WPRS Update April 2004

PARAGLIDING ACCURACY Competitions added were the European Accuracy Cup UK 2003 and the Lithuanian Open. No competitions were deleted. The top 10 remain the same, Andy Shaw (GBR) maintains his lead, Matjaz Feraric (SLO) stays 2nd, Matjaz Sluga (SLO) remains 3rd. In the nations, Slovenia lead, GBR is 2nd and Serbia and Montenegro 3rd. Full details of the PG Accuracy rankings can be found on the FAI website - http://www.fai.org/paragliding/rankings/precision/ Paragliding Accuracy competitions that qualify for WPRS points are listed on the FAI site; http://events.fai.org/paragliding/calendar.asp PARAGLIDING Competitions added are the Manilla Open and the Portuguese Inatel Open 2003. Results from 2004 not received so NOT added: Australian Open. Deleted were the Belgian Flatland, British Champs Algodonales, Korean Munkyung, Korean Nat League, South African Open and the US Nationals Owens Valley. Scotty Marion (USA) is still in the number 1 position and Alex Hofer (SUI) stays 2nd. Nikolay Shorokhov (RUS) rises 2 places to 3rd and Tomas Brauner (CZE rep) ties in 4th with Grant Middendorf who jumps 15 places. Oystein Walle (NOR) gains a place to 6th, Steve Ham (UK) also jumps a remarkable 18 places to 7th while Jean-Marc Caron (FRA) slides 5 to 8th. Norman Lausch (GER) rises a slot to 9th and there is a 3-way tie for 10th with all three pilots gaining a place, Stephen Morgenthaler (SUI), Tor Eric Stranna (NOR) and another Brit, Mark Watts (UK). In the nations rankings Switzerland maintain their lead, but South Africa gain a place to 2nd and Australia leap 6 places to 3rd. Norway rise a place to 4th, swapping places with Japan in 5th. UK remains 6th while Austria drop a large 5 places to 7th. France stay in 8th, Germany drop another 2 to 9th and New Zealand jump 2 places to complete the top 10. More details are on the FAI website - http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/rankings/ Paragliding competitions that qualify for WPRS points are listed on the FAI site; http://events.fai.org/paragliding/calendar.asp HANG GLIDING (Class 1) This is the last update using the current WPRS system. At the 2004 Plenary meeting in Croatia it was voted to change to the new system developed in Australia. This can be viewed at http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/rankings/. Pilots are urged to check their rankings and competition results and send any amendments to paula@fai.org There are several pilots without countries and there may be some different spelling of names. No competitions were added but the Brasilia (test Worlds) were deleted. Results in 2004 not received so NOT added were 15th Tanzawa HG Sky Grand Prix. Manfred Ruhmer (AUT) leads, Oleg Bondarchuk (UKR) swaps places with Betinho Schmitz (BRA). From 4th to 7th, the following all move up a place - Antoine Boisselier (FRA), Kraig Coomber (AUS), Mario Alonzi (ITA) and Brett Hazlett (CAN). In =8th are Bruno Guillen (FRA) and Nene Rotor (BRA) (down 4) There are 3 pilots in 10th, Attila Bertok (HUN) Raymond Caux (FRA) and Gerolf Heinrichs (AUT). In the nations rankings, Australia takes the lead from France. Italy and Austria gain a place to 3rd and 4th while the USA drop 2 places to 5th. The rest of the top 10 stay the same. Full details of the HG rankings can be found on the FAI website: http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/rankings/ Hang Gliding competitions that qualify for WPRS points are listed on the FAI site; http://events.fai.org/hgpg/civl-calendar.asp CLASS 5 There is no change to the ranking. David Chaumet (FRA) stays top, with Christian Ciech (ITA) 2nd and Johann Posch (AUT) 3rd. USA leads the nations rankings, Switzerland is 2nd and Austria 3rd. Full details of the Class 5 rankings can be found on the FAI website - http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/rankings/. Class 5 competitions that qualify for WPRS points are listed on the FAI site; http://events.fai.org/hgpg/civl-calendar.asp CLASS 2 The rankings remain the same as Feb 1st with Brian Porter (USA) leading Mark Mulholland (USA), Junko Nakamura (JPN) ahead of 4th placed Manfred Ruhmer (AUT). USA is in the nations top spot, Japan is 2nd, Austria 3rd. Full details at http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/rankings/ Class 2 competitions that qualify for WPRS points are listed on the FAI site; http://events.fai.org/hgpg/civl-calendar.asp