Virtual SGP of Lithuania from the pilot perspective.

The FAI Virtual SGP of Lithuania took place in Paluknys  (Lietuva2 landscape) from May 28th, 2022 to June 5th, 2022. It was a very spectacular and singular event as the pilots could only compete with ‘old 15m’ class gliders! ASW20, LS8neo, LS3 and Discus25a were the main gliders used during the event.

The VSGP of Lithuania attracted 50 pilots to compete and get a chance to qualify to the World Final.

A nice debriefing of the race has been written by one of the pilot: Donat-Pierre Luigi from France! The french man was amongst the best pilots of the event but unfortunately failed to secure a place yet in the World Final. Thanks for the recap’ Donat-Pierre!

Day 1 was a challenging first day, numerous thermals were spread and coalescing with a low cloud base, which made seeing lines difficult, a narrow working band and probing for the stronger part of the lift a must.  Patience and staying high were key. 269 (FR) built a strong lead by the end of the course, but it melted away in an effort to insure the final glide took two or three turns too many and Kelvin – ICU (SA) closed in.  Dave – Red (AUS) finished 3rd soon after.

Day 2, the forecast indicated strong but narrow lifts, the LS8 proved a definite best choice for the event and ASW-20 didn’t fare well, as Donat – 269 learned.  RED developed a solid lead by catching a strong lift just before TP2, and negotiated well the final glide, whereas ICU (SA) and KMI (HU) in the chase stopped one more time and letting RED (AUS) have a strong win.  A story that will repeat itself for Dave – RED during the event.

David Redman from Australia won the event and qualified to the World Final!

Day 3 was the most exciting race with a few changeovers in the lead.  KH (CRO) and KMI seemed to have a lead by the first leg.  By the end of the race TKM (DK) and 269 where in the lead, in an effort to control its lead by staying in contact above 269 took an average lift blew his lead for little energy gain, whereas RED took the opportunity to sneak in with a dolphin and take the lead in the final sprint to the finish.  This was a smart and decisive move and this race resulted in a very close finish with a virtual tie between 1st RED and 2nd 269, initially detected ex aequo, were separated upon review by 0.06s after 01:53:06 and 224km of race, followed closely by TKM and KMI.

Day 4 was a grueling task, with 45 km/h South-East wind and light thermals.  ICU, RED and 269 were battling it out, flying together for the first two legs, with ICU developing an edge just before TP3.  Unfortunately, ICU got too low pushing ahead, and KH and RED passed him as he bounced back with a lift to catch his final glide.  KH, Red and ICU were top finishers.  Leading into day 5, RED and ICU consolidated enough points to clearly lead the overall results for the event, with a little opportunity remaining for KMI and TKM to catch up for the second spot.   

Day 5, another windy day similar to day 4, TKM completed the task in 2h16min with a commanding 2min on SAM, unfortunately Norbert - CN on a different server did 5min better in 2h11min the lead for that day.  To note, 269 on CN’s server bagged it unofficially in 2h12 but was disconnected just before the start and scored 0pts, ending his chances for the event.

Day 6, the light thermal with 25km (West) wind conditions were tricky from the start, many having difficulty to climb for the regatta start.  ICU and RED took the lead and were joined by TKM by the end of the course.   Few pilots got too low to meet the minimum height requirements for the TP5 and Finish and lost precious time to complete the course.  ICU finished first with a 1min lead on both RED and TKM finishing close together.  At this stage by day 6 both RED and ICU remain safely in the lead for the 1st and 2nd spot to qualify for the 2023 SGP Final.

Day 7, the light thermals with a high variability in strength and with wind from South-West for 17 km/h called for a careful choice of line and staying high and chase and search for the “big vario”.  Two groups developed form the start, on track (led by KMI) and south of the track (269 and RED).  In a spirit of nothing to lose, TKM was in the middle, unfortunately with little to work with.  KMI’s group had commanding 500m height differential after TP1.  This was reduced by TP2 when SAM, ROC and 269 bounced back in a strong lift (best vario of the day) while Mihaly – KMI (HU) and Vaidotas – JEG (LT) forged ahead towards TP3.  By TP3, SAM (GER) and 269 stopped in another strong thermal ending well above the final glide - unfortunately losing unnecessary time and too far to cacth-up JEG while he had to stop and climb before TP4.  JEG (LT) won with 29s to spare, and in a replay of day 3, this last race of the event concluded with another nail biting finish of 269 passing SAM in the final sprint.   

David Redman (RED) from Australia and Kelvin vanBaalen (ICU) from South Africa had enough points lead from the rest of the fleet to preserve their qualification spot and stay 1st and 2nd overall no matter what their finish was on the last race.  Congrats to them both for advancing to the VSGP 2023 Final. Mihaly Knausz (KMI) from Hungary completes the podium and his the reserve pilot for the final.