World Pilot Rankings Update 05/08/01
There are surprisingly few changes to the top 10 rankings, despite several deletions and additions to both the hang gliding and paragliding rankings.
HANG GLIDING
New results include the Norwegian Masters, Slovenian Open and the Spanish Open. The 2000 Australian Nationals, Bogong Cup and Millenium Cup have been deleted. Manfred Ruhmer (AUT) maintains 1st place and the only change in the top 10 is between Jean-Francoise Gerard (FRA, 8th) and Richard Walbec (FRA, 9th) who have swopped places.
Kathleen Rigg's (GBR) still leads the female rankings (28th overall) 38 points ahead of Francoise Mocellin (FRA, 44th overall) and Kari Castle (USA, 47th overall). There 634 pilots (41 female, 6.4%) ranked from 39 countries.
There are no changes to class 2 or speed gliding.
PARAGLIDING
The paragliding rankings see the addition of US Nationals, Greek Championships, Nordic Open, PWC France and British Open. Competitions deleted are; 2000 Australian Nationals, South African Nationals and Millenium Cup. Steve Cox (SUI) maintains 1st place overall on 306 points and the only change to the top 10 is Angus Tapper (NZL), who was 8th and is now 9th.
Louise Crandal (DEN) keeps her in the lead of the female rankings, and she is now ranked 33rd overall, but Andrea Joubert (RSA, 92nd overall) has closed the gap very slightly. There are currently 839 pilots (39 females, 4.6%).
There are no changes to the accuracy rankings.
Results not yet received (and therefore not included in WPRS yet the Argentinian Open (PG), Belgian PG Open, Czech & Slovak PG Nationals, Dutch HG Open, Inernationale de France (HG, C2)
The following competitions were not validated: International Swiss PG Championships and the Nordic HG Open (Iceland).
Forthcoming hang gliding competitions (class 1 unless otherwise indicated) that qualify for WPRS points are:
Category 2: UK Open National Championships, St Andre, France (class 1 & 2); Podbrezova HG Cup, Slovakia; Lone Star National Championships, USA (class 1 & 2); Korean Championships; Canungra Classic, Australia.
Forthcoming paragliding competitions that qualify for WPRS points are:
Category 2: Pre PWC Greece; Norwegian League
Final; PWC Kobarid, Slovenia; French Championships; Alpen Adria PG Open; British International, St Andre, France; Polish Open; Cornizzolo Cup, Italy; Mun Gyong Inernational, Korea; Korean PG Championships; Canungra Cup, Australia; Australian Nationals; Manilla Open.
Details of these competitions can be found on the CIVL web page:
http://events.fai.org/hgpg/civl-calendar.asp
Any queries/questions regarding the World Pilot Ranking Scheme should be
sent to Paula Bowyer, e-mail paula@fai.org.
Information and an application form for CIVL category 2 sanctioning are
available on the CIVL website http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/ or from Paula Bowyer.
COUNTRY RANKINGS
In hang gliding country rankings Austria maintains first place and the only top 10 changes are some place changes with the USA (now 5th) changing with Australia (now 6th) and Spain (now 7th) changing with Switzerland (now 8th). Major changes outside the top 10 are Norway who climb up to 16th (from 20th) and Mexico drops to 36th (from 32nd).
There are a few more changes in the paragliding country rankings, with Switzerland still in the lead ahead of France. Austria (now 3rd) has changed places with Japan (now 4th). Germany maintains 5th, whilst Great Britain moves up to 6th (from 10th), pushing South Africa (7th), Denmark (8th) and Slovakia (9th) down a place. The top 10 is completed by newcomer Norway climbing from 15th to 10th. Major changes outside the top 10 are climbers; USA up to 15th (from 18th) and Zimbabwe up to 28th (from 31st). Fallers; Korea down to 16th (from 11th), and Hungary down to 31st (from 27th). Israel (30th) is a newcomer to the PG county rankings.
Full details of the country rankings (PG and HG) can be found on the World Pilot Ranking System website. Pilots should check that their personal record shows the correct nationality, particularly as there are a number of hang glider and paraglider pilots of unknown nationality.
All amendments should be e-mailed to Paula Bowyer (paula@fai.org)
Full details of the rankings can be found on the FAI/CIVL website at
http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/rankings/
