Awards Ceremony

Today we had the awards ceremony which was nice but didn't compare to the one in Luesse. For one, the winners on the podium were backlit in the hangar which made it next to impossible to take photos of them.

In each class they called pilots from 15th place individually to the front to receive a prize. As the numbers counted down, the applause became stronger. Jerzy with his 4th place received a huge applause which filled us all with pride. I have been told that the last time a Canadian achieved 4th place in a worlds was Wolf Mix in Marfa, TX in 1970. We definitely made history here. I strongly believe, with a bigger team, intense training in team flying and and sufficient financial support, Canada could have a world champion. The German team was so large, they needed to schedule an evening specifically for introductions.
Italy wins 1st and 3rd place in 15m

Poland takes 1st and 3rd place in 18m, South Africa gets Silver. Poland also won the Team Cup and leads the international ranking list.

Michael Sommer of Germay becomes World Champion in Open Class for the third time. Britain takes Silver and a two seater team from Belgium take Bronze.

After the ceremony we said our good-byes which is always a sad moment. Over the last three weeks we have spent most of our waking hours together, have sweated it out in the heat together, have explored back country lanes in Hungary and Serbia together to find our pilots and braved the mosquitoes while de-rigging gliders in fields. In all of this we have develped deep bonds and have become a tighly knit group. Then the end of the contest arrives and the group splits up and heads off in different directions.

For me it was a very rewarding experience to work with this wonderful group of people. I am always being asked "don't you miss flying, when you are out there around gliders every day?" Well, it was so exciting, I didn't miss flying for a moment.

I want to take this opportuntity to thank George Eckschmiedt from VSA who came on his own accord and expense to help us. George is not the youngest anymore and the heat clearly took its toll on him. But he was always there when we needed him, helping with translations, going on retrieves, finding local radio experts when we needed them and chauffeuring me around - thanks George!

Thanks also to the Burnay family who showed up just when we needed help the most because all of our pilots were in fields.