AGAIN ….the Czechian girls topped the daily list though they “lost” one of the girls “en- route .” Hana was 8th. But Daily winner was Michaela Rendlova in her AS 33es.113,63 km./h!!!
Alena in her JS 3 was runner up.
The French did well too with a spot 3 and 4 for Melanie and Anne both former WWGC champions. Anne even 3x in 2013, 2015 and 2022 and Melanie in 2020.
One of the French girls did not start so 11 left over and 1 was out.

No tasks yet for today.

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AUSTRIAN NATIONALS 2023.
23 June 2023 till 1 July 2023

On June 27 and 28 the message was; NO TASK.
But on June 29 they got another BIG ONE!!!!
15m;
Task 3; 451.92 km….David Richter-Trummer in his “little” Libelle won also the third task; 1000 points and overall after 3 days…3000 points. The Libelle flew already 1.277.19 km in 3 days!!!!
Eduard Supersberger in the Ventus 2B is, with 2x a 3d and 1x a runner up spot ,still in the running too. Still 3 days to go though ,so a lot can happen.
17 Started and 12 finished.
Task 4; NO TASK. At that stage they did not know the weather did n’t allow them more flying.

18m:
Task 3; 587.35 km….23 started and only 1 was out missing out on 50 k, such a pity. Peter Hartmann [JS1c] had his 2d daily win;106.09 km./h.
3x an AS33 in this class and they are “going” well on a daily spot 3,4 and 5 with some good pilots in them as Guido Achleitner and Werner Amann.
Task 4; 2 hour AAT...THEY COULD FLY!!!! And they did. All 23 went up and later down at the airfield they started,…. good. The best for the day was Tilo [Holighaus] his 2d win. He flew 231.55 km in time 2.04; speed 111.77 km./h.
Reinhard [Haggenmüller] was runner up and Peter was 11th and lost around 150 points. Peter still leads but “only” with 41 points.
Uys was 9th.

2-seaters and open class;
Task 3; 537.30 km....the Pirkers won the day in their ARCUS. 105,74 km./h. A tad faster than team Rass /Werlberger in their ASG 32;105.52 km./h.;1000 and 998 points.
Wolfgang and Andy were on spot 3.
Looking at the 2 seaters; 13 started and 6 were in.
Looking at open; 16 started and 9 were in.
Task 4;1.30 AAT... means trying hard! BUT,….no hope…cancelled.

Unfortunately the last day had to be cancelled too.18 m was lucky with one EXTRA day.
So with 3 out of 8 days in 15m and 2-seaters/open and 4 in 18 m

15 m;
1. David Richter-Trummer in H-301 Libelle with 3000 points, the full score so a well deserved champion .
2. Eduard Supersperger in Ventus 2 with 2,832 p.
3. Friedrich Hofinger in Discus 2CT/15m. with 2,692 p.

18m;
1. Peter Hartmann in JS1C with 3,272 points and Austrian champion.
2. Tilo Holighaus in Ventus 3 with 3,231 p.
3. Bernhard Leitner in AS 33/18m with 3,090 p.
Heimo missed out on 15 points so was 0n spot 4 and Uys missed out on 5 points on Heimo with a total of 3060. AND….Guido Achleitner needed 10 points more to equal Uys. So all very close.

2-seaters and open class top 3;
1. Lutz & Janowitsch in ARCUS M with 2,971 points.
2. Rass & Werlberger in ASG 32 with 2,874 p.
3. Pirker & Pirker in ARCUS with 2,841 p.

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Whilst Uys was flying in Austria, his business was in the news;
“After almost a year-long delay from the original schedule, the JS3 RES aircraft has finally been granted Type Certification (TC) by EASA. This achievement marks a significant milestone for the JS/M&D and SOLO teams!“
“The journey to obtain EASA certification for the JS3 RES aircraft was incredibly challenging and complex, and the impact of the Covid pandemic did not help either.
The decision to choose the propulsion system from SOLO was driven by its classification as a certified stand-alone Class 1 product.  Consequently, the JS3 certification program was developed around this certified propulsion system.”
“However, the development and certification process for the propulsion system took significantly longer than expected. The program delays can be attributed to the relative novelty of electric propulsion systems and also EASA faced internal challenges involving the formulating approval processes for Class 1 electric propulsion systems. To the best of our knowledge, this may be the first time that EASA has certified a Class 1 electric propulsion/self-launch system.“
“As a result, the JS3 RES certification process could not be finalised without a certified propulsion system. Ultimately, on the 14^th of June, the SOLO system was awarded TC by EASA, enabling the signing and submission of the statement of conformity for the JS3 RES aircraft. Taking into consideration that the Statement of Conformity was only submitted on the 16^th of June, the LBA and EASA demonstrated commendable efficiency in completing the final administrative activities. Kudos to the LBA/EASA team for their commendable work!”
“During the certification process, one significant challenge was to demonstrate compliance with the battery fire propagation requirements. It was required to amend the battery design with reinforcement fire-resistant layers and additional insulation layers to prevent the spread of fire from a single burning cell.”
“Overall, the successful Type Certification of the JS3 RES aircraft represents a remarkable achievement for the teams of SOLO, Emectric, M&D Flugzeugbau, and JS, showcasing their dedication and perseverance throughout this demanding certification journey.“
A JS NewsFlash.

–—–A few” perfect ” flights last weekend.
Very special was the flight from Minden in Nevada by James Lee in a JS 1C/21m. last Sunday. He flew a GOAL flight from 1.360.71. Chapeau!!! Speed 153 km./h.
”   It was a straight out flight from Minden NV to Moriarty, NM.  It is the second time that I have flown the longest straight out thermal flight in the world.”
WOW!!!!!!!
That day Keith Essex went, of course high-up too, he flew from Ely, [East from Minden] in his EB29R a distance of 1.458.85 km … FAI triangle 1.261.39….so 1.250 triangles on one day.
9 hours and 29 minutes and for the triangle 8.13.20. AND…..flown in THERMAL conditions!!!!
““Finally a good Ely day! Went for a declared 1250 but didn’t load the task correctly. flew the task anyway.”
Why not???!!!
WeGlide welcomed him in the “1400 club” !https://www.weglide.org/flight/298001
“Keith is now together with Simon Schröder (1445km, Namibia ), Max Schäfer (1408km, Namibia ), Alexander Müller (1422km, Germany ) Matthias Arnold (1434km, Namibia ) and James G Lee (1459km, USA) in the Club of 1400k.”

More news next week.
Interesting but in fact pretty awful; some countries in Europe had the hottest June since record keeping.
I heard that the water of the seas and ocean are so warm that the fish can’t survive in the future.
Last Monday was according to experts from the USA the hottest day EVER in this WORLD!!!! 17.01 drg. C [old one 16.09] Since record keeping.
Experts think the reason is El Nino and the climate chance.
We have today here in The Netherlands code RED in the NW with summer storm Poly with winds up to 120 km./h.
We are in July now, always a bit of a sad beginning of this month as our son/brother Dennis had his birthday on July 3. He would have been 54 now [when he would not have died when he was 18!]

Ritz, more about the WWGC “maybe” on Sunday . For sure next Wednesday.

Post 1.429 on June 28 2023.

CAMPIONATO Italiano in CLUB CLASS and UNICA and for beginners.
Italian Nationals……Ferrara…..16 June 2023 – 25 June 2023

After 3 days they continued with the NATIONALS at Ferrara. More and more they only fly during the weekends in Italy.
On Friday tasks were set but not flown. We had terrible weather here too, like in the UK, France, Belgium and Germany. Flooding again and severe thunderstorms.
But that weather went through quickly, blue skies appeared and it was hot again. Up to 33 dgr C here in The Netherlands last Sunday.

UNICA;
Task 4; 2.15 AAT….not flown.
Task 5; 400 km,…..that’s better the Italian soaring weather was back. Ricky was just a tad faster than Davide; 110.91 km./h for 110.57 and with 110. 40 Roberto Pinato was close by as well;1000,994 and 992 points. All 23 in this class started and 2 did not finish.
Task 6; 2.15 AAT.….22 pilots started on this last day and 21 finished. Davide in his 18 m. JS3 flew 269.39 km in time 2.21.49, so a speed of 113.98 km./h. and was with that speed the last daily winner.
It was less than a tad, 113.96 km./h for runner up Mauro Brunazzo.
Roberto Pinato who was on spot 1 overall in his JS 3 every day except for day 1, was on spot 15 with an 81 sec. penalty for a low finish.
He lost over 600 points and with that his title, but was still on the podium.
Giorgio was 18th.
1. Davide Schiavotto in JS3 /18m with 3,722 points. National Champion, congratulations.
2. Lucio Bordin in JS 3/18m with 3,667 p.
3. Roberto Pinato in JS 3/18m with 3,624 p.
Ricky missed out on 20 points [3,604] to be on the podium.

CLUB;
Task 4; 215 AAT,…..not flown.
Task 5; 299.62 km..…3 flew faster than 90 km./h. Giacomo Dall’Olio won the 1000 points for a speed of 99.82 km./h in an ASW 20a. Another glider , same type , different pilot, Lapo Busi, was runner up ; 95.44 km./h.. Lapo won already task 2 and 3.
All 20 started and 2 were “out”.
Task 6; 2 hour AAT….183 km for Luca [Monti] and Lorenzo [Monti] both starting and finishing and flying with 90 km./h. with a rather late start at 15. 15. Both flying a LAK 19.
19 started and 17 finished.
Overall, Luca [Urbani] who was 3d for the day passed Lapo.
1. Giacomo Dall’Olio in ASW 20 with 3,342 points.
2. Luca Urbani in Discus 2a with 3,273 p.
3. Lapo Busi in ASW 20a with 3,234 p
On spot 4 Luca Monti missing out on 3 points; 3,231 p.

They had another class during this competition; promozione, with 7 pilots eager to get higher up in the soaring world and in class. Winner AND CHAMPION, was Andrea Paganin in LS1f with 2,495 points. The runner up , Luca Leone had 2,274 p.

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AMSTELGLIDE 2023

In the Netherlands we have several 2-day-comps. This time Soesterberg is the host. Here “lives” the club from AMSTERDAM….the ACVZ.[ Amsterdamse Club voor Zweefvliegen]
2 Classes looked ahead a a great soaring weekend as the weather was hot ,but very blue!
Tasks were set for club with 18 participants among them 2 ladies , Sanne from Deelen and Sophie from the student club of Delft and open had 17 pilots several well known to me , as father and son Daan and Thijs Pare both flying a Ventus.

