Post 1.471 on December 14 2023

Briefing at 10;

Task 9 prize winners were cheered on;

Unfortunately NO picture from standard class winner Pavel.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Well, back again with all kind of news .

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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