36th WGC for CLUB, STANDARD and 15m. in Montlucon
August 8-20- 2021.

In Montlucon, they started with 3 official practice days.
Day 1 was wet, day 2 gave the opportunity to stay close and explore, to rig in the late morning and de-rig in the evening a few points were earned, day 3 showed 1.30 AAT’s, to get in the mood and launches after 1 PM, but the tasks had to be cancelled so NO “in the mood ” yet ,but extra practice rigging and de-rigging again.
On day 4 the opening ceremony was in town at noon and umbrella’s were advised!!!
The forecast was not too good for a couple of days but, there is always hope…for a “window”.
Bob Henderson is the remote president of the jury , Vladimir Voltin is there as juror and Frouwke Kuijpers , the chief steward. So you are up to date now and the 36th WGC can start.
In between …..When you have time please read Matthews long story on Matthew Scutter’s Gliding about his troubled way to fly in corona time as an Aussie in Europe. I was touched by his story and then after ALL what happened he still has to fly.

Some team pictures from the opening.

AND THEN IT START’S the 36th WGC in France.

Day 1 on Sunday August 8;
still very humid/wet circumstances but there should/could be a window for a short flight, so AAT’s were handed out.
you can follow the briefing on ; https://drive.google.com/…/1n3IUbs6x51T…/view

Club class; 1.45 AAT…Cancelled
Standard class; 1.45 AAT…Cancelled
15 m. class; 1.30 AAT ..Cancelled

Day 2 on Monday August 9
tasks were set. First launch not before 13.20,..so waiting for what will happen. AND,…catching up with mates you have n’t seen for ages.
On the picture George Schuit and Voiko Starowitz [Slovenia] flying now a DG 300 . When they met in 1987 in Benalla, Voiko was pilot and Boris his crew. On a hot day Boris went for a retrieve as nearly all pilots outlanded.
Voiko flew/leased our glider and used it’s trailer. On his way to the pilot, it went totally wrong.
The next morning , very early, a knock on the door and legendary words were said; “Sorry, trailer for total no use!”

OR,…having a snooze;

The tuggies started their engines at 15.30, the pilots from Club and Standard got their B task so did 15 m, but they could go “home” again….scrubbed.
Would it be a lottery day??? At 16.20 they were still launching St. class.

Club class; was 206 km….now 152 km…. Ok,….first day first Dutch winner…Thies…OK……good..no very good….I thought when I looked at the scores. I met him at one of the last Dutch Nationals. He won and I introduced myself as I had never heard of him, but had seen already that he was a “good little pilot”. Even made a picture…which I of course can’t find at the moment,…but….anyhow Thies Bruins in his ASW 20 won the first day with a speed of 72 km./h. during his very first WGC. Chapeau!
Interesting to hear that he entered the wave, which was visible from the ground…he had never flown before in wave. “A bit of a challenge to learn how it worked” His decision for the day was; balancing the risk, starting early and take the risk of everybody catching up, or take time and gain height in wave [wave was up to 2000 m] but miss out in the end of the day when it would die out.
An early start was the key for the day, as later in the day the weather/circumstances indeed deteriorated/died down. Thies started at 16.43 and finished at 18.50.
Only 499 points for the winner so there was not a lot to win neither to loose for the day as only 19 from 35 finished. Some had problems with the finish altitude.

Standard class; was 186 km…now 156 km….even less winning points for Danish Filip Bojanowski in his Discus 2A; 373 p. He flew with a speed of 65.90 km./h. Normally you don’t take your glider out of the hangar for such a day.
Only 8 from 30 finished. 6 Were close,…less than 10 k out.
Also in this class problems with the finish altitude.
With late launches and start times after 5PM, it must have been difficult for some to find lift to go ahead on track.
World champion Sjaak Selen, sorry yes Dutch as well, was runner up and his mate Robbie Seton was on a shared 4th spot.
“CM & LT [ My friends Dennis and Jeroen from Keiheuvel] had difficulty gaining altitude before the start and they were some of the last in their class to cross the start line. They needed this valuable time at the end of the day when the thermals died, they landed out around 20km short of the airfield.” Belgian Gliding Team

15 m. class; was 2.20 km...now 193 km.…later cancelled.

‘By all accounts it was a tricky day with many trailers heading out of the gates at dusk, the finishers we did get did so around 19:40 some having made use of wave around the task area.” British Gliding Team

“The results would have been much grimmer if this had not turned out to be a notably long-lasting day.  Most starts happened after 17:00, but pilots were able to stay in the air until after 20:00.  Contributing to this is the fact that Montluçon-Guéret airport lies close to the western edge of its time zone.  Not to be discounted is the ability of the world’s best glider pilots to keep near half-ton machines aloft using small doses of solar energy.” by my mate John Good from the USA.

Day 3 on Tuesday August 10.

All classes got their B task. First launch postponed ,…not before 2PM.
15 m. was up front and launching for club and standard stopped for a little while till the 15 m. pilots had found in weak lift a base up to 700 m.
15 m launching started at 14.30.

