Day Thirteen

Hugs all round on the final day of racing here at the Women's World Champs! The day started off with low developing cu's but gradually the cloud base raised high enough to make cross country flying feasible. With tight points in all three classes, everything was to...

Day Eleven and Twelve

Bad weather has scrubbed our last two days of flying. Instead the pilots participated in welly wanging - a british tradition of throwing a wellington boot (rain boot/ gumboot) as far as possible, the German team came out on top with good consistency. The tow pilots...

Day Ten

A low and messy day for all, there were those who climbed away from 500 foot and those who didn’t. The course was switched to B task on the grid to make the most of the good weather in the East. Upon being launched, all three classes struggled in their dropzones....

Day Nine

An impending front with high winds tipped the race director to cancel the club class early and just grid 18m and Standard with the chance to do minimum distance tasks in a short weather window. 1145 the grid began launching into a quickly changing sky. The first half...

Day Eight

All still to play for half way through the competition, with very tight points on the leaderboard all three classes still have the chance to mix it up. Although it was forecast today to be similar conditions to yesterday - with rough weather and high winds - it really...

Day Seven

It was a festival of flying and fun at The Gliding Centre! Visitors got more than they bargained for with two grid launches and landings. Mel the weather man said that with the Welsh mountains creating wave there could be tough rotor around. The grid got away smoothly...

Day Six

Due to the slow departure of the front today’s task was set East to West. The pilots had decent conditions for the start, in the 18m and Standard classes most pilots went deep into the first sector and struggled in the second with a very strong Westerly breeze making...

Day Five

  Although the day started off very overcast and cool, our meteorologist’s forecast was correct with the cloud burning off around 1100. In the morning we hosted our supporters at the club for a morning tea and introduction to gliding. Pilots grid squatted for a...

Day Three

Today was an official rest day with rain all night and forecasted thunderstorms from 1500. The Czech and Danish pilots visited the Imperial War Museum Duxford and got a fantastic tour around the aircraft. Everyone gathered together in the evening for the official quiz...

Day Two

Prepared for anything the task setters had ready A, B and C tasks for all three classes but the weather did not play ball. The first rain shower came through during briefing and it never cleared up enough to encourage thermal activity. So after delaying the grid...

The 11th FAI Women’s World Gliding Championship

13-27 August 2022, The Gliding Centre, Husbands Bosworth, Leicestershire

See the world’s top sportswomen race their gliders over 14 intense competition days and thousands of kilometers to become World Champion.  Watch the mass launch of up to 100 gliders, follow them on live race tracking. It’s a great family day out with fun gliding-related activities for the kids, air and ground displays and street food stalls.

 

You can share their world…

Learn to harness nature’s awesome power using just the sun and the wind to soar like a bird.  Your journey to flight will INSPIRE you and change your attitude to life itself.  To learn to fly is to GROW – as you learn to handle the aircraft, you grow your knowledge of nature and science and gain confidence, resilience and team-working skills.  Take your place in the worldwide pilot COMMUNITY

 

See the world from a different perspective…

INSPIRE

GROW

Hi, I’m Liz Sparrow, previous British Gliding team member and now Competition Director of the Women’s World Gliding Championship at The Gliding Centre, Leicestershire in August 2022. We are hosting this competition, gliding’s equivalent of the Olympics, to inspire people, particularly women and girls, to experience the sport and community of gliding, and to help women already in the sport grow their ability and enjoyment.”

Liz, speaking on gliding at a recent International Aviation Women’s Association Conference, explains why she is so passionate about involving more women in the sport:

“When every decision you make in the air has consequences… when every flight pits your abilities and experience against nature and gravity… when you must rely on yourself but also be open to learning and gaining information from others…I think it changes your attitude to life itself… All women should be able to experience this.”  Liz Sparrow, WWGC2022 Competition Director and DfT Aviation Ambassador

Image credits