Task 6 on 24 May brought another Assigned Area Task day at the 40th FAI World Gliding Championships in Poland.
Open Class
The Open Class flew an AAT with a nominal distance of around 436 km over a 3:30 task window. The day's winner was Sylvain Gerbaud (France) in his EB 29R, who covered 449.70 km at 122.53 kph to take the full 1,000 points. Laurent Aboulin on a JS5 was second at 120.77 kph over 451 km, with Sebastian Kawa third at 118.59 kph. The overnight championship leader, Felipe Levin, had a relatively quiet day, finishing tenth at 107.03 kph, though his earlier accumulated points mean he remains at the top of the overall standings with 5,521 points after six tasks. Michael Sommer, second overall, also had a harder day and finished eighth. Sebastian Kawa's third place on the day moves him to third overall on 5,357 points, while Gerbaud's task win lifts him to fourth on 5,320. Three pilots — Christian Hynek, David Jansen and Jan Buch-Madsen — did not complete the task.
18 Metre Class
The 18 Metre class flew a 3:00 task, and 42 pilots started. Germany's Mario Kiessling in a Ventus 3T 18m took the day with 118.85 kph over 367 km, earning 999 points, with Poland's Karol Staryszak on an AS 33 Es second at 117.83 kph and Thies Bruins on a JS3 TJ third at 117.69 kph. The three fastest pilots were separated by just over one kph. Victor Mallick's ninth place at 113.62 kph was enough, combined with his prior results, to leave him tied at the top of the overall standings on 4,978 points alongside Stefan Langer. Langer's fourth place on the day keeps them level heading into the second half of the contest. Mario Kiessling's task win moves him up to third overall on 4,914 points. The class had two pilots who did not finish — Antolín Javier Valdés Galera and Alena Netusilova, the latter managing only 134 km before the day ended for her.
Australia's Lumpy Paterson had a solid day in fifth at 116.31 kph, and sits 22nd overall on 4,317 points. American pilot Sarah Arnold finished 14th at 111.01 kph and holds 18th place overall on 4,419 points.
20 Metre Multi-Seat
The double-seater class flew a 3:30 AAT. The German pairing of Karsten Leucker and Jan Omsels in an Arcus T took maximum points with a speed of exactly 110.01 kph over 407 km. Austrians Janowitsch & Lutz were second at 108.04 kph, just ahead of Polish team Grabowski & Czyż at 107.91 kph. The Australian pairing of Woolley & Gateley in an Arcus M finished sixth at 106.04 kph, while Jones & Coppin from UK were eighth at 103.41 kph. In the overall standings, Leucker & Omsels lead on 4,914 points, with Grabowski & Czyż second on 4,802 and Woolley & Gateley third on 4,744.
With four tasks still to run before the 30 May finish, the overall Open Class margins are relatively close across the top four, with just 215 points separating Levin on 5,521 from Gerbaud on 5,320, and the 18 Metre class remains extremely tight at the top with the two leaders level on points.
