Finals JWGC

Junior World Championships in Elchingen: The final day of competitions has come and gone, and the world champions have been crowned.

High-stakes competition, international encounters, and an extraordinary sense of community defined the 14th Junior World Gliding Championships, which were held at the Aalen-Elchingen airfield from August 2nd to 15th.

It was a nail-biter right up to the end—two Germans made it onto the podium in the Standard Class. Max Maslak is the world champion and defending titleholder, and his teammate Patrick Benoist finished second. In the Club Class, Germany’s Nils Zitzelsberger took third place. The German team thus also claimed the team world championship.

The tenth and final competition day of the Junior World Gliding Championships in Elchingen ended with a German one-two finish. In the Club Class, Florian Kraja of Germany secured the day’s victory ahead of Tomasz Kurowski of Poland and his teammate Julia Walowska. In the Standard Class, a German pilot also took the top spot: Patrick Benoist won the 10th and final day of competition ahead of Jakob Bogelund Lassen of Denmark and Jonas Busch of Switzerland.

Weather Makes the Final Day of Competition Impossible

Flying was canceled on Friday, the final competition day, due to extreme heat and insufficient thermals. Thus, after ten days of competition, Max Maslak from Bonn took first place and was crowned world champion. He has successfully defended his world championship title in the Standard class. His German teammate Patrick Benoist followed in second place, with Denmark’s Jakob Bogelund Lassen close behind. In the Club Class, the winner was Australian Max Scutchings, who is also the youngest pilot in this class. He was followed by Frenchman Nicolas Caudrelier in second place. Third place went to Germany’s Nils Zitzelsberger. In the team rankings, the German team took first place ahead of Great Britain and France.

Elchingen Makes Gliding History

During the Junior World Championships, an exceptionally high number of competition days, ten per class, were held, more than at any previous World Gliding Championship. The World Championships in Elchingen will thus go down in history. What began as a sporting competition became an international celebration of gliding and a special event not only for the southern German region but for the entire gliding community in Europe. A total of 207,126 km were flown on the competition days—using only thermals and the “power of the sun.”

The weather made conditions very demanding for the pilots and presented a challenge for the competition organizers led by task setter Bernd Schmid. Extreme heat of over 35 degrees, blue thermals, but also thunderstorms and, at times, strong winds required skill in selecting the tasks for both classes. The low number of out-of-course landings attests to this; there were only 73 in total, which corresponds to a rate of less than 10%. The flight distances, the nature of the tasks, and the respective directions in which the flights were flown were chosen with a great deal of experience and care. The consultations between Bernd Schmid and the German Weather Service were very intensive.

For the organizers as well, this World Championship represented a logistical feat. On competition days, all 80 gliders had to be launched within about an hour. Up to eleven powered aircraft were deployed for this purpose. On the ground, up to 60 volunteers from the Luftsportring Aalen—the host club—were ultimately on duty. Their roles ranged from catering, flight and operations management, and launch crews to the service teams responsible for the pilots and gliders.

While the world’s best young pilots took to the air for cross-country flights, the Luftsportring Aalen also celebrated its 75th anniversary on August 8.

Awards Ceremony

The closing ceremony of these 14th Junior Gliding World Championships was just as colorful and festive as the opening ceremony. It began with a lively closing night, during which a Cobra glider trailer was raffled off among all the pilots. For the clubs and associations of the World Championship participants, the glider trailer manufacturer A. Spindelberger raffled off a classic single-seater trailer. The winner was selected by lottery. The trailer is intended for the winner’s home club. A prize like this has never been offered before.

The same goes for the prizes for the two winners in the Club and Standard classes.

The Bitterwasser Flying Lodge is inviting the 2026 Junior World Champions in both classes to a one-week stay in Bitterwasser, Namibia, including round-trip travel. A glider from Jonkers and one from HPH will be available to the two winners there. An unprecedented grand prize. Thanks to the generous support of many sponsors, numerous high-quality and unique gifts were awarded to the juniors.

Preparations for this major sporting event spanned more than two years. Ten members of the Luftsportring formed the core of the permanent organizing team led by World Championship Director Bernd Schmid. They gave it their all to be the perfect hosts. The 14th Junior World Gliding Championships became a celebration of international air sports. The Luftsportring Aalen, as the host, and its Aalen-Heidenheim Elchingen airfield will remain fondly remembered by all participants from 22 nations.

They took to the skies as rivals, but they all said goodbye as friends.

Wilhelm Weiser, chairman of the Luftsportring, gives a positive assessment. “We’ve presented a really good image to the outside world. The world has seen that German glider pilots are perfect hosts. I tip my hat to all my members and fellow pilots, who gave their all—sometimes in a self-sacrificing way—to make this Junior World Championship a success!” The Australian IGC delegate also praised the LSR-Aalen for its performance. “The bar has been set almost impossibly high for when we host the next Junior World Championship in Australia in two and a half years!”

Perhaps the Luftsportring has thereby qualified for even greater things? In any case, IGC President Peter Ericson from Denmark could certainly imagine that a “major gliding world championship” could one day be hosted on the Härtsfeld. “You’ve got what it takes!”

A Swabian proverb says, “Not right away, and not tomorrow either!”

Wilhelm Weiser, a Swabian and member of the Luftsportring board, rephrased it with a touch of humor: “Not this year, and certainly not next year either, but it’s conceivable!” Weiser expressed great pride in the volunteer efforts of his members. “Hosting a World Championship like this is an outstanding, extraordinary achievement. This level of dedication cannot be taken for granted. Everyone has a career, a family, and other commitments. Putting all of that aside for the club deserves our deepest gratitude. My club, the Luftsportring, is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. This World Championship will go down in the club’s history—future generations will still be talking about it 50 years from now!”

The Junior World Championships in Elchingen generated a lot of excitement on the competition side thanks to the extraordinary number of flying competition days. The performances were outstanding. The opening ceremony, held in two cities on the same day, was described as “potentially a world record.” Local residents flocked to the airfield to watch and marvel. It also received tremendous media coverage across all platforms—from print media and radio to social media and nearly daily television reports, ranging from regional TV stations to ZDF and even the ARD’s “Tagesthemen.” All of this made this extraordinary Junior World Gliding Championship a truly special event.

Winners Club Class:

1 Max Scutchings Australia

2 Nicolas Caudrelier France

3 Nils Zitzelsberger Germany

Winners Standard Class:

1 Max Maslak Germany

2 Patrick Benoist Germany

3 Lasse Edslev Denmark

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