After the exciting 33d WGC in Finland we are looking ahead at Poland where in Leszno the “other” 33d WGC will be flown.
The official training starts on July 22 and the competition on July 27. Last day is August 9 and prize giving in the morning from August 10.
The opening ceremony is in the evening of July 26 and the farewell party at August 9.
President of the jury will be Peter Ryder and he forms the jury with Fred Gai and Angel Casado .
Robert Danewid is the chief steward and Jaroslav Vach the steward.
Only a few days to go and Leszno is the place to keep an eye on. Preparations are mostly done and several pilots travel straight from Rayskala to Leszno to participate AGAIN.
Open class has 37 pilots, 18 m. has 45 and 15 m. a total of 48.
The contest Director of the 33rd World Gliding Championships in Leszno 2014 is Dariusz Cisek.
ONCE MORE BACK TO RAYSKALA!!!
Once again,…..Rayskala airport as seen bij Tijl Schmelzer.
Wrote 3 blogs on www.soaringcafe.com about the last days on Rayskala and I loved doing that, as after the rain and waiting and more waiting, finally the great weather gave pilots crews and organizers a better much better feeling. Me too.
Great winners in each class ;strong teams from France, the UK and Belgium and with a bit more luck the German pilots in club class would have been in the top as well.
The prize for the best team went as expected to the UK [6494 points] .They really had a GOOD competition with high places in all classes.
The second best country was France and Sweden,Poland and Finland followed with the Dutch on spot 7 and the Germans on spot 9.
I did not write about the very last day’s winner so here we are.
The last competition day last Saturday and the best one looking at the weather, was won in 20 m. by the French team Marc and Jeremy [Arcus S] with 6 points ahead on the ” every-day-winners” Steve and Howard.
Overall the Jones brothers were TOO good and for the first time in history 2 pilots in one glider got a medal.
The newest 20 m. class in our FAI-WGC sport was welcomed by many and it was interesting for us to follow.
In club class the USA pilots had a great run on the last day and our Dutch glider NL1, flown by Sean won the day with Garret on his heels/tail.[12 points behind]
Aussie pilots Adam and Eric, both spending a lot of time, money ,effort and fun in this competition for them so far from home, had mixed results. Eric helped Adam after his outlandings in the beginning and he ended on spot 23, Eric on 35. It might be a bit disappointing for them those places, but I know they had the time of their lives.That’s worth a lot too and experience helps for the next WGC.
Team mates Adam and Eric.
Adam mentioned after arrival on day 1 from the comps;
” 4yrs ago I set the goal to be here competing for AUS in Club Class, I then did 2yrs of qualification competitions (being selected at 94%), followed by the pre-worlds last year, & preparation plus to be here on every available weekend & competition in the lead up.Feeling good, positive & ready! ”
In standard class a great result for Bert jr. and his family. He did NOT win the last day but Mario Kiesling from Germany did. Bert was 5th, Tijl 10th and Sebastian 12th that last day.In the end the difference between spot 1 and 2 was 31 points. Sebastian knows already the feeling from winning so well, I am pleased Bert won this WGC, not taking away any of Sebastian’s skills during this competition. He WON 3 days, whilst Bert did not win one but over the 7 days flew more consistent.
He not only flies well, but makes great pictures which you can see in his book ONE YEAR OF GLIDING , combined with interesting text.
By the way dad , Bert sr. , wrote some kind of encyclopedia-book over the history of Soaring in Flanders.
Bert en Tijl during the international party
2 Great pictures from brother Tijl this time, from his first landing after 5 years at Rayskala and during flight.
The Final party must have been a great success. I read on Eric’s site :
” I’m wondering just how many will be in fit state to attend considering the success of last night’s end-of-comp-party“.
In a thank you message Bert jr says THANK you and I share the message with you;
” Dear friends
I would like to thank every single one of you for your massive support during, and the uncountable congratulations after the World Gliding Championships in Räyskälä.
