If further proof were needed that glider contests can influence weather, we had it last night – on the eve of the first scheduled competition day – in the form of thunder and rain (the first in southern Hungary for weeks). We awoke to a cloudy sky and conditions notably cooler than have been typical of the past week here.
Would today’s weather suffice for a competition task? – that was the question. A grid scheme was announced and crews dutifully placed gliders on the runway for a launch to the north. The 10:00 pilot meeting featured a complicated forecast that looked like the weather could go either way. The final decision was postponed to noon, at which time it was decided that conditions really weren’t acceptable – the day was cancelled.
Drops of rain were felt as gliders were towed back to their tiedowns, and the western sky looked threatening. But fully serviceable cumulus clouds were building not far to the north. So the sky offered support to both the optimists and the pessimists. Both factions will now have to wait until tomorrow for the first chance at a valid task.

I alluded yesterday to the problems of shipping gliders to Europe for this contest. At WGC2022, the Jonker brothers (Uys and Attie) have fallen victim to this situation: they (characteristically) prepared tuned and tweaked examples of their JS-3 design to fly in the 18-Meter class here. These went on board a ship weeks ago, with delivery promised in a German port well in advance of this contest. The ship apparently was held up in one or more ports along its way, and now these gliders are predicted to arrive (at a port around a thousand miles from Szeged) this coming Tuesday. Fortunately, Jonker gliders are now found all over the soaring world, and it appears Uys and Attie had little difficulty arranging examples they could borrow. Uys has decided to stick with the one he has borrowed; Attie has secured an arrangement (with the concurrence of the contest organization and all Team Captains) that when (if ?) his arrives he will have a one-time chance to decide – irrevocably – whether he will switch.

It’s always interesting to survey the gliders that the world’s best pilots bring to a World Championship. Today I’ll look at 18-Meter class, the largest one here with 42 entries. Here is the list of all entered models, and the number of each:
•Jonker JS-3 – 21
•Schempp-Hirth Ventus 3 – 11
•Jonker JS-1 – 4
•Schleicher AS-33 – 4
•Schleicher ASG-29 – 2
Most notable in this list is the prevalence of the Jonker designs, which make up more than 60% of all entries. I don’t yet have a count of how many of the 42 are motorized, but it’s clear that the number is high. (It’s said that among state-of-the-art gliders sold today – especially among those with spans greater than 15 meters – unmotorized examples are rare).