Simon Schröder is currently twice the title holder. In 2019 he won the Junior World Championship in the standard class in Szeged, Hungary, and this year the general World Championship in the standard class in Montlucon, France. The great success of Bruno Gantenbrink is a little further back. He won the title in 1989 in Wiener Neustadt in the racing class. Before that, he was twice vice world champion.
For Simon Schröder it is the third visit of the Nambian gliding center. In 2016, he completed the dream distance in Wilfried Großkinsky's 1000 km training camp and then flew it in Germany from Bad Wörishofen. And this time on November 29th it was almost 1250 kilometers at 143 kph. Bruno Gantenbrink collected a good 100 glider flying hours over Namibia this season and several 1000 k distances.
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.