History, Insights and re-considerations
Gliding has always been a mind game, for decades, since the previous century. You should not be a stunt man to win a race or make a long flight. It is not the best pilot the one that flies the riskiest wing, but the one that maximizes the opportunity of the wing he controls with safety and in the long term. The best pilot (or the luckiest) will be the one that wins having the same wing with the others. The competition should be a Pilot win first, not a Firm win.
Paragliding is a high-risk sport, including predictable and unpredictable dangers, related to equipment, pilot skills and weather conditions. All these three evolve during time and we need to develop our capabilities to manage them with safety.
However, maybe we should reconsider the whole concept of leveling up to a higher PG category for more performance. It reminds me the “need” of my son who is flying a low-B glider and has reached a “plateau” in flying performance, to move to a High-B glider. Has he maximized the potential with his low-B? Has he become an experienced pilot before leveling up? Does this example remind you something?
Does the “glider” improve the pilot, or the pilot has to improve first? The chicken or the egg? As a Biologist I can assure you that this question has already been answered, it is the egg, after a Mutation, and it seems that there is a timing for something close to change for the better for Paragliding Competitions.
Some Questions
• Why we do not think about EN-D gliders in the Competitions? Fully tested regarding safety.
• Why we do not think about a World Class EN-D Paraglider – the same for all companies, designed the same and produced by different Companies? A product of international competition.
• Why not thinking to abolish “Race to Goal” type of comps and mandatory use of “elapsed time”? In this way, every pilot will choose the right time for his take off, and not fly when conditions are borderline to safety and exceed his capabilities, because “it is a competition and I have to do what others do”.
• We all know, that if you are not flying a CCC glider, “appropriately trimmed and weighted” there is no chance for you to have some distinction in a serious competition. This situation creates pilots-followers, that can reach the best ones in front, pushing speed with equipment that they do not have full control of. Some of them are flying 3-4 years.
o How experienced they are?
o Is it a competition of fear management?
o Is it logical the first 100pilots at goal to be separated by 1-2 minutes? Make all PWC mandatory elapsed time and check the results…
Some ideas
I fly sailplanes, motor-gliders, airplanes, have some HG experience, and paragliders since 1988 with >3000h+and I have seen a lot, I have missed enough friends. Please believe me.
• We have to move from Equipment Performance Competitions to Good Pilots Competitions (not capable followers). You will be surprised then from who will be high in the rankings, you will be surprised from the increase of the level of the pilots (the mutation) as they will be obliged to become better pilots to be more competitive, not better followers with the “appropriate equipment”.
• During an international Competition in 2025, I checked the first 20 pilots in the final glide, and I can tell you that was not surprised at all. Same gliders, same harnesses, wing to wing, with 5-15 kph difference between them on max speed bar.Hasn’t anyone else noticed this? Not fair and not safe my friends, we need measures.
• We have to weight all pilots before take-off (we all do it by ourselves)
• We have to check the trim of gliders immediately after landing randomly, and when someone if found twice out of limits, to be banned from Competitions for a big period and be obliged for a public regret.
• We have to expand competitions for all EN categories, having Competitions for ENB, ENC, END gliders separately. Alternatively for mixed competitions, to have a “Handicap” list for every glider model like in the sailplanes adapting the results, so that a good pilot to be able to surpass a better glider.
• An important parameter for safety regard the organizers. Not everyone should be permitted, there should be first experience and second training or even real testing.
• Weatherwise, as I am regularly involved in Competition Meteorology the last 25 years, please allow me to put this parameter as well. The reason I was involved to this was a competition in 2001 where the task committee was either a group of irrelevant to safety people, or had a personal purpose of distinction, or both and I saw the traumatic results. We all understand that climate evolves, changes or fluctuates or whatever you believe. But the real thing is that flying conditions change for us that we understand this, things that were usual for some areas become unusual and the opposite, and forecast models are based on old statistics that may have drifted from what is happening here and now. So, the role of Meteo & Task committee combination is important for a safe task setting and a successful Competition. We have seen that in a recent PWC.
• And the first to be referred last as a take home message, is the pilot decision making process itself. Please, be bold to that, decide not to fly, abort the flight if conditions are not safe and land at a safe place not for the convenience of retrieve, please miss the goal if it is not safe there, downgrade your equipment if it is not safe for you, and when you report safety level 1-2 or 3, think not only the top pilots of the task but the last in the ranking as well.
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