Open Class — 848 km
The Open Class task is the one drawing the most attention today. A five-turnpoint course has been set routing gliders from the start line at PNIAKI northwest to KRZYCKO (239 km), then southeast to ZBOROWSKI (200 km), back northwest to MALAR (177 km), east to WOJN (213 km), and finally home to the finish at EPRU — a total of 848 km. It is the longest task of the day and, at this point in the competition, a course of this length carries considerable weight in the overall standings.
Of particular interest is what the task will reveal about the performance comparison between the Binder EB29 and the Jonker JS5. The EB29 has been the dominant machine in Open Class for several years. The defending champions Felipe Levin and Michael Sommer are at the top of the table again in this championship flying EB29s. In 3rd place is 18 times world champion Sebastian Kawa flying a JS5. The French team have split their chances with Sylvain Gerbaud in 4th place in an EB29 and teammate Laurent Aboulin in 5h place flin a JS5.
Today's task, with its mix of long straight legs in varying directions, provides a meaningful test of how each glider performs across through the full thermal day. The task is long enough that small differences in glide performance and dolphin efficiency accumulate into measurable time gaps. At nearly 300 pioints behind the lead, The French will need a clear win to be in podium positions for the final race. But Kawa is 96 points off the lead and could in theory jump into top position. All five of these pilots are mighty competitors. Kawa has flown numerous previous contests where he has clipped his competotors at the post to snatch victory. But he is up aginst two of the most consistent performers in gliding in Sommer and Levin. Pilots and observers alike will be watching the trackers closely as the race progresses.
Sebastian Kawa at briefing. Can he overhaul the German team to take the Open Class title?
18 Metre Class — 755 km
The French and German teams lead the 18m table with Victor Mallick on 6,522 points ahead of Stefan Langer 6,498, Christophe Abadie 6,337 Mario Kiessling 6,221. In 5th place is Hungarian Kornel Negro with 5,915 points. Given the point spread, the battle looks to be whether Langer can catch Mallick for 1st place and whether Kiessling can climb onto the podium in 3rd place ahead of Abadie.
The 18 Metre task is an eight-turnpoint course of 755 km, a big task for a competition. Gliders will head northwest from KOBYLCZYCE to BOREK (194 km), briefly touch GOSTYN (15 km), then swing southeast to KLUCZBORK (131 km), south to LASOWICE (9 km), northwest to EPLS (158 km), east to KAKOLEWO (14 km), and then a long final leg east to EAST20K (220 km) before returning to EPRU. The extended EAST20K leg gives the task its distinctive shape and will reward gliders that manage energy well through the mid-afternoon hours.
20 Metre Multi-Seat Class — 616 km
In the Two-Seat contest, the point spread suggests that Germans Leucker & Omsel in 1st place with 6,535 points followed by Poles Grabowski & Czyż with 6,474 will be flying to keep their positions. The irrepresable Australian Adam Woolley and his teammate Keith Gateley on 6,355 points, may have to pick their battle. Will their appetite for risk make them throw caution to the wind to catch the leaders? Or will they concentrate on extending their slim margin over Hungarians Kassai & Mészáros with 6,344 points to defend their 3rd place podium position?
The two-seat class has been set a five-turnpoint task of 616 km. From NORTH5K, gliders head northwest to PRZEDMIES (235 km), southeast to GOLA (86 km), north to BELEWO (67 km), then a long leg east to EAST20K (213 km) before returning to EPRU. The task has a broadly triangular shape with a long final outward leg, and the shorter distance relative to the single-seat classes reflects the different performance envelope of the 20-metre two-seat gliders competing here.
Championship Decider?
After long tasks tomorrow it is likeley (but not for sure) that the final task will be shorter. It could well be that after today it will be clear who the three new World Champions will be.
Results will be published on SoaringSpot as gliders return during the afternoon and evening. soaringspot.com/en_gb/wgc2026