Club class flies on June 24
task 1; a 3 hour AAT…… 310 km. was flown by Jeroen van Dijk in the LS 3 WL. After 10 flying days during the Dutch Nationals he was already in a good flow and he was winning now with 90 km./h. Soesterberg is his club.
Runner up in a St. Libelle was Daan van Kol, also a local pilot.
16 Started and 12 finished. Looking at the ladies; Sophie did not start and Sanne was out .
Task 2; 266.84 km.….and again Jeroen wins the day; 100 km./h the only one over the 100 km. mark.
With that he is of course the winner of this 2-day-competition;1,858 points. Daan is runner up [9th for the day] with 1,667 p.

Open flies on
task 1 ; 353.60 km..…All 17 finished but the speed was not high, so it was more or less “fighting” in the blue. Team Simon van den Eijkel and Jeroen Verheul won in the Duo Discus XLT; 98.09 km./h.. Runner up team Rik van den Boer from the Belgium club Albatros flew the same glider; 94.76 km./h. Only 1 pilot flew over 100 km./h ;Max Leenders in his JS 3 TJ/18m.
Daan and Thijs were on spot 7 and 8.
Task 2; 302.56 km..…also here the same winners as the day before; Simon and Jeroen. the Belgium friends, Rik and Tom, were also runner up again. No news that those 2 teams won the comps. 1,831 points for 1,742p.
Only 13 started on day 2.

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AUSTRIAN NATIONALS in 4 CLASSES
Mariazell 23 June 2023 – 1 July 2023

In between, the Austrian Nationals have started as well in 4 classes.
They started with a “no task day” on June 23 as the opening was on that day and on June 24, but on June 25 the pilots had to go up in the air. But then it was straight GOOD.
There are 4 classes 15 m with 17 participants, 18 m with 23, 2-seaters with 12 teams and open with 16.
A total of 68 among them several “big” names.

15 m ;
Task 1; 313.93 km....David Richter-Trummer in a H 301 Libelle won day 1 with a speed of 78.60 km./h His handicap is 100. Runner up with 999 points was Raphael Gramer in LS 4 [525 k]
Also in this class 1 pilot from Germany and 1 from Czech Rep.
17 started 8 finished, so a tough day.
Task 2; 511.34 km….No doubt,….David is in good soaring mood so is his Libelle…..flying 511 km. He won again; speed over this rather long distance during a competition was 89.38 km.
17 started and only 10 finished.
Task 3; km…according to the local weather station the temperature at 10 was 16 dgr. C, with 89 % clouds and not a lot of wind 13 km./h.

18 m;
Task 1;485.32 km...5 German pilots in this class and one of them Tilo [Holighaus] yes from Shempp-Hirth won day 1 in his Ventus 3 with a speed of 106.38 km./h. Runners up Peter Hartmann in JS 1C and Heimo Demmerer in Ventus 3 . Both pilots fly a lot in Italy as well. I met them several times at the CIM in Rieti.
23 started and 19 finished among them Werner Amann, Uys Jonker from South Africa and good “old” Reinhard Haggenmueller. He once flew {somewhere at a WGC?} a great DEMO, I never have forgotten, scary but so good.
Task 2; 508.23 km….Peter , used to mountain flying, was the best; 113.70 km./h Uys did well over those Mariazell mountains; runner up with 111.53 km./h.
22 started and 19 finished.

2-seaters and open class as they are about the same with the same tasks;
Task 1; 428.71 km….a Dutch Austrian combination won task 1; Mathijs van Houweninge & Aurel Hallbrucker in the ARCUS M; 111.32 km./h. BUT…they had to share their first spot with TOPPERS as Andy Lutz and Wolfgang Janowitsch [Happy birthday Wolfgang] a former double 18 m. WGC champion.[2003 Leszno and 2018 in Hosin]
When Wolfgang wins he can be truly/intense happy. See picture
Task 2; 573.88 km….Andy and Wolfgang were the daily winners; 106.77 km./h then only ones over 100 km./h so a tough day in the office.
Tougher even for Mathijs and Aurel who stranded when they were nearly home; “out” after 523 km. loosing 468 points on Wolfgang and Andy ; from 12 starters 6 were in.
From the 16 in open class 6 were out.

They did NOT FLY yesterday.…NO TASK.
Today they fly…in ALL classes…2.30 AAT’s. 15m 2.30 AAT
More next week.

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—–It’s mid winter in Australia but some of my mates had a good Sunday last week.
From Bunyan Gld close to Canberra [South] Justin Fritzgerald flew in wave a yo-yo-flight from 791 km over the mountains from the Great Dividing Range with a speed of 167.54 km./h in a 15 m. Ventus CT. Good on him. He stayed East of Mount Kosciuszco, [2230 m. the highest point], where I once drove over with Brutus in our car on our way to Canberra. Pretty special that high mountain-range with its trees. Still not sure if it was a good idea to travel that way, sometimes it was pretty scary, but we arrived safe in Canberra.
Also a nice flight from Bunyan in an LS6 by David McIlroy;246 km.
5 Pilots noticed the potential good wave flights and went for a ride.
My mate Gerrit flew in his EB 29R a distance of 261 km and another good mate Butch flew in his AS 33es/18m. 242 km. Nice winter-day out from Kingaroy more in the East of Australia.

Not long [July2] the WWGC starts in Spain. Most ladies have arrived already. Some even practice for 2 weeks.
I will follow them , of course and wish them ALL…… GOOD LUCK and SAFE FLIGHTS.
47 pilots in 3 classes….16 in Standard Class, 12 in 18 m and 19 in Club Class.

Also the German team has arrived with 10 pilots!!!
From July 2, the gliders will take to the skies around Soria (Spain) for the Women’s World Cup. With them, of course, the German team with the pilots:
Ilka Elster-Back – LS8 e neo
Cornelia Schaich – LS8
Karen Wilken – LS8
Sabrina Vogt – Discus 2a
Anja Barfuss – ASG 29 Es 18m
Sandra Malzacher – ASG 29 18m
Katrin Senne – JS3 18m Jet
Ulrike Teichmann – LS4
Carolin Rothardt – LS7
Daniela Wilden – LS7 WL

AND …. Eric Napoleon announced the arrival of his French team in Spain; 9 pilots.
Alizée Petit – ASW 20
Aude Grangeray – LS7
Louise Rodriguez – LS7
Anais Gaubert – Discus 2A
Marilyne Abadie-Bérard – Discus 2A
Aude Untersee – Discus 2A
Mélanie Gadoulet – JS3/18m
Astrid Galaret – JS3/18m.
Anne Ducarouge – JS3/18m

The “girls” from the USA, Kathy Fosha [ ASW 20] and Sylvia Grandstaff, [ St Cirrus] both were in Lake Keepit as well [and as far as I remember not in HusBos] , have arrived as well.

The Netherlands will be represented by Lizzy [van Zomeren] .Tough job for a sole pilot ,but she will do her utmost best! AND,…she can make quickly new friends….
You surely remember the smoke at days at the WWGC in Lake Keepit [2020] due to many forest fires.
In Spain no fires but only smoke; not good either,… this smoke arrives from the CANADA fires. I noticed it on TV and it looked a bit “creepy”, orange/red skies at places .
Matthew Scutter from SkySight shared this picture;

CU next week
Cheers Ritz

Post 1.428 on June 21 2023.

The first thing when I read my mails was the JS News Flash from Jonker Sailplanes,
NO need for me to do time- consuming- research about the German Nationals, when they have written down ,what I wanted to say too. So here you are, I share it, whenever you have nor read it yet.

JONKER SAILPLANES MARKETING.

The German Nationals in Open, 18m, and Double Seater class recently concluded, providing pilots with exceptional weather conditions over the past two weeks. Out of 13 possible days in Bayreuth, there were 11 competition days, thanks to the continuous influence of a high-pressure system over the north of Germany. This system brought in a strong and fresh airmass from the northeast, creating excellent thermal conditions for the pilots.
In the 18m class, 15 out of 39 pilots opted for JS gliders. The reigning standard class world champion, Simon Schröder, showcased his dominance once again by securing a victory in this class. Schröder won with a commanding lead of 400 points, flying a Ventus 3TS. Stefan Langer (ASG 29) finished in second place, followed by Matthias Sturm and Katrin Senne (both flying JS3 JET gliders) in third and fourth place, respectively.

In the open class, Michael Sommer emerged as the winner once more, with Felipe Levin and Oliver Binder (both his teammates) securing second and third place, respectively. Impressively, the top six positions in the open class were all taken by EB29R gliders, indicating that this particular model is considered state-of-the-art. Among the 22 participants, there were 10 EB29Rs and 4 JS gliders.

The Double Seater class was dominated by the Theisinger family, with Laurenz flying alongside his father Georg in an ASG 32. They clinched victory with a comfortable lead of 24 points. Martin Theisinger, Laurenz’s uncle, finished in second place, while Andreas Hillebrand (flying an Arcus M) secured third place.

The organizing team of the event in Bayreuth received high praise for their remarkable job, and the facilities in Bayreuth were commended for their quality. As a result, it is believed that Bayreuth has the potential to host even larger competitions in the future.”

So far the Jonker news flash,
As said before , I was already in Bayreuth at the WGC in 1999 and that was perfectly organized as well. Holger Karow then won in open class in a Nimbus 4, Giorgio Galetto won in 15 m. in Ventus 2 and in standard it was Jean Marc Caillard in Discus 2A.
Have good memories on Bayreuth.

Also Schempp-Hirth was happy;
“Simon Schröder is German Champion in 18m Class 2023.
We are very happy that our sales agent placed first in Bayreuth in the 18m Class at the German Nationals with our Ventus-3 !
He flew his way past all competitors and managed to save his place right from the first days. Due to his consequent flying he brought the title home.
We are very proud of him and welcomed him back warmly to our company.”

After the comps there was still soaring-spirit in Michael [Sommer] ; last Sunday he flew in the EB 29R a distance from 1.324.75 km from Oberhinkofen nearly flying to Vienna and back, with good wave conditions and another 10 hours and 17 minutes in his log book.

What happened more?
GREAT WEATHER!!!No……. GLORIOUS WEATHER! Stunning conditions at places!!!
Every already flown competition had many days and long distances and happy faces;
—–Arne Martin Güettler was the NORWEGIAN CHAMPION in open class where 12 pilots plus 1 HC pilot had 7 days out of 7. Mostly around 300 km tasks were set. 3.839 points for him. He flew a DG 500
Martin Bjørnebekk was the club class NATIONAL CHAMPION. He flew a MOSQUITO.4.906 points for him. He won 3 tasks.

