4th FAI Gliding Championship
Pociūnai, Lithuania
3 July 2022 – 15 July 2022

Wednesday July 13 task 9….2 hour AAT.
A valid day with still only 3 finishers! Polish Christoph, [161.13 km. in time 2.03 ] Lithuanian Darius [161.90 in time 2.08] and Dutch Nick [165.82 km. in time 2.18] . Robin was on 4 , but just out!
Darius and Nick started early at 1.11 PM and Christoph late at 2.26. In retrospect, daring but a correct decision.

Thursday July 14 task 10…..263 km. changed in 217.02 km…..on the one but last day!!!!!
Finally the weather-gods had mercy for the organizers and pilots/crews. Finally a longer task again. Some pilots flew in their AAT already 270 km. but now they had a set task.
7 from 8 finished and the best was Christoph with 95 km./h .Darius and Linas ,the proud Lithuanian pilots ,flying in their own country and keeping the honors high, followed. Behind them the 2 Dutch pilots. All had 93/94 km./h.
So no changes in the overall scores with one day to go.

Friday July 15 very last day!!
task; 2 hour AAT,BUT CANCELLED due to lot’s of rain.
So the winners of the 4th FAI 13.5 m. WGC are known now after 9 out of 13 days;
1. Nick Hanenburg from the Netherlands in Mini Lak with 5.025 points. WORLD CHAMPION 13.5m
2. Darius Gudziunas from Lithuania in Mini Lak with 4.720 p.
3. Linas Miezlaiskis from Lithuania in Mini Lak FES with 4.514 p.
Congratulations to Nick and to all other pilots who had to deal with miserable weather and many out-landings. A pity but it is as it is. Nobody can change the weather.
Still 9 out of 13 days, but not one 1000 -points-day.
The Dutch shared a video on the prize giving and I got a little tear when listening to the Dutch hymn.
Here are the boys from The Netherlands who are happy but “worn out”.

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21st FAI EGC in POCUINAI.
3 July 2022 – 15 July 2022

Wednesday July 13
Club; task 9….1.30 AAT….The day went between Danish pilot Michael Mix and Czech pilot Tomas . Both had 90 km./h . Michael, in his LS 3A, flew 146.66 km in time 1.36.49 and Tomas in his ASW 20, 135.51 km. in time 1.29.28.
3 Were out, among them “poor” Claudia…hope for her the glider was not damaged again. Tomas is gaining more and more overall points.
The 2 Dutch pilots , Thies and Roelof, started more than an hour later than the rest of the class, still being 7th and 11 th for the day.
Early starters left at 13.14, a big group around 13.50 and the Dutchies at 14.50.
Tom and Tapio swapped places overall.
“After more than half of July’s average rainfall fell in one day yesterday, we were back in action today. Short AATs for all classes to the South East, then South West.
Conditions were generally good, albeit in a narrow band with a very low close base for most of the day and rain approaching late on. A mixed day across the team, with one missed bubble being enough to put you in the weeds. After today, Tom has snuck in to the top three overall in the club class. But with 2 days of unpredictable Lithuanian weather ahead still, anything could happen.”British Gliding Team

standard; 2 hour AAT….Only ONE OUT, but still a challenging day. Most kilometers were flown by Polish Lucasz in his Discus 2A; 194.83!!! With the time at 2.12 he ended on spot 1 for the day.
Over the last days he moved up from spot 6, to spot 4 not far behind my Belgium mates Jeroen and Dennis.
7 Pilots still have chances in this class to be European champion.

15 m; 1.30 AAT....167.55 km. was the best distance by Czech pilot Karel Novak in his JS 3. Not enough to win as he needed 1hour and 42 min. , and some pilots needed less time. Oliver and Thomas from Germany combined distance and time best with a speed of 101 and 99 km./h. Oliver was the only one over 100 km./h. and moved to spot 3 overall, as Yves had a less good day on a daily spot 18.
4 from 25 were out.

Thursday ...July 14..quatorze juillet…one but last day……tasks longer than before ,but also the message from team Belgium;
“Today may be the last day, we’ve got B tasks for standard class and clubbies and C task for the 15m class. A lot of wind and not that high cloudbase is predicted. Let’s see what happens!”
They flew….. it was another challenging day with wind over 25 kts.
start times;
Start line for 15m class will be open at 12:45.
Start line for Standard class will be open at 13:14.
Start line for Club class will be open at 13:23.
Club; task 10….205.50 km...With hopefully one more day tomorrow the overall scores on this last but one day are;
Tomas 3.203 points…Thies 2.914 p…Tom 2.785… Tapio 2.759…and Danish Michael, who moved up over the last couple of days from 11 to 5!!!
A good day!!!!Certainly a great one for Tom and Jake from the UK. They won with a speed of 97 and 95 km./h . What about Tomas and Thies?
They both finished too on spot 4 and 8.
Nothing changed in the top 5 overall, only a few more points of course.
With one more day….
Tomas has 3.815 p….Thies 3.506….Tom 3.434…Tapio 3.379…Michael 3.345.
“finally some good racing weather with racing tasks in all classes.
With 20-25kts of wind, there was a fair bit of apprehension on the grid about how tricky it would be to find solid thermals, let alone make progress in to wind.
Our concerns turned out to be unfounded with conditions much better than forecast. The peak of the day saw regular 4-5kt climbs to 5000’ and epic streets deep in to Poland.” British Gliding Team
Tom, after winning the day ;“Starting just behind most of the class, we ran hard and climbed well on our first leg. Turning the first turn in the forest, close to the Belarusian border, we lined up on a perfect looking street heading West in Poland. Only stopping for 4-5kts, we had a great run to the turn, dragging a lot of the class with us. The run home was uneventful, and great to get a 1-2 finish for day.”

standard; task 10….248,92 km….Another top day for Lucasz winning with a speed of 108.83 km./h. Good on him. Dutch pilot Stephan Grunder, in his LS 8 was runner up.106.69 km./h. My Belgian mates were 9 and 16 . This had influence on their overall scores; Dennis moved from 2 to 3 as Lucasz moved from 4 to 2. Jeroen from 3 to 6.
here is news from the Belgian Gliding Team
“Yesterday there was a huge disappointment, again. Dennis and Jeroen had a great start and caught up some planes at around the turnpoint. After a little better path they could catch a long cloudstreet and by zigzagging under it the leg on with the head on wind was going quite quickly. The key point was at the second turnpoint. With a 2m/s lift just before we were kind of sure that we could catch more than a meter on the way back which would be a lot better with 40kmh wind. There were still other gliders to point us were the thermals were bit unfortunately this didn’t work out as planned. We got lower and lower by searching this lift and lost each other. Dennis managed to stay a little higher and got a good path home but he had to deviate a lot to the south. Jeroen had some more time struggling but managed to finish after some ridge flying at the river. We tried to gain that one place and were on a good run until everything collapsed and now we tumbled down a bit.
Today looks not really great, lot’s of rainshowers which already started to form.”

Swedish topper Jan-Ola is still on 1 overall with one day to go, with 3.068 p. followed by Lucasz with 3.578 and Dennis with 3.572 p. ONLY 6 points difference!

15 m; task 10…314. 66 km.…The Polish pilots flew very good during this EGC and on the one but last day they are on top of the overall scores;3.600 for Sebastian and 3.495 for Lucasz. So with all this marginal flying, it will be difficult to beat them in 2 days.
Between 3 overall and 8 there might be possibilities. 3.217 and 3.006points.
So off they went and they had finally a race on their hands.. Werner Amann in the AS 33 was the best ; speed 116.81 km./h. But Sebastian is Sebastian and flies AAT’s and set tasks/races without a problem. He and “his” Diana 2 FES V were runner up;114.92 km./h.

Friday; July 15…very last day! CANCELLED….
So the winners and champions are now known after 8 out of 13 days. No last-day-tactics, no tension,…it’s over now.
Club class;
“Final day – scrubbed! After gridding in the rain we were scrubbed at briefing, so that’s the comp finished.
It’s been a typically difficult competition, with plenty of landouts and tricky days; well done to all the pilots for their flying and resilience, and congratulations to Tom on a Bronze medal in club class.”
British Gliding Team
1. Tomas Suchanek in ASW 20 with 3.816 points. EUROPEAN CHAMPION!!
2. Thies Bruins from the Netherlands in ASW 20 with 3.508 p.
3. Tom Arscott from the UK in LS 7 with 3.434 p.

Standard class;
With 7 out of 13 days here are the champion and winners in this class.
1. Jan-Ola Nordh from Sweden in Discus 2T with 3.611 points. EGC CHAMPION.
2. Lukasz Blaszczyk from Poland in Discus 2A with 3.578 p.
3.  Dennis Huybreckx from Belgium in LS 8 with 3.575 p.

15 m class;
Winners and champion from 8 out of 13 days;
1. Sebastian Kawa from Poland in Diana 2FESV with 4.452 points. CHAMPION!!!!!!
2. Lukasz Grabowski from Poland in Diana 2 with 4.328 p.
3. Oliver Springer from Germany in AS 33es with 4.027 p.
Congratulations to all, specially Sebastian with his “so-maniest-WGC-title”. I got lost…..He never gets bored and flies and flies……

For sure the HAPPIEST CHAPPIES!!!!

EGC team CUP:
1 Poland
2 Czech Republic
3 Germany

It must have been “hell” for the experienced organizers from Pocuinai. Rain, rain and more rain. The weather can be very good there. But what I heard, the organizers did a good job and EVERYBODY in Lithuania was so kind. So pilots and crews are very tired now, but will look back with a good feeling ,[ even with the scratched bellies from their gliders ] and on many new friendships!
That’s what it is all about!

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After the 13.5 WGC and EGC the next big “stop” is in Hungary…Szeged.… with the WGC and in Tabor for the JWGC in about 2 weeks from now. [Czech Rep]
The Hungarian unofficial practice days start Monday on July 18.
Opening ceremony on the 23d and contest flying between July 24 and August 5.
There are at this stage 82 participants in 3 classes; 18m, open and 20 m/double seaters.
I will keep you informed.

The 47th Polish open Class Nationals just finished and those Polish pilots are always good; We just saw a few toppers winning at the EGC, more TOPPERS were flying the Nationals in Ostrow between June 30 and July 9.
They finished already on July 9 but looking back the 28 pilots had good weather and tasks in the beginning, not so much later.
The first day was cancelled but then they had a 3 hour ,3.45 and 2.15 AAT. Gintas Zube [ASG 29] won the first AAT with 393 km. in time 3.13.[speed 122.20 km./h]
The second long run was won by Zdzisław Bednarczuk [JS3] with 492 km. in time 3.53 [speed 126.65 km./h] Task 4 by Łukasz Wójcik366 km. in an EB29R 28,4m., in time 2.31 [speed 144.76 km./h!!!!]
Then a few 1, 1.30 and 1.15 AAT’s with in the end pilots from “my time” winning the comps. They flew 7 out of 9 days.
1. Łukasz Wójcik in EB29R 28,4m with 4.242 points.
2. Karol Staryszak in ASG 29 with 4.051 p.
3. Tomasz Rubaj in Diana 3 FES with 3.795.
 Janusz Centka also from “my time”, is still going strong on spot 9.

That’s it for now. Enjoy.

Cheers Ritz

When I left you last Wednesday I was still in some kind of shock, as I could and can not believe what happened to Stefano and Thomas. The next day I straight looked if things were different,…..but no they were not. So I have to accept the decision of the organization.

This is what I heard ; one of the Italian pilots had to start his engine pretty early and instead of flying back to the airfield ,he helped his mate by showing him the thermals.
Let’s look at the continuation of the EGC and WGC 13.5 m.

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13.5 WGC in Pocuinai.[Lithuania]
4th EDITION
July 3-15-2022

On Wednesday they had task 4, a 1.30 AAT. Another day with NO FINISHERS, but some nice results, specially for the Netherlands as the Narromine WGC runner up, Robin [Smit] won the day with 213 km. Only distance points; 167. But,….when you can loose on ONE point , EACH point counts. It took them nearly 5 hours to get the 167 and 164 points.!!!
3 from 11 pilots [25 %] had to fly over 100 km….that happened; 213, 209 and 191 km.
A grown-up- tactic- flight by 2 young men, fighting for every point.
Character building, but character they had already!
Dutch Nick, was 3d. Nick ,was from one moment to the other, on top of the overall list when after task 3, Stefano and Thomas dropped to 10 and 7 from 11.

NO TASK on Thursday.
Task 5; 1.30 AAT…..cancelled.
Task 6; 1.30 AAT, you can see they are trying hard. Another tactic day?
NO, they flew for points with speed. Darius flew 80 km in time 2.15, which says enough but he made it a valid day together with the 2 Dutchies who flew a bit further ,but needed more time;183 and 184 km in time 2.18 and 2.32!
Thomas seems to be disqualified so is out of the comps and Stefano has withdrawn from the comps.
9 left. Only 9 …not good for the image of competition gliding.

Task 7; 3 hour AAT…..B task…2.30 AAT….Finally a GOOD DAY!!!! All PILOTS FINISHED!!!!
Nick flew 250 km in time 2.30 at the dot for 801 points,….finally some points…. and Robin flew 272 km. in time 2.48 for 755 points.
Nick was the only one flying over 100 km./h.
Task 8; 2 hour AAT....From the 9 pilots 3 flew the task and finished. 2 Lithuanian pilots and Nick from the Netherlands. The rest was out. 3 Flew over 100 km. among them Robin after 115 km..He must have “lost “Nick as they try to fly together.
Nick still leads ahead of Linas and Darius from Lithuania and Robin, who lost over 300 points.
July 12; declared REST DAY.
Then,……3 days to go.
TODAY ;2 hour AAT.

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The 21st FAI EGC at Pocuinai
July 3-16 2022

Such a pity that the Lithuanian organizers have to deal with “bad” weather. But as we know it’s part of our sport.
On July 6 and 8 there was NO flying.
July 6 had NO TASK.
July 7; a 1.30 AAT for the 3 classes , some flew but “no valid day.” One “hero” in club class , the only class not scrubbed, even finished…. Szabolcs Veigli from Hungary; speed 42 km./h in his ASW 20.He was the only one. TOP…..no points but a big chapeau/ thumps up!!!!!
July 8 ; another 1.30 AAT but nobody flew. In the evening…INTERNATIONAL NIGHT!!!!

July 9; marginal weather with a small window….they hoped…
Club; 1.30 AAT...a valid day as enough pilots managed to fly over 100 km…..but no finishers!
Czech pilot Jan Ratz was the best flying 148.52 km. for 228 points. UK pilots Jake and Tom “got” 226 and 225 points for 143 km.
Jake , runner up today, shared the day with soaring world;
“Day 4 (again) – A short weather window before an occluded front came in and wiped out the task area. 1.5hr AATs were set for all classes. We had some lovely streeting conditions pre-start, which very quickly gave way to large areas of spreadout between the first and second sectors – requiring a huge detour back to the north for 13.5m, 15m and standard class gliders to dip into the north side of their second sector and then scrape back home. Unfortunately, the club class sector was just too far away from the soarable conditions meaning we spent a lot of time just staying airborne and waiting! Eventually a convergence line from the leading edge of the front swept us up and allowed us to finally get into our second sector and back out. It was quite spectacular climbing on its leading edge in 8kts+. The next problem was that we had to go through the rain on the back of the line, and after a long glide averaging 18:1 through the rain and into a strong headwind, we finally all ended up in fields near the control point about 25k from home.“
Standard; 1.30 AAT...13 from 28 finished!!!!!Swedish pilot Jan-Ola Nordh was the best with 147 km in time 1.49.80 km./h!!!
German overall toppers Mario and Enrique had a bit of an off day being out after 100 km., so they lost some points and dropped from 1 and 2 to 8 and 11.
The differences are very small. My Belgian mates Dennis and Jeroen moved to 2 and 3 behind Jan -Ola. But it ain’t over yet!!!!!
15m; 1.30 AAT...Karel Novak won with 154 km. in time 1.29…good….and “got” 138 points!!!!!
Sebastian was runner up for 96 points;152 km in time 1.54.
The Italian pilot, Lorenzo Fornari, in this class withdrew!
25 Pilots left.
Poor Henrik from Denmark was out after 44 km and “got” 22 points.
BUT,…..19 finished. There are many overall scores with a marge of only ONE point, so a lot can still happen.

