MEDIA RELEASE:
MARCH,
2000
(For immediate release)
FAI BALLOONING COMMISSION ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Delegates from twenty-nine countries met in Thessaloniki, Greece from March 1-4 to work on an agenda covering many aspects of international ballooning. The conference recognized ballooning achievements, approved rule changes, reviewed the work of technical subcommittees, sanctioned events and made progress in promoting ballooning in several area.
ACHIEVEMENTS
The non-stop around-the-world balloon flight by Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones was
acknowledged by awarding the prestigious Montgolfier Diploma for the best achievement in
the category of Rozier Balloon to these pilots. Their flight in Brietling Orbiter 3 from
Switzerland on March 1st to land in Egypt March 21 completed the first ever
round the world balloon flight and has been recognized by the aviation world as a truly
remarkable achievement.
German pilot, Uwe Schneider, was awarded the Montgolfier Diploma for the best sporting performance in the previous year. As winner of both the Austrian and German Nationals, international events in Luxembourg and Japan and runner up in the World Championships and Brazilian Nationals, Uwe Schneider is a worthy and popular recipient.
Richard Abruzzo and Dr. Carol Rymer Davis from the United States, were acknowledged for their impressive flight in a gas balloon from Denver Colorado to East Wales, Maine and received the Montgolfier Diploma for Best Performance Gas Balloon. Their flight took place during the RE/MAX Cup National Gas Balloon Race which they won with a distance of 1783.1 statute miles (2870.6km) and a duration of 64 hours 28 minutes.
Masashi Kakuda from Japan, an event organiser, official and active member of the CIA Subcommittees also received a Montgolfier Diploma, for his major contribution to the sport of ballooning,
The introduction of a new FAI Award for "Technical Advances in Aviation" was announced during the meeting and all countries are encouraged to nominate and to check with their local delegate for further details.
RULES
Regularly competition rules are reviewed by the CIA Subcommittees based on experience
during the previous years, suggestions from officials and competitors. The most
significant changes this year involved aspects of the AX (Hot Air Balloon) Model Event
Rules and changes to the Sporting Code – Section One, Chapter 5 which will penalize
"no show" entrants to sanctioned events. This recognizes the difficulties caused
by people who register but do not show up and will affect not only the individual
competitor but the NAC of the individual who is responsible for their entrants.
EVENTS
Progress reports were given on two major events for the near future. Plans for the World
Air Games (WAG) in Seville, Spain in July of 2001 are well on track with a test event
scheduled for this year in the same location. The invitation process was discussed
extensively and a formula developed that would invite the best competitive pilots from
around the world based on ranking at the previous WAG, World, continental and national
championships. With the main event only a year away the officiating team is being selected
for Hot Air, Hot Air Airships and Gas competitions.
With the first successful around the world flight completed just a year ago there is interest in having an around the world race. The plans for this Great Balloon Race continue to develop within the Commission working groups but no date has yet been set since a considerable amount of sponsor and geo-political work remains.
The FAI Ballooning Commission members approved and finalized sanctions for the following events:
World Championships
Category One Events
Premier Sporting
Sanction for the 1st South American Championships in Brazil (July 15 – 22, 2001) was approved in principal and along with several other application will be reviewed by the Commission Bureau and approval granted provided they satisfy all the sanctioning criteria.
YOUTH INITIATIVES
Presentations were make on projects to encourage youth to become involved in ballooning.
Markus Haggeney talked about the 7 internal and 1 international camps hosted annually by
the German Balloon Federation while Mark Sullivan presented the Junior Balloonist program
sponsored by the Balloon Federation of America. The FAI Ballooning Commission supports
these initiatives to encourage growth in the sport.
COMMISSION ORGANIZATION
The Commission organization continues to change to meet the needs of balloonists. This
year a new Competitors Committee was added to provide an opportunity for top competitive
pilots to offer advise on a wide range of topics directly to the Commission. For the first
year this group is chaired by Uwe Schneider of Germany.
The Public Relations and Development Subcommittee has a new chairperson in Pat Brake from the United States and is focusing this year on a number of media and public relations efforts including finding interested and skilled individuals to help in the world wide promotion of the sport of ballooning.
The incumbent Executive were re-elected with Jean-Claude Weber retaining his position as President, Neil Robertson Secretary and Vice Presidents Markus Haggeney, Hans Akerstedt, Jakob Burkard to serve for another year.
The final minutes of the meeting and further details on these announcements will be published on the Commission’s web site within the next few weeks.
The next FAI Ballooning Commission meeting is scheduled for February 28 to March 3, 2001 in Bern, Switzerland.
For information on ballooning and airships, delegates' contact details, events, records and the Gordon Bennett Race, check out the FAI Ballooning Commission website at : www.fai.org/ballooning
For further information please contact the FAI Secretariat at:
Tel: 41 21 345 1070 or Email: sec@fai.org
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