—–The OPEN MILITARY CHAMPIONSHIP was flown in THE NETHERLANDS from Malden. 2 Classes, club with 9 pilots and 15 in the combi class. There is a mix from military pilots and “just normal” pilots. You don’t have to be in the military service to participate.
The Royal Airforce even brought an ASK 21 to Malden. Pilots from the 300 squadron flew around with who ever wanted a “joy-flight”.
Great effort!
After 5 out of 5 days with in the combi – class tasks up to 481 km and in club up to 400 km. this was a super-event.
Winner in club was ; Jeroen van Dijk in LS 3 WL with 4.218 points. Jeroen was OUT on day 1 after 163 km. , but won all the other days.
Winner in combi; father and son Ben and Frank Hiemstra in the DG 1000S/20m. with 4.738 points.
They flew 27 hours , 2143 km and the best height was over Germany;2500 m!!!!
So exellent conditions.

—–The RAYSKALA MASTERS in Finland had superb weather as well. Included were the Finish Nationals in open and racing class.
8 days out of 8 of fine soaring

Winner in club class ; Sakari Pyörre in LS 7 with 7,151 points.
Winner in racing class ; Kristian Roine in LS 8st with 7,297 points.
Winner in open class; Juha Sorri in ARCUS M with 6,955 points.
Interesting to see that the number 1 flew an ARCUS M the number 2, Pasi Pulkkinen an EB29D [6781 p] and the number 3 Aku Jaakkola, a Ventus 3.[6.771, very close!!!]
When I got to know Aku he was very young , very eager and a very keen and good pilot. Now married and with children , he is still good!

Finnish gliding nationals were flown at the same time in the Open and Racing classes. Finnish national rules were applied. Handicaps were used in all classes. Same names in both classes, different final scores AND….2 new National Champions 2023.
Pasi called it ” One of the most skillfull contest ever in Finnish nationals.”
Results;
Open; Racing:
1. Juha Sorri with 6.821 p. 1. Krististian Roine with 7,349 p.
2. Pasi Pulkkinen with 6.654 p. 2. Antti Koskiniemi with 7,082 p.[Discus 2B]
3. Aku Jaakkola with 6.641 p. 3. Nuutti Luukkonen with 7,000 p. [LS8 a]

On the last day there finish was over the LAKE and when I was there, I loved it! VERY SPECTECULAR!!!!!
“legendary finish line 12 in use” [Bit like in Lake Keepit]
They still love it. Katja who I got to know at Rayskala during the Europeans,[2005?] took these great pictures.
Many others , still flying this competition, I got to know then too.

——-The 13th 15 m class NATIONALS in POLAND [ 9 June 2023 – 17 June ] flown from Grudziadz Lisie had not the glorious weather the pilots more West in Europe had.
4 Tasks out of 8 .
Łukasz Grabowski won 2 days ,[ 440 km and 2 hour AAT] so did Jacek Flis.[2.30 AAT and 3 hour AAT] .
In the end Jacek won in his LS 3 with 3.371 points . Runner up Lucasz in the DIANA 2 , had 3.293 p.
Handicap LS3 is 912.925 and from the DIANA 2 863.853

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Some comps have just started and are still in progress like in Italy;
CLUB CLASS and UNICA in Ferrara between 16 June 2023 – 25 June;

Unica; 23 pilots among them Ricky [Brigliadori] , Giorgio [Galetto] and Davide [Schiavotto]
Task 1; 268.39 km….. good day for 5 pilots flying 119 km./h. 4 Flew a JS 3 and 1 a ASH 31.21 m. All 5 started at 14.25 and finished at 16.40.
But one was the best; Davide with 119.98 km./h…… Ricky was runner up; 119.31 km./h.
Task 2; 226.44 km……23 started 22 finished. Best was  Roberto Pinato in JS 3 with 105.60 km./h. Davide and Ricky were on spot 8 and 9 and Giorgio on spot 5.
Task 3; 235.02 km..…2d win for Davide, who grew out from an eager junior flying the JWGC in Husbos ….with as his coach/TC Leonardo [Brigliadori] to an Italian top pilot.
23 started and 19 finished, among them Ricky and Giorgio on spot 3;equal daily points 646.
After 3 tasks and hopefully 3 more to come from Friday onward, there are 5 pilots between 1.921 and 1.990 points. [Roberto, Lucio, Davide ,Alberto and Ricky.]

Club class;
20 pilots among them Luca [Urbani], Luca [ Monti], and 3 Fergnani’s; Elena, Michelle and brother Nicola.
Task 1; 193.40 km.…The Luca’s straight did well. Urbani won [105.17 km./h] in Discus 2A and Monti in LAK 19 with 102.67 km./h.
Task 2; 231.44 km…..Lapo Busi won the day in ASW 20 a;99.45 km./h. Elena [ Discus] was runner up and Nicola [Discus] 4th , Micelle the youngest was 6th. [Discus 2a]
Task 3; 195.01 km….91.80 km./h for Lapo…. again as daily winner.
20 started and 18 finished. Former WWGC champion in Club class [Lake Keepit in 2020 in Australia] Elena was 13th.
Clearly Lapo leads the overall scores after 3 days; 1.840 points. 3 days hopefully to go, but there are more {thunder}-storms around. Mmmmm….

The competitions in Ferrara continue on Friday June 23 2023 for another 3 days.

—–Busy busy soaring week in great summer conditions look at how busy it is on this picture shared by Sebastian. Have a look also at the OLC and WeGlide for a huge amount of 1000 km-plus- flights.
https://www.onlinecontest.org
https://weglide.org

Just read this message from WeGlide:
“Yesterday, Gordon Boettger texted us saying: “I’m going to launch at midnight tonight and plan for a 2500 km plus flight. NVG time baby!”. Now, after a flight of 17,5 hours, Gordon and Bruce have gone further than anyone ever did before them in a glider. The WeGlide team would like to congratulate both pilots with this amazing achievement of 3058km and for pushing the boundaries of gliding.”
They started at Minden, in an ARCUS J and the speed was 177 km./h!!!
https://www.weglide.org/flight/291438

We are super excited to hear his story and share it with you!

Also on https://www.onlinecontest.org/…/gliding/flightinfo.html…

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—–Not long and the WWGC starts in Garray in Spain. Start is on July 1 2023.
Training update from Team UK:
“Four weeks ago, a ground handling incident meant that Carol would not be able to fly her LS7 in WWGC2023. However, she is back in the competition because Tim Dews of Airbourne Composites kindly offered the loan of his ASW 20 L. This kind of gesture is a great example of the supportive nature of this sport.”
That’s gliding too!!!!!Great effort from Tim!
https://wwgc2023.org/

CU next week.
Hospital visit was OK!!!!
Holiday as it should be, with 5 nearly 80 years old….haha. Though 4, 3 and 2 years to go for the big 8-0.
After 38 days with NO rain, we had some strong thunderstorms over night, mostly in the coastal areas.
Every day around 30 dgr.C, feels “good” in Australia, but less good in The Netherlands with no airco. Half June we had already more sun hours than ever before in June.
LONGEST DAY HERE!!!!! Shortest for my friends down under.
AND,.in Scandinavia around this time …..MID SUMMER NIGHT. I attended a few , very special atmosphere.
Cheers Ritz

Post 1.427 on June 7 2023.

GERMAN NATIONALS at BAYREUTH
28 May 2023 – 9 June 2023

In “my time,” even a WGC, stopped sometimes after 6 days for a rest day. Not in Bayreuth, they started with day 8, without rest. AND,…those days were pretty long with 3 and 4 hour AAT’s and over 500 k racing tasks. Maybe getting older makes me “weaker”. Though…. maybe a 2 hour AAT for open class, “sounds/feels ” like rest.
Anyhow they hope for 12 days and the prize giving is on Saturday morning at 10 AM [I will be “gone” then.]
But for you …..All news on https://lsg-bayreuth.de/wettbewerb/ and for scores also the final scores; www.soaringspot.com
We continue too;
Monday June 5; Task 8
competition-day 8! I read that the air had changed and is more instable[ “which could be good”,] but also a possibility for thunderstorms is fore casted along the Easterly low mountain range, so they fly to the West. After a B task a C task was set as well but,…they flew the A tasks starting at 11.40.
At 12.17 they started with the 2-seaters and as last open with a small task.
18m class; 3 hour AAT….Stefan [Langer] is in a good flow and after being runner up the day earlier he was now THE DAILY BEST; 410.30 km. in time 3.06.45…speed 131.82 km/h. About the same time as runner up Mario [Kiessling] 131.58 km/h. for 406 km in 3.05.17.
37 Still in “the game” starting and finishing!!!!

Open class; 2 hour AAT... 136.20 km./h for Holger [Karow] with 272.39 km in time 1.59.29 for 600 points! He started and finished together with Markus [Frank].
Felipe and Michael were on 3 and 4 , starting 8 minutes later.
“The open class was so fast that at times it seemed as if these minimums were being exceeded. The rating of the Open Class would then have been neutralized, i.e. taken out of the rating – in reversal of all other principles because the pilots were too good. After all the flights were available, it was clear: the flights were about half a minute above the minimum value, so the rating stood.” as written by Daniel Große Verspohl 
20 here still in the race and all 20 started and finished.

Dosi’s; 2.30 AAT....a prey again for the Theisingers; Martin {ARCUS M} flew 337 km so did Laurenz {ASG 32] ;difference in scores; ONE point, 838 for 837.Speed 130 km./h.
The good old DUO DISCUS XT was 3d, 10 km slower, but holding on NICELY!!!!
28 started and finished.

Tuesday June 6 RESTDAY!!!!

Wednesday today! June 7 task 9...
18m; 229 km…..last to be launched
open; 299.13 km…
dosi’s; 291.63 km…starting first…
The verdict from the weather man, in the early morning , when there is still overcast, about a flying day is ; 50/50.
A pity I can’t follow the final of this comps. My laptop stays home.

