View Full Version : Kawa.....
What can you say?? An awesome pilot flying a finely tuned unique machine on his home turf. Incredible!!
Andy K
July 29th 14, 10:11 PM
On Tuesday, July 29, 2014 3:15:45 PM UTC-4, wrote:
> What can you say?? An awesome pilot flying a finely tuned unique machine on his home turf. Incredible!!
I think is is an eagle dressed as human...:)
Kevin Neave[_2_]
July 30th 14, 10:53 AM
I dunno, it all looks pretty close to me.
Less than 100pts covering the top 6, could be anyone's contest.
They're all incredible pilots, flying very similar gliders.
KN
At 21:57 29 July 2014, wrote:
>Could be!!!
>
Luke Szczepaniak
July 30th 14, 02:05 PM
On 07/29/2014 3:15 PM, wrote:
> What can you say?? An awesome pilot flying a finely tuned unique machine on his home turf. Incredible!!
>
According to his blog (
http://www.sebastiankawa.pl/6504/czego-to-ludzie-nie-maja-w-szpargalach/
) Sebastian got a hold of this glider shortly before the contest.
Apparently it was sitting in someones garage gathering dust.
Interestingly enough, this is Diana 2 SN#3 formerly VH-VHZ.. the same
one that was the center of the unfortunate dispute between Ms. Hana
Zejdova and Mr. Bogumil Beres.
Luke
Sean Fidler
July 30th 14, 03:02 PM
The fact the Kawa has won or nearly won so many World Championships (and major European and FAI contests) in such a short period of time, in so many classes and in so many different gliders models is simply astonishing. Especially impressive is his dominance of the "World Championship of World Championships" (in my opinion), the incredibly challenging FAI Sailplane Grand Prix World Championship events.
In that exceptionally difficult discipline of pure glider racing (and no compromise or excuses, Assigned Tasks only) Kawa has won every single event in which he has entered except for one. In that event, Kawa was a very close second to a pilot who was flying at his home location of Sisteron, France (a very technical flying site). That pilot was actually a lifelong instructor at Sisteron! Kawa had never flown at Sisteron before and still was only barely defeated on the last day in very weak, difficult conditions.
Kawa is simply at a different level. I do not think it's even comparable. Nobody else is even close to his overall accomplishments, his consistency or his raw talent. Kawa will soon be known, if he is not already, as the best glider racing pilot in history. Its not even close. It's obvious. He won Uvalde by 600 points! That's unheard of...
Any glider racing pilot (or cross country pilot for that matter) who does not carefully study Kawa's flight traces is simply not serious, IMO.
Clay[_4_]
July 30th 14, 06:45 PM
On Wednesday, July 30, 2014 12:41:51 PM UTC-4, wrote:
> Agree with ALL of that!
Just wish we could see him fly 18M class. One of the few trophies he doesn't have.
Andy K
July 30th 14, 10:49 PM
On Wednesday, July 30, 2014 1:45:27 PM UTC-4, Clay wrote:
> On Wednesday, July 30, 2014 12:41:51 PM UTC-4, wrote:
>
> > Agree with ALL of that!
>
>
>
> Just wish we could see him fly 18M class. One of the few trophies he doesn't have.
Well, the Polish Team have other strong pilots in the 18 m class as the previous two WGC and the current score card suggest.
GR8
July 31st 14, 05:25 AM
On Wednesday, July 30, 2014 1:45:27 PM UTC-4, Clay wrote:
> On Wednesday, July 30, 2014 12:41:51 PM UTC-4, wrote:
>
> > Agree with ALL of that!
>
>
>
> Just wish we could see him fly 18M class. One of the few trophies he doesn't have.
Ironically, in 2002 during US World Class Nationals, Sebastian told me that 18m class is a future of gliding competition, and would be his most preferable class to fly.
Am Mittwoch, 30. Juli 2014 16:02:53 UTC+2 schrieb Sean Fidler:
>Kawa has won every single event in which he has entered except for one.
He just placed second in the standard class WGC in Finland.
Am Mittwoch, 30. Juli 2014 16:02:53 UTC+2 schrieb Sean Fidler:
> Kawa is simply at a different level. I do not think it's even comparable.. Nobody else is even close to his overall accomplishments, his consistency or his raw talent. Kawa will soon be known, if he is not already, as the best glider racing pilot in history. Its not even close. It's obvious. He won Uvalde by 600 points! That's unheard of...
He won Uvalde by 400 Points and got half of them on the last day, in a competition with more than 10.000 points overall.
