Saturday - Official Opening of the 31st World Gliding Championships

Today at 10am was the mandatory pilots' briefing for the Worlds. All teams are now in Szeged. Milan, the deputy CD is explaining once more the local procedures and safety issues. We have seen some pretty hairy flying during the practice days. One guy landed on one of the active runways in opposite direction. It turned out, he had not attended a single briefing yet.

The Canadian Team at full attention. From left to right: Dave Springford (PS); Jerzy Szemplinski (XG); Willem Langelaan (OX) and myself as team manager or team captain as they call it here.

During the briefing and official start of the 31st Worlds, the long awaited cold front moved through with a big bang. For a short time it rained so hard that it was impossible to understand anything in the briefing hangar. The conditions for the next few days will be cooler, with highs in the low 20s but very unstable with overdevelopment and rain showers.

The Canadian Team is now getting ready for the official opening ceremony. Which will be held downtown Szeged. The teams will be marching to the main square where each team will be introduced and its the national anthem will be played. Stay tuned for pix from the opening ceremony...