DG-100 stalls in slow thermal turn and spins

The pilot of a DG Flugzeugbau DG-100 ELAN was fatally injured when the glider stalled in a slow thermal turn and spun in near Winterthur; aircraft destroyed. On a winch-launched familiarization flight, the third on type, the pilot was working weak lift at 300-350 m AGL in gusty east-wind turbulence. Witnesses saw him near minimum airspeed; transitioning to downwind in a right turn, the glider tipped right and entered a spin. A higher-circling pilot tried to coach a recovery by radio with no response. No technical defects were found. Contributing was limited time on type (3 h, 72 h total) and the gusty turbulence at low altitude.