Peter Purdie[_3_]
July 31st 14, 01:14 PM
Not quite unheard of - the Jones brothers just won the 20M 2 seater Worlds
by nearly 900 points (and winning 6 out of 7 days), agaist a field with
World and European Champions competing. Flying at the same site where
their Father represented GB in the 1976 Worlds. Remarkable family.
At 09:36 31 July 2014, wrote:
>Am Mittwoch, 30. Juli 2014 16:02:53 UTC+2 schrieb Sean Fidler:
>
>> Kawa is simply at a different level. I do not think it's even
>comparable=
>.. Nobody else is even close to his overall accomplishments, his
>consistenc=
>y or his raw talent. Kawa will soon be known, if he is not already, as
>the=
> best glider racing pilot in history. Its not even close. It's obvious.
>=
>He won Uvalde by 600 points! That's unheard of...
>
>
>
>He won Uvalde by 400 Points and got half of them on the last day, in a
>comp=
>etition with more than 10.000 points overall.
>
Sean Fidler
July 31st 14, 04:14 PM
You are correct! It appears that Sebastian Kawa won the 2012 15 Meter Class World Championship at WGC Uvalde 2012 by ONLY 440 points (not quite 600). I don't understand what you mean by gaining half of those points on the final day. It appears that Kawa gained only 7 points on the last day (13). Not to shabby, regardless.
http://wgc2012uvalde.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=110&Itemid=7
15m (flapped) and Standard (un-flapped) are arguably the most competitive classes at each of the 2 bi-annual World Championships right now. I imagine this is why Kawa competes in those classes and not 18 meter, yet. 18 meter is probably very close to matching or even surpassing 15 meter as the most competitive class, IMO. But, Poland is fairly nationalistic, and Poland does not have its own 18m glider yet.
In terms of Kawa's fairly uncharacteristic second place finish at the 2014 Standard Class WGC Finland, the weather conditions were very poor in Finland overall except for the final competition day. It was a bit of a crapshoot (from what I heard) and that makes yet another consistent second place finish by Sebastian Kawa even more impressive (for me at least).
I am not sure the fine details matter that much. I stand behind my statement that Kawa's: 1) major contest record (numerous World Championships, FAI Grand Prix, Major European events), 2) consistency (second is a poor contest for him, even at this level), 3) raw talent and 4) ability to be competitive in multiple classes and gliders is something the world has never seen before in the sport of soaring. In fact, nobody else is (or has been) remotely close.
Kawa is the best competition glider pilot ever, by far and without question.. He has the whole world gunning for him every contest. The only question is how long can he maintain this run!
Steve Leonard[_2_]
July 31st 14, 04:45 PM
On Thursday, July 31, 2014 10:14:05 AM UTC-5, Sean Fidler wrote:
> You are correct! It appears that Sebastian Kawa won the 2012 15 Meter Class World Championship at WGC Uvalde 2012 by ONLY 440 points (not quite 600).. I don't understand what you mean by gaining half of those points on the final day. It appears that Kawa gained only 7 points on the last day (13).
He beat his team mate, Tomasz Rubaj by 7 points. Second place overall in the contest was Matthias Sturm. Kawa beat him by 188 points on the last day.. So, he got 188 of his 434 point victory margin on the last day.
And, I don't think anyone is questioning that Kawa is a superb pilot. Some have pointed out that others have made significant accomplishments, as well. Just not yet over the duration that Kawa has shown.
But, Poland is fairly nationalistic, and Poland does not have its own 18m glider yet.
- Actually both of these statements are incorrect. Aeroklub Polski owns a ASG-29,if not two. And Poland is less nationalistic than pretty much all neighboring EU countries, including Germany.
If you think "nationalistic" take a trip to France, but I think it's just a matter of spending tax money on the things that work in the interest of common folk/tax payer, as opposed to financing an overgrown military.
Am Donnerstag, 31. Juli 2014 17:45:17 UTC+2 schrieb Steve Leonard:
> On Thursday, July 31, 2014 10:14:05 AM UTC-5, Sean Fidler wrote:
>
> > You are correct! It appears that Sebastian Kawa won the 2012 15 Meter Class World Championship at WGC Uvalde 2012 by ONLY 440 points (not quite 600). I don't understand what you mean by gaining half of those points on the final day. It appears that Kawa gained only 7 points on the last day (13).
>
>
>
> He beat his team mate, Tomasz Rubaj by 7 points. Second place overall in the contest was Matthias Sturm. Kawa beat him by 188 points on the last day. So, he got 188 of his 434 point victory margin on the last day.
