The 16th FAI Hang Gliding Championships were held in Greifenburg, Austria, from 7 – 21 June this year. Held every two years, it’s the biggest HG event after the World Championships.

Elio Cataldi, recently crowned Italian Champion, came away with the European title too. Tomas Weissenberger (Austria) and Michael Friesenbichler (Austria) took second and thid, and top woman was Germany’s Corinna Schwiegershausen, all flying Moyes Litespeed RS4s, a great result for Moyes.

In the team rankings it was Austria first, followed by Italy and then Germany.

The meet was marred by bad weather, and by the death of Richi Meier in the second task. Only 3 valid tasks were held over the 12 days, and there have been mutterings amongst some that some tasks were cancelled unnecessarily early, though in other camps the organisers were praised for leading a safe and well-organised event.

L-R: Tomas Weissenberger, Corinna Schwiegershausen, Elio Cataldi, Michael Friesenbichler

Full results can be seen at www.drachenflieger.at

Follow the action at the pre-worlds hang gliding competition in Laragne, France, online at www.chabre2009.com and www.chabre2009.blogspot.com from June 25 2008 to July 5 2008. Updated daily with video, photos and reports.

From the well known and highly successful Australian manufacturer, comes a new open frame floater hang glider, the Malibu.

The team say the onus with this wing has been on safety and fun, whether you are a newcomer to the sport or simply looking for a fun wing to throw around above the sand dunes. A lot of work has been put into making the sail efficient, and the resultant glider is capable of flying in very light conditions, with an extremely slow stall speed and a forgiving and progressive stall when it happens.

Moyes say that this is the glider that will stay up the longest and keep you flying while others are walking.

The standard Moyes Malibu is delivered with round uprights, but aerodynamic ones can be ordered as an option, as can custom colour combinations.

www.moyes.com.au

The first Alatus trophy, originally planned for 16 – 18 May, was postponed due to a bad weather forecast and is to take place next weekend, June 28th – 29th.

The organisers would like to welcome hang glider and paraglider pilots and their friends to the city of Levico Terme, Trentino, Italy for the event.

For more information, see www.vololiberotrentino.it/info_alatus.html

The Hang Gliding Pre-Worlds are set to start in Laragne, France on 23rd June, so competitors and friends are gathering in the area. It seemed a good opportunity to unveil a vintage collection of hang Gliders that is in the area: The craft have been collected by Gery de Clerck and donated to the CND, the hang gliding section of the French free flight association. The plan is to rig 100 or so of the wings in the Laragne landing field (campsite) on the Saturday, 21st June.

Anyone in the area who would like to see this incredible collection, and perhaps help to rig them early in the day (so as not to miss out on the flying in the afternoon) will be most welcome.

The local club will do their best to encourage good weather, and will provide drinks in the evening.

The Worlds and Pre-Worlds website is www.chabre2009.com

The 16th FAI European Hang Gliding championships were stood down for the day on Monday 16th June, in a mark of respect for Swiss top Aeros pilot, Richi Meier, who was killed in a tragic accident on 15th.

Investigations are underway, but from initial accounts it appears the glider tucked or tumbled on glide early in the task. Richi threw his reserve chute but there was not enough height remaining for it to open in time and he did not survive the impact.

Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

At the end of April we announced the forthcoming Nissan Outdoor Games, an exciting new concept to take place in Interlarken, Switzerland, from 4 – 5 July, combining outdoor sports with film-making in a contest to produce a 5 minute film. With 50 000 USD in prize money and some of the best athletes in their disciplines, the standards will be high.

The 5 teams have now been announced, and Felix Rodriguez and Antoine Montant have been selected to represent the sport of paragliding, and Team “Ride the Planets”.

Keep up to date with events at www.outdoorgames.org

On 7th June, Marcin Gorayski flew Europe’s first 300+km flight of the year, a 309.6km whopper aboard his Sol Tracer in his homeland of Poland. Another 3km and he would have broken the European straight distance record!

For details of his flight, visit www.xcontest.org

Back in March we reported on Francois Bon’s solo speedriding descent of Aconcagua, highest peak in the americas at close on 7000m. He did the whole thrilling 4mins 50 second descent with a video camera strapped to his person, so now we can enjoy the rush of this amazing feat. Fast, furious and very close to the terrain …watch this:

http://www.gingliders.com/speedflying/showdetails.php?id=25

A complete photo gallery of the recent British Open held in Pedro Bernardo, Spain, has been posted in Ojovolador.com. There are 465 pictures taken during those great flights over the Tietar Valley and the flats of Toledo. See it on http://ojovolador.com/gallery/v/british_pb_2008/