July 10; longer tasks! Hopefully NOT MASS OUTLANDINGS again.
B tasks were set as there were more middle-high-clouds than forecasted.
BUT…..NO OUTLANDINGS as EVERYBODY FINISHED!!!!!! GOOD!!!!!
A great RACING DAY!!!! Pilots and crews deserved that.
club; 2.30 AAT....2 hour AAT….27 finishers!!!! Best was Tomas Suchanek in his ASW 20, [229 km in time 2.08] followed by Danish pilot Lasse Edslev in LS 4.[217 km. in time 2.06.]
At spot 3 “our” Thies [Bruins] …yes our Dutchies do well….220 km. in 2.10.
team UK [Paul] wrote; “The club class got very low between two huge lakes and had to scratch away in weak lift. Passing over them at 3,000 ft looked nasty down below. But Jake and Tom did what they do best .”
standard; 2.30 AAT....2 hour AAT...Lukasz Blaszczyk in his Discus 2a, [229 km in time 2.04.50] finished ahead of Jan -Ola .[237 km. in time 2.11.
The German boys recovered from their less good day and were now on 4 and 7. My Belgium friends were on 5 and 8. Everybody was pleased with a finish AT the field.
15m; 3 hour AAT…2.30 AAT...4 eastern pilots, 2 from Czech Rep [JS3] and 2 from Poland [Diana2] formed the top 4 in this class. They flew over 280 km .and finished just before 5PM. Speed between 111 and 113 km./h.
All 25 finished!!!!Good day!

July 11; The skies looked good, but again many out-landings. 14 in 15 m, all gliders in standard[invalid day] and 20 in club class.

Club; 1.30 AAT…..A real European top 3; Danish pilot Lasse won the day with 121 km…speed 79 km./h for 130 points. He is in the right groove now!
UK pilot Tom was runner up with 127 km…speed 75 km./h. and Tapio from Finland with 134 km in time 1.47 was 3d.
Only 7 from 27 finished!!! “Poor” Claudia, with her already “battered” LS1 f neo, after so many out-landings, …by the way she makes nice out-landings…. was on spot 27 with 35 km.
Tomas Suchanek [LS4] still leads overall, ahead of Thies[LS7] from the Netherlands and Tapio [LS7] from Finland. BUT,….UK pilot Tom and German pilot Lukas are only 16 and 17 points behind Tapio.
Standard; 1.30 AAT.…..Only 2 Czech pilots , Miloslav and Jan, flew over 145 km. so the day was invalid! Well done to Miloslav and Jan.
15 m; 2 hour AAT….Polish toppers Sebastian and Lukasz in their Diana’s dis well again.192 km. in time 2.02, for 323/2 points.
From 25 only 11 finished, the last one of them Henrik, so a good Danish day!

A great write-up by Tom, who is flying there in Club class, so you also know all in’s and out’s from the “horses mouth”.;
“What a strange day. Short AATs set in all classes, with the threat of showers developing from the early afternoon. Sure enough, shortly after launching, under a cloud base not much higher than release height, the start sector started getting wet. Club class and 15m class were able to make an early start and set off through the rain. Jake and I rolled the dice and headed south at best glide with wet wings until eventually we connected to a weak climb from 700 ft. From there, the flight was great fun, dodging showers and running energy on the front of them, all in a very low working band. Both club class and 15m class had a great run home from the second sector, watching competitors still starting their first legs in the opposite directions. 2nd and 5th for the day was a good result, but unfortunately very few points for today. For the standard class, the later start opening time meant Nigel and Paul were forced to land back and wait for the showers to clear. By the time they made a start, most of the first sector was behind a shower line and despite their best efforts, they landed out in the best field available. With less than 25% past min distance, it was not a scoring day for standard class. With weather warnings for wind and rain in place, tomorrow has been declared a rest day. We go again on Wednesday with three possible days remaining.
Tom

July 12; Rest day for all classes.
Reparations for many gliders after the many out-landings;
” Good morning from the European Undercarriage Door Refitting championships. “British Gliding Team

July 13 TODAY….1.30 AAT for club, 2 hours for standard class and 1.30 for 15m.

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Both in the USA and Europe there were some over 1000 km. flights. A very interesting one last Thursday, flown from Ely in an LS 6 by German pilot Thorsten Streppel, with” a long and marginal 105km final glide in dying conditions which could be extended by ridge lift in the final part to avoid a landout and make it home safely.“
He shared this picture over pretty remote areas!

On July 11, last Monday Ely-Arpt was GOOD again. Kilometer eater Keith Essex went for a nice race of 1.329 km, a real FAI 1000 km triangle in this flight. His speed 160.44 km./h. [ 8 hours and 17 minutes]
For the triangle he sat 7 hours and 53 minutes with 132 km./h.
He flew a EB 29R.
There were 2 more 1000 km.-flights from Tonopah, a FIELD ON one of the legs SW from Ely, but also one from Fuentemilanos in Spain where it has been “bloody” hot over the last weeks with real heat waves, up to over 40 dgr. C.. In the ARCUS M Frerk Frommolz [Germ] and Guy Bechthold [Lux] flew 1. 135 km.
The heat and good soaring conditions felt good for more pilots so Gil [Souviron] and Baptiste Innocent “took” their Stemme S12 to Fuente and flew yesterday 1.223 km.[over 800km FAI triangle]
Guy and Frerk flew another one , this time a bit longer;1.187 km. Normally the season starts now in Fuente but with 6 over 1000 km flights yesterday, it looks like a great start of the Fuente-season, where many different Nationalities meet each year.
A real place for long-time-friendship and great soaring.
To complete yesterday’s 1000 km. flights. James Lee flew one from Minden;1.171 km [974 Fai triangle] and Ramy Yanetz his so maniest this time 1.048 km. Only in July 2022 8 x.
Young Simon Schroeder flew one in Germany in his Ventus 3. He flew a 1000 km. FAI triangle …GREAT JOB!!!!!

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Soaring creates FRIENDS FOR LIFE!!!!
Talking about long-time-friendship!!!!
No , this is not a gliding field in Europe, Australia or Africa, as you would expect seeing these faces, …..but glider pilots/friends on their way on motor bikes through Norway; at the picture….Arne,[ Denmark], Bruce [Australia] Katrin [Germany] and Arne’s wife Anne.
No TP’s on maps but rest points to enjoy the awesome beauty of Norway.

From motor biking back to the finals from the WGC and EGC next week. Most probably on Sunday!!! Standby.

Cheers Ritz
To finish this great picture by Tobias Barth who creates those great soaring calendars.
More of that soon here: www.aviation-calendar.com
www.instagram.com/tobi.barth.photographer

Back on track, but not yet 100 % fit. Even the one-week-holiday with my high school friends ,did n’t stop the tired feeling, after I got my booster jab on December 19.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that ,whilst I was gone, the “reading of my blog ” continued. I expected zero readers , but no it was the normal average and on June 30 even much higher. Thanks for that.
So here we go again, not to the” fullest” as I lack time to investigate all comps, but as much as I know now.

First of all congratulations to Dick Butler, who at his age won the open class comps in Hobbs New Mexico. He flew the well known CONCORDIA.
He won 4 days out of 9, so …..as always great weather in Hobbs.
10 pilots flew in open class. On June 25 ” the Concordia and Dick Butler smoked the field, completing 564km at 161kph. ” wrote Rich Owen , Team 98 Backseater.

The 15 m. class was at the same time at the same place and Rick Indrebo was the winner there in the ASG 29. He won also 4 out of 9 days.
There were 24 participants, among them Sylvia who flew the WWGC in Lake Keepit. She was now on spot 15.
Then congratulations to Davide Schiavotto who won with ONE point ,the 18 m Nationals in Italy . The one point lost was for Ricardo Brigliadori, so congratulations too…….OUCH ONLY ONE POINT!!!!!
Difference ….Winner and RUNNER UP.
Hope you found all the comps and news about the EUROGLIDE, so I concentrate now on the cat 1 comps.

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The 4th WORLD GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIP for 13.5 m gliders counts 11 competitors and is flown from Pocuinai in Lithuania, between July 3 and 15.
They fly in the Versus/[Diana2] , LAK or Mini LAK [FES] .
After 3 practice days , they started on July 3 for the real “thing.”
Task 1; 237.80 km……..Challenging circumstances , not a lot of landing places and low cloud base,…. no finishers but the Italian team , Stefano [Ghiorzo] who already won once in 2019 and 2015 and Thomas [Gostner] were close; 5 and 15 km. out.
2 Dutch pilots , both former juniors, had to get in the groove of this kind of glider; they were 5 [Nick Hanenburg ] and 10 [Robin Smit] .
Task 2; 2 hour AAT….The smiles on the Dutch faces were back. They were on spot 1 and 2. They flew 189 km in time 2.04 for 628 and 625 points.
Ouch , Stefano was out,…after 113 km.
Besides the 2 Italians and 2 Dutchies there are 2 Lithuanians and one pilot from the Ukraine, Latvia ,Poland and Hungary.
Task 3; 296.93 km.…ANOTHER PREY for Stefano who was the only finisher, in his Versus/Diana 2 !!!! 70.79 Km./h., so a fight but IN.
But then something you don’t see often on a WGC…both Stefano and Thomas were disqualified for the day!
VS Stefano’s call sign got as remark; “Attempt to obtain external help. First Offence. Day disqualification”
GT Thomas call sign; “Cheating. First Offence. Disqualification”
5 Pilots were over 250 km. Thomas flew 203 km. but that’s not from interest anymore.
I need to know more to have my own opinion about this! Very remarkable and the organization cast a slur on both Stefano and Thomas, but when they are correct, I guess they don’t do this without reason as it concerns 2 top pilots, the decision 0f course stands.

The overall results after 3 challenging days and lots of “problems” on task 3 to say it euphemistic;
1. Nick Hanenburg [The Netherlands] in Mini Lak with 1.741 points.
2. Linas Miezlaiskis [Lithuania] in Mini LAK FES with 1.586 p.
3. Luka Znidarsic [Slovenia] in MINI LAK FES with 1.568 p.

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The 21st FAI European Gliding Championship in Pocuinai, is running parallel with the WGC for 13.5 m.
They fly in Club [28 entries] , 15 m.[ 26] and standard class [27] .
After 3 practice days they also started to sort out who will be the EUROPEAN champion in each class . And day 1 was some kind of disaster as all 88 pilots and and all 11 pilots [13.5m] were out!
“Tricky first day for all competitors with a lot of relights, and a mass land out in all classes. A solid start for the British team however.”
I don’t know why they often set such long distances in Pocuinai, with as result MANY out-landings!!!!It’s not the first time! Are they TOO OPTIMISTIC???
CLUB;
Task 1; 235.37 km…. NO finishers ,but a few were close. French pilot Hugo Corbille flew 216 km. The German boy’s Lukas Blattmann and Uwe Melzer, 202 km. and the 3 UK pilots Tom Arscott and Jake Brattle 201 km. and Claudia Hill 197 km.
Task 2; 2 hour AAT....Czech pilot Tomas Suchanek flew 164.76 km in time 2 hours at the dot. Dutch pilot Thies [Bruins] flew more kilometers 181.75, but needed 13 minutes before, so 1 and 2 both flying ASW 20.
2 were out.
Task 3; 237.75 km….Same order as the day before; Tomas first, Thies runner up, [starting 8 minutes earlier]and only 6 pilots IN; behind Tomas who is from Czech Rep, those were the 2 Dutchies, 3 French and 1 from Belgium.
Claudia from the UK ,a real nice lady who I met in Lake Keepit and who writes really funny stories, [ Claudia’s Gliding Page] was the first of the out landers, after 232 km;
“Another day, another mass landout. And lots of scratches under CH’s belly from a stony field. We had to go via a control point located exactly on the last leg of the task, we could see the airfield from our last climb but had to deviate to turn that control point. Without it I would have been on glide.”
With her the other 2 UK pilots, Tom and Jake were out after 228 km.
After 3 difficult days the overall scores are ;
1. Tomas Suchanek [Czech Rep.]in ASW 20 with 1.871 points.
2. Thies Bruins[ TheNetherlands] in ASW 20 with 1.809 p.
3. Arturas Pilvinis [ Lithuania] in ASW 20f with 1.615 p.
More next week.

STANDARD ;
Task 1; 278.73 km….as said NOBODY was “in”. But,..3 pilots flew over 250 km. Czech pilot Pavel Louzecky, Swedish pilot Jan-Ola Nordh and just over 250 Lithuanian pilot Ringaudas Kikalas.
7 Pilots reached 249 km. among them the German pilots Mario Kiessling and Enrique Levin and the Belgium pilots Dennis Huybreckx and Jeroen Jennen.
All flying either LS 8 or Discus in all variations.
Task 2; 2 hour AAT.….good day for the German Team, winning the day with 203 and 193 km in time 2.11 and 2.06 and the Belgium team flying 188 km in time 2.07.
Mario and Enrique started together lost each other ” somewhere”, hence the 5 minute difference. The Belgian cousins started and finished together.
“Dennis and Jeroen had to take a weaker climb to get themselves back on track after a lower point. They were not so happy in the beginning but after all we can say the result wasn’t that bad!”Belgian Gliding Team
Only one pilot was out.
Task 3; 306 km…..NO FINISHERS!!!! BUT, French pilot Valentin Leleu-Lambour did well with 258 flown km.. So did Swiss pilot Remy Hirt who flew 4 km. less but,.no not the set 306 km.
In the evening the message was ;“Low and slow in Pociunai! Today a cover a cirrus was hiding the sun and made a very difficult day for our pilots. The organization set up a B task a little bit shorter than the first one and more “crew friendly”, we wouldn’t go far into Poland.” by Belgian Gliding Team
Indeed the crews are VERY BUSY!!!
Overall result after 3 days;
1.Mario Kiessling [Germany ]in Discus 2A with 1.546 points.
2. Enrique Levin [Germany] in Discus 2A with 1.515 p.
3. Dennis Huybreckx [Belgium] in LS 8 with 1.497 p.
4. Jeroen Jennen [Belgium] in LS 8 with 1.493.

More to come next week, a lot can still happen.

15 m CLASS;
task 1; 299.33 km….no finishers but Lithuanian pilot Gintaras Drevinskas , with a rather late start, only missed out on 11 km.[288,21 km]
Swiss pilot Yves Gerster flew 281 km. and Sebastian Kawa and Lucas Grabowski 275 km.
6 Pilots could not reach 100 km …so it must have been a very challenging day!!!
Task 2; 2 hour AAT...Yves started at 1 PM , Sebastian 24 minutes later. They were 1 and 2 with 202 km in time 2.04 [97.59 km./h] and 228 km in time 2.20,45 [97.35 km./h]
7 Were out, among them Lars Groot. [The Netherlands] Tim Scott [UK] and Felipe Cvitanich from Denmark, all 3 have flown already pretty good this season.
Task 3; 344.12 km.…2 Polish pilots, [Lucasz Grabowski] and Sebastian, 2 French [Julien Duboc and Kevin[Faur] and one Finish pilot, Harri Hirvola, were in and that were the 5 finishes! Harri flew /fought over 5 hours.
20 were out!
After 3 days the overall scores are;
1. Sebastian Kawa [Poland] in Diana2 FES V with 1.996 points.
2. Lukasz Grabowski [Poland] in Diana 2 with 1.923 p.
3. Harri Hirvola [Finland] in Ventus 2A with 1.875 p.

More next week.
NO FLYING TODAY, it rains “cat’s and dogs!”

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JUST TO LET YOU KNOW!!!
The 2022 WWGC will be in August in HUSBOS.
The 2023 WWGC will be in Soria in Spain. They now fly there the Pre WWGC.

