James Nugent, Australia, the new Club Class WGC Champion with Uwe Wahlig, Germany in Silver medal and Stefan Langer in Bronze Medal positions.
The trough was to the east of Narromine on the final competition day. The air mass on the other (western) side of the trough was unstable but the ground and air were drying out. A few cumulus were forecast with good thermal conditions throughout the task area up to 10,000ft. The strong winds, up to 30kts at thermal top altitude, that had been a feature of the previous day's race were abating.
For the pilots who were still in contention for a podium place, the day was the last opportunity to change their fortunes. For those at the top of their class, this was a day to minimise risk, doing just enough to stay near the top for the day and maintain their leads.
CLUB CLASS
James Nugent, Australia, World Gliding Champion Club Class.
Roelof Corporaal, Netherlands won the day flying 394.95km at a speed of 112.58 kph. James Nugent came home 2nd, which was far more than enough to secure his World Gliding Champion title. James dominated the Club Class in this contest. He never gave the impression that he would be a shooting star and fade as the days passed. Each day, he was at the top of the scoring table and won this championship emphatically.
Hugo Corbille, France who won Race 2 came in 3rd, followed by Rasmus Ørskov and Michael Mix from Denmark. Nugent's Australian team mate Daniel Summers finished in 6th place.
Next came the two Germans Uwe Wahlig and Stefan Langer, who acieved enough to secure their Silver and Bronze positions on the championship podium.
STANDARD CLASS
Greg Beecroft, Australia in Sliver Medal position with Tom Arscott, Great Britain the new WGC Champion Standard Class.
Simon Schröder, Germany won the final race in Standard Class for his second day win of the contest flying 391.90km at 120.99 kph. He was closely followed by his team mate Enrique Levin. Tom Arscott, who was already in a commanding lead at the top of the scoring table, came home in 3rd place winning the Standard Class WGC title in style.
Australians Gregory Beecroft and Bruce Taylor finished 4th and 5th. This was Greg Beecroft's first international competition and he secured Silver Medal. Greg has been flying competitions in his home state of Western Australia and around the country for many years. It seems he has been hiding his talents from the rest of the world for all this time. Enrique Levin secured the Bronze Medal for Germany.
Tom Arscott is the new World Gliding Champion in Standard Class for Great Britain.
15m CLASS
In 15m Class, Yves Gerster, Switzerland won his second day flying 530.29km at 131.54 kph. This demonstrates that it was a strong soaring day and a great finish to the championships. Philip Jones, Great Britain came 2nd followed by Andre (Manu) Litt, Belgium.
Sebastian Kawa finished in 12th place. This was still enough to secure the 15m World Championship title, the second one he has gained in Australia after winning at Benalla in 2017.
Steffen Goettler, Germany finished in 15th place followed by Henrik Bieler in 19th position. However they too secured their podium places with Henrik winning the Silver Medal and Steffen the Bronze medal.
This is Kawa's 18th WGC title, which is an incredible achievement. At the closing ceremony he commented that pilots were always following him. This cannot be surprising to anyone. After all, he is usually in the lead. Who else are his fellow competitors going to follow?
Sebastian Kawa adds 18th World Gliding Championship title, atfer winning 15m Class at WGC Narromine.
TEAM CUP
Team Captains Bart Renckens Netherlands, Bernd Schmid Germany, Miles-Gore-Brown Australia.
The Team Cup was won by Germany with Netherlands 2nd place and Australia in 3rd place. The Team placings are decided by the aggregate scores of all competitors for each country.
Germany
In 15m Class Henrik Bieler and Steffen Goettler finished in 2nd and 3rd places. In Club Class Uwe Wahlig and Stefan Langer finished 2nd and 3rd. Enrique Levin came 3rd Simon Schröder came 4th positions in Standard Class. Though they missed out on a Championship Title, they nevertheless gave an outstanding performance.
Netherlands
Sjaak Selen finished in 6th place in Standrd Class. In 15m Jeroen Verkuijl finished 4th and Erik Borgmann in 87th place. In Club Class , Roelof Corporaal and Thies Bruins finished in 8th and 27th places, winning the 2nd place in the Team Cup for Netherlands.
Australia
With two podium positions, Gold in Club and Silver in Standard classes, Australia took 3rd place in the Team Cup. Daniel Summers took 11th place in Club Class, Bruce Taylor 18th in Standard Class, Adam Woolley 7th and Tobias Geiger 10th in 15m Class - completing the best performance by an Australian team for many years.
Australian Team Captain Miles Gore-Brown in interview noted the difficulties the team encountered inpreparing for the championships during COVID, which disrupted the team selection and training process.
The same was no doubt true for the other competing teams and it is a great credit to all the competitors that they took part in this outstanding, safe and successful 37th FAI World Gliding Championships, Narromine 2023.
Sean Young
The Australian Gliding Team pilots, with Team Coach Pete Temple (far right) and Team Captain Miles Gore-Brown (kneeling).