Call to paraglider test houses

Following the ‘open class’ paraglider test certification problems at the FAI European Paragliding Championships 2010 at Abtenau, earlier this year, rule revisions are underway.

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World Championships Entry Requirements published

The entry requirements for both the hang gliding and paragliding 2011 FAI Category 1 World Championships have now been published

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Plenary Planning

Planning is underway for the CIVL Plenary, 24 to 27 February 2011, in Lausanne, Switzerland. This year, the meeting will be held in the Olympic Museum. The Subcommitee and Working Group meetings will take place on 24th and 25th February, and the Plenary itself will be held on 26th and 27th February. The deadline for Plenary Proposals is 29th December. The deadline for bids for 2013 Category 1 Championship events is 15th December. Further information can be found here

Certified helmet listing

There have been five Category 1 championships since the Plenary voted in February to ratify the Bureau decision to mandate the wearing of EN966-certified helmets. FAI officials have reported that a listing of such certified helmets is essential to the checking process. A list has been compiled and published here, and the CIVL Bureau is asking that helmet manufacturers help us to keep it up to date.

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Full house for interim Bureau Meeting

The interim meeting of the CIVL Bureau took place in October, hosted by CIVL President, John Aldridge, at his home in Maidenhead, UK. Minutes of the meeting can be found here. All Bureau members attended and took the opportunity to catch up on CIVL activities since the last Plenary, including a review of the five Category 1 Championships. Looking ahead to next year’s events, FAI officials were appointed and screening committees for entry qualifications were put in place.

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Consistency and precision at PG Accuracy Euros in Turkey

The 2nd FAI European Paragliding Accuracy Championships were successfully completed in August in Eskishehir, Turkey. A maximum 12 rounds were flown during the week, ensuring the eventual champions had to demonstrate consistency as well as precision. Jaka Gorenc of Slovenia added European Champion to his past title of World Champion. Marketa Tomaskova of Czech Republic is the new women’s European Champion. Czech Republic took team gold. Pictured is Zoran Petrovic (Serbia) who took the bronze medal. Tomas Lednik, Czech Republic was awarded the silver. In the women's championship, Serbian team mates, Milica Bicanin and Milica Marinkovic took silver and bronze. Team wise, Slovenia was 2nd and Bulgaria in 3rd place. (Photo: Andy Webster)

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Hang gliding Europeans heats up in Spain

The weather in Ager, Spain, in July for the European Class 1 HG Championships could not have contrasted more with Tegelberg, the venue for the Women’s Worlds and Class 2 and 5 Championships: temperatures around 38C and sunshine every day. Although Gerolf Heinrichs from Austria is the new European HG Champion and team mate Tom Weissenberger (right) was awarded silver, Italy took team gold, followed by Austria, with Switzerland in third place. Attila Bertok (Hungary) won the bronze medal overall.

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Windy weather affects PG Europeans in Austria

A few days after the late snow in Tegelberg, the weather in nearby Abtenau, Austria, hosting the European PG Championships, had improved, but only marginally. Three tasks were validated over the 12 day event. 144 pilots competed, including 15 women. Overall winner was Luca Donini from Italy. Top female pilot was Petra Slivova from Czech Republic, and Italy took team gold. According to Jury President, Vitor Pinto, most days had to be cancelled due to persistent rain, strong winds, low cloud base and thunderstorms. In addition to the three tasks flown (52, 62, 134km), two further tasks were set but cancelled before the launch opened, and one task was stopped due to storms developing on the route. (Photos: Martin Scheel, See gallery)

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Snow thwarts Women’s Worlds hang gliding championships

The second Category 1 event in the 2010 season was the combined hang gliding Women’s Worlds, Class 2 and Class 5 Championships held at Tegelberg, Germany in May this year. The weather conditions were very disappointing, to say the least, and no tasks could be run for either the Women’s Worlds nor the Class 5 Championships. Low cloud, rain and even snow on the mountain launch made it impossible to fly. In the valley, where the class 2 gliders were towed up, the weather was just flyable and 3 tasks were run for the 9 competitors.

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Korea dominates 2nd FAI Asian PG Championships

The first FAI Category 1 event this year in the HG/PG arena was the 2nd Asian PG Championships, held in April at Nishiawa, Japan. Three tasks were validated, while another two tasks were stopped and cancelled. Strong winds and rain prevented tasks being set on another two days. Korea dominated the medal awards.

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