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Looking at the OLC yesterday, it was a GLORIOUS soaring day. Also here in the Netherlands, where Steven Raimond flew 770 km, but even better in Germany and Luxemburg [had a bit of it as well] ;a 1000 by Guy in the Quintus.
Germany had 15 x a 1000 with the best result at first of 1.123 km in an ARCUS. AND,…what about an 982 km flight in an LS 4 by Eric Schneider!!!
And then…..
“Crazy weather conditions in Germany! Alexander Müller has already achieved 1300km and his altitude is still over 2800m. Will that be sufficient for the magical 1400km?“Glider Forever
AND YES …he did it ; 1.421,66 km!!!!![ 963 FAI triangle]best flight of the day/ year?????!!!
In his EB 29, he had to sit for just over 12 hours! What stamina.
Speed 117 km./h…GREAT PERFORMANCE!!!!!
His comment will follow later, you can read it on the OLC or WEGLIDE.
The German weather as seen and shared by Tobias Welsch and by Frerk Frommholz in the ARCUS M taking off from Anspach Taunus.

That’s it for now, more next week. I am very interested what happens to my mates Stefano and Thomas and to see if the meteo and task-setter in Pocuinai keep setting those too long, too optimistic tasks.
Cheers Ritz

EUROGLIDE 2022.

A reasonable day to start with , so most are on their way direction Poland over Germany; Szczecin, N E of Berlin is the first TP. From there far to the SW to Zurich, then into Czechia and then back HOME.
the first departures were at 12.

You can follow them day by day on www.euroglide.nl
Hodenhagen and Oerlinghausen were arrival-points from day 1.
I heard for day 2 also Jena and Zwickau.

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French 18 m. and OPEN NATIONALS
Buno Bonnevaux
19 June 2022 – 25 June 2022

On the practice day some flew, on day 1 nobody did, as the tasks had to be cancelled,… but on
June 20 a task was set;
18 m; 264 50 km....in this class with 27 pilots fly 4 HC, Danish pilots Arne Boye Moeller , Peter Eriksen and Henrik Breidahl and from Belgium Francois Delfosse. CANCELLED!!
On June 19 a 2 hour AAT was set, but after ,….scrubbed.
On June 20,264 km. was set , but….cancelled.

open; 247 km....14 pilots or teams are flying for the highest honor.2HC teams from Belgium; De Broqueville / Spruyt in EB 29 DR and de Broqueville / Dresse in ARCUS 20T.
Also in open class 2 days were cancelled after it was impossible to fly a 2.30 AAT and 247 km. set task.
A 3d task was set but 211 km, for open only, but,….Cancelled.
So no flying yet. Why???? You can see it on the picture.

The next day however Arne send another picture;

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CLUB CLASS NATIONALS in ITALY.
Ferrara 17 June 2022 – 26 June 2022

Good to see Elena our last WWGC champion from Lake Keepit. again in a competition. Also her brother Nicola and sister Michelle are participating. A total of 25 pilots.
They started on June 17 with small tasks as well.
task 1; 167. 31 km.…Giovanni Repola in his Discus 2 won the day , [440 points] just ahead of Luca [Urbani] in a Discus 2A. The Fergnanies did well; Nicola on 5, Elena on 6 and Michele on 22. Nice to see Giorgio Ballarati in a gliding competition too, last I saw him, he was organizing them. He flies a twin acro 3.
25 started and finished!
task 2; 158.31 km….won by Elena with a late start at 16.06. One way or another Nicola did not fly.
task 3; 208.52 km….Frederico Montanini in LS 4 won the day [85.20 km./h] Only 16 pilots were in, so were Michele [ 11] and Elena [15]
June 20 had NO task.
June 21…no task.

18 m. NATIONALS in Italy.
Ferrara 17 June 2022 – 26 June 2022

Several comps from Ferrara in Italy. Also the Coppa and Classe Unica[ for both see www.soaringspot.com .]
18 m NATIONALS counts 21 pilots and a few toppers.
Task 1; 189.30 km…..Gorgio Galetto just won the day in his Ventus 3 ahead of Alberto Pozzi in JS 1cevo and Giancarlo Grinza in Ventus 3. Speed 116.87 for 116. 21 km./h. and 116.19 km./h.
All 21 finished.
task 2; 159.14 km.…late start around 3.30 with Giuseppe Dal Grande in Ventus 2cxm, as daily winner, for 318 points.
Ricardo [Brigliadori] was 3d, Davide [Schavotto] 4th and Giorgio 9th.
task 3; 271.42 km…. with improving weather . Best speed still only 97 km./h. Ricardo won, Davide was runner up and Giorgio was 4th.
20 started and 18 finished.
June 20; NO TASK.
June 21; no task.

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The 2022 NATIONALS for OPEN and 15 m in the USA are flown from Hobbs.
June 23- July 2 2022.

Look at their weather….Practice days today and yesterday.
New Mexico has often TOP WEATHER, like Minden in Nevada and Uvalde in Texas.
Dutch pilot Kees Musters [R.I.P. 1987] became WORLD CHAMPION in HOBBS in 1983 in 15 m. class.
Ingo won open that year and Stig Oye was world-champion in standard class.

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In the WEGLIDE MAGAZINE [June 18 2022] is an interesting interview with Baptiste Innocent;
https://magazine.weglide.org/pushing-limits-with-baptiste-innocent/

OR
https://magazine.weglide.org/pushing-limits-with-baptiste-innocent/?fbclid=IwAR0mtVmAprwZTndSnYO-uIX6kMhqsE1BFq06sv5mmZkI1p-ZL2ffhsPsDpQ

We had the longest day here, and my friends in Australia the shortest.
So ,….it’s summer/winter now. Slowly we prepare then for circumstances the other way around.
So do the organizers from Kiripotib:
“The season is getting closer, so get to know our team and Champions. Let´s start with Pete Harvey our English gentleman. Everyone loves him for his fine and polite manner, always good mood and his charisma. The three-time European and 10-time British champion does not only fly gliders, but has also been a national champion in hang gliding. He is the head coach of Flying with the Champions. Before that, he has worked as a management consultant for many years.
More about “Flying with the Champions”: https://bit.ly/3tQltAm
Indeed Pete is a lovely guy!!!!!

Soon to be;
the 4th WGC for 13.5 m in combination with the 21st FAI European champion ship for standard, club and 15 m class in Lithuania at the airport of Pocuinai.
Unofficial training; 25 June to 28 June 2022 Official; June 29-July 1
Competition; July 3 -July 15.
When I am back I look at how they go and finish them.

Off on Friday for our annual week with my high-school -friends.

47th Polish OPEN CLASS Nationals are from June 30 to July 9 in Ostrow, with 36 competitors.
The Swiss nationals are flown from Schänis, between 25 June 2022 – 2 July 2022
All results on www.soaringspot.com

CU on July 6.
Cheers Ritz

The German Nationals for CLUB, STANDARD and 15m.
6 June 2022 – 17 June 2022 Zwickau
96 entries.

Club ;
June 15…task 8; 3.30 AAT....The weather was still in competition mood , so were the pilots and with 3 days to go, this was already a good one for decisions, for the pilots with club-gliders. Most probably they will have difficulties to become German champion , as that place seems to be already all time in the hands of Stefan [Langer] ,who also won this AAT, with 388 km. in time 3.33. He leads now with 6.903 points on Uwe [Melzer] who achieved 6.172 points.
June 16; task 9….one but last day.….217.65 km.... CANCELLED!!!!
June 17; Task 10….281.31 km……..Last day!!!
Stefan can’t sit back and look, he still has to fly one more day even with more than 700 points ahead. He was beaten on handicap by Benedikt Sindermann in LS 1f; speed 87 km./h. Stefan was runner up. In the top 3 overall nothing changed;
German CHAMPION and winners in 15 m. class
1. Stefan Langer in LS WL with 7.882 points !!!!!!!
2. Uwe Melzer in LS4WL with 7.052 p.
3. Marcus Dawert in DG 300WL with 6.994 p.

Standard;
June 15…task 8; 3.30 AAT...Jan [Knischewski] in his LS 8neo managed to fly 404.60 km. in time 3.26.51. He “got” the 1000 points and is on his way to the top 3 , as he is only 15 points behind Simon [Briel], who is at this stage on spot 3.
Jan [Omsels] had a bit of a bad day finishing on spot 25, “falling out” of the the top 3, now on 5 overall.
June 16; task 9....202.90 km....CANCELLED.
June 17; task 9….295.30 km….6 pilots flew with a speed of over 100km./h. Best was Benedikt Lang in Discus2T. All 34 finished on this last day.
The top 3 overall remained the same.
German CHAMPION and winners in Standard class ;
1. Enrique Levin in Discus A with 5.755 points.!!!!!!
2. Robin Sittmann in Discus 2A with 6.569 p.
3. Simon Briel in Discus 2A with 6.495 p.

15m;
June 15…task 8; 3 hour AAT.…with 395 km. Uwe [Wahlig] flew to victory in his LS 3WL. He moved from 8 to 4 overall. Well deserved …flying in an LS 3 against top gliders as AS 33es, Ventus 3 and JS 3 jet.You see,…the pilot IS IMPORTANT.
Tilo [Holighaus], Jan [Umlauf] ,Christoph [Nacke] and Katrin [Senne] are still in the top 10 overall.
Henrik [Bieler] leads the pact at the moment.[6.424 points.]
June 16; task 9...217.69 km….Cancelled!!!
June 17; task 9….307.38 km…. Christoph once more tried hard with an early start at 13.15; he was 3d. Katrin was 6th, Jan 17th , Uwe 20th and Tilo 25th,…pfff challenging day. BUT,…there were winners and a CHAMPION.
The TOP 3 remained the same.
1. Henrik Bieler in Ventus 2b with 7.044 points.
2. Steffen Goettler in Ventus 2A with 6.977 p
3. Marc Schick in Ventus 2b with 6.883 p.
4. Uwe Wahlig in LS 3 WL with 6.752 p.
5. Christoph Nacke Ventus 2CXT with 6.747p.
Jan Umlauf on 7 [6.685 p] and Katrin Senne on 8[6.663 p]
Congratulations to ALL.

I think Tilo, Ralf, their mum Brigitte and their dad Klaus [R.I.P. 1994] can be VERY proud on all the winning gliders coming from their manufactory.

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THE UK 15m. Standard and OPEN class NATIONALS.
11 June 2022 – 19 June 2022 Aston Down
82 entries.

15 m;
June 15…task 5; 208.85 km.…and Richard [Hood] won the day ahead of Gary[Stingmore] and Leigh [Wells] They were the only 3 flying over 80 km./h.
11 from 15 were in, Phil Jones was unfortunately out. The Jones brothers always fly good!!! Now I am not often more at comps, so I don’t see them anymore, but I do even remember their dad well . Then they were still very young.
June 16…Task 6; cancelled.
June 17; task 7...no points
June 18; cancelled.
June 19; task 8…278.92 km....VERY LAST DAY!!!! With Leigh [ 4.712] Gary [4.628] and Darren [4.615] as the “toppers” to beat.
“It’s the final day of the 15m, Standard Class and Open Class Nationals for 2022! After 3 scrubbed days, we may get one last opportunity for a small task today to shake up the points. It’s all to play for so there’s no telling who will come out on top of the three classes.” by the organizers Cotswold Competitions
It was in vain. SO the new National CHAMPION in 15 m class is;
1.Leigh Wells in JS 3 with 4.712 points.
2. Gary Stingmore in AS 33es with 4.628 p.
3. Derren Francis in Ventus 3Ts with 4.615 p.

Standard
June 15…task 5; 157.97 km.…Jez Hood won the day and was till now every day in the top 3,so very consistent!!! Overall he is 24 points behind Howard who was the daily runner up.
Ayala was 3d and 4 pilots from 18 were out.
June 16; task 6….cancelled.
June 17; task 7.…no points. “Welcome to day 7. Yesterday’s scrub means no results for the day. A very hot day awaits so let’s see if the weather plays ball and lets us fly.” It did not!
June 18; cancelled.
June 19; task 8…278.98 km….They tried hard ..but the day had to be scrubbed.
National ChAMPION IN STANDARD CLASS IN 2022 IS;
1. Howard Jones in Discus 2a with 4.330 points.
2. Jez Hood in LS 8 with 4.306 p.
3. Andy Holmes in LS 8 with 4.144 p.

Open;
June 15; task 5.….. 208.38 km and Russell had another TOP-DAY. He , Andy and Tim were the only ones flying over 85 km./h.
23 started and only 12 finished!!
June 16; task 6…..cancelled.
June 17; task 7….no points.
June 18 ; cancelled.
June 19; task 8….280.32 km….no day….
So the NATIONAL CHAMPION in open class is;
1. Tim Jenkinson in JS1 C with 4.529 points.
2. Andy Davis in JS 1MD C with 4.406 p.
3. Russell Cheetham in JS1 C with 4.387 p.

Congratulations to ALL. I guess a few , looking at the scores, would have loved to fly on the last day.
They had 5 out of 9 days, the first ones were GOOD!!!

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UPPSALA MASTERS 2022
11 June 2022 – 18 June 2022 Sundbro
27 entries.

Club;
June 15…task 5; 3 hour AAT....Per from Sweden, Thomas from Norway, still a JUNIOR I read and Tapio from Finland were the 3 daily best. 6 Pilots flew over 300 km. Best speed 106.98 km./h.
June 16; task 6….224.52 km….and they did fly! Tapio was in before Per; 102 43 km./h and 96.83 km./h. Young Thomas was 4th.
June 17; task 7…2.30 AAT...invalid day….the best daily pilot Tapio flew 86 km.
June 18; Also here they pondered to yes or no set a task. They did/could not. In the end they had 5 out of 8 days.
So we know the WINNERS of the UPPSALA MASTERS;
1.Per Carlin [Sweden] in LS1f with 3.039 points.
2. Tapio Tourula [Finland] in LS 7WL with 2.971 p.
3. Thomas Hansen[Norway] in St Cirrus WL with 2.864 p.

Racing;
June 15…task 5; 3 hour AAT...except for Thorsten [Norway] all pilots in this class are from Sweden. Daily best was Jan Ola [Nordt] who increased his overall score from 3 to 1!!! Thorsten was 3d, only lost 50 points but moved from 1 to 2; difference in points …..THREE!!!!!
June 16…. task 6 ; 252.89 km.…Simon Landqvist in LS 8 won the day. He was with 101.74 km./h the only one over 100 km. Simon moved from 5 to 1!!!!!! Jan-Ola was 3d; 83.47 km./h., but still lost nearly 200 points on Simon.
For Thorsten the day was not good at all, he was out after 243 km and moved from 2 to 6!!!!!
June 17; 2.30 AAT....86 km. for Jan,… but….an invalid day!
June 18; cancelled. So 5 out of 8 days.
Winners UPPSALA MASTERS;
1. Simon Landqvist in LS8T with 3.064 points.
2. Jan-Ola Nordh in Discus 2T with 3.010 p.
3. Peter Cutting in Discus with 2.989 p.

Well fought all pilots. Not an obvious week but it was a lot of flying anyway! Welcome again 2024! Uppsala Masters

In addition, the Junior National Championship was organized and the result was:
1. Samuel Richardsson in Mosquito
2. Dylan Osolian in LS3A
3. Ludvig Jauring in DG 100G

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The OPEN MILITARY CHAMPIONSHIP 2022.
13 June 2022 – 17 June 2022 Malden
24 entries.

Club class :
June 15…task 3; 3 hour AAT…..another more or less blue day.
Jeroen van Dijk in the LS 3 WL, won the day with 203.66 km. in time 2.44; speed 74.42 km./h. a tad faster than Sjors [Schoenmakers] in Discus B WL with 197.30 km. in time 2.39 making his speed 74.06 km./h.
June 16; task 4; 221.82 km..….Blue with high cirrus firmaments. BUT,…another day.
Jeroen won again and till now did so 2 more times and he was twice runner up as well. He leads with ONE DAY TO GO, but the team from glider IV, an ASW 20 WL, is only a few points behind. [3.274 for 3.207]
June 17; task 5....LAST DAY….102 km.…Starts around 2.30, with a short task you can easily loose but also gain a few points .
Winner was the team flying the ASW 20, 75.77 km./h![ for 204 points] Jeroen was 4th, lost 60 points but remained on spot 1;
OMK winners in club class;
1. Jeroen van Dijk in LS 3WL with 3.418 points.
2. Team VI in ASW 20 WL with 3.411 points.
The MILITARY champion was Janiek Meesters in Pegase 101Z with 2.833 points.