Club class; 249 km...now 127.99 km…a late start for most pilots ,…most after 5 PM and back after 7 PM. At this time the preliminary scores from 30 from 36 are in. 22 Pilots finished and at this time 8 are out …6 not counted for.

Standard class; 277 km....now 131.79 km..29 pilots flew and 26 of them finished. Another daily win for Filip Bojanowski from Denmark …TOP….For less than 300 points.
He flew with a speed of 66 km./h and 4 others did so; Jeremy from the UK, Norbert from Romania, Simon and Jan from Germany, either in Discus or LS 8.

15m class; 318 km....now 240.72 km...they were upfront at the grid, a wide concrete runway. The east European countries did well. Sebastian [Kawa] told us via an interview with the French media, that we should not expect too much from him. As a doctor he had been very busy in the COVID-19 period. Chapeau/respect Sebastian!
He had not seen his glider for a year.
BUT,…of course he unlearned nothing!! He won the day flying together as at most comps with Lucasz Grabowski both in the Diana 2; 648 points for both. and a speed of 76 km./h, which says it all.
Karel Novak and Roman Marek , both in JS 3 were 3 and 4.
In between them Italian pilot Ricky Brigliadori also in JS 3. The 2 French pilots Max [Seis] and Laurent [Aboulin ]were a bit more than 10 k. out.
21 were out and 2 not yet scored, one did not start.

More about the WGC on Thursday

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THE CIM in RIETI.
August 3-13-2021

After being in Rieti 7 times, I know that the weather can be excellent …..the atmosphere always is great….. the food awesome, the infrastructure perfect ,but also that mountains can be unforgiving, …. one year an Austrian pilot was lost for 2 days[ after he hit the mountains] . SAR and most participating pilots and crews were trying to locate him…unfortunately the accident was fatal…so you have to know those mountains and respect them.

This week it ALL happened in Rieti, in good and bad ways.
John Roake called Rieti after the 2008 WGC , the MECCA OF SOARING.
It’s then when he asked me to write columns for Gliding International, which I did for many years.
SO AGAIN back to the CIM..,…..Long flights , a good South Westerly wind huge speed and The Apennines did their work and the pilots flew high over them with huge speed. Wave, confluence and ridge soaring…all ingredients for the day.
Task 3 ; 18 m. class…it was Davide who flew 170,67 km./h. over 399.79 km. in his JS 3. Davide flies already for 20 years in Rieti and he called it one of the best powerful day’s ever in Rieti. The flight seems to be a record speed flight.
By the way the top 10 showed 8 JS 3 gliders and an AS33es and a Ventus 2CXM.
7 Pilots flew 165 km./h. or more!!!! Amongst them Uys Jonker one of the big bosses/owners/ manufacturers at Jonker Sailplanes, he was runner up, with 169.90 km./h. but also Arne Boye -Moeller and Katrin Senne.
All 24 finished.
They must have been even at the ground “in the clouds/ be over the moon”.
One day earlier task 2 showed 438 km. and Uys was the best with 154 km./h. Davide was runner up and Arne and Katrin 3d and 4th.
Task 4; 3.30 AAT.…Well, what can in say,…. from a bit shy but very eager junior in Husbos, Davide is a top pilot now. Guess Leonardo would have been VERY proud on him. With other words,…he won the day again, and there are real TOPPERS in his class.
543 km and a speed of 147.57 km./h.
Jon Gatfield from Lasham in the AS 33e was runner up.
After a mishap the day before, Uys did not fly . That day he could not reach the field he planned to land on and had to use a bushy scrub area. Uys was fine, the glider NOT.
Yes he had a jet-engine , it worked fine, but he had so much downdraft that he had to land.
Task 5; 431 km.…After his “off-day” Arne wanted to set things straight ,so he did! He won the day with a speed of 155 km./h. after he found out first just, before take off that he had a punctured tail wheel. With help of his mates the problem was solved in an hour. So a late start, but ridge soaring and wave helped him to reach the gaggle and then he pushed again to win the day. Davide was 4th with 150 km./h.
Task 6; 500 km. A French daily winner…Guillaume Girard, also in a JS 3 with a speed of 140.91. But Davide ,who started 3 minutes earlier was runner up with a speed of 140.22.
By the way Davide was on the WGC list as participant at Montlucon, but he clearly flies in Rieti.
After the incident earlier and the accident on Sunday,..no flying on Monday in all classes. A time to reflect and to mourn!
And then as always …life has to go on.
Official statement of Aero Club Rieti “Alberto Bianchetti” ;
“Yesterday an accident has claimed the life of a fellow pilot: Christian Derold on Antares 23. He died at 40 km from the airport coming back from the south turning point. Today is a day of mourning, reflections, prayers… Today no gliding activity in Rieti. Yesterday the open group task was cancelled.
Bob Henderson added; ” It is a reminder to us all to be mindful that our love of gliding is because it is such a wonderful sport and that aviating can be a very unforgiving environment. Best wishes to everyone.”
So true!!!

