2022 British Junior Gliding Team

The FAI Junior World Gliding Championships (JWGC) 2022 is set to take place in Tabor, Czech Republic, from 28th July to 13th August. This will be the 12th edition of the event and will see the world’s best under 26-year-old glider pilots competing for the title of Junior World Gliding Champion.

 

 

Close to 100 pilots across Club and Standard classes will race over 14 days, flying a mixture of assigned area and racing tasks over distances of 120-500+ kilometres each day averaging speeds of up to 125kph!

 

 

The 2022 British Junior Gliding Team consists of pilots Finn Sleigh (24), Toby Freeland (23), Henry Inigo-Jones (21), and Tom Pavis (25) with George White (19) and Oli Summerell (20) in reserve.

 

 

Finn Sleigh and Toby Freeland make up the Club Class pair; both flying ASW20s ‘’5’’ & ‘’212’’. Having had an extremely successful 2021 together, winning all of competitions they flew, including the Junior European Gliding Championships, they are both highly motivated for the new challenges and competitors this summer! They also have the added motivation of defending Jake and Finn’s 1-2 result from last time out at the Junior World Gliding Championships in 2019.

 

 

Henry Inigo-Jones and Tom Pavis are the Standard Class pair; flying an LS8 ‘’95’’ and Discus 2A ‘’235’’. Having both competed for the first time internationally last year, they hit the ground running with an outstanding result, winning Silver and Bronze medals at the Junior European Gliding Championships. After another season of preparations and training, they are hoping to go one better this year and claim gold at Tabor!

 

For more information on the pilots, see: https://team.gliding.co.uk/our-teams/

 

 

The training, travel and competition costs for the team, including crews and Team Captain, are considerable. The British Team is fortunate to receive some generous sponsorship from both the British Gliding Association and the team’s own sponsors, namely McDonald's (York), Navboys, Lasham Gliding Society, Sydney Charles, Naviter and LXNAV. Even so, additional funds are necessary in order to successfully train and compete at international level alongside other well funded teams. This is where we need your help!

 

 

A crowdfunding campaign by the Junior Team in 2019 successfully raised over £7000. In light of this, the team have set a suitably ambitious target of £8000 to cover the expenses for the 2022 Junior World Gliding Championships.

 

 

To date, The British Junior Team have produced five Junior World Champions, one Junior European Champion, brought home many medals, 1-2 finishes, team cups and many of the Junior Team pilots have gone on to represent the Senior British Team and even become Senior World Champions. These achievements are despite competing against teams with far higher budgets, team gliders and team staff. Any support you are able to offer will increase our chances of further success and will be gratefully received.

 

 

How your donations can help us:

 

 

£12 - Food for a day

 

 

£15 - Camping for a day (pilot & crew)

 

 

£55 - Cost of a single competition aerotow

 

 

£750 - International Competition entry fee (per pilot)

 

 

£600 - Return journey fuel costs

 

 

£1300 - Average cost of annual glider insurance

 

 

 

Thank you so much in advance for your support. We hope we can do you proud this summer!

 

Lots of love,

 

 

Finn, Toby, Henry and Tom

 

 

 

 

For more information on:

 

 

British Gliding Team: https://team.gliding.co.uk/

 

 

British Gliding Association: https://www.gliding.co.uk/