Open class;
June 15; 3 hour AAT.…The ASH 26E was with Dennis [Schouten] the best; 295,87 km. in time 332.59.; 83.35 km./h Hans [Biesters] in his ASG 29 was runner up . Those 2 lead with 2 days to go overall and it’s very close; 2.696 and 2.695 points. George [Schuit] in his JS 3 is 3d overall with 2.618 points. George was a daily 4th, as Max [Leenders] was just in front of him.[30 points difference]
June 16; 273,69 km…..Fastest was George, 109. 46 km./h, only just as Hans flew 109.14 km./h., but handicapped he was 4th.
June 17; task 5….109.95 km…..This last day was hot, up to 32 dgr. C pretty stable , blue and some high cirrus . Nearly no wind.
But they flew…and,…only 3 finished. George won day 1 and the last day; 72.38 km./h. for 86 points!!!! The runner up had 54 km./h so it was a tough day.
Number 1 overall Hans, was out, but just got enough points to stay on top; 27 points!!!!
Winners OMK 2022 in open class;
1. Hans Biesters in ASG 29 with 3.351 points.
2. George Schuit in JS 3 with 3.336 points
3. Dennis Schouten in ASH 26E with 3.334 !!!!!“beaten” by only 2 points!!!!
The MILITARY champions were team  Adrie en Lennart Batenburg in Duo Discus XLT , unfortunately they were out on the last day after 36 km. after a start at 3.14 PM.

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EUROGLIDE 2022.

They start tomorrow on June 20, for a race of 2500 km. with teams from Germany, Belgium, Switzerland Slovakia and The Netherlands.
Who has flown it once, is HOOKED!!!!
A team can be one pilot, with a crew who follows him through the West of Europe. Some German teams in 2 seaters have 7 participating pilots.
3 Kind of gliders ;
— ” Just ” gliders; as Arcus, Nimbus 4D, Duo Discus, Marianne and DG 800 s. with a total of 34 pilots.
—-Turbo’s; 27 x in all variations with 92 pilots.
—Self launchers; 25 teams….62 pilots.
There are daily reports .
View the team-positions, shoutbox, notice board and summary reports for each day.
Here is one Dutch team;

The briefing is today in Venlo. After 35 dgr.C., some of the hottest tropical days and nights in history in June, it’s RAINING. Good for the garden.
BUT, the weather improves again!!!!
By the way France and Spain just had already heat-waves with up to 43 dgr. C.
Here is the map and the link ; http://euroglide.nl/news.php

Busy, busy ,it’s the HIGH season for European soaring comps, and more to come. Can’t do them all, but I will give you the link to follow the scores of a lot of comps.
www.soaringspot.com

Cheers CU on Wednesday again.

Just to let you know already;…… My annual high school-friends-week, is next, so SORRY NO news from June 24 till July 6!!

After the thunderstorms, the sun was shining brightly again and on Wednesday they set a task of 136 km. for the 20 pilots of the qualifying FAI SGP at the Aero Club Adele Orsi Acao.
You might remember, race 1 was won by local hero Alberto Sironi and race 2 by former European champion [3x] Pete Harvey from the UK, who was many times UK champion as well.

Race 3; 136.08 km…..was one with HIGHS and lows.
A HIGH certainly for Mario [Kiessling in Ventus 3T ] who won the 10 daily points. He was really fast with 113.5 km./h.
His motto; “Keeping the glider closer to the mountains and waiting for the right moment to reach height was the formula for victory.”
Only 1 point for Alberto and no points for Pete , Jon [Gatfield] and Mike {Young} ,all UK pilots were “out”.
Alberto and Yves are still on top overall with both 15 points, but Mario is closing in on them with 14.
Yves missed out on points by being 13th due to ‘not turning a TP correctly’ ; 5 minutes.[300 sec].

Race 4; A long one 306 km….
The organizers wrote;
“Take offs have started very early to avoid strong cross wind on the ground that would have prevented pilots to fly. The start line will anyway open at 1.00 oc local time. Weather conditions are wonderful and for sure all the pilots will be able to enjoy a flight in the Alps”.
The wind however increased every minute. “It’s windy from the north, We’re constantly checking the wind because it’s increasing really considerably.”
Mario-time again with ” good old ” Gilles [Navas] as runner up and Alberto still in the race as well. Speed from Mario 126.3 km/h and from Gilles 119.7 km./h.
race 5; 254.68 km…speed 113.9 for the AS33es with UK pilot Jon Gatwick in it; 10 points in the pocket. And that on a blue day!!!
On this one but last day, Alberto was runner up with 8 points , BUT, Mario was on spot 4 with 6 points.
“All in all it has really been a good challenging day! Dry at the very beginning and a bit tricky before joining the first turning point, then high plafond and a technical final glide made the day a beautiful one.”
15 from 20 finished. So 5 not, Yves was one of them after 202 km.
Result; EACH 30 points for Alberto and Mario with ONE day to go!!!!
race 6; 206 km.….”fight between2 toppers, both good in mountains and for Alberto more or less a” home race”. A clear sky they mentioned and WARM.
Thomas [Gostner]won the day with a speed of 61.9 km./h in the Ventus 3T. [7 points] Indeed slow, so not an easy flight and only 5 pilots finished.
Mario was 00.44 slower and Alberto 00.48. How did they come up with such a scheme???
It meant for the 2 TOPPERS, 2 points for Mario and 1 for Alberto.
SUPER MARIO did it again.
Also IN, was Didier Hauss from France, so was Ugo Pavesi it took him half an hour more than Thomas , but he was IN!!!!For ONE daily point.
The rest was out some close, between 155 and 190 km.
And ,…on the last day still 10 penalties mainly for being one minute early on the wrong side of the start line. [between 10 and 60 sec].

Final result; http://italy22.sgp.aero/results
1. Mario Kiessling in Ventus 3T with 33 points!
2. Alberto Sironi in JS 1c with 32 points.
3. Gilles Navas in ASG 29 with 19 points.

“Welcome to “Super Mario” Kiessling and Alberto Sironi for the next Final next year in Pavulo, Italy!”

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The Uppsala Masters started last Saturday June 11 and continue till the 18th. They fly from Sundbro with 31 pilots.
CLUB class;
Task 1; 2 hour AAT,……10 started and 5 finished. Best result by Tapio Tourula in LS 7WL; 170 km in time 2.04 for 327 points !!! Runner up Samuel Richardsson in Mosquito flew 139 km in time 1.59.54 for 280 points.
Task 2; 154 km...Nobody finished but Per Carlin won after 55.61 km.
Task 3; 2 hour AAT...8 out of the 11 starting pilots flew between 90 and 98.51 km./h. just over or under 200 km….but all 11 finished. Lars Jauring in PIK 20 won the day.
task 4; 2 hour AAT….3 Arboga members in the top 4 with on spot 2 Finish pilot Tapio Tourula. Per won the day with a speed of 102 km./h over 227.68 km.
task 5 ;today they have a 3 hour AAT.

RACING CLASS;
task 1; 2 hour AAT...8 from 13 finished and Danish pilot Thorsten Mauritsen in Discus 2T was the best.
task 2; 148.98 km….3 pilots managed to finish. Thorsten won the day again with a speed of 65 km./h Jan -Ola Nordh was runner up with 59 km./h.. He started and finished together with Richard Swanström.
task 3; 2 hour AAT…and 15 started and finished .Simon Landqvist, [LS 8T] really did well, being faster and further than runner up Peter Cutting [Discus] ; 215 km. in time 1.58.55 and 209.94 km. in time 2.01.34. Jan Ola was 5th.
task 4; 2 hour AAT…3 x a Discus 2T at the top with as winner Danish pilot Thorsten Mauritsen. Richard and Jan Ola followed on 2 and 3.
Task 5; today….3 hour AAT.

“Something else to keep an eye out for is a potential shakeup of the current world order in Racing. Yesterdays winner, current leader (and daily winner twice already) Thorsten Mauritsen has managed to outfly the super duo Jan Ola Nordh and Richard Swanström in spite of being more than 1500 points behind them in the world IGC ranking list. Well done! (But it ain’t over until the fat lady sings as they say!)”Uppsala Masters

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GERMAN NATIONALS for CLUB, STANDARD and 15 m.

In Zwickau in Germany the Nationals for the smaller “ships” [ club, standard and 15m] were flown between June 6 and 17!
I noticed former junior world champion Christoph Nacke among them[2005 Husbos] he flies in 15 m. Quite a few former juniors, who I met at several JWGC ‘s, are still flying on tope level .Good to see.
club class ;33 participants.
task 1; 3 hour AAT ....Stefan Langer was the daily best with 290.86 km. in time 3.11.He flies an LS3 with winglets.
19 were in, 4 of them flew over 200 km.
task 2; 250 km…cancelled.
task 3; 281 km.…very challenging day with only 9 finishers!!! Best speed by daily winner Uwe Melzer in LS 4WL with 73.50 km./h.
Stefan was runner up.
task 4; 357 km….the weather was good again and off they went after a non flying day .Winning 3 days already and 1 runner up spot on task 3; Stefan Langer is the name!! A 1000 points-day and ALL 33 pilots finished.
task 5; 3 hour AAT, and,….YES Stefan is in great “shape” as he won another 1000 points!!!326.60 km. in time 3.01.
2 out, one virtual one really.
task 6; 409.19 km..…Stefan won another day and with a nice speed of 117.36 km./h about 7 km/h faster than runner up Jan Schulz in Discus cs.
Except for 1 day [ runner up] he was till now the best!!!!!
NO TASK on June 13.
Task 7; 4.30 AAT....Stefan is in great shape,…he won another day with 417 km. in time 4. 41. With 3 days to go he leads with nearly 700 points.

standard; 35 entries.
task 1; 227,45 km....won by Simon Briel with a speed of 100.91 km./h The only one OVER 100 km. When I remember well he flew in Namibia and even 1.300 km. He is the junior EUROPEAN gliding champion [in Lithuania] as well.
27 were in , some close by between 207 an 227 km.
task 2; 2.30 AAT…scrubbed.
task 3; 3.30 AAT.…so a busy day for the pilots. 320 km. was the best distance combined with time 3.41. It “delivered” 1000 points for Dirk Gintzel in LS 8 neo.28were in.
task 4; 409.60 km....14 flew over 110 km./h and the winner flew around with 115.25 km./h. Name….Sebastian Naegel!!!!
ALL 35 pilots finished!!!
task 5; 2.30 AAT....another winner and another JWGC pilot; Enrique Levin in the Discus 2A; 250.96 km in time 2.32. His brother Felipe was twice JWGC champion.
33 were in.
task 6; 421.45 km….Christian Lampert 125.41 km./h. [ Discus 2A] won the day for 1000 points. 34 started and finished among them Chrissie [Grote] on spot 19 and Sabrina [Vogt] on 10. Both fly Discus 2A. Enrique was on 4. Simon , who belongs to the junior squad was on 6.
NO TASK on June 13.
task 7; 387.54 km....New faces here and only 9 from 34 have finished , some close by. Phillip Schulz won with a speed of 84 km./h,…I do not say anything …you know. Among the non finishers the overall top 3 Enrique, Jan and Christian and the girls Chrissie and Sabrina.
I noticed that the early starters between 13.07 and 13.14 were the daily numbers 1 to 9. Some started after 2 PM.

15 m; 28 pilots
Task 1; 2.15 AAT.….Henrik Bieler in a Ventus 2b was the only one over 100 km./h flying 241.58 km in time 2.24.
22 were in.
Task 2; 277.08 km….not flown.
Task 3; 356 km….and Christoph [Ventus 2CX] showed that he can still do it; win!!!Speed 87.80 km./h so hard work.
Only 11 were in, the first out was Katrin [Senne] after 333 km. , the last in, a bit low though, Tilo [Holighaus].
Uwe Wahlig in his LS 3WL, was 10th.
task 4; 402.92 km….Jan Umlauf [Asg 29e] did well. He won the day but only just. 5 points more then runner up Philip Goralski in ASW 27; 1000 and 995 points. Katrin [Senne] was 4th!!!!
Task 5; 3 hour AAT….. and again Jan was the best. In Tocumwal he could stay up for hours and loved every minute .
Jan won again from Philip and again with 5 points!!!!Indeed,…they fly together and start and finish together.
Christoph was 6th.
task 6; 419.93 km.…Jonas Florin in an ASW 27 won ;115.76 km./h.Tilo was 4th. Katrin 6th and Jan 8. Somewhere “en route” they must have lost each other as Philip finished after 4 hour and 14 minutes.[24th]
27 started and 1 was out.
No task on June 13.
task 7; 408.68 km…..Good but difficult day ….Best speed in the Ventus 3T by Tilo; 95.82 km./h. Good on him. Uwe was 3d with 91.16 km./h.
27 Started 24 were in. NOT, Philip and Christoph , they were close, at 370 km. .
More on Sunday.

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UK NATIONALS for STANDARD, OPEN and 15m .

The Cotswold Gliding Club at Aston Down airfield in Gloucestershire is one of the foremost sites in the UK for gliding competitions. In 2022 they are hosting the UK National Championships in the Standard [ 24 ] , Open [25] and 15 meter [18 entries] classes.
So another very interesting competition.
It started on the 11th of June 2022 last Saturday and ends on the 19th of June 2022. AND,…they started with awesome weather….. look at the distances!!!
As in Germany, also here many well known pilots.
15 m;
Task 1; 327.98 km...flown by 11 from the 15 pilots in this class. Leigh Wells , indeed former world champion in 2006 in Eskilstuna], won the day with 106.29 km./h followed by Matt Davis, yes son from Andy, also in the JS 3 ;105.20 km./h.
task 2; 497.88 km….The CD from the next HUSBOS WWGC , Liz [Sparrow] won the day. Good on her!!! She started pretty early. Leigh started nearly half an hour later and was runner up, loosing 8 points on Liz.[ASG 29E]
3 were out.
task 3; 344.48 km....9 pilots flew around with over 100 km./h. Daily winner was Leigh; 106.10 km./h for 1000 points. Runner up Steven Ell in ASG 29.
All 15 finished.
task 4; 411 km.…Gary [Stingemore] and Matt Davis in AS 33es and JS 3 were the best with 3 points between them. Leigh was 4th and Derren 5th.
Good day again, ALL finished!!!

standard class;
task 1; 247.72 km.…Steve Eyles flew in his LS 8 to victory. Not 1000 points in this class but 911.Jez Hood was runner up and from 19 ,10 pilots were in.
I counted 6 ladies in this class, so good practice for the WWGC in August in Husbos in the UK.
task 2; 409.74 km.…107 km./h for Jez was the best daily performance. 3 “girls” were in and 3 out. 13 were in.
task 3; 344.85 km… and Howard Jones was the winner in his Discus 2A. 18 Started and 16 were in; Jez was 3d, Ayala [Truelove in LS 8] 4th.
Task 4; 351.47 km….Another win for Howard and Jez as runner up. 17 started and 15 were in.

Open;
task 1; 361.24 km.…The “engines” gave some problems as several pilots were warned for “late completion of engine test”. There was a winner, Kenneth Barker in JS1; 109 km./h.
In this class also Andy Davis [ World champion in 1993 in Borlange and Leszno in 2003] and Russell Cheetham, both in JS1 C on spot 5 and 6.
task 2; 487.06 km.…4 pilots flew more than 120 km./h. Best was 126.58 km./h for Kenneth Barker. Andy was 4th, Russell 7th.
17 from 23 were in. Our Tocumwal/ Benalla mate Richard had an off-day with 122 km.
Task 3; 383.70 km....7 x a JS 1 C -types in the top with Russell as the best. With quite a big marge; 117.82 km./h and runner up Andy had 108.59 km./h…difference in points…137!!
All were in.
Task 4; 484 km.…Tim Jenkinson and Andy Davis managed to fly over 100 km./h The rest could not. Russell was just under.
Tim leads at this stage and Andy is runner up.
23 started and 20 were in. It was a 1000- points -day.