Task 7; 363 km.… “Today a special task dedicated to Christian Derold.
All the pilots resume the competition without him but surely bringing him in flight, in their minds and hearts.” Aero Club Rieti “Alberto Bianchetti”
Day cancelled due to high cloud cover over the field.

In the combi class the 2 seaters did well.
Task 2 was for Sarti/Vila in the ASG 32MI. [ 138 km./h over 409 km] then 7 ARCUS types and on 9 the Duo Discus XLT.
2 from 23 were out and gliders as ASW 27 ,Discus and Ventus have a hard time.
Task 3 with 394 km was a prey for team Leutenegger/ Ruegg in the ARCUS T.[162 km./h]
10 ARCUS types in the top 10, BUT, the ASW 27b from Francisco Ortega from Spain, was on a strong 11th place!!!
Task 4; 3.10 AAT.…1000 points for a Dutch/ Swiss team in the ARCUS M. 447.78 km. in time 3.24 was good for those points.
Task 5; 2.40 AAT….The Austrians flew in their ARCUS M a distance of 426 km in time 2.50,…nice speed of 150 km./h.938 points.
The Dutch team with Eric and Joost [ARCUS T] were 3d just behind the Dutch/Swiss combination.931 for 921 points.
Sad to see that one of the pilots in this class, missed the start line by 1.2 km. an “got” zero points.
Task 6; 3.15 AAT….The Swiss -Dutch combination flew 500 km with a speed of 152 km./h. for 1000 points.
The Austrian ARCUS M team flew 496 km with a speed of 148 km./h and the Dutch team Eric and Joost 488 km. with a speed of 147 km./h.
Task 7; 2.30 AAT.... Day cancelled.

Open class is as always a pleasure to follow. As said it feels a bit like a replacement for the Stendal WGC with so many INTERNATIONAL toppers.
Task 2 with 412 km showed the first 3 spots for German pilots Felipe Levin ,Michael Sommer and Markus Frank, all in EB 29R.
2 Austrian pilots, Peter Hartmann and Christian Derold , both in ANTARES 23[E and T] completed the top 5, with Uli in the ETA on 6.
Task 3; with 170 km./h. the 2 Austrian pilots flew to the best 2 spots in their Antares. A tad faster were the 3 EB’s but on handicap [ 126] the Antares [124] got a few points more.
Task 4; 3.05 AAT. Michael won the day. He flew 486 km. in time 3.19 , so a speed of 146 km./h. Starting and finishing with Felipe , he gained 2 points on him.
Task 5; 442 km….the EB’s and ETA from Felipe, Michael and Uli did well again. Speed165 km./h . and 155 for the ETA.
All 11 pilots finished.
Task 6; 473 km. Michael and Felipe won the day…. but how important is winning on a tragic day as one of your open class mates , 57 years old, has a deadly accident.
The task was already cancelled during the day and that always gives me a creepy feeling. Unfortunately I was right.
The other open class pilots only knew after they finished, hence the scores.
Another pilot from Austria. SO sad!!!!
It brings back so many sad memories from my last CIM.
He crashed in an inaccessible place in Cartore, a hamlet of Borgorose. I heard some stories about what might have happened but leave it to the investigators first to give us the details later, so no speculations.
R.I.P. Christian.
But life goes on , it’s not the first deadly accident in our sport, I am sad to say. It’s the hard truth.
Task 7; 2.30 AAT.... base was 1600 m…MAX.
Day cancelled.

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Amazing flight by Baptiste Innocent on August 5!
1500 km, 1300 km triangle! With two major sea crossings, He started from Southern France [Fayence] flew to Corsica to Italy and back to France in An ASH 31 /21 m.
UNBELIEVABLE!!!! What an Hero….and several new records!!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

KLIPPENECK only had 2 valid days……. results on www.soaringspot.com

FCC….is still busy. You can follow it on http://www.fccgliding.sk/
Scores at soaringspot.

THE OLYMPIC GAMES in TOKYO; by now most of you know that I love sport. Nowadays only looking at it, but my goodness me, did I love the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
The Dutch did remarkably well. Our best result on the medal board was 25 in the 2000 Sydney Olympics with lot’s of gold in the “swimming-pool” with Inge de Bruyn and Pieter van den Hoogenband. Pieter was the chef de mission now and he is SO proud on the team with 36 medals; 10 gold, 12 silver and 14 bronze.
A small country with not the money and sport infrastructure/training facilities, like France ,Italy and Germany but we are just above them on spot 7 on the medal board. Just wonderful.
Proud Dutchie. From the 27 European countries in the European Union, the Dutch were the best.
Japan can be proud too, in this covid-19 year, they did more then reasonably could be expected.
Also my second home land Australia did SUPERB. Huge country but not that many people. On spot 6 !!!!
How fabulous would it have been when corona did not exist and a huge amount of people would have applauded the sport stars!!!
Well “on my way to Paris” for the 2024 Olympics.

During the WGC I write more often to avoid too long posts . This one is too long too.
So keep in touch/stay tuned there will be a few more to read till the end of the WGC.
Cheers Ritz……. MORE ON THURSDAY!