The British Team has finished the World Gliding Championships at Räyskälä in Finland in top spot.
After the two week long competition, the British Team won the overall team cup by a convincing margin over second-placed France and third-placed Sweden.
The win was achieved by strong British performances in all three classes. Brothers Steve and Howard Jones dominated the 20m two-seat class, winning 6 out of a possible 7 races only missing out on a clean sweep by just 33 seconds in the final 365km race on Saturday.
Ex World Junior Champion, Jez Hood, took the bronze medal in a very closely fought Standard Class. Going into the final race, any of four pilots, including Hood’s brother Richard and World No 1 Sebastian Kawa of Poland, could have won gold, but, in the end, it was Belgian Bert Schmelzer who prevailed.
Highly creditable performances by G Dale (5th) and Tim Milner (9th) in the Club Class rounded off a great fortnight of flying for the British Team.
The Jones brothers gold medals completed a notable piece of gliding achievement. Steve had previously won back to back world gold medals in 2000 and 2001 and the third Jones brother, Phil, won world gold in 2006. Howard’s medal this year completes the family treble.
International gliding attention now turns to Leszno in Poland where the world championships for the remaining three classes will begin later this month.
Results
Team Cup
1. Great Britain – 6494 points
2. France – 6096
3. Sweden – 5794
20m Class
1. Steve Jones / Howard Jones (GBR) – 6729 points
2. Antii Lehto / Nikke Luukkanen (FIN) – 5858
3. Guido Achleitner / Michael Rass (AUT) – 5742
Standard Class
1. Bert Schmelzer (BEL) – 5912 points
2. Sebastian Kawa (POL) – 5881
3. Jez Hood (GBR) – 5836
4. Richard Hood (GBR) – 5784
Club Class
1. Eric Bernard (FRA) – 6067 points
2. Killian Walbrou (FRA) – 6050
3. Rasmus Orskov (DEN) – 5954
5. G Dale (GBR) – 5865
9. Tim Milner (GBR) – 5610
