What a great competition! Very professionally organized and great weather, which allowed for twelve competition days in all classes. Flying together with my team partner Sebastian Nägel I was the only standard class pilot who used an LS8 neo (S2). I was a little surprised about that, because since the roll out of „neo“-winglets it seems obvious that they are offering a nice advantage in performance. It had been proven several times, and in Germany there is now a trend back to LS8 sailplanes.
Weather wise we experienced any situation. From weak blue stretches, to rain and overdevelopment to real fast weather conditions. All in all it was quite a relaxed contest because the LS8 does not need special attention during flight and I was not confronted with any technical problems. The excellent qualities of my “S2” helped me already during the first few contest days. My climb rate was about 0,2 m/s better and my gliding advantage was obvious up to speeds of 170 km/h. Of course the colleagues watched me and I was often asked about those winglets. What’s more I could enjoy the fastest flight of the competition with 128 km/h over a distance of 330 km.
The only drop of bitterness: Although I had the best glider I did not win. Two courageous beginnings of a task, one a little less than an hour the other almost two hours behind me helped defending champion Pavel Louzecky (Czech Republic) with his LS8 to win. His team partner Miloslav Cink who flew an other LS8 came in third. After two winning days and 8 top ten ranks I could finally finish the European Championship as runner-up. My team partner Sebastian came in 6th. Thanks to some successful flights in the club class (3rd place for Uwe Wahlig) and in the racing class (3rd place for Jan Omsels) we were also able to win the Team-Cup for Germany.
Robert Schröder, S2