This update sees considerable change to all rankings except PG Accuracy with 13 competitions added and 4 deleted.
HANG GLIDING (Class 1)
Results added are the Europeans, the Icelandic Championships and the Women's Worlds. Deleted were the Australian Nationals 01 and Forbes 01.
There are significant changes in the top 10 with the deletion of one of the Australian competitions and the inclusion of the Europeans. Manfred Ruhmer (AUT) takes his rightful place in number 1 spot deposing Gerholf Heinrichs (AUT) to 2nd. Antoine Boisselier (FRA) jumps 6 places to 3rd place and Gordon Rigg (GBR) moves up to 4th. Oleg Bondarchuk (UKR) stays in 5th but Jean-François Gerard (FRA) makes it into 6th place from 14th. Mario Alonzi (FRA) moves up to 7th place, and Robert Reisinger (AUT) jumps 5 places to 8th. The biggest gain is made by the acrobatic Guido Gehrmann (GER) who leaps 33 places to tie in 9th place with Andreas Olsson (SWE) who himself has gained 10 places.
In the nations ranking, France is still in number 1 slot but Austria moves into 2nd and Germany leaps into 3rd place. USA continues falling into 4th, GBR moves up to 6th and Australia slides to 6th. back into 2nd place. Brazil drops a place to 7th, the Swiss gain a place to 8th and the Ukraine moves up to 9th with Sweden completing the top 10.
Full details of the HG rankings can be found on the FAI website: http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/rankings/class1/
PARAGLIDING
Competitions added are; the Slovenian Open, the Portugese Open (Moncorvo), Pian delle Betulle, Spanish Open (Ager), Nordic Cup (Austria) Portugese Open (Porto da Espada) and the Yugoslavian Open. Competitions not received so NOT added are the Europeans, the Greek PG Open, and the French Championship.
The top 10 see some changes, Jean-Marc Caron (FRA) stays in number 1 slot, Alex Hofer (SUI) remains in 2nd but Xevi Bonet (ESP) moves into 3rd. The rest of the top 10 move down one place.
There are some changes in the nations ranking although Switzerland stays in 1st place. Germany moves into 2nd, deposing France into 3rd. Japan slides to 4th while GBR and New Zealand rise to 5th and 6th respectively. South Africa drops to 7th, Austria remain in 8th while Spain makes it to 9th place and Korea completes the top 10.
Full details of the PG rankings can be found on the FAI website - http://www.fai.org/paragliding/rankings/
CLASS 5
2 competitions have been added: the Europeans and the Worlds.
Christian Ciech (ITA) takes over 1st place, Alessandro Ploner (ITA) moves back up to 2nd and Johann Posch (AUT) slips to 3rd place. Davis Straub (USA) stays in 4th but Toni Raumauf (AUT) jumps 3 places to 5th, while Michel Huppert (SUI) gains 1 place to 6th. David Chaumet leaps into 8th place from 17th but Bruce Barmakian drops to 8th and Steve Elkins completes the top 10.
USA leads the nations rankings but Switzerland edges out Germany for 2nd spot. Italy swaps places with Austria for 4th and GBR changes places with Japan for 6th. France, Spain and Brazil complete the top 10 while Ukraine is added to the countries participating.
Full details of the Class 5 rankings can be found on the FAI website -
http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/rankings/class5/
CLASS 2
Brian Porter remains in 1st as he has 4 competitions for his score as opposed to Manfred Ruhmer (AUT) in 2nd who has only 2. Robin Hamilton (GBR) is 1 point behind in 3rd, and Stephen Partridge-Hicks is in 4th with Bruno Metz in 5th.
There are now 6 teams with GBR in top spot followed by USA and Austria.
PARAGLIDING ACCURACY
No competitions have been added or deleted.
Full details of the PG Accuracy rankings can be found on the FAI website -
http://www.fai.org/paragliding/rankings/precision/
Pilots should check that their personal record shows the correct nationality, particularly as Category 1 competitions approach.
QUALIFYING COMPETITIONS
Hang Gliding:
Forthcoming hang gliding competitions that qualify for WPRS points are:
Category 1: 14th World Champs Brazil (2003); European Champs Millau (2004).
Category 2: Campeonato de Espana (Arcones); Russian Open; Greek Open; Nordic Open; Open Dutch Champs; British National & Laragne Open; US Open Big Springs; Podbrezova Cup; Portuguese Open; Vikings Open; Brazilian Nationals; Brazilian Open; Greek Open (Speed).
Details of these competitions can be found on the CIVL web page: http://events.fai.org/hgpg/civl-calendar.asp
Paragliding:
Forthcoming paragliding competitions that qualify for WPRS points are:
Category 1: PG Worlds (Portugal) 2003; Asian Championship (2004).
Category 2: Greek Open (August); Iberian Open (Portugal); Swiss Open; Hungarian Open; PWC Monte Cornizzola; Russian Open; Portuguese Open da Serra de Estrela; PWC Morzine; Welsh International Open; PWC Turkey; PWC Mung Yeong; International German Open; Norwegian League; Belgian Open; British Open Algodanales; South African Open; Pre PWC China; US Nationals (Bishop); Polish Nationals; Dutch Mountain Open.
Details of these competitions can be found on the CIVL web page: http://events.fai.org/paragliding/calendar.asp
Paragliding Accuracy:
Category 1: 2nd World Accuracy (2003).
Category 2: Slovenian Open; Target Austria; Greek Open.
Details of these competitions can be found on the CIVL web page: http://events.fai.org/paragliding/calendar.asp
Rigid Wings:
Category 1: World Championships, Chelan.
Category 2: Nordic Open (C5); Dutch Open (C2); US Open Big Springs (C2&C5).
Details of these competitions can be found on the CIVL web page: http://events.fai.org/hgpg/civl-calendar.asp
Information and an application form for CIVL category 2 sanctioning are available on the CIVL website at http://www.fai.org/hang_gliding/ or from Paula Bowyer, paula@fai.org
All amendments should be e-mailed to Paula Bowyer (paula@fai.org)
During the past season several cases of spinning have been reported by pilots of rigid wing hang gliders. Marcus Hoffman-Guben offers some valuable advice on how and why this phenomenon occurs in this article translated from German and now published on the CIVL web pages.