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GERMAN JUNIOR NATIONALS
 Aalen-Heidenheim/Elchingen
27 May 2023 – 10 June 2023

Only a few more days to go for the 70 juniors when I start writing again after the extra Sunday blog, on Monday morning. They had already 7 concessive days in their standard and club class with mainly over 300 km tasks in standard class even a 4 hour AAT on task 5 on June 2; Max Maslak won that day in the LS 8NEO; He flew 457.52 km in time 4.06…speed 104.21 km./h. But 1 day later he was virtual “out” after 132 km. dropping from 1 overall [ where he was for 5 days] with nearly 300 points more than the runner up, to spot 7.
That “hit” him , pretty normal, as on task 7 he was “only’ 20thiest from 28.

In May 2022 Max flew his first SGP in Sweden in Boras. Only 3 flyable days in which he was 12th [from 15] Stefan Langer he flies so well now in the German Nationals in Bayreuth won then with 21 points.
Max is a young guy, learning a lot from all kind of comps or free soaring , with a bright future!

Max was one of those lucky young guy’s flying in Namibia last winter. I wrote about him, on December 7 2022
“This must be Max Maslak’s BEST experience with soaring in his 19 year life. Flying the Ventus 3 by himself during the Bitterwasser-1000 km-camp and together with Wilfried learning in the EB 28
“Day 7 1000km Camp Bitterwasser;
“Again one of the best days in Namibia with a 300km convergence line in the west. Early start with an adiabatic temp curve. Even if the high level of instability in the west brought about early spreads of rain, the route planning in the morning went quite well. The thunderstorms that hung over Bitterwasser in the late afternoon were limited in time, so that in the evening the airfield could be approached again without any problems.
Another important experience for Max at just 19 years old..” by Wilfried
They flew 1.214 km…speed 143 km./h.
Max flew 3x in the Ventus 3M/18 m; 1.049 km….1.158 km…and day 7 …..1.049 km.
With Wilfried; Day 1…..1.135 Max very first flight, …1.162 km….1.214 km
“7 flight days……..7400km…….is only possible in Bitterwasser

But there are more GOOD young German pilots.
On Monday it was Eric Schneider and Nils Schlautmann both in LS 8 leading the overall scores with 5,969 and 5,951 points after those 7 days/tasks.
Eric won task 6 and was runner up on task 4 and 5.

On Monday June 5, after 7 tasks they had a rest day! Still 4 days to go when the weather is good.
That Monday was a GREAT day. In his Ventus 3T ,Tilo flew from Aalen Heidenheim 974 km!!!

Tuesday June 6; 3 hour AAT…still good weather…..352.68 km. in time 259.13 was the best performance in an LS 8 neo for 1000 points…speed 117.56m km./h. Pilot; Paul Schwarz. Most started around 2 PM, Max at 2.20. He flew his LS8 neo over 379.69 km. but needed 3 hours and 27 minutes.[109.61 km/h]
27 started and 23 finished!
Wednesday June 7;

CLUB CLASS; with 40 pilots ;
7 days of flying in a row also in club class. Tasks from 4 hour AAT’s and 3.30 AAT’s and racing tasks around 300 km. Quite some kilometers for “the little ones”.
13 Pilots are overall, in between 5000 and 5928 points after those 7 days.
Gerrit Neugebauer in LS 4 won 2 days and was on 1 runner up and 2x on spot 3. He is the one with the 5928 points.
After a well deserved rest-day they started again , they are young and strong, love their soaring and…were refreshed,…no worries, not even for another 3.30 AAT.
Tuesday June 6 with a 3.30 AAT…..Felix Kries had a perfect timing ;332.41 km in time 3.26.56; speed 94.97 km./h. Pretty good that all those young pilots know how to fly AAT’s in time. Only 4 Needed over 4 hours.
Gerrit proudly on top at the moment ,had to get back in the flow again and was 14th. [899 points] Still clearly 1; 6.827 points. Runner up John Bartels has 6/515 p. He flies an ASW 20 C.
Wednesday June 7;NO TASK YET.
To see the final scores later; www.soaringspot.com

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—-The Dutch juniors participated in a more local competition at the airfield of TWENTE.
An interesting one, called TUKKER GP, with different rules; distance handicapped tasks and of course the Regatta start.
Gliders with a higher handicap had to fly a bigger task. Unfortunately the 2 day competition had 1 day with a distance between 230.45 km and 341.81 km.
An LS 8 neo was flown by Niels van Nieuwland, he was 3d , the LS 4 was flown by Tim Kremers he was 8th from 12.

—-Arne Martin Güettler reports after each day flying in the NORWEGIAN NATIONALS [ 3 June 2023 – 10 June 2023 flown from Leirin] about the experiences the 15 participating pilots have.
12 In open and 3 in club.
Good to see that Henning and Erland are still flying comps!!!
“First day of Norwegian gliding championship. Mostly blue conditions. It was a decent start for us, but not the best. But many more days to come.
And,…..3rd day of Norwegian gliding championship.
Difficult conditions at the start, great street from first to second turnpoint. Difficult blue conditions on third leg, and had to dig ourself out from fairly low. But so did most others, and we ended up winning the day.In the total results we are now second.”
https://www.weglide.org/flight/278307
https://www.soaringspot.com/…/task-3-on-2023-06-06/daily

And if you wish you can follow the Räyskälä Masters 10 June 2023 – 17 June 2023. 42 Pilots in 3classes.
“This week’s schedule:
Registration at competition office (Ilmoittautuminen kisapaikalla)

Thursday 8.6.2023 16:00-19:00 & Friday 9.6.2023 12:00-18:00

Friday 9.6.2023 Unofficial practice day, briefing at 10:00 in Hangar I, tasks available, more info coming later (epävirallinen harjoituspäivä, lisätietoa myöhemmin)

9.6.2023 19:00 Safety briefing in Hangar I (Turvallisuusbriefing I-hallissa)

10.6.2023 10:00 Opening ceremony in front of cafeteria and first official briefing in Hangar I afterwards.”

i believe Adam is flying there as well so you can follow his page; Adam Woolley’s Gliding Adventures

Off to hospital first [brrrr….] then packing and my annual HIGHSCHOOL week/holiday with my 4 friends starts in 2 days.

CU , in 2 weeks June 21.
Cheers Ritz

Extra post 1.426 on Sunday June 4 2023

FRENCH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
in Standard and 15 m and 2-seaters.
27 May 2023 – 3 June 2023

They finished yesterday so best to start with them. The standard and 15m competition included the French female Nationals.
task 4 , flying-day 3 on May 31;
standard/15 m; 177.21 km...37 started this day and 34 finished. They all started close to 4PM, a few however after 4. The 3 “out” did so after 58 km.
There was a winner too; Fréderic Hoyeau with a speed of 91.41 km./h. flying his Discus 2a. A tad slower was Anne [Ducarouge]in the 15m JS 3. Top pilots as Laurent Aboulin and Christophe Abadie were on spot 11 and 22.
After 4 days Anne leads [994] before Kevin [987] and MAX.[974] HC pilot from Belgium has the most points till now; 995….after 4 days, that says a LOT!!!!
2-seaters; 174.82 km...16 started and 1 was out. The daily winners from the day before Bruno Pieraerts & Patrick Stouffs did not start!!!! The daily winners now were team Francis Svobodny in ARCUS M; 96.30 km./h.
Runner up was Philippe de Péchy, but quite a bit slower; 85.28 km./h.

Task 5,flying day 4 on JUNE 1; The weather improved!!!But NOT yet good enough…..
Standard/15m; 3 hour AAT…changed in 2.45 AAT…with 267 km in time 2.48 a new face at the daily podium Eric Garnier in ASG 29e. Speed 95.30 km./h. Great runner up spot again from Belgian pilot Thomas Leduc; 265 km in time 2.50; speed 93.16 km./h.
36 Pilots started and only 2 were “out”.
2-Seaters ; 3 hour AAT....changed in 2.45 AAT...264 km in the ARCUS M for Philippe de Péchy; speed 95.92 km./h.
16 French teams started and 2 were out. Pieraerts & Stouffs , Bruno and Patrick, were in the race again and 7th for the day [HC]

task 6; flying day 5 on June 2;
Standard/15 m; 125.77 km….still not a real French task. Anaïs Gaubert was the ONLY finisher! 44.73 km./h for 5 points!!!! But,…they flew and it was a valid day . So not really points to loose or gain, though sometimes ONE point can be enough to make you happy. A lot were 30 km out others closer as 115 or 105 . With one day to go Thomas from Belgium[HC] shares pot 1 with Eric .
The first 7 pilots are between 1623 and 1786 points after 5 competition days!!!!
It all depends on the last day.
2-seaters; 125.77 km…..5 finishers in this class!!!!Starts between 15.35 and 16.13. A late starter at 16.12, Bastien Naud in the ARCUS s won the day; fighting speed of 39.06 km./h. for 107 points. The other 4 had 106 and 104 points.

Task 7 VERY LAST DAY ; and finally better weather on June 3!!! BUT….
Standard/15 m; 326.45 km…..CANCELLED
2-seaters; 315.20 km….CANCELLED
Could n’t find why it was cancelled, must be the weather, but for now the French Championship is over;
Overall scores in standard and 15m and NATIONAL CHAMPION after 5 out of 7 days;
1. Eric Garnier in ASG 29es with 1.786 points. EQUAL points for Belgian HC pilot Thomas Leduc. Good !!!
2. Jean-Denis Barrois in LS8 with 1.713 p.
3. Christophe Abadie in JS3 with 1.701 p
Kevin was 4th with 1.692 p.
CONGRATULATIONS!

Overall winners and CHAMPION in the 2-seater class;
1`. Svobodny & Montigny in ARCUS M with 1.664 points. CONGRATULATIONS.!
2. de Péchy & Bouderlique in ARCUS M with 1.591 p.
3. Napoléon & Petit in ARCUS T with 1.424 p. 4 Points more than Bastien Naud in ARCUS S.

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The UK NATIONAL standard,15m and open/18m class at LASHAM
27 May 2023 – 4 June 2023

Task 5 on May 31, with still not that great weather Lasham sometimes has. But they do have tasks.
Standard; 153.78 km…scrubbed…
15m; 152.56 km….scrubbed…
Open/18m; 181.67 km…scrubbed….
June 1….
“Unfortunately for the second day running temperatures have not been sufficient to sustain decent thermals. As a result today has been scrubbed/cancelled.“

“Earlier this week we launched 76 gliders in 53 minutes! A movement rate of over 150 an hour, making us briefly one of the busiest airfields in the world.
We have to launch quick to ensure we can get gliders on task in their classes within the weather window. A huge team with experience is involved in making this all possible for the competitors from the Grid Marshal to Crews to Competition Directors and not forgetting our hard working rope runners!”
VERY PROFESSIONEL.

