World Logging Champions Choose Husqvarna
The prestigious 30th WLC took place on the 23-26 of August and gathered 111 contestants from 28 countries – and a cheering audience of about 3500. And, the excitement certainly lived up to the expectations. Approaching the dreaded limbing, Johann Raffl from Italy had the chance to secure the overall gold medal. But instead, after one irritating mistake, he ended up in fourth place. Urs Amstutz from Switzerland managed to beat Johann by just four points, giving him the bronze medal and a final score of 1639.
Excitement was in the air when gold medallist Alexandr Sokolov and silver medallist Jukka Perämäki ended up with the exact same score, 1645 points. “Before the last discipline, I knew I was 6 points behind Jukka. A few strong guys, in particular Johann Raffl, were also very close to me. Therefore the main task before limbing was not to lose the second place, which I managed. But of course I thought about having the chance to compete for gold”, says Alexandr.
After their performance in the final discipline no one knew who the winner was, as the judges actually went back to re-examine the limbing logs. However, no new mistakes were found and the tree felling result was used as a tiebreaker instead. A discipline that Alexandr had won by 654 points against Jukka’s 650. “I don’t think that I have realized it yet. I look at my gold medal, but I can’t explain what it means to be a world champion”, says Alexandr.
Top four contestants chose 576 XP
The Husqvarna 576 XP, used by the top four contestants in this year’s WLC, is an advanced saw for demanding professional use. This professional chainsaw features X-Torq® technology, providing high torque over a very wide rpm range, combined with low fuel consumption and low exhaust emission levels. Improved ergonomics reduces fatigue and Air Injection optimizes power, which also makes the saw run for longer periods of time. It was the best chainsaw in the World Logging Championship 2012, judging by the positions of the loggers who used it, the gold medallist one of them. “I have always used Husqvarna chainsaws. I really like the performance of the 576 XP and I use it with great pleasure. It is more powerful and has higher turnover, which provides the additional speed needed for winning a championship”, says Alexandr.
The next WLC will be held in Switzerland 2014. We asked the world champion if his plan is to defend his title: “I hope so! I will definitely try again to win the qualifying competition and hope to travel to Switzerland in two years. They say that winning the title is more complicated than defending it – we will see about that!”
Congratulations to the medallists and the rest of the Husqvarna loggers for a great performance!