2026 Region 10 Contest report
Texas Soaring Association - Midlothian, Texas
Practice: July 25-26, 2026 | Contest: July 27-31, 2026
SSA-Sanctioned Regional Contest
Club Class and Sports Class
Report submitted by Marco Raaijmakers, Contest Manager and Contest Director
Contest Overview
Texas Soaring Association (TSA) hosted the SSA-sanctioned 2026 Region 10 Soaring Contest at its gliderport in Midlothian, Texas. Two official practice days were held on Saturday and Sunday, July 25-26, followed by five scheduled contest days from Monday, July 27 through Friday, July 31.
Interest in the event was strong: 36 pilots initially registered. Thirteen had to withdraw for various reasons before the contest began, leaving 23 competitors - 12 in Club Class and 11 in Sports Class. Despite the reduced field, the remaining competitors were rewarded with an excellent week of Texas summer soaring. Most importantly, every scheduled contest day was flown and scored.
Practice Days
Practice Day 1 - Saturday, July 25 - had light participation, with only seven contestants flying. It provided an opportunity to become familiar with TSA operations, the contest area and the late-developing summer conditions.
Participation increased substantially on Practice Day 2, Sunday, July 26. A two-hour Turn Area Task was used, with a nominal distance of 127.63 miles. The day gave competitors a useful preview of the blue, hot and tactical conditions that would characterize the opening part of the contest.
Weather and Soaring Conditions
The weather was typically Texas in late July: very hot, predominantly blue early in the week, and slow to develop. Ground temperatures reached approximately 100°F. On several days usable thermal activity did not begin until around 1:00 p.m., with early thermal tops around 3,500 ft MSL or lower.
Conditions often improved dramatically as the afternoon progressed. Around 4:00 p.m., strong lift became available and thermal tops above 7,000 ft MSL were achievable on most days. Start timing was therefore an important tactical consideration: leaving early could mean struggling in weaker blue conditions, while patience could be rewarded by a much stronger late afternoon.
Later in the week, more cumulus developed and the overall soaring conditions improved. The increasing task lengths and achieved speeds reflected that progression.
Contest Day 1 - Monday, July 27
Sports Class received a 2:30 Turn Area Task with a nominal distance of 145.83 miles via Pecan Plantation, Hillsboro and Devils Finger. Jacob Fairbairn won the day with 1,000 points, covering 149.15 actual miles at a handicapped speed of 57.79 mph. All 11 Sports Class competitors finished.
Club Class flew a 2:00 Turn Area Task with a nominal distance of 111.31 miles via Corsicana, Ennis and Hillsboro. Diego Nace opened the contest with a 1,000-point win. John Swanson was second with 968 points and Zachary Gordon third with 926.
Contest Day 2 - Tuesday, July 28
Sports Class flew a 2:00 Turn Area Task with a nominal distance of 128.31 miles via Corsicana, Mexia and Hillsboro. Jacob Fairbairn won again with 1,000 points, recording a handicapped speed of 69.28 mph and covering 139.45 actual miles. All 11 Sports competitors finished.
Club Class flew a 2:00 Turn Area Task with a nominal distance of 108.28 miles via Granbury and Barnstormer. Jaxon Tellmann won the day with 1,000 points. Diego Nace was only eight points behind with 992, and Ryan Bluestein was third with 982.
Contest Day 3 - Wednesday, July 29
Sports Class was assigned a 3:00 Turn Area Task with a nominal distance of 186.93 miles via Hamilton and McGregor. Louis McIntire won the day with 1,000 points. Rob Suvak scored 995 and Alan Murray 984. All 11 Sports Class competitors finished. Randy Hollenberg flew the greatest actual distance at 210.47 miles, while Rob Suvak recorded the best handicapped speed at 63.91 mph.
Club Class also received a 3:00 Turn Area Task, nominally 153.12 miles via Yellowstone and Hillsboro. Diego Nace won with 990 points, Mike Brooks scored 980, and John Swanson 960. Eleven of the 12 Club competitors finished.
Contest Day 4 - Thursday, July 30
Thursday produced some of the strongest flying of the week. Sports Class received a 3:00 Turn Area Task with a nominal distance of 193.64 miles via Mineral Wells and Quahadi RC. Jacob Fairbairn won with 1,000 points, covering 218.15 actual miles in 3:11:23 at a handicapped speed of 68.39 mph. Randy Hollenberg was just one point behind with 999. All 10 counted Sports Class contestants finished.
Club Class flew a 3:00 Turn Area Task with a nominal distance of 180.34 miles via Mineral Wells, Stephenville and Devils Finger. Diego Nace won with 1,000 points, covering 171.08 actual miles. John Swanson was second with 917 and Zachary Gordon third with 865. All 11 counted Club Class contestants finished.
Contest Day 5 - Friday, July 31
The final day brought a 2:00 Turn Area Task for Sports Class via Yellowstone and Barnstormer, with a nominal distance of 154.95 miles. Gordon Wingate won the day with 1,000 points and the day's best handicapped speed of 69.16 mph. Randy Hollenberg was second with 943 points and Louis McIntire third with 926.
Club Class flew the same general two-hour task configuration. Diego Nace closed his outstanding week with another 1,000-point victory, covering 112.84 actual miles. Jaxon Tellmann was second with 926 and John Swanson third with 911.
