WGC Poland
The 40th FAI World Gliding Championships will be held at Rudniki airfield near Czestochowa, Poland, from 16 to 30 May 2026 The competition will contest three classes - Open, 18m and 20m Multi-Seat.
14th Junior World Gliding Championships in Club and Standard classes will take place at Aalen-Elchingen Germany 1 - 15 August
The Australian Team
Australia's team for Poland comprises Lumpy Paterson and Norm Bloch in the 18m Class, David Jansen in the Open Class flying a JS5, and Adam Woolley with Keith Gateley flying together in the 20m Multi-Seat Class. The team captain is Phil Richie.
Amber Davison and Max Scutchings will represent Australia in the Junior WGC in Germany with Mandy Temple as team captain.
Squad Week
In February the Australian teams gathered at Tocumwal Soaring Centre for a week of training. Following are some of the pilots' comments before they head off to the big challenge.
Phil Ritchie - Team Captain WGC POLAND
Squad Week was held for the team going to the World Gliding Championships in Czestochowa in May, in conjunction with the juniors who are going to Germany in August. All the pilots met together with the Team Captains at Tocumwal from 22 February for one week. Run by Pete Temple over the course of the week, joined by guest speaker James Nugent on two days, the discussions went through the many aspects of flying at this level.
The Open Class, 18m and two-seat pilots all have experience of flying at this level - Lumpy Paterson and Norm Bloch once each, and both David Jansen and Adam Woolley multiple times.
Mandy has taken the role of Team Captain, Comps Director and Steward at this level, not to mention crewing for Pete at multiple world championships, giving her a wealth of experience.
I have flown one world championship but this is my first time as Team Captain. The juniors Max Scutchings and Amber Davison (plus Ethan Blunt who elected to start his university education instead of competing) are new to this level. I am confident that we all benefitted a great deal from the week.
Pete Temple had a very full program that involved talks and discussions in the morning and flying in the afternoon if the weather suited, which it did for five of the days. Squad Week focused heavily on team concepts. In the past, teamwork between pilots and crew depended very much on the individuals finding a way to work together. This week was aimed at better structuring with more consistency, and looking at ways to improve Australia's overall standing at international level.
The topics began with reviews of recent world championships, then team flying, communication in the air, communication between pilots and the ground crew, managing the daily routine, planning, ethics and fair play, review of the rules (there are differences at this level compared to Australian competitions), playing the gaggle game, safety and competition, site specific factors plus a long list of small details that still matter and influence results.
A huge thanks to Pete Temple for organising the whole week and his inventive tasking with challenges that managed to trip up such experienced pilots. Also, thanks to Lumpy and his team at Tocumwal Soaring Center for hosting us.
NORM BLOCH
Both team captains attended, as the event served as practice for them as well. During classes, we covered many topics in discussions run by Peter and Mandy Temple, plus James Nugent for the first few days.
Of prime importance to me was practicing team flying with Lumpy as we are not allowed to team fly in Australian comps, although it is permitted in world championships. This blend of discussions and flying practice proved invaluable in our attempts to master this very difficult process. Tocumwal even managed to put on some classic European weather for us to practice in. Hopefully it will all pay off with good results later in Poland. Thanks to GFA and all its members for subsidising Squad Week and to Lumpy for allowing us to use Tocumwal Soaring Centre as our base (and a Ventus 2 for me). Also thanks to Pete, Mandy and James for all your insights. I look forward to bringing back useful experiences that I can share with my students in coaching and instructional flights when back in Australia
ADAM WOOLLEY
For the first time in seven years, the Australian Gliding Team met for the Squad Week, kindly hosted by Tocumwal Soaring Centre. We enjoyed challenging soaring conditions at the beginning, which then improved by the end - a perfect simulation of European conditions!
It was great to meet the juniors and build further relationships with my own teammates. The BBQ put on by TSC was a highlight! I look forward to proudly representing you all in Poland.
MAX SCUTCHINGS
We’ve had some good European-style weather all week, which has made it a perfect training environment. It has been great fun with fast racing and good flying after socialising.
I managed to find a paddock with the LS8 today. Bad routing into a poor area, big gaps between thermals and an incorrectly configured vario all led me to that point, but in the end, I came here to train and learn.
AMBER DAVISON
Squad Week was a transformative experience for the junior pilots, offering a vital bridge between individual skill and international team racing. We were ‘blessed’ with uncharacteristically difficult conditions, low cloud bases and frequent cumulus days, which provided a great simulator for the tactical challenges we expect to face in Europe.
The value of the squad structure was very apparent during the morning briefings and the post-flight reflections. Having the opportunity to dissect our decisions alongside some of the country’s most experienced pilots was invaluable. This synergy peaked for me on the final day while flying with Max - despite the grueling conditions, our communication just clicked.
Beyond the technical training, the week was defined by moments of quiet focus, like watching the sunrise during the daily inspection on the glider. As we look toward the World Championships, my biggest takeaway is the power of our community. I’ve learned that the most important tool in my kit is the ability to reach out for support. We have an incredible wealth of knowledge around us, and I’m heading to the Worlds feeling far more confident knowing we fly with so much support backing us.
Team for WGC Poland
Team Captain - Phil Ritchie
Open class – David Jansen
20m Multi-Seat – Adam Woolley and Keith Gately
18m – Lumpy Paterson and Norm Bloch
Team for JWGC Germany
Team Captain – Mandy Temple
Club Class – Max Scutchings and Amber Davison
