Flying High: Zbraslavice Gliding Diary, Part 2

Women's World Gliding Championships see share of frustrating weather and triumphant finishes.

Sam Weigel

Friday, December 19, 2025 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

The day’s racing task for Club Class was a 367-kilometer ‘bow-tie’ course deep into central Bohemia. [Credit: Sam Weigel]

Key Takeaways:

Pilot Sylvia Grandstaff and her informal international team struggled early in the FAI Women's World Gliding Championships due to bad weather and strategic challenges inherent in competitive soaring.
The competition highlighted the strategic importance and pitfalls of "gaggle" flying (group thermal searching), demonstrating how optimal timing and group cohesion are critical for speed and scoring.
On the final day, Sylvia's team achieved a significant success by deliberately deviating from the main gaggle's strategy, resulting in high placements and providing the author (crew member) valuable insights into competitive gliding.

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When i left off last month, my wife Dawn and I were crewing for our good friend Sylvia Grandstaff as she competed in the 13th FAI Women’s World Gliding Championships (WWGC) in Zbraslavice, Czech Republic.

Unfortunately, the first 10 days of competition had only yielded three flying days, thanks to a low-pressure system that had parked itself over the Baltic Sea and lashed central Europe with relentless bands of low clouds and rain. Furthermore, all three tasks had featured thoroughly marginal soaring conditions, and Sylvia had “landed out” each time, with commensurately poor scores.