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Some great flight’s in the USA and EUROPE, with extremely great weather.
One on June 4 a declared 1000 km by Clemens Ceipek,
“Epic! First Ever 1000km Declared FAI Triangle in Colorado” in a Ventus 2CT.
Here is his story with pictures
https://chessintheair.com/epic-first-ever-1000km-declared-fai-triangle-in-colorado/
On June 6 Keith {Essex} flew 1.209 km. [938 FAI triangle] ]in the EB 29R., from  Moriarty.
AND,…what about June 9 in Europe when Baptiste Innocent flew a declared 1.575 km from Fayence in France in a 21 m ASH 31. Wave up to nearly 6000 m . Flying from France to both Italy [Calcinate] and Spain [La Cerdanya] ???!!!TOP!!!!
His mate Gil Souveron flew from Perpignan in the Stemme S 12 ; 1;127 km.
He was VERY pleased for himself and Baptiste ;”What a flight! very slow but a link between the Alps and the Pyrenees. Very tricky with ATC to cross Rhone Valley, and no waves in the morning at Pic de Bure. But Baptiste did a fantastic flight”
On June 10 Germany had 4 x 1000 km plus. 3 in a Ventus [3, 2x 2 CM] and and 1 in ASH 26e.
June 11, was a day with great clouds here as well, but it started a bit late, but over 600 km was possible.
It was VERY good again in the USA, where James Lee flew 1.275 km. a flight looking as a GOAL FLIGHT from Minden, direction East, passing places as Ely and South of Nephi, to fly “from the map”. Wonder who is going to get him back, hopefully he can fly back. He a flew a 21 m. JS 1C ; speed 148 km./h..
A very nice declared FAI 1000 km Triangle , was flown by Bert Schmelzer jr. Switzerland from Hausen am Albis in his 18 m. Ventus 3T.
More 1000 km flights in Germany also in LS 8 T and Discus 2ct .
Great weather!!!!!
June 12…AND the wave stayed on in Minden, 2 more, now over 2000 km flights; 2.581 km by Jim Payne and Alan Coombs in the NIXUS. My goodness what a distance. Speed 239 km./h.
” The Nixus rocked…it was so good at redline we kept having to turn upwind to get out of the good wave to avoid getting pushed into Class A airspace.“
2.027.08 km. by Uwe Kleintempel in the 18 m Ventus CM; 199.85 km./h!!!
Several good 1000 km. flights in Europe as well, have a look on the Sunday June 12 on OLC and WEGLIDE.
June 13; Dutch pilot Lars set a 900 km. out and return from Holland, it was in the end just not possible. He flew 924 km in his ASG 29. TOP JOB!!
No engine and 475 k out is pretty daring. I read he still is full of adrenaline today….the young ones call it …COOL.
“Wow, what a flight. Almost made it home, but it just wasn’t possible. Doesn’t make the day any less cool though.“
He landed at Malden just SW of Terlet. https://www.weglide.org/flight/169816

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AMSTEL GLIDE, also a 2 day competition flown from Soesterberg [Holland] had good weather, hence 2 days of flying in club and open class.
Club had a 337 km [ only 2 from 15 finished] and 200 km task .[11 from 15 in. Winner of Amstel Glide in this class ;Simon van de Eijkel in the LS 4 .[1.289 points.] He won day 1 and was runner up on day 2.
Open; 415.60 km and 258.21 km. won by Robert Werts in Nimbus 3DT and Robin Smit in the Duo Discus. Lizzy [van Someren] was 2d and 3d, so most consistent and she won the Amstel Glide in this class!! 1.464 points. Good on her!!!

CU hopefully next Sunday, with the final days of some comps and with news from the Open Military Championship flown at Malden in the Netherlands, flown with also very nice soaring weather.
They had 2 days till now with 251 and 379 km in club and 376 and 454 km. in open class.

So on Sunday evening, more about the comps and news about the 15th EUROGLIDE 2022, starting on June 20, from Venlo, for 2500 km through the West of Europe. Pilots love that race!!! 65 gliders, each glider has between 1 and 4 pilots and crews driving behind them …… they have to be back after 12 days or earlier.
www.euroglide.nl

cheers Ritz.

The weather was not really flash last Wednesday on June 1,with local showers, but good enough to set tasks for nearly up to 400 km. …That’s what they thought, at least hoped for, but it was not meant to be.
Club; 270 km....cancelled.Combi; 287 km…cancelled.18m; 326 km…cancelled.open; 360 km..cancelled2-seaters; 319 km….cancelled.

June 2; Task 7. Big tasks again, so now the weather should perform as well,…and now in the evening I am happy to say…IT DID!!!!1000 points-day in each class and only 1 pilot out.[in 18m]
Club; 332 km.…Robin flew in his LS 4neo to victory with a speed of 110.51 km./h. That was 5 k faster than runner up Roelof ;105.71 km./h.
Robin moved to spot 1 overall with 2 days to go, as Thies who was on 1 overall, had a bit of an off-day, or maybe was pushing too hard; last spot and nearly loosing 250 points. A pity as he is a very good pilot. BUT,…so is Robin.
combi; 356.75 km.…with early starters at 13.01 and later starters at 13.33. It really did n’t matter too much . Daily winner, Steven[ Ventus 2CT] started at 13.13 and won the day with a speed of 112.96 km./h whilst runner up Max [ JS3 ] was a tad slower with 112.88 km/h. and started 10 minutes later. The number 3 was one of the later starters.
18m; 407.97 km….3d win for Peter who flew his JS3jet with a speed of 116.37 km./h over the track, gaining the 1000 points, making his first spot overall even more firm. Sjaak [ ASG 29 es] was runner up and Jelmer [ LS 10] 3d.
The overall scores stayed the same with Peter, Steven and Lars.
open; 416.65 km...122.12 km./h was the speed in the EB 29r with Francois . Bas in his JS1 was runner up ; 115.35 km./h. for 889 points. So Bas who was number 1 overall over ALL days, now moved to 2 , but 64 points behind…with 2 days to go….everything is possible.
2-seaters; 411.29 km.…between the power of the ARCUS M and T, there is ONE Duo Discus WL, with Annemiek and Sikko AND,….they were runner up; 99.15 km./h. AND with 2 days to go…runner up overall.
Joost and Erik won the day;111.98 km./h
They are 600 points ahead overall.

June 3; Task 8. It’s not that often, that the Dutch Nationals have 6 days AND still one more to go. Sometimes it was squeezing in a day to make it a valid competition. This year is pretty good.
Club; 274.43 km....yesterday he was last, today he won again. Thies flew with a speed of 92 km./h to daily victory, his 2d win.
With one more day; Robin leads with 4.512 points, Thies with 4.464 and Frank 4.442.
Combi; 284.40 km; Good day for my former junior during the JWGC in Husbos; Robbie was the best ….3x an LS 8 in the top 3. Yesterday Steven won, today he was last. All 8 finished.
And with 1 day to go the overall scores are; Marissa with 4.344 points, Mark with 4.310 and Robbie with 4.115.
18m; 322.89 km....Once a world champion,so we all know how good Sjaak is. He won, but Peter is for sure a future world champion and as I told you already he was a JWGC champion.
He was runner up and Lars still is in the race, good on him. Looking ahead on tomorrow; Peter leads with huge margin; 4.718 points…..Steven with 4.321 points and Lars with 4.291 points ,…..BUT, they are trying to “get” him, as Sjaak has 4.276 and Jeroen 4.235 points. Who has the best nerves. Exciting!!!!
open; 327.43 km....Marc van Bremen won the day in the Nimbus 4 DM. Hard work as the speed was “only” 97.63 km./h. All 9 had a speed in the 90 -plus -km./h range.
Well with 1 day to go Francois still leads , Bas is runner up; 4.584 for 4.456 points. Ronald is 3d with 4.191 points.
2 seaters; 314.56.…A bit of a “rest-day” for toppers Erik and Joost , they were on spot 7 for the day, a 1000 points day for this class. No worries they could have it. And those points were for team Bart Renckens/ Max Dolfin.
Overall at this stage; Erik and Joost with 4.858 points. Then Sikko and Annemiek with 4.357 and team Rein Groot[ dad from Lars] / Paul Wijsman 4.212 p.

June 4; Task 9….LAST DAY!!! The weather was ,according to the TV, still good enough to fly. After tomorrow we get a few day’s of rain, so the Nationals had a great period.
It was rather fresh this Saturday morning and it took a long time here [about 125 km. SE] to heat up. Also at Terlet.
Tasks were set , not big ones but 2 hour and 1.30 AAT’s.
I heard already that the task for 18 m, open and 2-seaters was cancelled. It just started too late.
So winners and DUTCH CHAMPIONS in 18 m, open and the 2-seater class were known early and they could start celebrating straight away.
2 hour AAT’s were still on for Club and Combi, so task 9; BUT,….for combi only 3 from 8 just flew over 100 km, so not enough to make it a valid day.
More celebrations and maybe a bit of emotions for Tom, Steven and Marissa as they flew over those 100 km. for zero points. But with this result, Marissa is, I think, the first National female CHAMPION!!! Top!!!!
Then it was waiting for Club class
Task 9; 2 hour AAT....The juniors and former juniors started around 4PM.
And yes,…7 of them managed to fly over 100 km.
So task 9 was for them a fact. Simon and Jelmer [Vis] and Frank former junior flew between 114 and 128 km. in time 1.50 for 299, 295 and 255 points.
It did not change the overall results as scores were “low”.
Thies was one of the 4 “out-landers”, but lost not much [120 daily p] so kept his runner up spot. Robin was 6th with 246 p.
Overall winners in CLUB class over 7 out of 10 days;
1. Robin Smit in LS 4 neo with 4.758 points and DUTCH CHAMPION.
2. Thies Bruins in ASW 20 with 4.584 p.
3. Frank Hiemstra in LS 4WL with 4.479 p.
4. Jelmer Vis in LS4 with 4.445 p.

Robin and Marissa are from the same club at Gilze Rijen. I noticed already over the last year ,looking on the OLC, that they practiced together in a Duo Discus quite regularly. I asked Robin and he wrote that they ” checked out a few things” and they did some pair-flying each in their own glider as well. She learned a lot from that, I heard. We could see……
For this National Championship, they prepared each flight together , now they are both CHAMPION each in their own class……. Good on them.
AND,…indeed Marissa [30] is the first female Dutch champion.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

Overall winners in the combi class after 6 out of 10 days;
1. Marissa Prins in LS 8 neo with 4.344 points and CHAMPION.
2. Mark van den Ham in ASW 24 with 4.310 p.
3. Robbie Seton in LS 8 with 4.115 p.

Overall winners in 18 m;
1. Peter Millenaar in JS 3 jet with 4.718 points, a clear champion.
2. Steven Raimond in AS 33es with 4.321 p.
3. Lars Groot in ASG 29Ewith 4.291 p.

Overall winners in open class;
1. Francois Jeremiasse in EB 29 R with 4,584 points.
2. Bas Seijffert in JS 1c with 4.456 p
3. Ronald Termaat in JS 1c with 4.191 p.

Overall winners in 20m/ 2-seaters;
1. Borgmann & Wolff in ARCUS T with 4.858 points. CLEAR CHAMPIONS!
2. Vermeer & Koers in Duo Discus WL with 4.357 p.
3. Groot & Wijsman In ARCUS T with 4.212 p.

This was a bit more writing than normal about a National Competition, but it WAS IN THE NETHERLANDS , my home country. So forgive me. I have lots of great memories on Terlet and the Nationals since the 60thies.
And,…we do have good pilots too!!!
I do have to apologize too, I called Thies a Dutch Champion, last week, but he was a runner up in 2019. Sorry for that …still good. Roelof Corporaal ,who flew the Nationals this year as well ,won club class that year in a Pegase. This year Roelof had a few out landings and that does n’t help. He was still 9th.

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The qualifying FAI SGP in LITHUNIA and ITALY [Varese]

On May 31 they had the first valid flying day in Paluknys, Lithuania, where the FAI SGP [qualification] from series 11 is flown. The first time a SGP is in this country, with 5 Lithuanian pilots and one from Germany.
They fly in 4 ASW 20’s and 2 LS 3 a’s.
After 2 cancelled days, the weather was still not really co-operating, but 1 pilot, Tomas Kuzmickas, in ASW 20, managed to fly the 224 km. task.

On the site of the Vilniaus Aeroklubas was written:
“The day started with promising forecast for the race and 224km task even looked rather short in the beginning. But low cloudbase and strong wind made the day difficult for everyone at the start sector. Almost everyone outlanded in the first 30km and made it into a two horse race till the very last leg“
The weather for June 1 was not good either.

4 days cancelled and only 1 race with 2 points and 2 days to go on Friday.
BUT. ….the one but last day was flyable so on Friday race 2 was set.
100 km with a speed of 75 km./h and won by Darius Gudziunas in the ASW 20.
“The day started with a lot of humidity and looked nothing like forecasts promised racing day. But with the short task drawn we waited patiently for a sunny gap in the skies. First take offs attempt was unsuccessful but luckily everyone landed back to the airfield. In a while the sky started clearing up a little and we went for the second round of take offs. This time successfully“
Last day on Saturday with race 3 and 169 km;
“Finally, we had weather conditions that we’ve been waiting for the whole competition and it helped to put up a great show for everyone. We had an amazing last race with top pilots fighting for the overall win until the very last seconds – the real grand prix style, pure racing. Finishing up with Linas taking the win over the finish line and claiming a champion’s title!“
In the end the organizers could smile.
“A very tight race for the win and we have a winner ! After a very exciting race with the overtake just before the finish line, Linas took the winners title of the FAI SGP Qualification and claims a ticket to the World Sailplane Grand Prix Final in Pavullo“
15 points out of 3 days for Linas. Tomas had 12, so had Darius. Both won a race.

And it’s VARESE now for the next qualifying FAI SGP . President Margherita Acquaderni from Aero Club Adele Orsi Acao welcomed everybody and hoped for a fantastic competition from the airfield of Calcinate Del Pesce, between 4 June 2022 – 11 June 2022. They started last Saturday with practice and 20 pilots, also from the UK, Germany and France. Very interesting mix!!!!
race 1; 197.98 km; As always in the beginning, the scores are colored with penalty signs. There was a winner too; Alberto Sironi . It was a struggle because of the weather; low cloud base , heavy rain along the task, poor visibility at places and a severe thunderstorm in front of the Varese airfield at landing time, hence a lot non-finishers. But as some pilots called it ” INTERESTING!!!
“It was a very difficult task due to a thunderstorm that caused impressive lifts and sinks. Only 6 out of 20 pilots were able to complete the task.”
Mario [Kiessling Germany] passed the line first [15 seconds], but was penalized for a too low finish. He was 3d behind Yves [Gerster Switzerland].

Race 2;a nice sunny day in Varese….193 km…
“Today pilots will fly to Lago Maggiore, then very close to Bergamo and back. Weather conditions should be nice, probably we will have a very fast race today.”
“The first part of the race was very selective, some pilots flew very low, and others decided to stay high, flying slower in order to wisely manage their next move. The meteo boomed after the last turning point, letting pilots increase considerably their average speed on the task.”
7 from 20 flew over 100 km./h , so not that fast. Yves was the best, 10 points for him. Pete [Harvey] was runner up . [8 p]
It turned out to be a tricky day, specially in the beginning.
Yves; “a lot of fun, the ridges worked but the first part was difficult.”
Pete;” first part was horrible and So low”!!
From the finish line interviews with Margot.

Race 3; cancelled…During gridding it was raining already and heavy thunderstorms were expected for the day.

More Next week!

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My Finish mates were less lucky with their weather during the Nationals, between 26 May 2022 – 4 June 2022 from good old Rayskala.
They only had 3 days out of 10 and the winners in Racing class were
1. Kristian Roine in LS 8st with 1.974 points. That says enough!!!
2. Antti Koskiniemi in Discus 2b with 1.671 p.
3. Pasi Pulkkinen in ASG 29E with 1.660 p.
There were 8 participants.
They had to deal on those 3 days, with low cloud base , but also a cloud street, sometimes a howling sea- wind and early end’s of the day.

The combi class also had 3 days for their 13 participants ;
1.Mikko Nurminen in Ventus-2 cxa FES with 2.177 points.
2. Martti Koivula in JS 1Cn 21m with 2.114 p
3. Sami Rissanen in EB 28 edition with 2.038 p.
Other pilots in this class I know were Aku Jaakkola in Ventus 3T on spot 6, Hannu Halonen in Ventus 3M on spot 7, Martti Sucksdorff in AS 33es on spot 8, Heikki Horma in ASG 29 on spot 9 [if I remember well he was a real good meteo man, BUT there were a few Heikki’s in the years I was there] and Lasse Virtanen in ARCUS on spot 10.