We had an amazing time in the “country of 1.000 lakes”: beginning with snow and antifreeze in the wings during the longest day of the year, many difficult flying days with lots of rain showers and unsuccessful fishing expeditions in the middle part of the comp, and finally we were rewarded with fantastic conditions and exhilarating final glides during the decisive tasks.
Without the help of my parents, Hilde and Bert Sr., and of course my girlfriend, Barbara, all of this would not have been possible. Thank you so much.
In particular I would like to thank my brother, Tijl: “Little brother, unfortunately, there can only be one person on the highest step of the podium, but this title belongs to the both of us !”
Bert
Bert jr. and Tijl and dad Bert sr. a combined effort even carrying the prizes !!!!
As shared by them.
Rayskala is back to normal and the local pilots fly from their own field again. Yesterday young Petri [tuggie and glider pilot] flew in an LS 6 500 km and another friend from Rayskala Hannu 488 in the ASG 29/18m. It looks like the weather is better now and that the real Finnish summer has started.
The day before German pilot Jan Rothhard flew a 1000 in Finland [508 FAI triangle] from Menkijarvi in the 16 m. Ventus BT.Good on him ! And a 976 km flight from Teisko was good too [Ventus 2C /18m]
The Norwegian Nationals are over and Arne Martin is the new National Champion in OPEN CLASS;
Here is his story:
” After having tried my luck in the sports class of the Norwegian Gliding Championship, this year I was going to try my luck with the big boys in open class. Both classes allow all gliders, and uses handicaps to try to compensate for performance difference between the gliders. The difference being that sports class is more targeted at more inexperienced pilots, with shorter tasks and no water ballast allowed. Open class is where the most experienced pilots are competing, so for the first time I would go up against those. This is the elite of Norwegian Gliding! I wasn’t the only first time competitor to the class, in addition to me, Per Morten Løvsland and Kristoffer Samuelsen were participating. Not only where we less experienced than the others, we were also flying the lowest performance gliders (15 m unflapped gliders, Discus for me and Kristoffer, LS 8 for Per Morten) against mostly flapped competitors with 18 m wingspan and more. All 3 of us have been flying a lot of Condor: The Competition Soaring Simulator, which somewhat makes up for our less experience. But no doubt it was going to be a challenge to go up against the big boys in their big planes!”
He has made a great story with pictures and here are a few already.
After 3 cancelled days the pilots were preparing their glider for the first flying day and,…flying over the many trees in beautiful Norway.
Not all went well, some had to out land, but others made it and finished.
The link to the full story AND 59 pictures;
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152510244370605.1073741866.738460604&type=1&l=6f78d4f2fb
More Nationals or other interesting comps are flown at the moment, and for the scores you can go to www.soaringspot.com
Italy—- the Standard Class Nationals and 2 other comps from Terme
France —-the French Nationals for women
France—-the International Issoudun
Czech Rep —- 3 comps with a total of 76 participants
The UK —-with the 18 m. Nationals
Bosnie-Herzegovina—-with the LIVNO Adria Cup
And more.
The latest Gliding International, edition July-August, arrived from New Zealand on my doormat with lot’s of new news!
—Elke Fuglsang-Petersen shines her light over soaring in Germany and the USA looking at it from all angles.
—the tragic tale of Langley’s Aerodrome by veteran journalist and recreational glider pilot Rod Dew
—Aldo’s view on the ARCUS, specially on the ARCUS E over 8 pages including pictures
—the double spread picture in the middle is for another 2 seater; the ASG 32
—solving the problems for high costs in towing…the Beaufort Gliding Clubs [Australia] HORNET GLIDER TUG…
—AND more news on tugs……the view from Bob Ward on alternatives for thirsty Pawnees
and much more as the SUNFLYER and SUNSEEKER…..the 13.5 m. Sparrow Hawk….a motor glider story about a brush with the law….and lot’s of world news and of course the quick 3-liners in “things with wings”.
ENJOY!
And to finish this great picture from Eddy from Sportaviation in Tocumwal.His hangars and the rainbow!
CU next Wednesday, cheers Ritz