Club Class Champion Michal Lesinger 

The Pribina Cup returned to Nitra in western Slovakia 3 - 11 April 2026, drawing 35 pilots across three classes, Club, 15 Metre, and Open for nine contest days of racing over the plains and hills of the Nitra region. The competition, long established on the central European soaring calendar, produced consistent flying in the early spring conditions, with tasks ranging from around 220 km to well over 380 km in the Open class on the final day.

The Setting and the Tasks

Nitra sits in the fertile lowland of the Nitra River valley, with the Tribeč hills to the north and the broad Danubian plain stretching south. For cross-country soaring, the area offers classic spring thermal flying with cumulus over agricultural land, with the terrain rising enough to the north and east to provide reliable trigger lines. The competition used a network of familiar Slovak turnpoints including Chopok in the Low Tatras, Malá Kalvária, Mákov, Turčianske Teplice, and Šurany, allowing task setters to construct varied routes across different airmasses throughout the week.

Nine tasks were flown across the nine scheduled days — a full scorecard with no weather cancellations — which speaks to a reasonably settled period of spring weather, even if individual days varied in quality. Task 2 on 4 April produced no scoreable total result for several pilots in the Club class, suggesting that day tested the field more severely than others.

15m Calss Champion Jan Pavlik                 Photo ELFO.SK

Club Class: Lesinger Holds On

The Club class attracted nine pilots flying a range of older designs including the ASW-20, SZD-55 Promyk, Glasflügel 303 Mosquito, Standard Cirrus, and several Pegase C-101As.

Michal Lesinger, flying an ASW-20 with a handicap of 107.4, won convincingly on a total of 5,412 points. He took day wins on Tasks 1, 3, 4, 8, and 9, and was never lower than second place across the days he completed. His consistency across the full nine tasks was the decisive factor; he had no zero scores except on Task 2, which affected most of the field.

Mateusz Kruszynski in the SZD-55 Promyk (handicap 104.2) finished second on 5,300 points, taking the day wins on Tasks 6 and 7. He was close throughout but could not quite overhaul Lesinger's lead built in the earlier tasks. Christoph Spath, flying an Ls-1f (handicap 100.6), came third on 4,628 points, winning Task 5 with a day speed of 93.92 kph on the final task.

On the last day, Task 9, Lesinger recorded 109.02 kph for the 301.44 km course, with Kruszynski close behind at 105.32 kph.

Karel Novak took 3rd place in 15m Class 

15 Metre Class: A Tight Contest Between LS-8 Pilots

The 15 Metre class ran eight pilots, with the field dominated by LS-8s — three of the eight entries flew this type. Jan Pavlik (LS-8, handicap 111.4) took the class win on 5,099 points, edging out his fellow LS-8 pilot Miloslav Cink on 4,991. Karel Novak in a Ventus 2a (handicap 117.1) placed third on 4,938 points despite a zero on the opening task.

The margins were narrow. Pavlik won Task 7, posting a score of 1,000 points — the maximum — which proved a significant contribution to his final total. Cink was competitive throughout, winning Task 6 and finishing close to Pavlik on most other days. On the final task, over 339.98 km, it was Karel Novak who recorded the fastest handicapped speed of the day at 124.04 kph, followed by Pavlik at 113.60 kph and Jana Treslova at 112.07 kph — the latter just pipping Cink at 112.06 kph in a tight finish.

Jana Treslova (LS-8) finished fourth overall on 4,531 points, having been in contention throughout. The Romanian pairing of Custura and Lingureanu (DG-1000T) placed fifth, while Rudolf Schlesinger in a Duo Discus X did not complete the final task, finishing sixth on 3,186 points.

Miloslav Cink came 2nd in 15m Class               Photo ELFO.SK

Open Class: Janowitsch and Schwan Come Good at the Finish

The Open class was the largest and most varied, with 18 entries flying everything from JS3s and AS33s in 18 metre configuration to the twin-seat Arcus M and the JS-MD 3 jet.

The class winners were the pairing of Janowitsch and Schwan, flying an Arcus M (handicap 117.1), who finished on 4,924 points. Their campaign had uneven moments — they registered a zero on Task 2 and struggled in the mid-competition tasks — but they accumulated points steadily from Task 4 onwards and delivered the fastest handicapped speed on the final day at 129.42 kph over the full 383.40 km course, which yielded the maximum 931 points and sealed the result.

Tomas Rendla in an AS 33 18m (handicap 122.1) was second on 4,880 points, having been more consistent across the week. Alena Netusilova in a JS3 18m (handicap 122.9) placed third on 4,801, finishing ninth on the final day at 123.72 kph. Petr Krejcirik, flying a JS-MD 3 jet (handicap 122.9), was fourth on 4,781 despite winning Task 7 with 124.78 kph — one of the faster handicapped speeds of that day. Pavel Jiranek in a Ventus c 17.6m came fifth overall at 4,693 points after taking the day win on Task 3.

The class featured strong competition from Zdislaw Bednarczuk (JS3 TJ 18m), Vladimir Foltin (JS3 18m), and Jiri Kusbach (JS1-C 21), who filled sixth through eighth places. Notably, Hana Treslova (JS3 18m) placed 12th in the Open class, while her mother Jana won fourth in the 15 Metre class — a family effort worth noting.

The pairing of Szabadfi and Tornyai in an ASG-32 EL had a difficult competition, accumulating only 213 points across the week with several DNF days.

Open Class Champions Janowitsch & Schwan

Aircraft

The fleet at Pribina 2026 reflected both the current state of high-performance gliding and the enduring presence of older types. In the Open class, there were four JS3s in 18 metre configuration. The AS 33 and Ventus 3F represented newer designs, while the JS1-C 21 and the veteran ASW 22 BLE of Florian Spath (who finished 13th) showed the range of what pilots bring to a competition of this level.

In the Club class, the presence of three Pegase C-101As and the Standard Cirrus alongside the faster ASW-20 and SZD-55 illustrated how handicapping can keep older types competitive.

Final Standings 

In the Club class, Michal Lesinger (ASW-20) won from Mateusz Kruszynski (SZD-55 Promyk) and Christoph Spath (Ls-1f). In the 15 Metre class, Jan Pavlik (LS-8) took the title from Miloslav Cink (LS-8) and Karel Novak (Ventus 2a). In the Open class, Janowitsch and Schwan (Arcus M) prevailed over Tomas Rendla (AS 33 18m) and Alena Netusilova (JS3 18m).

Full results, task sheets, and daily breakdowns are available at soaringspot.com

15m Class podium Miloslav Cink, Jan Pavlik, Karel Novak

Club Class podium Mateusz Kruszynsk, Michal Lesinger, Christoph Spath

Open Class podium Tomas Rendla, Janowitsch & Schwan, Alena Netusilova