Club class results, all very close with so less days;
1. Kim Toppari in LS 7 with 2.082 points.
2. Mikko Ylihärsilä in LS 7 with 2.069 p
3. Sakari Pyörre in LS 7 with 2.062 p

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My Danish mates finished their Nationals , from Arnborg as well on June 5.
The overall results, after 4/5 out of 11 days;
Standard class; 10 pilots….one 1000 points-day with a 4 hour AAT
1. Jacob Bøgelund Lassen in Discus 2a with 3.155 points.
2. Filip Bojanowski the same glider with 2.906 p.
3. Poul Kim Larsen, same glider with 2.650.
Jacob and Filip have been mostly on top overall.

club class; 15 participants….4 days out of 11….one 1000 points-day on a 4 hour AAT won by Rasmus….one only outlandings.[task 11 last day]
1. Rasmus Ørskov in ASW 20 f with 2.997 points. He won 2 days!!!
2. Jens Andersen in LS 4 with 2.781 p.
3. Jan Walther Andersen in ASW 20 with 2.745 p.

15 m; 11 pilots …..not a 1000 points day…last day all out.
1. Morten Nørgaard in ASW 27b with 3.307 points.
2. Henrik Breidahl in JS 3 with 3.016 p. Pleased to see him still in the top.
3. Knud Møller Andersen in Ventus 2cT with 2.871 p.

18 m; 14 participants….Stig was the only one in on the 4 hour task….
1. Stig Øye in Ventus 3M with 2.464 points. GOOD ON HIM.
2. Peter Eriksen in AS 33es with 2.378 p. won 2 days.
3. Arne Boye-Møller in JS 3 jet with 2.324 p. also won 2 days.

2-seaters; 5 teams….2x a 1000 points day on a 4 hour AAT and 300 km race.
1. Jørgensen & Nielsen in ARCUS T with 3.039 points
2. Mix & Talenter in DUO DISCUS XLT with 3.002 p.
3. Døssing & Knudsen in ARCUS T with 2.939 p.
Michael Mix flew the comps with 2 talents. He lost his lead on the last day. As I heard we will “see more of him in the future”.

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When you are planning to avoid the winter in Europe and don’t want to go to Africa for a change, you can go to Australia where they fly AUSTRAGLIDE from Narromine.
“AusGlide 2022: The Narromine Gliding Club is hosting the 2022 Standard, 15 Meter & Club Class National Gliding Championships at Narromine Airfield from 27 November to 10 December 2022.The NCC have advised that this competition attracts 100% selection points for the Australian Team to compete at the 2023 World Gliding Championships at Narromine in November/December 2023.It is also the Pre-Worlds event for the 2023 World Gliding Championships and will attract a lot of International Competition Glider Pilots.“
Entries are now open, click on this link http://www.narromineglidingclub.com.au/…/AusGlide2022.html to go to the Comp website and Register Online.

What a great weekend the UK offered the world, with the platinum jubilee of their 96 year old queen, already for 70 year their QUEEN.
I loved with million of other people ‘TROOPING THE COLOUR” , AND the FLY PAST, the music festival opened by the Queen and Paddington, with toppers as Queen, Duran Duran ,Andrea Bocelli ,Rod Stewart and many more in front of the palace and that fabulous colorful” platinum Pageant” with thousands of performers from the Common Wealth. They showed dance , music, cars, motors etc. from the time the Queen reigned.

More than enough news
CU Next week
Ritz,
OH, also interesting…. the amount of glider pilots in 2005, 2015 and 2021.Look at Japan …increase of 376 %!!!!!And Argentina….458 %
As shared by Dinant Riks
https://drive.google.com/…/1d_SYhbOgDSZ…/view

On Wednesday May 25, they still had only 1 day in Standard, 15 m and open class and 2 in 18 m and 2-seater class.
That changed that day, as 5 tasks were set on a , as meteorologist Jupp, expected/predicted, good soaring day, with a top job by the tuggies as well; all 105 gliders up in 1hour 30 .
18 m; 366 km.…a rather late start by Wolfgang [Janowitsch] at 13.41 whilst the first on track left at 13.02. It turned out to be a good choice ,…he won the day with a speed of 119.50 km./h. Pete [Harvey] was runner up ,he started 9 minutes earlier and was back 8 minutes earlier;1000 points for Wolfgang and 998 for Pete , both flying the Ventus 3T.
From 37, only 3 were out , unfortunately also Stefanie [Muhl] after 332 km.
standard; 278 km…In my last blog I told you that I expected a lot from my young Belgian mates and the UK boys. They performed!!!!
Dennis [Huybreckx] and Jeroen [Jennen] ,I noticed over several comps they flew together, seem to have the best pair-flying-skills; they shared spot 1!!!
Speed 115.59 and 115.56 km/h , starting and finishing together; the cousins both got 764 points.
Henry [Inigo -Jones] also in the Ventus 3 had a speed of 103 km./h and was 3d.[613 p]
His UK mates , Jake Brattle, Tom Pavis and Tom Arscott were on spot 12,13 and 15.
From 20 only 1 was out!!!
15 m; 308 km...”Our -Tocumwal –kilometer- eater” Jan [Umlauf] won the day!! I am very pleased. He also flew together with a club mate ; spot 1 and 2 and 938 and 936 points. They had a rather late start at 13.40 whilst the number 3 Timothy [Scott] started at 13.13 and “lost” 2 points on them.
16 started and 11 were in.
open; 331 km.…Markus [Frank] in his EB 29R , one of the last to start, was the fastest with 132 km./h. He was followed by 2 EB’s from Jim[Acketoft] and Pierre[ de Broqueville ], but they were a bit slower; 126.50 km./h
17 started and 14 finished, sorry to see Uli Knauss “out”, 10 km in front of the finish.
2 seaters; 313 km…they had the more challenging conditions, from 15 only 8 were in. Martin[Theisinger ] won his 2 successive win with 108 km./h. Norbert [Sommer] another of our long-time-ago former Sportavia guests, was runner up; 104 km./h.
Sorry to see Steve Jones out!
In the evening before there was a Schempp-Hirth -invitation for dinner.

Thursday May 26;
They started the day with blue skies BUT , “there is hardly anything left of the blue sky.” m
Meteorologist Jupp,” our weather is affected by shielding, accompanied by strong winds. Only in the afternoon should conditions improve for our pilots. “ Well, we had to wait and see.
First they cancelled 18 and 20 m. rest-day for them.
Then gliders were put at the grid with open upfront and 15 m and standard behind them. They expected late starts.
Then also standard was scrubbed.
open;
15m; task 6….138 km....the longest ‘sit” in the glider was by a French pilot. For the distance he needed 2 hours and 34 minutes in his Ventus, but he was in.
Only 1 was out.
Daily winner; Werner Amann from Switzerland who ,with a speed of 85 km./h “raced” his AS33es over the track.
With 2 days to go it’s UK pilot Timothy who leads ahead of 2 German and 3 French pilots.
Open; task 6….187 km...Normally Uli would not get his ETA out of the hangar for such a small task, but it’s a competition , so he had to. Good he did, as he won the day; speed 97.51 km,/h.
The other 16 starting pilots had to fly as well and 11 finished.
Markus ,who won task 5 did not start.

Friday May 27; one but last day but NO FLYING for all classes !!!!Nice picture though. In the evening Bert Schmelzer jr spoke about Soaring in the Swiss Alps. Bert is from Belgium but lives already for years in Switzerland.

Saturday LAST DAY and a good one, to finish this always exciting competition!!! Out of 8 ,they had 4 flying days for each class .
“The weather seems promising, so all classes will be allowed to start. The gridding has already started. As usually runway 31 is in use.” at 8AM. First launch expected at 11.15. “Small ones” upfront, “bigger ones” behind , with open as last. If they have the weather we had here in Holland yesterday it should be good.
18 m.; 4 hour AAT…472 km. was good for spot 1 on this last day. Christophe Abadie flew it in 4.07. Bert jr. had a few kilometers more ….497…but needed also some more time ;4.21.
NO 1000 points for Christophe as he just was 7 m higher at start, than the allowed 1700 m.;991 points. Wolfgang was 3d and Christian Maex in the new AS33es did a good job during this comps , by being consistent.
35 started and finished!!!!!
Winners of the 2022 HAHNWEIDE COMPETITION in 18 m;
1. Wolfgang Janowitsch[Austria] in Ventus 3T with 3.175 points.
2. Christian Maex [Germany] in AS 33es with 3.154 p.
3. Bert Schmelzer jr.[Belgium] in Ventus 3T with 3.071
Close scores and the top 3 pilots were the only ones over the 3000 points mark.

Standard ;4 hour AAT.…my 3 Keiheuvel mates did a real good job. This time Jeroen and Dennis also took cousin Tim in the pair flying and they finished on the first 3 spots, after a late start at 13.15 [the first pilots started at 12.40.] They flew 430 km. in time 4.07.
From the 19 starters , 16 finished. I was a tad disappointed in the UK boys, as I know how good they are/can be.
2022 HAHNWEIDE WINNERS IN STANDARD CLASS:
1. Jeroen Jennen in LS 8a with 2.334 points.
2. Dennis Huybreckx in LS 8 with 2.196 p.
3. Helmut Koelle in Discus CS with 1.974 p.

15 m; 4 hour AAT.…Sebastian Huhmann flew in his AS 33 461 km in time 4.09 good for 1000 points. He was every day in the top 10. Julien Duboc [Ventus 2xa] was runner up with 429 km. in time 4.09. Jan was 7th , nearly loosing 300 points .
16 started and 16 finished! What do you want more!?
15m HAHNEIDE 2022 WINNERS;
1. Sebastian Huhmann [Germany ] in AS 33with 2.867 points.
2. Julien Duboc [France] in Ventus 2ax with 2.635 p.
3. Timothy Scott [UK] in ASG 29 with 2.609 p. Jan was 4th with 2.587 p.

open; 4 hour AAT….ONLY one pilot , Max Kolmarr in Nimbus 4 T , flew 500 km in 4.11, so a nice speed of 119.49 km./h going from spot 8 to 5 overall. BUT, he did not win the last day. That was Markus who flew 488 km in time 4.02; speed 120.82 km./h. his second win!
Sylvain was 3d and Uli 4th. 17 started and 3 were out.
OPEN winners in the 2022 HAHNWEIDE competition;
1. Uli Schwenk [Germany] in ETA with 2.507 points.
2. Sylvain Gerbaud [France] in EB 29R with 2.275 p.
3. Pierre de Broqueville [Belgium] in EB 29DR with 2.243 p.
On spot 4 Markus who missed 1 day of flying.

20 m; 4 hour AAT...413 km for Steve Jones ; speed 102 km./h followed by Martin with 102 km./h.
13 started and finished! Nothing changed in the overall top 3;
Hahnweide 20 m winners;
1. Martin Theisinger [Germany] in Arcus M with 2.814 points.
2. Norbert Sommer [Germany] in Arcus M with 2.645 p.
3. Louis Bouderlique [France]in Arcus T with 2.633 p.

The Belgium airfield Keiheuvel can be proud on their participants at this Hahnweide competition. I asked Bert sr. to send me some pictures and /or news. He send this lovely picture of 4 of the members also 4 family members.

AND ALL GLIDERS and PARTICIPANTS;

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Dutch Nationals ,…..as we say the NK.
24 May 2022 – 4 June 2022

On May 25 tasks were set for the practice day in each of the 5 classes with 50 competitors; a lot of them real Dutch toppers with WORLD , JUNIOR WORLD and European experience. After 2 years finally a busy Dutch soaring event on National level again.
18 m,[13] , open [9] and the 20m. [9 teams] had 260 km ,
club [12] and combi class [8] 199 km. .Only one 18 m. class pilot finished from all 50 competitors .
May 26; day 1 and task 1 in all classes.

Day 1 Task 1;
Club;139 km...won by Jelmer Vis….speed 76 km./h.
12 started and finished, a lot in an LS 4; 8x.
Combi; 147 km.…Max Leenders in the JS 3 won ;speed 83 km./h
8 started and 2 were out.
18 m; 156 km….Peter Millenaar , flew with a speed of 111 km./h to the daily victory, in his JS 3jet. Followed by Jeroen Verkuijl, Steven Raimond, Sjaak Selen and Lars Groot, all names you read already over the years in this blog.
12 started , 1 was out.
Open ;165 km….”speedy Gonzales ” Bas Seijffert, won the firs day ;speed 110 km./h in the JS 1jet, followed by Francois Jeremiasse in the EB 29R; 106 km./h.
9 started and 9 finished.
20m; 149 km…The Duo Discus from the Amsterdamse was the best with 369 points for a speed of 88 km./h. Erik and Joost , still practicing for the WGC in Hungary were runner up in their Arcus T; faster with 92 km./h but handicapped.
9 started and 8 finished, so a good day for all.

Day 2, Task 2;
a day on which pilots from other field flew over 800 km. cloud base over The Netherlands was 1200 and over Germany 1600 m. Tough wind though 35/40 km./h.
From Stadtlohn, not that far from Holland and a frequent TP for our pilots, Max Mensing flew a 1000 in an 18 m. Ventus 2c.
Club ; 284 km....good day for Joep Heesakkers in his LS 4;97 km./h. Robin Smit was runner up. All 12 who started finished as well.
Combi;342 km...Female pilot Marissa Prins won the day in her LS 8neo for 1000 points. 8 started and 1 was out; Max , who won the day before. He always flew Nimbus 4DM, so might have to get used to the JS 3.
18 m; 358 km Steven flies a different glider as well nowadays ;the AS33es and it seems to fit him , as he was the best and also for 1000 points; speed 111km.h. Peter was just behind him with 110 km./h.
12 started and 11 finished
Open ; 367 km...and it was Bas again winning the day. He finished a bit low so no 1000 points for him but 941. Bas flew with a speed of 117 km./h quite a bit faster than runner up Francois in his EB ; 104 km./h
All 9 starters finished!!!
20 m; 345 km….5 x an ARCUS T in the top . Erik and Joost had a nice speed of 111 km./h whilst runner up team Groot/Wijsman, flew around with 104 km./h. 9 teams started 8 finished.

Day 3 , Task 3; A good day over several parts of Europe, but windy again direction NW and temperatures between 14 and 18 dgr. here in Holland.
Club; 4 hour AAT….Thies Bruins , was the first for the day; 412 km with a speed of 97 km./h in his ASW 20, for 1000 points.
11 flew the task and 8 were in.
Combi; 4 hour AAT...young ones at the top, always good to see; Nick Faber [Discus 2]and Mark van der Ham[ASW 24] got 1000 and 998 points for 403 km with a speed of 96 km./h. Marissa, one of the few girls, was 4th.
8 started ,5 were in.
18 m; 4 hour AAT….3 toppers in the top 3! Peter Millenaar , former JWGC champion in Leszno in 2013, who already won a day in his JS 3jet flew 520 km!!! Speed 125 km./h TOP!!!
Steven Raimond former European champion was runner up; 475 km …speed 119 km./h and Jeroen Verkuijl frequent WGC pilot, 471 km …speed 116 km./h Between all those toppers young Lars Groot keeps going; spot 4 with 481 km…speed 115 km./h.
open ; 4 hour AAT...NO, not Bas today, he was 5th , but Victor Wetzinga in a Nimbus 4DLM; 459 km …speed 115 km./h. Francois was runner up and Ronald Termaat 3d.
20 m; 4 hour AAT...474 km [116 km./h] for Erik and Joost another great practice day for the WGC in Hungary. Runner up was Sikko [Vermeer] , who was in “my” team in the Uvalde WGC 1991 and in Rayskala in 1988 at the Europeans. He now flies the Duo Discus together with Annemiek [Koers] ,who was a top junior , studied aviation and aerospace technology at the Delft university and was in 2013 involved with solar cars ,…..she was one of the designers of the solar car [NUNA 7] who won during the Australian World Solar Challenge.

Day 4; BUT no task 4 , it rained cat’s and dogs here.

