The 14th FAI Junior World Gliding Championships wrapped up on 14 August at Aalen-Heidenheim/Elchingen in Germany, and Australia has plenty to celebrate. Max Scutchings has been crowned Club Class World Champion, with fellow Australian Amber Davison finishing the series in 13th place.
The championship ran from 1 to 14 August, with Club Class and Standard Class pilots flying alongside each other across eleven scored tasks. The final day, 14 August, did not produce a valid task for the Club Class, with organisers unable to set a task that could be completed within the day's conditions. That left the standings from Task 10, flown on 13 August, to stand as the result that decided the championship.
Scutchings Seals It
Max Scutchings, flying an ASW 20 under the handicap of 1.074, finished the series on 7,388 points, holding off France's Nicolas Caudrelier in second on 7,348 and Germany's Nils Zitzelsberger in third on 7,296. The margin at the top came down to just 40 points after ten scored days of racing, a reminder of how tight competition flying can be at this level even after more than a week and a half in the air.
Task 10 itself, flown on 13 August, was won by Germany's Florian Kraja at just under 97 kph, ahead of Poland's Tomasz Kurowski at 99.56 kph and Poland's Julia Walowska at 99.20 kph. Max's overall points lead had already been built through consistency across the earlier tasks rather
than through a single standout day, which is often how these long championships are won.
Amber Davison Finishes Inside the Top Half
Amber, flying an LS 3 with a handicap of 1.066, ended the championship on 6,788 points and 13th place overall, a solid result in a Club Class field of 47 pilots from more than twenty countries. Davison's result, alongside Scutchings' win, means both Australian pilots representing the country in Club Class finished the championship inside the top third of the field.
Final Club Class Standings
1 Max Scutchings Australia ASW 20 7,388
2 Nicolas Caudrelier France LS 7 7,348
3 Nils Zitzelsberger Germany LS 7 neo 7,296
13 Amber Davison Australia LS 3 6,788
A Club Class world title at Junior level is a fantastic result for Australian gliding, Max and Adelaide Soaring Club. It comes on the back of two Australian pilots flying consistently through a demanding eleven-day championship in variable German summer weather. For Australian club members and coaches keeping an eye on the next generation of competition pilots, the performances of Scutchings and Davison in Aalen-Heidenheim are worth following closely as both pilots continue
their competition careers.
Full task-by-task results, including the Standard Class results and the Team Cup standings, are available at soaringspot.com/en_gb/jwgc2026
