You might have noted this article
https://ozreport.com/22.145#1 which was a call from CIVL to prospective meet
organizers about international category 1 competitions in 2020 and 2021. Which
means test event next year and in 2020. And CIVL wants to see the bids for those
2020 events within a little over five weeks. For the 2021 events by the end of
the year. And preparing a bid is no simple matter.

Doesn't give one much time to plan and think about what pilots might want and
that's the first thing a prospective meet organizer needs to look at. Now
holding a Category 1 competition in European is a no brainer. The place is
stuffed with multiple countries and multiple pilots and they can all get
together for a competition. Last week we had the Class 1 European and Class 5
World Championships and next week it is the pre-Worlds. You could easily trip
and fall down hurting yourself trying to get around these competitions. This
doesn't include the ongoing European Paragliding Championships right now.

But, try to put together a World Championship in the US or other North or South
American country and things are a lot tougher. We last held a class 1 Worlds in
the US in 2007 in Big Spring, Texas. It was very successful as we have great
flying conditions there.

We are right now in the process of creating bids to CIVL for a number of
category 1 competitions:

2nd FAI Sport Class, and 14th FAI Women's, and 8th FAI Class 5 World Hang
Gliding Championships

Sunday, April 19th, 2020 to Friday May 1st, 2020

Wilotree Park, 6548 Groveland Airport Road Groveland, Florida, USA


and:


1st Class 1, Sport Class, Women's, Class 5 and Class 2 Pan-American Hang Gliding
Championships

Sunday, August 2nd, 2020 to Friday, August 14th, 2020

Big Spring McMahon-Wrinkle Airport, 3200 Rickabaugh Drive, W. Big Spring, Texas

These are combined events.

As you can see we are being very ambitious. In addition, we would have to put on
test events:

There are two possible test events in 2019 for the first competition. The first
is the 2019 Green Swamp Sport Klassic. Saturday, March 23rd, 2019 through
Saturday, March 30th, 2019 and the second: 2019 Quest Air Nationals, Saturday
April 13th through Sunday, April 27th, 2019. Next year

For the Pan-American: 2019 Big Spring Nationals,

Saturday, August 3^rd through Saturday, August, 10^th,
2019.

As you can see from the numbering scheme this would be the first time ever that
anyone has run a Pan-American Hang Gliding Competition. There have been three
Pan-American Paragliding competitions.

But some Europeans are very skeptical about whether anyone (they mean other
Europeans) would be willing to go to any of these competitions (travel expenses
and all).

So we have to ask, are you interested in any of these competitions? We have to
tell the CIVL Bureau in advance that there is in fact interest in these
competitions, before they will consider letting us put them on. So, you need to
send Davis an email to davis and he's at davisstraub.com and tell him that you
are interested in coming to one or more of these competitions. Also send your
email to Jamie Shelden <<naughtylawyer>>
and Mitch Shipley <<elektratow>> 
(CIVL Bureau members).

We realize that this is almost an impossible ask on our part. Who knows what
they want to do in two years? But please if you have any desire to come to these
competitions please email to davis. Also please spread the word around. Without
your interest they are not going to happen.

We'll report more on CIVL and the upcoming competitions again, soon.