26 July 2021
It’s not just at the Olympics that British teams are winning medals – the Junior British Gliding Team swept the board at the recent Junior European Gliding Championships.
The competition was split into two-classes based on the gliders’ design performance, ie ‘Club’ and ‘Standard’.
The British team took Gold in the Club class, Silver and Bronze in the Standard class, and Gold as the overall winning team, which is an outstanding result!
The event was held over a two-week period during July 2021 at Pociunai in Lithuania.
Photo top: The Junior British Gliding Team at Pocuinai. From left to right: Tom Pavis (from N Yorks) Silver medal, Henry Inigo-Jones (Hants) Bronze medal, Clement Allen (Herts) team captain with the team Gold medal, Toby Freeland (Kent) and Finn Sleigh (Suffolk) Gold medal and European Champion!
Pilots qualify for the British Gliding Team based on results in regional and national competitions. The Junior team are aged under 25.
International gliding competitions are held over a two-week period to ensure enough good flying days. A race is held every day weather permits, with pilots flying 300km closed circuit flights using just the natural energy of the sky to climb and glide for the 2½ to 3 hours it takes to complete each race.
Every flight is recorded in 4D on a secure GPS logger. The fastest pilot in each race gets the most points, and the pilot with the most points at the end of all the competition races is the winner!
Huge congratulations to the Junior British Gliding Team who have been competing in the European Junior Gliding Championships in Lithuania! Gold medal – Finn Sleigh, Silver medal – Tom Pavis, Bronze medal – Henry Inigo-Jones. And the overall Team Gold medal! pic.twitter.com/j5mc0vcyiI
— Discover Gliding (@BritishGliding) July 23, 2021