Day 5 ;task 4....
A day with all kinds of weather….so small tasks BUT tasks!!!!!
Late starts as it was waiting for the moment they could stay up. In the end it was much better than it looked and they all had a pleasant flying day.
Rob Looisen, who flew several WGC’s in the past , is not participating but flew from Terlet 500 km. in the ARCUS M.
“a short run in polar air, fun” was one opinion.
Club; 165 km.….all 12 flew and finished and the best was Robin in his LS4 neo; 97.04 km./h. whilst runner up Thies had 97.79 km./h! Points; 479 and 466.
Combi;158 km.…start between 3.15 PM and 3.56. 8 started and 8 finished and 1 of my “husbos-boys” won the day in his LS 8; Robbie Seton.410 points.
18 m;170 km….AND,..young Lars ,who flew a lot over the last year, managed to win the day.;107.91 km./h followed by topper Peter with 107.28 km./h for 356 and 352 points. All 12 started and finished!
Open; 170 km.…It’s getting boring, but Bas [JS 1jet] won again; 123 km/h. Runner up Francois [EB 29r] had 121 km./h.
All 9 who started fished as well!!!
20 m; 159 km.… and YES, Erik and Joost were the best again;108.28 km/h. whilst team Bart Renckens/Dolfin flew around with 107 km./h.

May 31, last day of the month already! A pretty cool day again [16 dgr.C] with nice morning conditions , but the expectation of local thunderstorms in the [late] afternoon with gusty wind and downpours.
Light at the horizon as the temperatures rise to 25 again and the rain will stop,…at least that’s what they predict.
Day 6; task 5…
Club; 108 km...in the end cancelled. Code yellow in Holland for hail and gusty wind.
Combi; 124 km...cancelled.
18 m; 124 km.…THEY had to fly…a quick up and then gain down but mostly back at the field. With 104 km./h Jeroen raced up and down for 257 points, but points they are!
Open; 146 km...Fast run for Francois , needing 1 hour and 11 minutes in the mighty EB. All 9 were in.
20 m; 127 km….Not the best day for Erik and Joost, just squeezing in as number 8 from 9 ,BUT IN. Sikko and Annemiek won the day with a speed of 86.76 km./h un the Duo.

June 1, beginning of the meteorological summer here.
No tasks yet, but I keep you informed. It will still be a day with showers in their area.

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OLC; Last Saturday there were a lot of 1000 km flights!!! At least 10 in Europe. 6 from several places in Germany but also 4 from Holland and one from Belgium. Very special!!!!! I thought the LS 3 GOAL- flight from Soesterberg ,[Amsterdam Club of Soaring] was a pretty gutsy one as, going with the strong wind over Germany , he landed in Czechia. Jeroen van Dijk was that hero! And it was for sure not an easy flight. He called the first 6 hours, ‘hours of sweating’.
“special thanks to our Czech friends from Strunkovice, thanks for your hospitality.” And of course for Lennart who drove up to get him back. Nice adventure and lots of pictures on the OLC [flight number 3 on May 28.]
2 More flights from Soesterberg by soaring mates Alfred Paul and Mark in their ASG 29; 1.130 km. also far into Germany a bit more SE.
They called it a bizarre good day which started very early.
From Terlet a 1000 as well by young Nick Hanenburg. [Discus 2ct] He could start early, ahead of the National-pilots.
With the family at the HAHNWEIDE , Tijl Schmelzer [ brother from Bert jr]flew in his Ventus 3 1.131 km…. flew a Belgian Record free out and return 1052km.!!!!!All the way to Bayreuth and back!!!!
This was option B as the A option did not work due to less conditions read slower, over the Sauerland.
Also in the UK the weather was good and 2 young pilots flew their GOLD DISTANCE and DIAMONF GOAL from Oxford.

Last Monday another 14x a 1000 and today SUMMER starts so we might call it a pretty good spring here in Europe. One was even flown from the Hahnweide in a Ventus 3T.
Though, in the night from Monday to Tuesday ,we had frost- at -the-ground, which is not good for the garden and orchards, but creates nice polar conditions for the pilots, hence, it should not rain or create thunderstorms !!!

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In between the FAI SGP in Lithuania started on May 29. It’s the 3d of series 11 and the very first one in Lithuania. There was a 50 % chance of flying , but it turned out not possible.

So task 1 went in the “bin” and then there was NO TASK but yesterday the pilots had to fly 224 km. Only 1 pilot finished.
More next week.

Look for many more comps at www.soaringspot.com
The Lasham Regionals continue till June 4 with 58 pilots.
So does the Finish National Gliding Championship with 30 competitors from Rayskala.
The 2022 Canadian Soaring Competition is still on in Chipman till June 3.
The Danish Nationals with 55 competitors from Arnborg till June 5.
The 67 th National in Hungary from Szatymaz till June 5, but not 1 day flown yet.
Uppsala Masters; from June 11-18 2022.

CU ,cheers Ritz

WWGC 2022 !!
Got a mail from the UK with happy news about the fundraising for the 2 Ukraine pilots, yes they now can participate in the Husbos WWGC. GREAT news!!!!
“The fundraising for the Ukrainian pilots achieved its goal which is fantastic.“
AND a bit more about what’s going to happen and how you can “find” them.
“It’s 3 months to go and the Women’s World Gliding Championship preparations are racing ahead… Gliding would be nothing without our amazing and supportive international community. Glider pilots from all around the world helped raise funds to allow two Ukrainian pilots to compete, once again thank you all! The organizing team has members from all over the UK working hard to make WWGC2022 a special event, and we have volunteers from as far afield as New Zealand coming along to help out at the championships!  Director Liz Sparrow said ‘It’s great that we have women – and men – from so many gliding nations keen to be part of WWGC2022′.

The Championship starts with a Parade and Opening Ceremony in Market Harborough and Lutterworth town centres on Saturday 13 August.  Around 50 of the world’s top female pilots will be racing each day around courses up to 500km long at speeds up to 130kph depending on weather conditions.  You can follow the racing online throughout the competition at wwgc2022.co.uk. 

On Saturday 20/Sunday 21 August we’re inviting everyone to the exciting programme of events running alongside the Championship – come and see the action! With lots of activity for all ages, it’s a great family event. There will be gliders from all over the world racing and competing and the day includes watching the gliders launch, hangar visits,  live aircraft tracking screen,  children’s area and activities, glider simulator, full size aircraft, craft stalls, music, food stands.  The Sustainable Aviation Show area includes aircraft, cars, machines and stands, and there is an exhibition on Women in Aviation – find out about famous women in history and meet some current aviation pioneers!
Website: wwgc2022.co.uk
Facebook/wwgc2022 
Twitter and Instagram:   @wwgc2022

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I owned you one more day on the USA 18 m. Nationals!!!
The last day was a good one,… but blue, not everybody’s favorite weather.
“considering the wind, the forest, the swamp, the angles, and the awards dinner, we settled on a 317 km star-shaped task that took the fleet over familiar territory.” was the final verdict at the briefing.
Off they went ,with Sean Murphy to chase, if they wanted the first prize.
That was an extra stimulant for the other Sean , Fidler, who raced as fast as possible and won the day and the title, with only 16 points difference!!!
With a speed of 106 km. he was the only one flying under 3 hours!!!
Sean M. was 10th for the day.
So the USA Nationals are won by
1. Sean Fidler in ASG 29 with 4139 points.
2. Sean Murphy in JS 3 with 4123 points.
3. Robin Clark in ASG 29 with 4000 points.

Huge thank you to Rick, who kept me informed about what was happening!!!!

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OPEN BELGIAN GLIDING NATIONALS 2022

the Open Belgian Gliding Nationals 2022 continued on Wednesday, when I left you , with another 3 hour AAT in both classes.
Task 5;
In CLUB, 293 km in time 3.08 was the best result and it was flown by Robin Selfslagh in an LS1f. Runner up was Thomas De Bruyn in LS 4 with 292 km in the same time .
14 started and 14 finished…good!
In the Combi class Nick Fremau won with 327 km in time 3.07 [speed 104 km./h in his LS 8.
The day earlier he was one of the “out-landers”, so a good revenge.
No flying on Thursday as a heavy line of thunderstorms passed from France over Belgium and our country.
A new storm line arrived on Friday even worse. I have never see such violence of wind here in Europe.

This news I got as well from Bert sr., always nice to hear inside stories;
“Saint Hubert, Friday May, 20^th
Michel Pihard (ex-General) is a dynamic organizer and the president of the annual OBNG (Open Belgian National Championships This morning I could make this snapshot after Michel made a weather-flight with his wife Emilie. Unfortunately, no contest day in St.Hubert, because of heavy thunderstorms with hail and wind-gusts up to 100 km/h are expected. But tomorrow we will definitely fly, unfortunately our last competition day over the beautiful landscape above the Ardennes, in the middle between the French Champagne and the Eifel mountains.
Bert Schmelzer Sr.

So tomorrow was Saturday…indeed the last day and,…yes,… they flew, with pretty good weather circumstances.
Club class; 305 km.…Michel van den Borne “got” the 1000 points for a speed of 83 km./h in his Discus B. He was not one day in the daily top 5 , but had a great last day. He had a late start ,[40 minutes after the first who went on track, ] together with Bart Leysen, who was runner up.
Thomas de Bruyn , the overall leader over most of the days was “only” on spot 10 loosing 350 points on the last day BUT,…..he had 3 points left to remain the number 1…pfffff!!!!!
Overall results after 5 days;
1. Thomas De Bruyn in LS4 with 4.254 points and Belgian CHAMPION.
2. Jelle Vandebeeck in ASW 24 with 4.251 points.
3. Peter Bertels in St Libelle with 3.898 points.

Combi class; 380 km. ...2 pilots flew over 100 km./h. The daily winner Emmanuel Litt [ 103.05 km./h] and Francois Delfosse[ 101.71 km./h] both in JS 3 jet. Koen van der Putten was 3d and this meant, no changes in the top.
1. Koen Vander Putten in the Ventus 2CT with 3.986 points ; CHAMPION.
2. Francois Delfosse in JS3 with 3.965 points
3. Andre-Emmanuel Litt in JS 3 with 3.961 points

Looking at 15m/st class, who participated in the combi -class here are their scores thanks to Bert sr.
1. Nick Fremau in LS 8 with 3.814 points.
2. Thomas Leduc in Ventus 2cxa with 3.681 points.
3. Daan Spruyt in Ventus 2AX with 2.740 points.

The ” Willy Grandjean Challenge” , presented at this OBGN, is a speed trophy for the fastest flight in Belgium within a year. Since the early sixties they present this prize at the annual OBGN.
In 2021 Bert Schmelzer jr. was the winner of this prestigious prize. As he was already at the Hahnweide , his dad received it for him.

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Polish CLUB CLASS Nationals

May 18; task 4 ….2 hour AAT….
Jakub -day!!!! Jakub Barszcz [Brawo] won a day for the 2d time and Jakub Kaczorowski [St Jantar] was 3 for the day.
Bit of an off-day for Jacek ,who finished on spot 16, he is now 2 [from spot 1] overall behind Jakub B.
38 started and 32 finished…the 6 who were “out” did so in the first 50 k.
May 19; NO TASK…maybe they got the last bit of that storm line too.
May 20; task 5…2 hour AAT.... and LAST day as on the 21th there was no task.
38 started and only 2 were out. Jakub, Jacek and Mikolaj, the top3 overall from the last days did not make mistakes and kept their positions, Jakub was runner up, Jacek number 8 and Mikolaj on spot 11, from 38.
So after 5 tasks the overall scores were[
1.Jakub Barszcz in Brawo with 4.010 points and Polish Club CHAMPION.
2.Jacek Flis in LS 3 with 3.890 points.
3. Mikołaj Zdun in LS3 with 3.788 points.

Polish SGP. They finished on May 21 after 7 days of flying. The last race was won by Tilo,[Ventus 3T] the races 4-5 and 6 by Lucasz. [JS1c] Clear he had a lot of points; 40!!!!!
The runner up Marek [ASG 29] had 26 points, whilst Tilo had 24 points.
www.sgp.aero
“Congratulations to Lukasz Grabowski from Poland for winning the SGP of Żar, Marek Sawczuk and Tilo Holighaus complete the podium.
Lukasz will join for the SGP Final, Stefan Langer and Klaus Kalmbach , qualified during Sweden SGP, and Sebastian Kawa , the current SGP World Champion.”

On May 29 the Lithuanian FAI SGP starts. They fly till June 4 from Paluknys.

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HAHNWEIDE.
21 May 2022 – 28 May 2022

The 54th HAHNWEIDE- competition started last Saturday with 105 pilots in 5 classes. Pilots from ALL parts of Europe, 13 different countries, nearly make this a European championship.
Standard class has 20 entries, among them many young toppers from the UK and Belgium.
2-seaters show 20 teams , so 40 pilots, among them toppers as Steve Jones [ARCUS M] and Martin Theisinger [ARCUS M]
Open class with 17 pilots , as Bruno Gantenbrink and Uli Schwenk in ETA, Sylvain Gerbaud in EB 29R [France] , Pierre de Broqueville [Belgium] and Jim Acketoft in EB 29DR, [Sweden]
15 m class shows 17 participants with Werner Amann in AS 33es, [Austria] Kevin Faur [France] in Ventus 2A,
18 m. class 37 pilots as Wolfgang Janowitch [Austria] in Ventus 3T, Pete Harvey [UK] in Ventus 3T, Bert Schmelzer jr[ Belgium] in Ventus 3T.
Lot’s of CHAMPIONS in all kinds!!!!

Task 1 ; on May 21,…….luckily not a 1000 points day!
18 m; 297 km....36 started and only 6 finished, so straight away a “shift”. The winner was Wolfgang Janowitsch from Austria [82.77 km./h] in his Ventus 3T and that speed shows how difficult the day was. In the same glider, Bert Schmelzer jr. [Belgium] was runner up [80,67 km./h]
Only 4 in ,so the number 3 was German pilot Christian Maex in AS 33es and number 4 Thomas Ingerfurth also from Germany in Ventus 2CT.
Russell Cheetham [UK] was only 15 k out and his UK mate Andy Davis both in JS 3, was about 36 k out.
Standard; 218 km….best speed, 83 km./h was by French pilot Valentin Leleu-Lambour. From 20 also here a lot of “out-landers”; 6 from 20.
Not a good start for team UK, they started later than the rest and all 5 pilots were out.
15 m; 245 km....Here the UK did well with Timothy Scott as winner in his ASG 29, followed by 3 French pilots among them young Kevin Faur. From 16 there were 8 IN.
Good to see that one of our former guests at Sportavia, Jan Umlauf, ”the kilometer-eater” was in. Werner Amann was the first who was out.
Open; 336 km....Pierre and his cousin Arnaud de Broqueville were IN ,as the best, of course in their EB 29DR. You needed real long wings to come home ,as also the ETA from Uli [Schwenk] and Aussie mate Matthew [Scutter] was back.
The only 2 from the 15 who started.
Best speed 79 km./h. Challenging!!!!
2 seaters; 264 km….NOBODY, from 14, finished!!!One pilot was really close; Norbert Sommer in his ARCUS M;253 km. The runner up Steve Jones from the UK in the same glider, flew 214 km.
10x an ARCUS M or T, 2x an ASG 32 M or MI and 2x a Duo Discus XLT or T.

Task 2; was , due to the weather, a short window, so only for 2 classes;18m and open, the rest had a day off to relax after the out landings.
18m; 203 km….
open; 219 km...
at 4 PM there was this message on the official site;
“Unfortunately, it was not possible to fly a competition task today due to the warm air.”
On Monday no flying either. Storms and thunderstorms went over my house in their direction.
On Tuesday,….same recipe….BUT, a window to fly for 18m. class and the 2-seaters. 232 km….and late starts around 3.30 PM.
A good day for Pete [Harvey] in 18 m. who, with a speed of 107 km won the day in his Ventus 3T. A very challenging day, as from 37 “only” 24 were IN. But again NOT too many points to gain or win. Pete got 580 whilst his mates Andy [Davis] Phil [Jones] and Derren [Francis] had around 50 less on spot 8 to 10.
246 km...for the 2 seaters and starts around 4 PM. From 14 , 5 were in and Martin Theisinger won in the ARCUS M with a speed of 104 km./h.

More on this exciting top event next week.

