Poland lobbies for ‘open distance’ to get its own space at the CIVL table
Flying cross country in the Alps. Photo: Classic Routes
A group of Polish pilots is hoping to get open distance cross country paragliding officially recognised as a separate discipline within CIVL.
Explaining that, “There are world champions of acro, accuracy and racing, yet there is no world champion of open XC flying,” the team has prepared a proposal for the forthcoming CIVL plenary.
Speaking on behalf of the group, Polish pilot Kacper Kowalski said that pilots worldwide consider open distance XC flying the “essence” of paragliding – yet the discipline is not recognised separately by CIVL. As a result there is no ‘cross country world champion’.
The popularity of online XC contests showed that most pilots “think the same”, he added.
Calling the proposal “audacious” he said he hoped that CIVL would at least set up a group to discuss the possibilities of the idea.
Kascper told XC: “We have feedback from CIVL delegates and people like Will Gadd, Godfrey Wenness, Hans Bausenwein, Steve Ham and many more names from the ‘first pages’ … I think there is a real chance to create a strong international working group … [and then] a new discipline.”
The Polish proposal is on the agenda at the CIVL plenary, which takes place later this month.
The annual meeting of CIVL delegates – volunteers drawn from the world’s national free flight associations – is being held in Taiwan from 16-19 February.
With over 43 items on the agenda for the two-day meeting, including the contentious Open Class debate, the Polish team are drumming up support to make sure their proposal gets a decent hearing.
Steve Ham and Hans Bausenwein confirmed they are backing the new proposal. And Godfrey Wenness from Australia said, “This is a great initiative and I fully support it.”
He added: “I would say that for a great majority of pilots open distance XC is the essence of paragliding.
“Everyone you ask wants to fly 50, 100 or 200km one day. Very few stand on launch and say, ‘I’d love to fly in a race comp around some pre-determined turnpoints and get to goal’.”
He said that the numbers attending classic competition were falling. “The number of pilots attending task comps is a very, very small percentage of those flying XC.
“Here in Australia task comps barely manage to attract 50-80 pilots anymore. Our largest event each year is an open distance event – with 220 pilots last year.” That event is Godfrey’s own Manilla State of Origin.
The proposal is just one of many issues that will be aired at the annual CIVL meeting.
As well as regular business, important parts of the published agenda that will deal with the fallout from the double tragedy at last year’s Paragliding World Championships include:
– A report on the World Paragliding Championships in Piedrahita, Spain, last year
– A report from the paragliding competitions safety task force
– A report from Martin Scheel on the Open Class technical working group
– A proposal to split the Paragliding World Championships into separate individual and nation-based events
– A proposal to increase the qualification levels for entry to Paragliding World Championship type events
– A proposal from Bulgaria to end the ban on Open Class gliders in competition.
All eyes will be on the Bulgarian proposal, which proposes lifting the ban on Open Class gliders. This was put in place following the Paragliding World Championships last year and has proved unpopular with many participating competition pilots.
The CIVL plenary is the annual meeting of delegates from the world’s national free flight associations.
Held in a different place each year the meeting traditionally discusses the minutiae of the competition rule-book and signs off on bids for where to hold hang gliding or paragliding championships.
In recent years however, the meeting has wrestled with the issue of ‘safety’ in paragliding competitions, sparking wide debate in the comp scene.
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