>
>
>
> And, I don't think anyone is questioning that Kawa is a superb pilot. Some have pointed out that others have made significant accomplishments, as well. Just not yet over the duration that Kawa has shown.
Thanks, that´s exactly what I meant with my statement. You can be sure that Matthias went into the last day with a "all or nothing" attitude, and obviously it didn´t work out.
And 440 Points in a competition with 11.000 points in total are nothing. That´s the other thing.
Sure, Kawa is perhaps the best pilot in the world, but Uvalde was definetely not a good example for his "domination".
On Thursday, July 31, 2014 5:57:14 PM UTC+2, wrote:
> But, Poland is fairly nationalistic, and Poland does not have its own 18m glider yet.
>
> - Actually both of these statements are incorrect. Aeroklub Polski owns a ASG-29,if not two. And Poland is less nationalistic than pretty much all neighboring EU countries, including Germany.
>
> If you think "nationalistic" take a trip to France, but I think it's just a matter of spending tax money on the things that work in the interest of common folk/tax payer, as opposed to financing an overgrown military.
I think he's referring to 'own' in the sense of 'made locally', ala the Diana 2.
18m is already hotly contested with Wójcik and Staryszak, so why fight with your countrymen when you can win across all classes?
Sean, Kawa was a Dinghy champion before he started flying gliders,
Sound familiar :-)
Bruce Hoult[_2_]
August 1st 14, 01:09 AM
On 2014-07-31 15:14:05 +0000, Sean Fidler said:
> I am not sure the fine details matter that much. I stand behind my
> statement that Kawa's: 1) major contest record (numerous World
> Championships, FAI Grand Prix, Major European events), 2) consistency
> (second is a poor contest for him, even at this level), 3) raw talent
> and 4) ability to be competitive in multiple classes and gliders is
> something the world has never seen before in the sport of soaring. In
> fact, nobody else is (or has been) remotely close.
I like that, unlike many other top contest pilots, he is not afraid of the PW5.
Andy K
August 1st 14, 01:36 AM
On Thursday, July 31, 2014 8:09:58 PM UTC-4, Bruce Hoult wrote:
> On 2014-07-31 15:14:05 +0000, Sean Fidler said:
>
>
>
> > I am not sure the fine details matter that much. I stand behind my
>
> > statement that Kawa's: 1) major contest record (numerous World
>
> > Championships, FAI Grand Prix, Major European events), 2) consistency
>
> > (second is a poor contest for him, even at this level), 3) raw talent
>
> > and 4) ability to be competitive in multiple classes and gliders is
>
> > something the world has never seen before in the sport of soaring. In
>
> > fact, nobody else is (or has been) remotely close.
>
>
>
> I like that, unlike many other top contest pilots, he is not afraid of the PW5.
He has a book in Polish titled (translated) "Second is last"
Sean Fidler
August 1st 14, 03:39 AM
2003 PW5 Jr. Worlds (First): http://rankingdata.fai.org/SGP_CompPage.php?compid=46
2002 US Nationals (World Class) (Second): http://ssatest.org/members/contestreports/ContestResultsFullDetail.asp?contestId=122&ContestDetailId=1333&ContestName=World+Class+National+Contest
List of World Champions (Still some work for him to do...): http://www.ssa.org/USTeam?show=blog&id=2129
On Thursday, July 31, 2014 8:09:58 PM UTC-4, Bruce Hoult wrote:
> On 2014-07-31 15:14:05 +0000, Sean Fidler said:
>
>
>
> > I am not sure the fine details matter that much. I stand behind my
>
> > statement that Kawa's: 1) major contest record (numerous World
>
> > Championships, FAI Grand Prix, Major European events), 2) consistency
>
> > (second is a poor contest for him, even at this level), 3) raw talent
>
> > and 4) ability to be competitive in multiple classes and gliders is
>
> > something the world has never seen before in the sport of soaring. In
>
> > fact, nobody else is (or has been) remotely close.
>
>
>
> I like that, unlike many other top contest pilots, he is not afraid of the PW5.
