The venues for the British Open Competitions 2018 are confirmed as:
‘All Comers’ Open, Feltre, Italy, 21st – 27th July. Registration/practice day 21st, first task 22nd and last task/prize-giving 27th.
‘Championship’ Open, Krushevo, Macedonia 11th – 17th August. Registration/practice day 11th, first task 12th and last task/prize-giving 17th.
Please note both comps will be run over six ‘task’ days ending on the Friday to allow those attending follow-on competitions a day to travel.
Registration for both competitions will open on 3rd February 2018.
2018 is going to be an exciting year for our British competition scene. The Competitions Panel has decided to make a few important changes to the British Open Competitions, to hopefully make them more attractive to a wider audience.
Firstly, a new All Comers Open is to be introduced aimed at those with a minimum of competition experience who’d like to enjoy a fun, well run, Category 2 competition with more of an accent on learning new competition flying skills. We’ve had a lot of feedback from pilots who’ve enjoyed the Ozone Chabre Open and Naviter Open formats and we believe we can incorporate evening debriefs, events and talks from Guest speakers that will appeal to those who want to learn how to progress to the next level. The All Comers Open will take place in Feltre, Italy, from 21st – 27th July 2018. This family friendly venue also played host for the highly successful 2017 World Championships, and meet director will be our own Brett Janaway. Pilots registering for the competition must have competed in at least one competition previously for their registration to be approved. Places will also be reduced to avoid congestion in the air, but tasks will still be challenging enough for the most accomplished pilots.
The approved pilot list will be ordered by time/date of registration and pilots will be invited to pay in ranked order. Registration for the competition will open on 3rd February 2018 and pilots will be invited to pay beginning 17th February.
Secondly, the British Championship will be contested as a single open competition, the British Championship Open, instead of as in previous years being contested over two open competitions, the rationale being that an increasing number of British pilots with time, family, or financial pressures simply can’t afford to attend both open competitions. The British Championship Open will take place in Krushevo, Macedonia, from 11th – 17th August 2018 and the meet director will be Goran Dimiskovski. In line with our new FAI status as a Category 2 nation we now offer very good quality PWC qualification letters. Krushevo will be hosting the World Championships in 2019 too and so our Championship Open should be perfect for other nations’ team pilots looking for racing experience in this paragliding Mecca. Immediately after Krushevo there’s also a PWC in nearby Sopot, Bulgaria and Goran has offered to put on transport (5hrs by coach) for those pilots interested in doing both competitions. As in previous years we expect to be joined by the Dutch for their Championship. Pilots registering for the competition will be required to have a minimum level of competition experience in line with previous years’ British Open Competitions. The approved pilot list will be ordered by pilots’ highest World Pilot Ranking System (WPRS) position in past 2 years and pilots will be invited to pay in ranked order. Registration for the competition will open on 3rd February 2018 and pilots will be invited to pay beginning 17th February.
We will be offering all those who can attend both Opens a 5% retrospective discount. There will also be auto entry to the Championships Open for the top 10 sports and top 10 overall in the All Comers Open. To further reward those that enter both Open competitions there will also be a new Series prize winner.
The All Comers Open will, same as the Championship Open, attract PWC qualification letters and we therefore hope it will appeal to our young BPRA crew and their fellow pilots from other Euro nations, looking for a fun comp where they may also qualify for that all important first PWC season.
These are quite important changes but we believe they will appeal both to those looking to come into our Championship for the first time and those wanting to compete at the highest level.
We look forward to 2018 and wish you all an excellent New Year.
British Paragliding Competitions Panel
