The penultimate day of the 40th FAI World Gliding Championships at Częstochowa-Rudniki in Poland delivered a long day of racing across all three classes. With the competition drawing to a close, the results from Task 9 have shifted the standings going into the final day.
Open Class — 848 km Racing Task
The Open Class drew the longest task of the day at 848.08 km, set out via six turnpoints across central Poland and back to Częstochowa.
Felipe Levin took the day win flying an EB 29R, completing the course in 5 hours 55 minutes at 143.20 kph to score the maximum 1,000 points. Sebastian Kawa, the multiple world champion, flew his JS5 into second place at 139.40 kph with 950 points, around ten minutes behind. Third and fourth were separated by a matter of seconds: Michael Sommer (EB 29R) and Laurent Aboulin (JS5) finished within 8 seconds of each other at 139.16 and 139.11 kph respectively, both awarded 947 points.
Sylvain Gerbaud (EB 29R) and David Jansen (JS5) rounded out the top six at 138.56 kph and 137.70 kph. The middle of the field was closer, with seven pilots finishing within a 12-minute window between seventh and thirteenth. Christian Hynek (EB 29DR) was the only pilot not to complete the task, landing short at 778 km and receiving 347 points.
In the overall standings after nine tasks, Levin leads on 8,084 points, with Sommer in second on 8,008 and Kawa third on 7,938. The top three are flying EB 29Rs and a JS5 respectively, and the gap between first and third is 146 points — tight enough that the final task will matter.
18 Metre Class — 755 km Racing Task
The 18 Metre class flew a 755.20 km task via eight turnpoints. This was the most closely contested day of the three classes, with 42 pilots completing the full distance and the results spread across a wide range of speeds.
Karol Staryszak (AS 33 Es 18m) won the day , flying at 142.68 kph in 5 hours 17 minutes for 1,000 points. Dennis Huybreckx (Ventus 3T 18m) was second at 138.13 kph and 936 points, while Victor Mallick (JS3 18m) took third at 137.92 kph. The gaps between second through seventh place were all within the 3 kph range, reflecting a competitive field on the day.
Further down, the pack from eighth through the mid-twenties was bunched between 129 and 134 kph, with many pilots separated by only a few points. Sarah Arnold (Ventus 3F 18m), competing in 26th place on the day at 129.23 kph, continues to represent one of the few women in the class. At the back end, Rune Hovda (Ventus 3M 18m) and Antolín Javier Valdés Galera (DG 600M 18m) finished at 108.90 and 105.36 kph respectively.
Victor Mallick leads the overall standings on 7,455 points with Stefan Langer second on 7,364. Staryszak, despite his day win, sits twelfth overall on 6,576 points. Christophe Abadie (JS3 TJ 18m) holds third overall on 7,165 points, and the fight for the podium is genuinely open across several pilots going into the last day.
20 Metre Multi-Seat Class — 616 km Racing Task
The 20 Metre Multi-Seat class flew the shortest task of the day at 616.13 km.
Janowitsch and Lutz (Arcus M) won the day with a speed of 132.43 kph for 1,000 points. Kassai and Mészáros (Arcus T) came second at 130.48 kph and 972 points, followed closely by de Péchy and Duboc (Arcus T) at 130.13 kph in third. The Italian crew of Ghiorzo and Gostner (Arcus M) was fourth at 129.82 kph, with Delfosse and De Broqueville (Arcus T) fifth at 128.96 kph.
Woolley and Gateley from Australia (Arcus M) took seventh on the day at 128.52 kph and 945 points. At the back of the finishers, Jakubcak and Sulirova completed the course in 5 hours 48 minutes at 106.05 kph for 626 points. The Lithuanian pairing of Motuza and Volkov (Arcus M) did not complete the task, reaching only 319 km of the 616 km course and receiving 194 points.
It is worth noting that the 20 Metre Multi-Seat class is dominated by Arcus variants — 13 of the 16 entries are Arcus M or Arcus T, with the ASG 32 Mi and HpH 304 TS as the only exceptions.
The overall standings have Leucker and Omsels leading on 7,481 points after nine tasks. Despite winning the day, Janowitsch and Lutz are ninth overall on 6,772 point. Grabowski and Czyż sit second overall on 7,370, and Kassai and Mészáros moved up one place to third on 7,316. Woolley and Gateley moved down fourth place.
With just one task remaining, Leucker and Omsels hold a 111-point lead over second place. Seventy points separate 2-4 places so the silver and bronze medals are up for grabs on the final day.