June 2; Task 7 on competition day 5. In the evening the news was :
‘What a day!
70 gliders launched in 46 minutes and some good albeit challenging racing to be had with many racing right up until the finish!”

Standard class ;210.32 km/224.30 km....18 started and 13 finished ,that does not straight away say “what a great day”. Jez Hood, flying in one of the 13 in this class competing LS8 gliders ,won the day; speed 71.09 for 871 points.
Jez leads the overall scores with 2 more days to go;3.245 points. Tim has 3,062 and Henry 2.997 p.
15 m; 208.12 km...Kim Tipple [ASG 29E] flew with 75.25 km./h over the track for 854 points. 5 K./h faster than the runner up. Ayala and Liz did well, the girls were on spot 3 and 4 starting and finishing together after a rather early start at 14.24. Most started at 14.47.
19 started and 13 finished.
open/18m; 273.25 km/ 285.54 km....a 1000 points-day for Toby Freeland in the ASH 25; 81.08 km./h ,just a tad faster than Andy in his JS 1C; 80.84 km./h. Tim [Jenkinson] in JS 1c ] was 5th . These 2 pilots are on top overall with 2 days to go; 3.421 p for 3.405 p.
30 Started and only 12 finished! Russell and Pete were among them.

June 3 ; Task 8 on flying day 6. “Welcome to Day 8. And what a task we have in store today.“
Penultimate day
Standard; 3 hour AAT….and a 1000 points-day and those points were for Paul Fritche of course in an LS 8; 378.85 km in time 3.45.46…speed 100.68 km./h The only one over 100 km and just!
Jez ,Tom and Henry followed with 99.75 and 98.81km./h.
19 started and 12 finished!
15 m; 3 hour AAT….Gary was in this class the only one over 100 km.h. He flew 332.41 km. Andy’s son Matthew Davis was runner up in JS3. Ayala and Liz belonged to the 11 outlanders from 19 starters.
Open/18 m.; 3 hour AAT...with a relative late start at 14.24 Andy was the daily best; 372 km in time 3.14….speed 114.99 km./h. An other “old hand” in this sport Steve [Jones] was runner up. He flew nearly 25 k less but was back in 3 hours and 2 minutes;114. 74 km./h.
Tim who won task 3 was now last and out after 43 km., dropping overall from 2 to 8. OUCH!!! I feel it too.
30 Started and 21 were in.

June 4; their last day indeed is today
Task 9 on June 4; “We’re launching at 1315 on Task Bravo.”
Who is who and where on this last day!?
In standard Jez is in the lead when he begins on the last day; 4,234 points. Henry follows with 3,946 and Tom has still possibilities too; 3,915 p. 3x an LS 8.
In 15 m with today still to go Philip Jones leads with 3,716, that should be enough when he does n’t land out. Neil McLaughlin has 3,592 p, and Owen McCormack 3,546 p.
In open/18 m; Andy Davis is 200 points ahead of at this stage runner up Ian MacArthur with 4,222 p.

standard; 197.24 km./207.47 km….Tom , as it looks, will be the daily winner. Not all are scored yet; 67.22 km./h Howard was 1 km/h slower and Henry 5 km./h/ Jez about 7 km./h. No worries for him though as he had a good lead , but for Henry this last day was just 1 too much. By being 3d he lost some points and his 2d spot.
15m; 200.28 km…/209 km….David Bray in the Ventus 2bx was the new face on the last daily podium; 66.56km./h Only just as Matthew had 66.37 km/h.
Only 18 started and 10 finished. Another pretty marginal day.
open/18 m; 248.44 km…./256.57 km.…also here a new face on the last day; Richard Browne in the JS 1c. Andy only lost 6 daily points so not a lot changed overall.

OVERALL SCORES after 7 out of 9 days in
STANDARD CLASS;
1. Jez Hood in LS8 with 4,899 points. CONGRATULATIONS Jez!!!
2. Tom Arscott in LS 8 with 4,702 p.
3. Henry Inigo-Jones in LS 8 with 4,655 p.
8 pilots over 4000 points.

15m. CLASS;
1. Philip Jones in Ventus 3 TS with 4,432 points Congratulations Phil.
2. Neil McLaughlin in Ventus 2ax with 4,285 p.
3. Owen McCormack in Ventus 2a with 4,247 p.
5 had over 4000 points.

Open/18m CLASS;
1. Andrew Davis in JS MD1 C with 5,415 points . AGAIN CONGRATULATIONS ANDY!!!!
2. Ian MacArthur in JS 1b with 5,170 p.
3. Martin Clark in JS MD1C with 5,019 p.
They were the only 3 over 5000 points.

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The Open Belgian National championship at Kiewit Hasselt
27 May 2023 – 4 June 2023

The host , aeroclub Albatros, celebrates with their members and guests their 50thiest anniversary!
Happy anniversary. Great idea to celebrate this with the top from Belgium’s glider pilots.

Task 5; On May 31, improving weather! 25 dgr.C and blue here and that is 51 k N of Kiewit
Club; 261.27 km…9 started and 6 finished. Another winning day for Ward Gysemans in the DG 400 and 1000 points in the pocket. A “bugger-day” for Thomas after 3 runner up spots and a first place he now was out due to airspace infringement and lost 500 points. That hurts!!!
Sport; 324.07 km…another daily win for Jef, he is in winning mood!!833 points for a speed of 87.88 km./h. Daan [Spruyt] was 3d today. After 5 tasks Daan still leads but Jef is only 79 points behind .
9 started and 6 finished.
Open/18m; 367.29 km….again 4 Ventus 3 gliders in the top 4. This time Wim [Akkermans] was the best again and together with Dennis [Huybreckx] they flew just over 100 km./h. Bert and Tijl [Schmelzer] started 4 minutes earlier and the 4 finished at the same time.

June 1 was , after 5 days, a well deserved “day off” and with 2 days to go it’s ALL ABOUT, 4 Ventus 3 types and 4 Keiheuvel pilots and they are close;
1. Wim with 3.071 p. 2. Bert jr. with 3.050 p. 3. Tijl with 3.038 p and 4. Dennis with 3.021 points.

June 2; task 6 on competition day 5. The weather improved here at noon…cold though 12 dgr. C. At 3 the skies opened it was sunny and for sure flyable, so 50 km further S. I reckon as well.
Club; 2 hour AAT....He is back “in Business” Thomas!! After an off-day he won with 186 km in time 2.10; speed 85.57 km./h. All 10 started and finished.
Sport; 2 hour AAT…221.75 km. and speed 102.82 km./h. for Daan his “so maniest” daily win, which shows in his overall score with 2 days to go; 3.679 p for 3.464 for Jef.
10 started only 1 in the LS6 was out.
open; 2 hour AAT…ALL 12 starters finished and best for the day,…the Schmelzer brother Bert jr and Tijl ; both 241,72 km in time 2.08. How they do it I don’t know but bot got the same amount of points;524.
What I know is that they both fly very well ,but that Tijl is some kind of “male calculator”.

June 3; task 7 on competition day 6 FINAL DAY day; Very blue here and 3 bft wind. But a rather good soaring day!! AND,…indeed a very nice day in Flanders.
Club; 306.15 km….All 10 started and finished and Thomas in his LS4 could celebrate his 3d day-win. He moved up again to spot 2 overall ,but Ward who was runner up has a big lead; more than 300 points. One airspace mistake cost Thomas more than 500 points. A lesson learnt to NEVER forget.
Sport; 370.76 km….A DUO DISCUS XL on spot 1 GOOD!!! Simon Berx from the local club won the day; 99.27 km./h. Bart, Jef and Daan followed. Daan leads overall with 1 day to go with more than 200 points.
Open/18m; 427.19 km….12 started and 11 finished. Good day again for Bert and Tijl with a speed of 114 km./h. Less good for Dennis and Wim who somewhere lost each other; spot 4 and 8.
Also less good for Bert sr. who was “out” after 422.20 km, but the turbo could bring him home I hope.

As often it is not very clear if June 4 is the last day or June 3. It was TILL June 4, so not included.
That means after 7 out of 8 days that we know who the overall winners and Belgian CHAMPION is in
OPEN CLASS;
1. Bert Schmelzer jr, in Ventus 3 with 4.515 points. CONGRATULATIONS.
2. Tijl Schmelzer in Ventus 3 with 4,489 p.
3. Dennis Huybreckx in Ventus 3 with 4,340 p.

SPORT CLASS;
1. Daan Spruyt in Ventus 2ax with 4,621 points. CONGRATULATIONS Daan.
2. Jef Kell in LS 8 with 4,407 p.
3. Bart Leysen in Ventus 2a with 4,230 p.

CLUB CLASS;
1. Ward Gysemans in DG 400 with 4,344 points. CONGRATULATIONS Ward.
2. Thomas De Bruyn in LS 4 with 4,033 p.
3. Niel Deijgers in St. Libelle with 3,949 p.

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German Nationals in 18m. open and 2 seaters at Bayreuth.
28 May 2023 – 9 June 2023

I nearly missed out on the German Nationals and as they are the most important in Europe,… here we go.
They are flown in 3 classes with 90 pilots in total, 30 in 18 m and 29 in open and 29 teams in the 2-seater class. A lot of them I know by name, a lot I met personally.
I was in Bayreuth during the WGC from 1999 and loved the place, have great memories .
But it’s 2023 NOW.
The last 3 days of May had in each class good tasks and winners.
In 18 m. they started with a 4 hour AAT, won Sebastian Huhmann in AS 33es;1000 points for 455.10 km. in time 402.29.[speed 112.61 km./h]. Jan Umlauf , 1 of our frequent flyers at Tocumwal in the past, was runner up in a JS MD3 jet missing out on ONE points. Both are from Hamburg.
39 Started and 2 were out.
The next day had a racing task from 471 km and was won by Mario Kießling in the Ventus 3 T; 126.19 km ./h Runner up was Simon Schroeder [ Ventus 3ts] with 125.,52 km./h.[989 points]
The very last day of May showed task 3 with 346.77 km and now it was the other way around. Simon won with 126.79 km./h whilst Mario had 126.27 km./h SO CLOSE!!!38 started and finished .

