New World Gliding Champions Open Class, Bronze Michael Sommer, Silver Sebastian Kawa, Gold Felipe Levin Germany

New World Champions have been declared after ten tasks in total were completed across the two-week championships.

Open Class — Championship Final Standings 

Felipe Levin takes the Open Class title for the second time with 8,945 points accumulated across the championship, finishing just seven points clear of Sebastian Kawa on 8,938. Michael Sommer is third on 8,871, making it an exceptionally tight contest at the top. Sylvain Gerbaud is fourth on 8,453 and Laurent Aboulin fifth on 8,362. Russell Cheetham, the leading British pilot, finishes eighth overall on 7,510 points.

Open Class — Task 10

The Open Class was set an Assigned Area Task with maximum of 610.93 km, with a three-hour task duration.

Sebastian Kawa flying a JS5 flew 432.12 km in 3 hours 11 minutes at 135.19 kph for 1,000 points. Michael Sommer in an EB 29R came second on the day at 123.62 kph with 389 km covered, earning 863 points, followed closely by German teammate and Felipe Levin, also in an EB 29R, at 123.45 kph and 861 points.

Tomas Rendla in fourth managed 392.60 km at 117.07 kph, while the French team of Laurent Aboulin and Sylvain Gerbaud were practically inseparable in fifth and sixth, both recording speeds just under 117 kph. Russell Cheetham in a JS5 flew a longer path of 410.70 km but at the reduced pace of 109.23 kph, placing seventh. Pierre de Broqueville's EB 29DR earned eighth at 108.04 kph, with David Jansen and Max Leenders rounding out the top ten.

New World Gliding Champions 18m Class, Bronze Stefan Langer, Silver Christophe Abadie, Gold Victor Mallick

Victor Mallick 18 Metre Class World Champion

Victor Mallick wins the 18 Metre Class championship with 8,440 points, having led the standings for much of the competition. His French teammate and 2022 q8m cWorld Champion Christophe Abadie, won the day finished second on 8,165. Stefan Langer takes third place on 8,051 in an AS 33 Me despite finishing only 29th on the final day, a reflection of his consistent scoring throughout the competition. Mario Kiessling is fourth on 7,789 and Thies Bruins fifth on 7,614.

8 Metre Class — Task 10

The 18 Metre Class flew a slightly longer Assigned Area Task, with a maximum of 600.35 km, set over three and a half hours.

Christophe Abadie in a JS3 TJ took the daily win, covering 455.49 km at 121.28 kph in 3 hours 45 minutes to score the maximum 1,000 points. His teammate and new 18m World Champion Victor Mallick, also in a JS3, was just seconds behind — his 120.28 kph over 453.02 km earned 985 points. Third place went to Karol Staryszak in an AS 33 Es 18m who flew 444.43 km at 121.11 kph for 984 points, with the scoring showing how competitive the top of the field was.

Boris Žorž was fourth at 117.36 kph in a JS3 TJ, and Werner Amann fifth on 114.32 kph in an AS 33 Es. Mark Lumpy Paterson, f took sixth in a JS3 TJ at 114.06 kph. Linas Miežlaiškis in seventh covered the greatest distance among finishers at 455.21 km, though his 113.91 kph reflected the earlier start time.

The class was notable for its depth, with 36 gliders finishing the task and a spread from first to last of around 27 kph. At the lower end of the finishers, Stefano Cavallari completed the course in 4 hours 49 minutes at 82.50 kph. Three pilots — Sarah Arnold, Joze Verdev, and Sean Fidler — did not start, while Mauro Brunazzo and Antolín Javier Valdés Galera landed out short of the finish.

New World Gliding Champions 20m Multi-Seat Class Bronze,  Péter Kassai and Zoltán Mészáros , Silver Łukasz Grabowski and Judyta Czyż , Gold Karsten Leucker and Jan Omsels

20 Metre Multi-Seat Class 

The German pairing of Karsten Leucker and Jan Omsels (Arcus T) take the championship title with 8,338 points after finishing only eighth on the final day, their consistency over ten tasks proving decisive. The Polish crew of Łukasz Grabowski and Judyta Czyż are second on 8,300, and the Hungarian pairing of Kassai and Mészáros third on 8,204. The Australian team of Woolley and Gateley finish fourth overall on 8,144, and the British crew Steeve Jones and Gary Coppin fifth on 7,953.

20 Metre Multi-Seat Class — Task 10

The two-seater class flew a three-hour Assigned Area Task with a maximum of 570.49 km.

The Finnish pairing of Kettunen and Sorri in an Arcus M took the day win, covering 398.46 km at 110.19 kph in 3 hours 36 minutes to score 1,000 points. The Swiss crew of Cronjäger and Blum in an Arcus T were just 37 seconds behind in elapsed time and 1.88 kph slower, earning 968 points for second place. Third was a tie between the Polish crew of Grabowski and Czyż (Arcus M, 106.10 kph) and the Dutch pairing of Borgmann and Wolff (Arcus T, 106.05 kph), both scoring 930 points.

De Péchy and Duboc took fifth at 104.75 kph, followed by Kassai and Mészáros in sixth at 103.63 kph. The Australian pairing of Woolley and Gateley took ninth place, covering 387.87 km at 100.99 kph, while Jones and Coppin were tenth at 98.36 kph.

Winners of the Team Cup, France 3rd Place, Poland 2nd Place, Germany 1st Place

Championship Summary

The 40th FAI World Gliding Championships at Częstochowa-Rudniki concludes with three well-contested titles decided across ten scoring tasks. Felipe Levin claims the Open Class title by the narrowest of margins — just seven points over Sebastian Kawa after ten days of racing — in a result that will stand as one of the closer finishes in the class's championship history. Victor Mallick takes the 18 Metre title with a more comfortable margin. In the two-seater class, Leucker and Omsels converted a lead built on consistency into a championship win, holding off the challenge of Grabowski and Czyż and Kassai and Mészáros through the latter stages.