Final Results
Sports Class produced an exceptionally close championship. After five full contest days, only 29 points separated the top three. Louis McIntire won with 4,828 points, Randy Hollenberg was second with 4,814 - only 14 points behind - and Jacob Fairbairn finished third with 4,799.
Club Class was won by Diego Nace with 4,982 points, followed by John Swanson with 4,651 and Mike Brooks with 4,422.
| Class | Place | Pilot | Points |
| Sports | 1 | Louis McIntire | 4,828 |
| Sports | 2 | Randy Hollenberg | 4,814 |
| Sports | 3 | Jacob Fairbairn | 4,799 |
| Club | 1 | Diego Nace | 4,982 |
| Club | 2 | John Swanson | 4,651 |
| Club | 3 | Mike Brooks | 4,422 |
A Remarkable Club Class Champion
One of the defining stories of the 2026 Region 10 Contest was the performance of 16-year-old Diego Nace. Only a few months earlier, on his birthday in March, Diego received his driver's license, earned his glider pilot license, and made his first solo flight in a powered aircraft. Region 10 was only his second soaring contest.
Flying an H-201 Standard Libelle, Diego showed remarkable consistency over five consecutive contest days. His daily scores were 1,000 - 992 - 990 - 1,000 - 1,000, for a final total of 4,982 points.
James L. LeSueur Memorial Trophy
Diego's performance also earned him the James L. LeSueur Memorial Trophy, a perpetual trophy presented by the Kansas Soaring Association in memory of James L. LeSueur, who died in an aircraft accident on September 28, 1974. LeSueur was an SSA life member, Kansas State Governor, charter member of the Wichita Soaring Association, and a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. His accomplishments included serving as Competition Director for the 1973 National Soaring Contest in Liberal, Kansas, earning Gold Badge #164 with two Diamonds, constructing an HP-11 sailplane, and holding numerous Kansas State soaring records.
Under the trophy rules, the award goes to an eligible competitor in an SSA-sanctioned Region 10 Contest whose final score, divided by the total of the daily winner's scores in that class, is closest to 1.0. In Club Class the five daily winning scores totaled 4,990 points. Diego's 4,982 points therefore produced a ratio of 4,982 / 4,990 = 0.9984, or 99.84%.
For comparison, Sports Class champion Louis McIntire scored 4,828 points against a total of 5,000 daily winning points, a ratio of 0.9656, or 96.56%. Diego finished only eight points behind the combined daily winning scores over the entire five-day contest.
Contest Organization and Volunteers
A successful soaring contest depends on far more people than the pilots whose names appear on the scoresheet. TSA was fortunate to have an outstanding group of members, visiting volunteers, family and friends supporting the event.
| Role | Volunteer(s) |
| Contest Manager and Contest Director | Marco Raaijmakers |
| Contest Financials and Operations Manager | Robin Jenkins |
| Registration | Carla Raaijmakers |
| Scorer | Jacob Fairbairn |
| Safety Officer | Ryan Bluestein |
| Task Committee | Mike Brooks and Tony Smolder |
| Chief Tow Pilot | Robert Grimm |
| Tow Pilots | Will Dismukes, David Cheek, Jim Bristol, Dale McCombs, Matthew Smooth, and others |
| Retrieve Desk | Alexandria Fairbairn and Carla Raaijmakers |
| Dinners | James Hollins |
| Weather (remote) | Ken Sorenson |
| TSA Grounds and Facilities | Mike Weatherford and Neil Palmquist |
The Launch Crew
Special recognition belongs to the launch crew: Clay Smith, Alex Stolzman (who traveled from Florida), Alex and Sophia Westbrook, Sara and Krista Hall, Holly Nace - Diego's mother - and Nathaniel Miller.
Their performance was exceptional. On every contest day, the entire contest fleet was launched in one hour or less. The best launch came on Wednesday, July 29, when the fleet was airborne in only 45 minutes. In the intense Texas heat and with thermal activity often developing late, that efficiency directly benefited the competitors.
Special Thanks to Tony Smolder
A special thank-you goes to Tony Smolder, who stepped in as Contest Director for the final day after Marco Raaijmakers had to leave unexpectedly. Tony gave up his own opportunity to fly on Friday and instead took responsibility for running the final contest day. He then continued those duties into the evening, hosting the Awards Banquet and announcing the contest winners. His willingness to put the contest and his fellow competitors ahead of his own final-day flight ensured a smooth and fitting conclusion to the week.
Social Events
The contest included organized dinners on Sunday and Wednesday and an Awards Banquet on Friday evening. These events gave pilots, crews, families and volunteers time to relax together away from the grid and were an important part of the week's atmosphere. James Hollins coordinated the dinners.
Five Days out of Five
Perhaps the simplest summary of the 2026 Region 10 Contest is also the best: we flew every scheduled contest day. The week showcased classic North Texas summer soaring - heat approaching 100°F, blue and relatively low conditions early in the day, strong late-afternoon development, and increasingly favorable cloud conditions as the week progressed.
Despite losing 13 of the original 36 registered competitors before the start, the remaining 23 pilots enjoyed a full week of competitive soaring. Sports Class delivered a championship decided by only 14 points between first and second, while 16-year-old Diego Nace produced a remarkable 99.84% LeSueur Trophy ratio in Club Class.
Texas Soaring Association thanks every competitor, tow pilot, crew member and family member who contributed to the event. Their work made five official contest days, efficient launches, safe operations and a memorable Region 10 possible.