The first 3 days of open class showed rather big tasks. The pilots started with 518.93 km won by Felipe Levin in EB 29r. By the way MANY EB’s in this class. Holger Karow and Michael Sommer in the same glider flew about the same speed; 119 km./h for 1000 ,999 and 994 points.
Bugger day for local Bayreuth hero Alexander Müller as he was “out” after 251 km. With mechanical problems he had to quit temporarily the comps.
The next day, task 2 , showed a racing task from 373.18 km. and Felipe and Michael, both multiple world champions , fly together and both do this so well that they deserved BOTH 1000 points. This time a “bugger-day” for Holger. He was out after 76 km.
Day 3 on the last day of May had a 3 hour AAT ; 401 km for Holger and Markus Frank starting and finishing together for 1000 and 994 points. Michael and Felipe had 929 and 927 points.

The last days of May showed for the ” DOSI’s” 327.88 km as task 1 , 3 hour AAT on task 2 and the biggest task for the day on task 3 ;449.64 km.
27 teams and the Theisingers are in the lead after those 3 days; Laurenz in ASG32 and Martin in ARCUS M.

From now we are going to have a closer look on all 3 classes;
18 m. class;
Task 4 on June 1; 3 hour AAT….great to see that Katrin Senne in her JS MD3jet won the day. Katrin has been twice WWGC champion. Simon was runner up.
38 started and only 1 pilot was out.

June 2 ; Task 5 370 km….93.33 km./h was the best daily time by Thomas Kuhn in ASG 29Es. Simon was runner up [ dad was out after 239.25 km] and Matthias [Sturm] was 3d for the day.??????
End of thermals was forecasted by Bernd Fisher for 6.30 PM. BUT,…nobody finished before 6.56 PM , so tough fighting for the pilots.
Katrin missed out on 1 km; she flew 369.76 km.
At 8. 06, the last finishing pilot on the horizon….. 12 were still not scored.

June 3; task 6; 373.48 km….with 129.72 km../ h. Michael Streit won the day. In 2003 he won in Nitra the JWGC in club class .Simon [ JWGC champion in 2019 in Szeged] started 9 minutes later was back at about the same time; 129.28 km./h!
38 started and 2 were out.
June 4; task 7 …511.34 km….They are all counted for so I can add them quickly. Good speed for Simon who is in a great flow; 129.63 km./h Ahead of another young TOP pilot Stefan Langer with 127.49 km./h .
37 started and finished. CHAPEAU with a reasonable long distance!
After 7 out of 7 GOOD days I presume they have a rest-day tomorrow.
Overall scores after 7 tasks;
1. Simon Schröder with 6,688 points. 2. Matthias Sturm with 6,383 p and 3. Stefan Langer with 6,147 p
Will be back on these Nationals on Wednesday.

Open class;
June 1; task 4…..423.34 km...3 pilots with 117 km./h; Michael, Uwe Foster and Felipe. Close, very close…1000, 999 and 996 points.
21 Started and 6 were out. “Bugger-day” now for Marcus; out after 292 km.
Alexander did not start anymore.
June 2; task 5 …..261.63 km.… launches not before 1PM and starts between 3.23 and 3.42. But,..those late starters did not finish. 20 Pilots started and 14 finishers and a best speed of 93.94; normally you don’t take an EB for a day out with such circumstances, BUT,….. when you have too you do. Markus won the day and with pleasure I noticed that Bruno was runner up. Felipe, Michael and Holger were 5,6 and 7.
Uli Knauss was the first “out”, but still flew 246 km.

June 3; task 6 ..4 hour AAT…changed in 3.30 AAT; Michael and Felipe are a strong couple.1000 and 999 points for a speed of 137.89/87 km./h. They flew 516,58/54 km. AND…they had clouds!!!!
20 Started and Finished.
June 4; task 7 ..596.98 km and another win for Michael; 123.44 km./h. He was already good when he flew with us in Tocumwal [he then lived in Melbourne]and at all those comps he flew and our ways crossed, but still is GOOD!!!! Felipe was 5th.
21 started 18 finished.
Overall scores after 7 days;
1. Michael Sommer with 6,526 points. 2. Felipe Levin with 6,472 and 3. Oliver Binder with 6,229 p.
More on Wednesday.

dosis;
June 1; task 4…..269.52 km….Laurenz was the best , The Theisingers belong also to the in-crowd of pilots flying for ages.
June 2; Task 5 …2.30 AAT.…and a Duo Discus XT as daily winner!!!! Jan-Frederic Müller flew around with 91.15 km./h that was with handicap the best performance for the day. The Theisingers started together at nearly 4Pm and were 18 and 19.
29 Teams started and 23 finished. The last one, Angelica Mayr in ASG 32MI, at 6.39. BUT,….She was IN!!!
June 3; Task 6...520.95 km….quite a long distance during a competition but no worries for Martin he is used to it and won the day with 119.35 km./h. Laurenz was a tad slower; 117.38 km./h.
June 4; Task 7…388.11 km and I am very pleased to see that Marcus [Geisen] won the day!!!117.67 km./h. in their ARCUS M [with Karin]
29 started and 27 finished.
Overall scores after 7 days;
1. Laurenz Theisinger in ASG 32 with 6,194 points. 2. Kai Lindenberg in ARCUS M with 6,167 p and Jan-Frederic Müller in DUO DISCUS XT with 6,156 points Very close!!!

Several comps finish today the German Nationals continue till June 9.

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And this is what you DON’T want!!!!!!

KIRIPOTIB had the next news;
“Believe it or not! In five months we will glide over the vastness of Namibia and enjoy Africa’s colorful sunsets.
Few slots are still available in the ealry high season:
1-7.11. – Flying with the Champions
16-26.11. – 1 Arcus
27.11.-2.12. – 1 Ventus
Book today iinfo@kiripotib-soaring.com
Kiripotib Soaring

CU on Wednesday June 7 with the latest on the German Nationals and Junior Nationals .
Then again on Sunday June 21…..holiday!!!!
For most scores and info when I am off ; www.soaringspot.com
Cheers Ritz

Post 1.425 on Wednesday May 31,
last day of a pretty wet spring here and start of the meteorological SUMMER.

It’s a TOO busy time to follow all comps as there are just TOO MANY!!!
BUT,…no worries when you are interested you can find them all on www.soaringspot.com . They show the daily and overall scores and when you are lucky they have a link under news, to FB, so you see pictures and a story as well.
I concentrate on the above Nationals.
But…..please check also the German junior NATIONALS [ 27 May 2023 – 10 June 2023 at Aalen-Heidenheim/Elchingen ] with 68 “future WGC pilots.”

—–Some flights are just fun to follow and there is an extra place here for them as well.
Here is one from Peter Millenaar, who got to know Martti, borrowed his glider [JS1c TJ/21m.] and flew over 1000 km from Rayskala. Most interesting was that he was just on duty and had a day left to relax;
“First of all: Martti Koivula, thank you so much for letting me fly your amazing weapon of mass enjoyment! What a beast!
I had the privilege of flying to Turku for a weekend stop with my airline (ASL Airlines Belgium – FedEx feeder). Very lucky with the weather on this day as well. The first 100km or so was a bit tricky now and then. The second and third leg were absolutely amazing. Stunning conditions with thermal strengths of 4-6,5m/s. Declared task of 824km completed at 121,3km/h .
I believe 1100+ would have easily been possible by taking off 15-30 minutes earlier and continuing till 8pm.What a day… I love Finland. Martti, thanks again!”
https://www.weglide.org/flight/266176

UK NATIONALS 2023 in STANDARD , 15m and OPEN at LASHAM.
27 May 2023 – 4 June 2023

Dutch glider pilot Mark Wering flew the Nationals at Terlet, but before he left for the UK again I gave him my best wishes for my Lasham mates, specially, Roy and Alix, Patrick, David and Sandra.
There are 3 classes and they started on
May 27 with TASK 1;
Standard; 198.78 km….NOBODY finished but 7 pilots flew over 174 km after a late start after 3PM.
Daily best; Tom Arscott in LS 8.
21 Pilots in this class including Jane, Fran and Alison.
15 m; 203.55 km….Also in this class NO finishers but 2 over 175 km.
Daily best; Owen McCormack in Ventus 2a
22 pilots on this class among them Ayala and Liz and former WGC champion Leigh Wells.
open/18m; 200 km....31 started and 13 finished.
Daily best ; “good old” Russell Cheetham; 83.87 km./h. in JS 1C. More well known pilots in this class; Andy Davis, Steve Jones and Pete Harvey .

Day 28 with task 2;
Standard; 3 hour AAT…. with 320 km and a speed of 105.35 km./h. Jez Hood was the daily best.
10 finished, some were penalized and some flew nearly 300 k but could not finish.
15 m; 3 hour AAT.….Chris Starkey “got” the 1000 points for a distance of 326.68 km. in time 3.10, speed 103.05 km./h.
20 Started and 18 were “in”.
Open/18m; 3 hour AAT….Russell was the winner AGAIN. 348.91 km in time 3.04. speed 113.50 km./h. for 993 points.
Andy was runner up .
31 started and 28 finished quite a lot were penalized ;Exceeding maximum start height, mostly  in the 2 minutes prior to starting .

May 29; Task 3;
Standard; 205.04 km...changed to 170.13/153.06 km.….and for most that was still too much. Tom was over 170.13 km., 5k faster than the runner up; 71.43 km./h.
19 started and only 7 finished. The distance on the scoring was 170.13 km and Howard was the first to be “out” ; he flew 170.04 km and missed out on 29 points!!!!
15m; 209.75 km...changed in 157.77/ 173.67 km; Chris was nearly 10 k faster than the runner up; with a start at 15.16 he flew the 173.67 km task with 81.05 km./h. 2d Successive win.
20 started and 12 were “in”.
open/18m; 279.72 km....changed in 179.49/ 192.57 km.; Tim Jenkinson [JS 1c] was already on spot 3 and 2 now on 1. He flew the 192.57 km with a speed of 86.93 km./h.
30 Started and only 7 were in. “Poor” Russell was out after 140 km and Pete after 179.42 km.

May 30; task 4. NO finishers….66 pilots “out”.
Standard ; 181.91 km..…B task 151.35 km...NO FINISHERS!!!! So all 19 pilots in this class…OUT. One…., Jez, flew over 100 km. for 188 points.
15 m; 201.91 km…B task 150.22 km...Also in 15 m ONE pilot over 100 km; Gary Stingemore in As 33ES, for 31 points. 19 started and nobody finished.
open/18m; 238,33 km. …B task ..175.19 km…28 started and zero finished. 4 Pilots flew over 100 km. Best was Kenneth Barker in the JS-MD 1C;116 km. for 53 points.

