Despite everything, there were already around 12 gliders at the start on December 12th and 13th between 9:00 and 10:00 am, waiting for clearance from Michael Stolze in the flight office.
The temperatures promised a good blue thermal.
Behind Gobabis the clouds were already waiting with a base of 4500 meters.
And already yesterday, many gliders made it over the 600 kilometer mark, two teams with Jan Knischewski and Guy Bechtold and Björn Gintzel and Uwe Wendt even cracked the 900 km mark. Together with Patrick Benoist, they flew as companions far north to beyond Windhoek and arrived safely back in blue Bitterwasser after a flight of around 8 hours.
So the blue days also showed their best side. But the forecast for the end of the week is promising. The clouds are slowly approaching the Bitterwasser pan again and promise good thermals.
In early September, the containers holding the gliders for the 2026/27 season were loaded in Waghäusel. Transported by trailer, truck, and cargo ship, the gliders are now on their long journey to Namibia, to the Bitterwasser Flying Lodge.
The Bitterwasser Flying Lodge was the main sponsor of the Junior World Gliding Championships, where from August 2 to 17, 2026, around 80 pilots from 22 nations competed for the titles in the Standard and Club classes. The grand prize for the JWGC winners was a one-week stay at the lodge, including travel and an airplane.