President's Letter to Delegates and Committee Chairmen 2005-8

November 11th, 2005

Dear Friends

Qualifying Sailplane Grand Prix 2006

The interest in the SGP events for 2006 as been great following the very successful 1st World Sailplane Grand Prix held in St Auban by the FFVV.

As a result the Bureau decided in our mid-year meeting in October to extend the time for bids for Qualifying Grand Prix events in 2006 to 31st December 2005. Incomplete bids will not be accepted.

Currently we have accepted the following 2006 Qualifying Grand Prix events:

• The New Zealand Sailplane Grand Prix – January 2006
• The United States Sailplane Grand Prix – July 2006
• The South African Sailplane Grand Prix – December 2006
• The Australian Sailplane Grand Prix (site yet to be determined) – December 2006

The reason for choosing this date is to ensure that the pilots who fly at Omarama, New Zealand, in January 2006 will know how many places are available for qualification towards the 2nd World Sailplane Grand Prix in 2007.

IGC Bureau mid-year meeting

A very successful Bureau meeting was held in Paris in early October. My thanks again to our colleagues at the FFVV for their hospitality and the use of their offices.

Key points from this meeting were:

• President of Honour Tor Johannessen was nominated as the accredited IGC Representative to CASI. Tor was subsequently elected as a member of the CASI Bureau.
• The Business Development Group is to be re-constituted.
• A draft set of IGC Strategic Improvement Actions was accepted and these will be published for the 2006 Plenary.
• Dates for the Championships in 2007 and 2008 overlap so some dates will need to be adjusted.
• All Organisers and Stewards are to be reminded that safety is paramount at all Championships.
• The closing date for bids for the Women’s 2009 Championship are to be extended to the 15th of December 2005.
• Sailplane Grand Prix events are to be limited to a maximum of 20 competitors. Qualifying Grand Prix events must have at least 5 places available for international pilots. Only one QGP will be accepted per country. Pilots may fly as many QGP as they wish to gain entry into the following World Sailplane Grand Prix.
• Further work is required to define the role of the Chef Steward.

FAI General Conference

The FAI General Conference was a grand affair, with the functions being quite stunning – both the venues and the banquets. The Centenary Dinner on the last evening was magnificent and it was a pleasure to be able to be present to recognise and applaud the outstanding achievements of eight men and eight women from all air sports and across the years for their contributions to aviation and for their achievements.

Sweden 2006 Website

The website for The 29th FAI Multi Class World Gliding Championships is now online at http://www.wgc2006.se/index.php.

Bob Henderson

President, IGC

November 10, 2005