May 31; task 5…TODAY. Still not “flashing” weather!
Standard; 153.78 km...15m; 152.56 km...open/18m; 181.67 km...

After 4 tasks the overall scores look like this;
Standard; 1. Jez Hood in LS 8 with 2,374 points. 2. Tim Fletcher in LS 7 WL with 2,231 p.
15 m; 1. Leigh Wells in JS 3 AND Tim Scott in ASG 29 both 2,121 points.3. Philip Jones; 2,116 p.
open/18m; 1. Andrew Davis in JS MD 1C with 2,423 points. 2. Tim Jenkinson in JS1c with 2,417 p.

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The French Nationals [general and women] in STANDARD and 15 m class 2 seaters
Bailleau Armenonville …. 27 May 2023 – 3 June 2023

As the UK Nationals , the French Nationals are important because both countries have big delegations of pilots at ECG’s and WCG’s. Let’s see what they do?
After 1 practice day they started on
May 28; task 1.
Standard/15 m…181.29 km...with 38 pilots and the daily best was Max Seiss in Discus 2A [handicap 111] with 84.37 km./h. Christophe Abadie in his JS 3 was a tad faster but his handicap is 115….so runner up.
5 Pilots went “aux vaches” !
2-seaters; 180.70 km....16 teams, 3HC ; 2 from Belgium and 1 from Germany . Only 2 pilots flew the task and ALL started after 4 PM. Francis Svobodny in the ARCUS M won the day; 74 km./h.
4 flew over 170 km.

May 29; task 2
Standard/15m;163.11 km..…CANCELLED.
2-Seaters; 159.56 km….CANCELLED.

May 30; task 3
Standard/15 m; 140.79 km….33 pilots started and NOBODY finished. Best was Jean-Denis Barrois in LS 8 with 136.70 km. CLOSE!!!! Only 89 points for this daily winner. Not a lot points lost or won.
14 pilots flew over 100 km.
2-seaters; 156.09 km…..Pieraerts & Stouffs [ARCUS T] FINISHED!!! Daily winners for 51 points. BUT, they fly as Belgian pilots HC. So Eric Napoléon was the number 1;45 daily points, also in ARCUS T.

For today May 31 they have 177.21 and 174.82 km on the menu.

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Belgian Nationals 2023
Kiewit Hasselt 27 May 2023 – 4 June 2023

May 27 task 1.
Club class ;152.84 km.….10 pilots started and 7 finished. Daily best; Robin Selfslagh in LS1f; 62.79 km./h.
Sport class; 191.11 km.…8 started and 7 finished, Daily winner; Daan Spruyt in Ventus 2ax, Daan is a WGC pilot so 81 km./h is slow for him but for sure the best on that day.
Open/18 m; 230km.…Lot’s of my Keiheuvel friends fly in this class and they were with 4 in the top each in a VENTUS 3. Tijl and Bert Schmelzer jr, Wim Akkermans and Dennis Huybreckx started together at 14.41 and finished within 5 minutes from each other.
Tijl won the day; 76.47 km./h Brother Bert had 76.10 km./h
From 12 , 2 pilots were out.

May 28; task 2.
Club; 164.52 km.…Ward Gysemans also from the Keiheuvel in his DG 400 was the daily best; 90.62 km./h which was 5 k faster than the runner up in LS 4.
from 10, 7 finished.
Sport class; 206.41 km....Daily winner Jef Kell in LS 8 ; 90.92 km./h.
9 started and finished. Starts just after 2PM.
Open/18m; 253.44 km….Wim started 13 minutes behind the Schmelzer brothers and won the day; 108.72 km./h.
12 started and finished. Dad Schmelzer was last for the day but finished!!!![94.37 km./h]

May 29 ; task 3.
Club; 1.45 AAT....10 started…10 finished, always good to see. 2d daily win for Robin; 111.84 km speed 61.98 km./h. over Third successive runner-up-spot for Thomas de Bruyn in LS 4.
Sport; 2 hour AAT.…2d successive win for Daan;170.54 km ,speed 79.16 km./h.
8 started and finished.
open/18m; 2 hour AAT...12 started and 1 was out. Bert and Tijl started together again at 15.03. Bert jr.won with 1 km/h. difference; 85.64 km./h/84.90 km./h.

May 30; task 4.
club; 193.56 km….HE DID IT!!!!! After 3 2d places he was number 1 today!!!!! Thomas in his LS 4;64.79 km./h was his speed for 550 points.
10 started and 6 finished. Troublesome day for Robin who was out after 12 km. A pity after 2 daily wins.
Sport; 255.23 km.…3d winning day for Daan!!76.43 km./h.
10 started and 8 finished.
open/18m; 304.14 km.…Koen Vanderputten in the Ventus 2CT was the daily best; 87.41 km./h.
12 started and 11 finished.

May 31; task 5. TODAY!!!!
Club; 261.27 km…..combi; 324.07 km….open/18m;367.29 km…

More on Sunday after they finished the comps.
After 4 days the OVERALL scores are:
Club; 1. Thomas De Bruyn in LS 4 with 1,876 points. 2.  Ward Gysemans in DG 400 1,790 p.
sport; 1. Daan Spruyt in Ventus 2ax with 2,337 p. 2. Bart Leysen in Ventus 2a 2,202 p.
open/18m; 1. Bert Schmelzer in Ventus 3 with 2,139 p. 2. Tijl Schmelzer in Ventus 3 with 2,128 p and 3.Wim Akkermans in Ventus 3 with 2,123 p.
Close scores…exciting…..Still 4 days to go!!!!

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LAST BUT FOR SURE NOT LEAST:
Suzanne Moffatt wife from George passed away. Met her a long ago in Angers. What a lovely lady she was !!!!! Great pilot herself as well. But later she liked crewing for George even better;
“Suzanne Moffat (a Gold C glider pilot herself gave up her soaring career): 50 years of crewing (mostly for her husband George) in 5 World Championships, 2 Smirnoff Transcontinental Races, numerous national and regional contests.” from Aug. 2002 newsletter, the WSPA (Women’s Soaring Pilot Association)“
R.I.P. Suzy

CU soon again somewhere this weekend, with the final results from these comps.
I guess Sunday evening.
P/S; Mind you from June 9 till 17 we will be on our annual high school holiday. There will be NO BLOG!!!!

AND…in that great Nordic Gliding Magazine from Jens Trabolt , you can read all about the Danish Nationals with pictures;
Nordic Gliding & aviation magazine

Post 1.423 on Sunday evening May 28 2023

Dutch Nationals
16 May 2023 – 27 May 2023

Wednesday; May 24.Task 7 on competition day 6/7 with a busy morning; Briefing at 10.15, box at 11.30 and first launches at 12.
Club; 182.16 km...changed in 114.09 km….And with the reduced distance all 9 pilots finished. Like task 1 Thies Bruins was the daily winner ;73.82 km./h. for 307 points. Robin was runner up in his LS 4 neoX.
Combi; 199.03 km...137.16 was the reduced task and all 14 started and finished though Robbie {Seton} missed his TP and was out after 72 km. The ARCUS T from Rien and Marco won the day and Erik and Joos were runner up; 99.83 km./h and 93.55 km./h.
One of the ZES pilots Willem Dortu, son of Willem sr.[R.I.P.] who flew with me with the ZES in 1967, was 3d in the ARCUS T.
open/18 m; 232.30 km.….After first a B task, a C task was set for the day; 159.26 km. Not only the big ones, the EB from Menno Sappe and the Nimbus 4 from Ronald Termaat had a good speed 86 km./h. ,but also the ASG 29es from Steven [Raimond] , was fast with 89 km./h…… but he was 1 of the 5 finishers with just too low finish height.
Only 12 finished and 10 were out or “motored home”.

Thursday May 25; task 8 looking at great tasks and blue skies with white fluffy clouds. NOT in the SE ,we have overcast.
Club; 4 hour AAT..pfff...a busy/long day in the office for the 9 pilots. BUT most of them are still young!! During briefing there was an item about the Dutch Juniors and in the evening there was a get-together with the juniors.
AND ,…THEY FLEW. Robin was the daily best with 383.28 km with a speed of 88 km./h. and 1000 points in the pocket. Jeroen was runner up with 984 points.
All 9 started and finished!!!
Combi; 3.30 AAT....332.54 km for Erik and Joost [ARCUS T] with 95 km./h and compliments again to Annemiek and Sikko for their runner up spot in the Duo Discus; 325 km speed 90.53 km./h.
14 started and 3 were out.
18m.open; 3.30 AAT...A real good day for Jeroen with 395 km in time 3.47. Speed was 104 km./h. Also young Nick [Hanenberg WORLD champion in 13.5 m in 2022 in Lithuania in Pocuinai. ] flew over 100 km./h and was runner up in his ASG 29E.
All 22 started ,1 was out and those who finished all flew over 300 km.

Friday; May 26…. penultimate day….
Task 9;
Club; 3 hour AAT….a pretty good day with 9 starters but still 2 “out”. Roelof Corporaal from the Gelderse, so a local pilot, won the day with 271 km. and 90.22 km./h.
Wiek [Schoenmakers] in his LS 3 was runner up and he is the one and only “rookie”, first time ever Dutch Nationals.
Combi; 2.30 AAT….Another good performance from Sikko and Annemiek in the Duo Discus winning the day with 241 km with 91.31 km./h. They are runner up behind Eric and Joost , so podium candidates.
11 From 14 finished
open/18m; 2.30 AAT….Victor Wetzinga in his JS 3 won the day. A local pilot as well. Hadriaan and Jeroen were in the top 5 so still on course to the podium.

Task 10; Final day and 8/9 tasks during this National Championship, so a great result…pretty good soaring weather. Small tasks as it started late,…and …..I WAS THERE!!!!
Launches started at 1.30; WARM day, over 25 at places.
club; 154.75 km. it was “all” between Thies, Jeroen and Robin….nailbiting for some! Lars van Breemen won the day. Thies was runner up and got enough points [396] to pass Jeroen to be the new club class CHAMPION.
Jeroen was last for the day and only “got” 193 points, BUT he still had enough points to be runner up. Robin was 5th but stayed on spot 3 overall.
PURE ENJOYMENT and tension on the very last day!!!
The Dutch CLUB CLASS HEROES!!!!!
1. Thies Bruins in ASW 20 with 5,610 points and CHAMPION!!!
2. Jeroen van Dijk in LS 3WL with 5.555 p.
3. Robin Smit in LS 4 neoX with 5,374 p, just enough for spot 3 as
4. Wiek Schoenmakers the “rookie” in his LS 3 had 5,362 p. [He was 4th with 377 p. on the last day.
Good on ALL OF THEM!!!!