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On the OLC some interesting flights as well last week.
On the day I left you, so on Wednesday, Simon Schroeder flew a 1.103 km flight in the VENTUS 3 m. from Woerishofen.
Alessandro Busca [18m. Ventus 2cx] flew one from Aosta in Italy last Saturday. A good weekend weather-wise as many flights were flown between 500 and 996 km that day.
Sunday…1161 pilots had fun,…..and 2 had a 1000 as well from the famous Wasserkuppe in an ASH 26 AND from Braunschweig in an ARCUS T. Several flights between 800 and 988 km.
Monday the “booming” weather had reached Finland too, making several pilots very happy, with flights up to over 800 km..
Unfortunately Sweden’s Eskilstuna International Open did not get a tiny little part of it. On May 21-22 and 23 they did not fly.
Last Monday they had small tasks [under 200 km.] yesterday another small task , but they flew.

There are many comps at the moment, as the Eskilstuna International Open 2022 from Ekeby in Sweden, 20thiest Fatra Glide from Martin in Slovakia, [both continue till May 28] and from Chipman, Canada, the 2022 Canadian National Soaring Competition [23 May 2022 – 3 June 2022] more,……it’s that time of the year, too many to follow for me but no worries, for scores and sometimes pictures or a story you can find them all on
www.soaringspot.com

Today also the Dutch Nationals start with 51 competitors and will be flown from Terlet. nkzweefvliegen.nl
More next week.
Cheers Ritz….though I have to reflex on Uvalde 1991 and 2012 ,when I was there. Lovely town , great people [except for one] and fabulous comps .
Yesterday 19 school children between 7 and 10 and 2 teachers, were killed by an 18 year old lunatic . Poor parents and grand parents, poor family and friends, not too think of the children who survived and have to live with this. I hope the USA stops it’s “easy” weapon sales!!!!
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!!!
Too sad for words!!!!
In 2024 Uvalde is host of the next WGC.

The FAI SGP in Boras had to deal with not the best weather in the beginning. They had to cancel race 1-2-3-4 and 5 with 2 days to go.
With 2 flown races, on Sunday and Monday, race 3 would have been on Friday the 13th!!!!!They had hope.
BUT,….the weather refused to co-operate…too much wind…..so cancelled.

Race 3; YES, there was a race 3,….pfff. Hard for organizers and pilots to host and fly a GP with NO-WEATHER.
But 256 km was set , so a nice distance to show the pilots ability and Stefan Langer won the 10 points and 1 extra for the last day. So he added 11 points, to his total and won with 21 points in total in his ASG 29.
Klaus and Hermann, both in JS 3 had 18 points.
Young Stefan, [29] who was quite amazed he won the GP, said there was still a lot of wind, [speed 45 kts.] but he was lucky at several points. It was important to stay high and the final glide was a race with the others but he had more margin and enough speed.
He was happy that the predicted bleu thermals were not there, only nice cu’s.
A pity they had only 3 days, but at least they flew 3 days and there is Stefan who is the first from this 11th series who goes to the Grand Final in Pavullo in Italy between August 26 and September 2023.

The next stop from this 11th Series is in Zar in Poland and started last Sunday. 14 Entries, all Polish, except for one guest Tilo Holighaus who loves this GP flying.
Also 2 Lucaszes and Judytha. See for more below.

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The 18 m. Nationals in Bermuda High ,had not such great weather to start with either. But ,after they missed 1 practice day and 1 contest day, they happily went up in the air. Maybe happily was too much said ,as it was for a lot a struggle
“We’re still under the influence of a cool North Atlantic airmass, and we still have the unfamiliar brisk wind from the northeast.  Basically, the same breezy, weak conditions as yesterday. But unlike yesterday, we decided to go for it.  “
Report from Sean Fidler on practice day 2;
“Bermuda High Soaring is suffering from a rare “Bermuda Low” pattern that is pulling cold air down from Greenland and suppressing the typically magnificent spring soaring conditions. This pattern will stick around for a few more days and will likely make for some challenging conditions.”
He was totally right.
21 Started task 1 on May 11 and 17 finished and good” old” Gary Ittner in his ASG 29 won the day [AAT] with 244 km in time 3.38.
Then it was waiting again for better weather.
“The anomalous mid-latitude depression is still out there, and for the third day in a row we have boisterous north winds and a convective clamp at approximately release altitude.” from the CD.
BUT he had good news too…” the weather will begin to change and after one more day off, we’ll probably get back to racing on Saturday May 14.”
Saturday May 14; after 4 cancelled days , the pilots were ready to go for it again….but the day had to be cancelled again.
“ it was clear that we were in for a day of low bases, overdevelopment, and scattered showers. At least the wind would not be a factor, for a change.“
4 days left and what I heard,…they look promising!!!!
Sunday ;May 15, YES ,..finally,…..a REAL racing day!!!!! Task 2!
“Our forecast was for four hours of good soaring conditions with light winds and cloudbases above 4000 feet AGL.  The downside was a possibility of thickening cirrus toward the end of the day.”
“ In a blatant attempt to get a 1000 point day without landing anyone out, we set a 3 hour, 4 circle Area Task with a nominal distance of 316 km, figuring that the winner would go the requisite 350 km to make it a full-value day.”
That did not happen, 983 points were waiting for daily winner, Sean Murphy in the JS 3. He also leads at this stage overall with 1578 points.
One of the pilots I mentioned earlier, Sean Fidler ,mentioned in his report;
“I started first, as soon as the gate opened, hoping to leave the gaggle behind playing games. Forecast showed potential risk of storms, cirrus, or even mid level spread increasing throughout day so leaving early seemed like a good plan.“
Though he struggled trough the day “I finally connected at 1500 AGL in 1 knot and then stepped up slowly toward the good clouds until finding 4 knots for final glide home.”
He was 3d for the day.
Monday; Task 3.….Rick mentioned in his CD report, which I am happy to share as he is THERE, of course after asking him;
“Another beautiful day at Bermuda High Soaring.  It turned out to be even better than forecast, which is normally good news.  However, in a competition it can lead to the dreaded undercall, and this is what happened today.
The forecast was for high temperatures and moderate lift to 4000 AGL, with cumulus.  The wind was supposed to be brisk from the southwest, and the day was supposed to end before 17:00, due to an encroaching cool front.
Because of the possibility of overdevelopment and the uncertain arrival time of the front, we went with another Area Task.  The nominal distance was 235 km, and the time was 2.5 hours.  It was a bowtie aligned with the wind.”
The 2 Sean’s had a good day being 4 and 3 for the day, but they lead the overalls; Sean Murphy [JS 3] with 2362 points and Sean Fidler [ASG 29] with 2283 p.
3d overall is close by; Robin Clark [ASG 29] who was 6th for the day on 2273 points. Jae Walker in the Ventus 3 won this day!
Task 4; one but last day.….“Finally!  The famous Bermuda High Spring weather is back! Finally!   Strong lift to lofty heights in all quadrants.  And no cumulus,  just to make it interesting.”
They set Racing Task, a 392 km zig-zag with six turnpoints!
Bob Fletcher won the day in his ASG 29 with 97 km./h. Sean M and Sean F are still on top overall, even with their 9th and 6th daily spot, but Bob is on his way to the top; from 5 to 3!
One more day to go you can read it in my next blog.

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The CCV, the Coppa Citta di Varese in Italy , flown between May 6 and 15 started with 3 no-task-days. It was the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP for 20 m class and along flies a mixed class, counting the 20 m as well.
Task 1 was on May 9 and a 2.15 AAT had to be flown by the 7 Italian pilots and 2 HC pilots from Austria [Team Peter Hartmann in HPH 304TS/ 800kg ] and The Netherlands [Team Erik Borgmann in Arcus M] in 20 m class.
The HC pilots started and finished for 154 points.
Task 2; 327 km...this time Alberto[Sironi] with his mate was daily winner ; 89 km/h, in an ARCUS T, which says enough about the weather. 5 teams were IN, 3 of them fly for the title.
Task 3; 2.45 AAT.…won by the HC pilots from team Borgmann/Van Houweninge;283 km in time 2.58. One way or another the other HC team from Austria, disappeared from the 20 m. scores and was to be seen in the mixed class where they were 7th.
For Erik this is great practice as he flies with his Dutch mate Joost Wolff the WGC in Hungary.
Task 4; 2.50 AAT….a real Italian day with team Montemaggi/Prodorutti on 1, team Stefano Ghiorzo/Passardi on 2 and Alberto on 3. The Dutch team was 4th. Team Aquaderni/Aquaderni in the ARCUS T was on spot 5. Good on them as till now they were out every day. And I know Margot flies very well.
AND,…she will be busy too with other “things” as she is the president of the Aeroclub Adele Orsi in Varese, from where they fly.
Aero Club Adele Orsi Acao
Task 5; 200 km.…7 started and ONLY ONE team finished…… Team Sironi with a speed of 62 km./h. You can call that a challenging day!!!
Some others were close….Team Erik and Team Stefano flew 189 km.
Looking at the MIXED class 4 from 15 finished.
Task 6; 2.10 AAT..… Only ARCUS M or T in this class and this one but last day, former 2 times 13.5 m WGC champion [2015 and 2019] Stefano Ghiorzo with his mate was the best. Another difficult day so to see at the speed ;96 km./h
They started together with Prodorutti & Montemaggi, but finished earlier; both flew 216 km.
The Dutch boy’s flying HC, had a bit of an off day, lost points , dropped from 2 to 3 overall, but less than 60 points with number 1.
Task 7; very last day!!!NO TASK!!!!!
So the final results for the 20 m NATIONALS;
1. Sironi & Venturini in Arcus T with 3.560 points and CHAMPIONS.
2. Prodorutti & Montemaggi in Arcus M with 3.513 p.
3. Ghiorzo & 1 in Arcus t with 3.370 p
The Dutch pilots flew HC [they cant be Italian champion as Dutch citizens] but did a great job with 3.504 points, so in fact 3d.
In the mixed class they, Van Houweninge & Borgmann ,were the winners with 4.655 points, ahead of Aldo Pigni in the 18 m.Ventus 3f with 4.492 p. and Ugo Pavesi with 4.432 points in ASG 29E.

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Last weekend Terlet hosted the one-day-competition from the Gelderse Aeroclub. And boy ,….were they lucky with the weather.

One day with perfect weather and 311 km for CLUB, with 12 pilots, 375 km. for COMBI with 16 pilots among them 11 2-seaters[Duo Discus types] and 413 for open/18m including 9 2-seaters, meaning a lot of people at Terlet! GOOD, after corona pilots finally meet again at comps.

CLUB; With 111 km./h Roelof [Corporaal] in the LS 7 NEO, won the day for 902 points. He had some practice already, as he was very good in Nitra in April, where he was runner up for the Pribina Cup.
Former runner up at the JWGC in Australia, Robin [Smit] in LS 4 neo, and runner up now, flew around with 106 km./h.
COMBI; 4x a Duo Discus and 1000 points for winners Lakeman/Boonstra. 16 started 1 was out.
10 from 16 gliders were a Duo Discus type.
OPEN/18 m; 17 started and 15 were back. Lars Groot in ASG 29 won with 124 km./h Good on young Lars. A nimbus 4DM was runner up with 119 km./h.
They closed the day with a BBQ , beer, of course and lots of talking and for sure, some red faces from the sun, who was shining fierce.

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In Belgium the Nationals started at St Hubert on May 14 [till 22] with 2 classes; club [15 pilots] and combi.[20 and several teams in 2-seaters] , so also a big bunch of nice pilots together.
Day 1; task 1 .
Club; 297 km….14 started and half of them ,7, finished. Best speed was by Bart Leysen, who flew 90 km./h in his ASW 20f, 10 km. faster than Thomas De Bruyn.[LS 4]
Combi; 343 km....Daan Spruyt in his Ventus flew 2ax ,flew around with 96 km./h which was 5 km./h faster than runner up Nick Fremau.[ LS8]
Day 2; task 2.
Club; 213 km.…Peter Bertels won in his St Libelle[ 68.58 km./h] . 14 Started 11 finished.
Combi; 283 km....flown with a speed of 82 km./h by Koen Vanderputten in the 18m. Ventus 2CT. 19 Started and 12 finished.
Day 3; task 3 was set but had to be cancelled due to the weather .
Day 4; task 4 , flying day 3, was a big one.
Club; 3.30 AAT....15 started and 9 finished and the daily winner was Thomas de Bruyn in his LS4; 290 km. in time 3.30 at the dot!!!
Combi; 3.30 AAT….”day of reckoning ” as only 5 from 19 finished. Number 5 was Bert Schmelzer sr. with 319 km. in time 3.50,..BUT IN!!!!! Winners , both in JS 3 jet, were Francois Delfosse and Emmanuel Litt, son from the well known Georgette.
By the way brother Baudouin Litt flew yesterday 900 km in his LS 8 from Mid Atlantic Soaring in the USA, and then you know there were good to excellent ridge conditions.
More next week.

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Polish CLUB CLASS NATIONALS.
Grudziadz Lisie,
13 May 2022 – 21 May 2022

With a lot of well-known names between the 40 participants, this championship is , with so many strong Polish pilots, as always one you have to follow!!!!
They started with a 3.30 AAT, so the weather was strong too.
Jacek Flis in his LS 3 [handicap 0.947] won TASK 1 , with 417 km. in time 3.29. TOP!!!
He was already runner up in Prievidza, so had good practice!!
40 started and only 1 pilot was out, he flew 409 km but did not finish.
Task 2; 3 hour AAT….Jakub Barszcz in a BRAWO [handicap 0.995] won the day with 314 km in time 2.59.50!!!! Jacek was runner up with more kilometers 335, but in time 3.04.
All 40 started 2 were out and 1 missed the startline,..bugger!
Task 3; 3 hour AAT.….257 km in time 3.11 for SZD 55 pilot Marek Herbreder for 1000 points. Jakub was runner up and Jacek was 4th. A few more exciting days to go as the difference between Jacek and Jakub is now 14 points.
Still 40 pilots in the running , but only 32 finished today.
More next week.

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In between , also in Poland, they fly in Zar the Polish FAI SGP, with perfect weather.
Race 1; 377 km…..Stanisław Biela won in his AS 33 the first race for 8 points. When Lucasz Grabowski would not have started above the maximum speed he would have won; he lost 30 seconds. Tilo was 7th. Only 7 flew on day 1.
Race 2; 380 km. ….This time Lucasz [JS1] won with 104 km./h…… 8 started from them 5 finished. Now Stanislaw got 44 sec penalty for a too low finish.[730m] The day turned out more difficult than expected as the organizers mentioned in their daily report.
“The air masses were mixed up and the Pilots had to stay high under the clouds bases which were 2750MSL.”
Race 3; 305 km….8 started ,2 were out and another ” difficult name ” Zdzisław Bednarczuk, [JS 3] won the 7 points for the day. Tilo was runner up. Still good weather in Zar, but again more difficult conditions. You could see that on the speed of the winner; 94 km./h.
Yesterday was cancelled and for today there is not yet a task, so more next week.

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For those who want to visit Australia and practice for the WGC 2023 in Narromine, here is some news;
“AusGlide 2022:
The Narromine Gliding Club is hosting the 2022 Standard, 15 Meter & Club Class National Gliding Championships at Narromine Airfield from 27  November to 10 December 2022.
The NCC have advised that this competition attracts 100% selection points for the Australian Team to compete at the 2023 World Gliding Championships at Narromine in November/December 2023.
It is also the Pre-Worlds event for the 2023 World Gliding Championships and will attract a lot of International Competition Glider Pilots.
Entries are now open, click on this link AusGlide_2022 to go to the Comp website and Register Online.”

For us the season starts NOW, but DOWN UNDER they look already at their new season.
Here is the news from Tocumwal Soaring Centre:
“It’s going to be a great season and we are really looking forward to seeing all our friends at Tocumwal again.”

A lot happening at the airfields in the beginning of this summer and already later this year in the “down-under-summer” .
Hope you enjoy it all as much as I do.
Did you look at WeGlide or the OLC last week, some nice flights , up to 1000 km. [ Bernd Goretzki in Ventus 3 M] here in Europe with high temperatures for spring. We touch 30 dgr. C. today. Interesting to see that Fuente is already good too, normally July/ August is their top period.
Cheers Ritz