A decidedly better forecast today. The front that brought rain has wandered off well to the east, leaving Tabor with cool temperatures, sun, and moderately unstable air productive of thermal lift to useful altitudes – and cumulus clouds. And it was thought to be a long-lasting day – decent lift until 18:00 or later – though perhaps with some thin cirrus clouds to slow things down a bit late in the day.

In view of the improved conditions, Racing tasks just over 400km were set for all classes. These once again looked a bit short: Under cumulus clouds with bases approaching 5000’ above ground, top pilots should easily manage task speeds above 120 kph – possibly well above. With 4+ hours of good conditions available, tasks should be 500+ km.

In the event, the tasks proved about right. With plenty of late-morning cumulus clouds to mark lift (and perhaps with concern for weakening conditions later) most pilots set out on task promptly – a rare thing at WGC2025. Conditions were indeed good, but never really “booming”. Pilots found it difficult to center thermals and to stay well connected to the clouds; most occasionally found themselves low and forced to accept thermal climbs less than half as strong as the best. More than a few encountered weaker lift late in the day. Best speeds were well short of what the optimists had predicted: Just 108 kph in 15-Meter class, and barely above 100 in the others.

Tony and Sylvia had a good flight going until finding struggles on their fourth task leg. At times both were low enough to be looking carefully at fields below (which were generally friendly). But both eventually found good climbs and got home comfortably.

Jared Granzow posted an excellent flight. He and Mike Sorenson started well, struggled a bit along the first leg, then slowly caught the leaders, ending up near the top of the lead gaggle. Jared’s final glide went well, allowing him to finish 8th for the day, just 22 points out of first. Mike almost matched this, but his final glide didn’t work well, eventually leaving him stuck about 900’ above ground just 15km from the finish. He spent nearly 30 minutes “in jail”, climbing slowly – occasionally not at all – in the weakest possible lift. His struggles were not in vain: he at last climbed high enough to finish. But the delay cost almost 100 points.

We felt Mike perhaps deserved some sort of persistence award for this – but he would certainly not be the day winner in that category. That honor goes to Grozdan Meglaj of Croatia, flying glider GM in Club Class. He started shortly after noon and finished 7 hours 10 minutes later, for a task speed just under 59 kph. The graph of his flight tells a tale of uncommon suffering (hours spent way too close to the ground) and tenacity.

-John Good