THE CLUB CLASS WINNERS by Willemijn;

Combi; 169.76 km….14 started and 2 “motored home”. Daily winner Niels van Nieuwland in the LS 8. But the “fight for the topspot” was between, Erik and Joost, Sikko and Annemiek and Robbie.
How was their last day.
Well,…Erik and Joost were runner up and SURE OF THE TITLE. Sikko and Annemiek were 4th , so good to stay on 2. Then there was Robbie, one of my Husbos juniors in 2005.
He was LAST!!! But in for 257 points.
2 were out.
No secret that Erik and Joost won with quite a big margin.
1. Borgmann & Wolff in ARCUS T with 5,575 points.
2. Vermeer & Koers in Duo Discus with 5,135 p.
3. Robbie Seton in LS 8 with 4,633 p. He hold on!!!!
Great performance as well from Belgian guest Tom Conings in LS 8 on spot 4 with 4. 574 p., ,just ahead of my ZES mate Willem Dortu; 4,562 p. in Arcus T.
The combi winners;

Open/18 m; 182.03 km….all 22 started and 20 finished. Daily best Sjoerd van Empelen with 89.69 km./h. The top 3 overall was; Hadriaan, Jeroen and Jelmer and it stayed like that. They were 2,5 and 9!!
1. Hadriaan van Nes in JS 1btj with 5,754 points.
2. Jeroen Verkuijl in MD JS3 with 5,541 p.
3. Jelmer Vis in Ventus 3T with 5,295 p.

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Danish Nationals
18 May 2023 – 28 May 2023

They continued on Wednesday May 24; with a cool ,crisp morning after 2 non-flying days.
Task 5;
Club; 2.30 AAT.….228.12 km was flown by Rasmus in time 2.53; speed 78.87 km./h the daily BEST. 7 From 13 starters finished. Like in Holland , a tough day.
Standard; 2.30 AAT.…Filip Bojanowski, I missed his name till now in the top 3, was the daily winner in his Discus 2B. Speed 76.74 km./h over 219.88 km. Lasse in the LS 8 was runner up;212.66 km with 75.37 km./h.
8 Started and 7 were in.
15 m; 2.30 AAT...10 started and only 3 were in AND,...Henrik won; 222.58 km with 72.76 km./h.
I got to know Henrik at many comps and he is one of those pilots you just follow. Same with Jan Andersen.[ASW 20]Very kind guy’s.
18 m; 3 hour AAT….16 started and 9 were IN. Arne was the daily best; 302.54 km with 83.95 km./h. Except for 1 they all flew over 100 km./h. Stig and Peter both were out after 216.71 km and 105 km.
2 seaters; 3 hour AAT….9 started and just 3 finished .The Duo Discus XLT with call sign HD was the best with 261.93 km; speed 71.38 km./h
Runner up was the ARCUS T with call sign BA; 261.78 km ;speed 67.93 km./h.

Thursday May 25; Task 6….180 people have applied for the final-party- evening. GOOD!!!!!
Club; 146.46 km.... cancelled.
Standard; 156.59 km.…8 started and 3 finished best result for Lasse; 53.54 km./h for 189 points.
15m; 156.59 km...9 started and 3 finished .Henrik was one of them. Runner up for 159 points. Daily winner Poul Kim Larsen; 54.38 km./h. for 168 points.
18m/open; 163.31 km…15 started and 11 finished, that’s more like it. Jens [Pedersen] won the day in the Ventus 3;64.78 km./h Arne was runner up; 61.72 km./h and Stig was in [6th] with 58.32 km./h.
2-seaters; 163.31 km..8 started and 4 finished. 62.23 km./ h was the fastest time for Jørgensen & Andersen in the ARCUS T. They moved from 5 to 3 overall.

FRIDAY could be a BOOMING DAY!!! Briefing was mentioned for 9.30 and gridding before!!!!!! I had that once in Rayskala at the Europeans and MANY flew a 1000 that day. Scandinavia has such days!!!
Club; 460.84 km….quite a few kilometers for the “little birds”. Rasmus won the day; 82.70 km. And Jan was runner up, loosing 99 daily points.
14 started, 19 finished!!! Starts before 12.
Standard; 490.77 km…8 started and 5 finished and Lasse was the best!!!1000 points….consolidating his first spot overall.
15 m; 490.77 km.…Poul Kim Larsen” got ” the 1000 points for a speed of 81.82 km./h. .Henrik was runner up
10 started and 7 finished.
18m/open; 523.99 km.…Arne and his mates had to “work” for their titles. Arne won…AGAIN…
16 started and 10 finished. Jan and Jan, Jan Jørgensen and Jan Hald are on 2 and 3 overall with 2 days to go.
2-seaters; 523.99 km…and a group of mixed pilots flew the Duo Discus to a daily top 1 position .

Saturday had a task for club 183 km. but it was not flown and NO TASK for the rest, so a “day off before the last day.

Sunday May 28 VERY LAST DAY!!!!
Club; 304.15 km ….Jan was the Man. He won ,….. such a pity he was out on task 5. All other days he was in the top 5. Rasmus was 5th but NO WORRIES for his top spot.
NATIONAL CHAMPION after 8 out of 11 days;
1.Rasmus Ørskov in ASW 20F with 5,196 points.
2. Steen Elmgaard in ASW 20WL with 4.922 p.
3. Felipe Cvitanich in Discus CS with 4,830 p.
Jan was 5th.

Standard; 334.64 km…Thorsten Mauritsen won the last day; 95.86 km./h. Filip and Lasse both had 92 km./h. 7 Pilots started and finished.
Final result in this class after 8 out of 11 days;
1.Lasse Edslev in LS 8 with 5,457 points.
2. Thorsten Mauritsen in Discus 2T with 5,288 p.
3. Mathias Valentin in LS 8 with 5,153 p.

15 m; 334.64 km….Good on Henrik in his JS 3 ,he won the day; 95.92 km./h. Paul Kim was runner up which meant that is the new CHAMPION.
10 started only 1 out.
Overall result and the new CHAMPION;
1. Poul Kim Larsen in Ventus 2CT with 5,498 points.
2. Henrik Breidahl in JS 3 with 5,477 p.
3. Morten Hugo Bennick in Ventus 2CT with 4,837 p.

CONGRATULATIONS to ALL winners, runner ups and ALL other pilots for flying so well and so many days.

18m/open; 325.45 km....Peter Eriksen, till now not so lucky with his flights, won the last day in the AS 33es. Jan Hald was runner up and Stig was spot 4 with Arne on 5. No 1000 points in this class;102 km/h was the best speed by Erik. Only 1 out.
OVERALL champion in 18m.
1. Arne Boye Møller in JS 3jet with 5,245 points a CLEAR WINNER.
2. Jan Hald in Ventus 3T with 4,812 p.
3. Jan Jørgensen in ASG 29es with 4,773 p.

2-seaters; 325.45 km....best speed 99 km./h for 1000 points. Overall winners;
1. Jørgensen & Andersen in ARCUS T with 5,426 points. CLEAR winners and CHAMPIONS!!!!
2. Døssing & Knudsen in ARCUS T with 4,693 p.
3. Sørensen & Sørensen in ARCUS T with 4,594 p.

A lot of days in Denmark, great results and I am sure a fine competition.

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On Friday morning I left early for Amsterdam and with Inge and her daughter Indya we drove on Saturday to Terlet. More in the other blog ;a 1-day-diary on Terlet.

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The UK Nationals [27 May 2023 – 4 June 2023] have started yesterday in Standard, 15m and Open Class ! 75+ gliders entered! They fly from Lasham.
More on Wednesday.

More on Wednesday.
Cheers Ritz

EXTRA post; 1.424 on Sunday May 28 2023.

It’s wonderful to have been at a gliding field again and even more WONDERFUL to catch up with so many “old” and new friends.
On Saturday morning at a decent time 11 AM, Inge, my daughter and Indya,my grand daughter left for Terlet. The launches were set for 1 o’clock and we could easily make that. Indya had to be there as it was her afternoon to be on the winch.
A long ,long time Mate Houtje[ Erik Houtman] was with her and they had a good afternoon I heard later.
Before, we had time to visit the pilots at the field as the launches were delayed to 1.30.
Granddad George , the oldest participating pilot,..in the past he always was in EVERYTHING, the youngest… with Indya.

Time to check in with several friends, a lot of them have been in my team , there where I was allowed to help/support them as their TC.
Steven and his faithful crew for all his life, were one of the first to hug. Both retired a few weeks ago as stewardess/purser and captain by KLM and have time to do whatever they want to do now and love it.
This picture is specially for Art Grant, as he likes both of them very much.

Inge caught up with her Transavia mates; Bart, I believe in operations and Max another captain at Transavia.

Longtime friends as Erik and Joyce and Joost and Marlous were in good mood as they ALWAYS are. Joyce and Erik once organized a fabulous surprise party at their farm for my 50thiest birthday. A real surprise and a lot of the party friends there are still at the field now.

It turned out to be a good day with specially in club class stress to find out who would be the National Champion.[see other blog]
In between the organization was preparing for the prize giving and crews and pilots were cleaning gliders and putting them back in the trailers ,we were having drinks with a full terrace, great sunshine and lot’s of kisses and hugs.
We had a meal with friends and then there was the prize giving at 8 PM.

They were VERY GRATEFUL for all the organizers. Rik and his team did a sterling job ,which we could hear by the long applause. Some nice little facts;
1. NOBODY, not ONE pilot, got a penalty for an airspace infringement and that is TOP!!!!
2. 99.110 km total flown kilometers.
3. 8/9 days out of 10
4. more than 1000 TP’s have been rounded
5. 607 PEV’s.

With so many days, 9 for club and 8 for the combi and open/18m class more points were given than many other national competition.
All in all a TOP day, with and exciting finish as 8 police cars arrived on the parking spot and a police helicopter low above our terrace. As far as I heard,…..The police chased a car, [drove 180 km] stopped it but the “guy” ran away close to the Thermiekbel.
A bit of wild west but the police did a great job.

All in all a lovely weekend with my family and friends.
AND a fabulous NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP.
The next blog is the regular one with all the news and updates from the Danish and Dutch Nationals.
Till next year, and next stop KEIHEUVEL.
Cheers Ritz