Interview of Max Seis, winner of SGP Spain 2024
Germany SGP just closed its doors (find the final results there) and Italian SGP will start from tomorrow on in Varese (follow the upcoming race here) but we had recently the opportunity to interview Max Seis (France), who won the first SGP of the Serie 12 in Santa Cilia, Spain. We throw back to this event and asked him some questions about the area and the factors involved in his clear win.
#SGP Team / Hi Max and congratulations for this win during SGP Spain 2024! Was the area of Santa Cilia a total new venue for you or did you flew the area before to prepare this SGP?
Maximilian Seis / I spent a bit of time in Jaca towing gliders when I was accumulating piston aircraft flight hours to become airline pilot. But (smiling), it is now almost 10 years ago now! So talking about real training for this event in this area, well… I just did 2 flights in gliders at this time and hadn't gone back since. So, I can't really say I knew the area much. But this was familiar in some ways.
#SGP Team / You fly quite a lot in Provence area (Max is member of the club of Vinon sur Verdon), is this area of Santa Cilia also easy to learn in a very safe "step by step" way?
MS / In some aspects it is very similar to the southern Alps and Provence area, as, generally, I found that the area is quite easy to fly in with indeed this kind of “step by step” before reaching higher and higher ground terrain further inside the main chain of the mountains. There are, also like in Provence, quite a few landing options on the tasks and ypu feel only a couple of valleys can become tricky when you're a bit low if you don’t anticipate things a bit. No big deal, we had fun!
#SGP Team / This edition was in 15m class, was this a limitation to take into account when chosing the glider to compete with?
MS / I believe that in 15m and at the 50kg/m2 wingIoading limit, most modern 15m gliders are almost equal in terms of performance. Ventus 2, ventus 3, js3, as33....etc. But I don’t personally own a glider, and rental solutions are rare unfortunately. I was not sure I could easily find a glider at first. Luckily, as a last minute, it went well alltogether and I was able to find a competitive glider! But clearly you need to fly one the few I have cited or it becomes more of a jeopardy, clearly.
#SGP Team / You won with quite a good margin in total points but, when checked daily, it was only with very few seconds advantages to the other pilots, what were the keypoints to secure this Win?
MS / The first part of the competition went very well for me, I was often able to make a difference in the last 2 thermals or even the very last one. And, after that, seeing that I had the advantage I was quite conservative on the final glides so, as not to "ruin it" by making a big mistake. This very good start gave me cleary opportunity to control the race after few days. Then, towards the end of the competition, I was in comfort zone to play it “safe”, flying tacticall, trying to avoid big mistakes. I think that explains why my lead on most days was not huge as time difference, but overall consistent and comfortable over the competition.
We will meet again Maximilian in September 2025 during the Final in St-Auban, French Southern Alps “Provence area” he will naturally be one of the strong contender to follow.