Sean Fidler
August 1st 14, 04:23 AM
Achievements from his website: http://www.sebastiankawa.pl/o-sebastianie/osiagniecia/
On Thursday, July 31, 2014 10:39:22 PM UTC-4, Sean Fidler wrote:
> 2003 PW5 Jr. Worlds (First): http://rankingdata.fai.org/SGP_CompPage.php?compid=46
>
>
>
> 2002 US Nationals (World Class) (Second): http://ssatest.org/members/contestreports/ContestResultsFullDetail.asp?contestId=122&ContestDetailId=1333&ContestName=World+Class+National+Contest
>
>
>
> List of World Champions (Still some work for him to do...): http://www.ssa.org/USTeam?show=blog&id=2129
>
>
>
> On Thursday, July 31, 2014 8:09:58 PM UTC-4, Bruce Hoult wrote:
>
> > On 2014-07-31 15:14:05 +0000, Sean Fidler said:
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > > I am not sure the fine details matter that much. I stand behind my
>
> >
>
> > > statement that Kawa's: 1) major contest record (numerous World
>
> >
>
> > > Championships, FAI Grand Prix, Major European events), 2) consistency
>
> >
>
> > > (second is a poor contest for him, even at this level), 3) raw talent
>
> >
>
> > > and 4) ability to be competitive in multiple classes and gliders is
>
> >
>
> > > something the world has never seen before in the sport of soaring. In
>
> >
>
> > > fact, nobody else is (or has been) remotely close.
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > I like that, unlike many other top contest pilots, he is not afraid of the PW5.
Helge_Zembold
August 1st 14, 10:48 PM
I do highly recommend his book "Sky full of heat", available in English and German. Although it deals a lot with his childhood and youth in the beginning, it gives an excellent insight into how he became what he is today...
http://skyfullofheat.com
Sean Fidler
August 7th 14, 01:31 AM
Amazing!
http://www.wgc2014.hb.pl/wyniki/15m/486_15m_tot.htm
On Wednesday, August 6, 2014 7:31:47 PM UTC-5, Sean Fidler wrote:
> Amazing! http://www.wgc2014.hb.pl/wyniki/15m/486_15m_tot.htm
More amazing!! He extended his lead by another 100pts today!!
Sean Fidler
August 7th 14, 08:57 PM
Incredible! Finally solid conditions. Less uncontrollable variables.
http://www.wgc2014.hb.pl/wyniki/15m/487_15m.htm
Paul T[_4_]
August 7th 14, 09:10 PM
At 19:57 07 August 2014, Sean Fidler wrote:
>Incredible! Finally solid conditions. Less uncontrollable variables.
>
>http://www.wgc2014.hb.pl/wyniki/15m/487_15m.htm
>
and undeset tasks yet again!
Look at the speed difference between Kawa and the rest.
On Thursday, August 7, 2014 5:13:55 PM UTC-5, wrote:
> Look at the speed difference between Kawa and the rest.
You guys should follow his blog - google does a pretty good job translating.
Whats amazing is the entire gaggle that tries to follow him each day... Comical how he got rid of no.2, two days ago.
Ventus_a
August 9th 14, 02:45 AM
You are correct! It appears that Sebastian Kawa won the 2012 15 Meter Class World Championship at WGC Uvalde 2012 by ONLY 440 points (not quite 600). I don't understand what you mean by gaining half of those points on the final day. It appears that Kawa gained only 7 points on the last day (13). Not to shabby, regardless.
snip
Kawa is the best competition glider pilot ever, by far and without question.. He has the whole world gunning for him every contest. The only question is how long can he maintain this run!
I would venture that it's not without question. There have been other excellent pilots both in the past and at present that have excellent contest winning pedigree.
There have been some e.g. Sue Kussbach, Ingo Renner, George Lee and Michael Sommer, that I can think off, that have won 3 world titles in a row in the same class. Not an easily achieved feat and one that Kawa has yet to do.
I take nothing away from Sebastian, in fact if there was betting involved my money would be on him (saw him fly the SGP final at Omarama in 2007). He's my pick as winner in whatever contest he flies and he does seem to fly a lot. I actually wonder what his winning percentage is over all the National level and higher comps he's been in.
As a side note and probably worthy of a thread it's own is 'how good is the variety of gliders span wise that are competitive in the open these days?'
:-) Colin
You can add another WC to Kawa's resume today...by over 300 pts. BTW, the new 18M champ is a Pole too.
A Diana2, a JS-1, and an EB-29.
A SH shutout at this WC.
Correction ASG-29, not JS-1
Sean Fidler
August 11th 14, 07:43 PM
On Saturday, August 9, 2014 2:11:08 PM UTC-4, wrote:
> You can add another WC to Kawa's resume today...by over 300 pts. BTW, the new 18M champ is a Pole too.
Absolutely amazing. He was close to the top in the poor weather (early in the event) and pulled away once it got better. I don't think many fully appreciate how difficult it is to win this many world level competitions (in various classes, gliders and formats).
Congratulations Sebastian!
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