First the last day of the WWGC which was a bit damp due to the tracking business.

I left at 4.30 PM to be in time for the FLY PAST from the F 18 on Friday afternoon. We were waiting and from one into the other moment , it was there… a huge plane cause it was LOW and I will never forget the noise TERRIBLY LOUD.
Was 1 second late to put my fingers in my ears and it hurt!!!
It me tremble as well!!!!
Before we knew it was gone, but made a nice beat up on the way back.
Quite spectacular.
Heard from the Air Force – lady that the pilot was a young girl ,..in her early twenties… , called Jessica. She seems a natural talent.She showed it!!!!

After we had the BBQ, and Chris , who organized every days food for the volunteers and guests, felt terrible because there was not enough salad. For the full 2 weeks , there was a “load of food” mostly too much , now they missed out on salad. No worries ,..they found some and everybody had enough to eat again.

Then it was waiting for the results. It took till 9 PM before Gisela the juror send a message that the jury had reached a decision….”expect podium at 9.”

When we saw the Italian flag under at the flag pole ,we knew the result in club class.
There was never any doubt about the CHAMPIONS in 18 m and standard class. Here they are again

Have some more pictures about the prizes as well
Here you are;

Sean from Australian Gliding was AT the field on the last day:
“FINAL DAY
Tasks were set on the the final day of the championships and the competitors and crews dutifully gridded all the gliders. However, it seemed unlikely due to the weather that the fleet would actually be able to be launched. After waiting on the grid for an extra hour and half after the official launch time of 11:30am the day was finally cancelled.

In the meantime, a festival atmosphere took hold, with music and dancing. The mood was friendly and happy. When the day was cancelled relief and sadness were felt by all that the great event had come to its conclusion.”

And “real” ladies in dresses as the USA team arrived very female.

A thank you message from Sarah on FB:
“The thing about realizing a goal or dream is it means the most when it is difficult to accomplish. Coming into the competition I felt that it was my time. From the first practice days I felt like I had come to a place of maturity in my flying and that it would work out, but I knew those French girls would be hard to beat!

Thank you Aude Grangeray and Aude Untersee for keeping the competition so fierce! Lisa Trotter was on fire, and I loved our flights together with Claire Scutter. Ayala Truelove too! So many strong amazing women with whom I’m privileged to associate.

To my teammates Kathryn Fosha and Sylvia Grandstaff, thanks for being my gaggle! Your friendship is a precious thing which buoyed me up in so many key moments.

Jason Arnold, husband, partner, friend, and best crew in the world. We really did it!!!

John Good has invested so much in so many ways for so long – coaching, scheming, drumming up support, acting as crew and captain. Thank you.

These last two days I’ve been reading a long and happy congratulatory card which has come in the form of many emails, comments, posts and likes. This couldn’t have happened without the support of every one of you. I am continually thankful for my soaring (and extended) family.”

And a nice picture from the Italian girls.

So that’s the end of this WWGC.
What a sterling job the organizers , local club-pilots and volunteers did!!!!
A BIG THANK you counts for ALL.
Specially in my case for Lyndy and Chris, who took me everywhere I wanted to go. Nothing was too much for them.
And to Mandy , who added me last minute to “her” volunteers”.
I loved every minute except maybe the last days when the “track-shadow over these comps” dropped the spirit a bit.
Will be back one day. Found nice new friends and a welcoming CLUB.
THANK YOU LAKE KEEPIT!!!!

AND,….finally the drought has been broken!!!!! Hurrah. Travelling from Lake Keepit to Tocumwal showed how terrible that part of NSW has been hit!!!!!
It’s already getting greener here again.

The controversies;
Will be here soon ; thunderstorms, guests , laundry and Tomas who should be back soon here with the trailer and car used in Lake Keepit.
George will bring the car back to Benalla and Ian will take Tomas to Albury, Lots of logistic’s.
By the way, Tomas just arrived safely after driving parts with only 40 k /h due to heavy rain and thunderstorms.
He is on his way now to Albury!!!

The controversies:

The Aussie girls;
9 of them,….. and some really practiced hard to “shine” here in Lake Keepit in their own country.
Will we ever know how good they were???
Loved seeing all their good results…loved seeing their happiness,…but were they so good because of all practice ,…. or by listening to those who gave them un-delayed data ????

The complaint;
“On the final day of competition, a complaint was lodged by Team Captains of all teams with the exception of Australia. The complaint alleged that the Australian Team had gained unauthorized access to undelayed data from the official competition tracking system – which has a mandated 15 minute delay. This was a system that all competitors were compelled to use. The complaint stated this information gave Australian team pilots a competitive advantage. Following an investigation, a Team penalty of 250pts was applied to all Australian Team pilots..  

Four protests were subsequently lodged in both support (3 asking for further penalties including disqualification) and defence (removal of the penalty).  The jury committee deliberated for over 5 hours and called on the assistance of a number of IT experts that included the system designer.  The ultimate decision being a penalty of 25 points per day.  The penalty was levied as a Team penalty and was therefore applied to all pilots equally.”

Mandy Temple CD

News from the TC’s is still pending.
They await the next step !There are still processes to follow, and they are all waiting to see how this proceeds.
It seems to be a long way from being over.

Official written jury report is still pending as well.

Let’s wait and see how this unfolds.