Since there is some uncertainty as to whether or not Willem will be able to secure a glider for the contest, I am continuing preparations despite the cut to the Canadian team.
The last item I needed to put in place was a retrieve vehicle during the contest. During the SOSA work weekend we had a couple of visitors from Germany who arrived at SOSA and rolled up their sleeves and pitched in. One of them had visited SOSA in 2006 and spent an afternoon at the club while touring through Canada. He has now moved to Canada and is in the process of job-hunting. (Fomerly an IT guy in the banking sector).
While talking about the contest I mentioned that the last thing I needed was a car and he very generously offered the use if his car in Germany that he has not yet de-registered! What a stroke of luck!
So for now we sit back and wait to see what happens with Willem's glider. We will know by May 15th whether or not Willem's glider will be ready or not for the contest.
When the time comes, at least I knowI have everything ready to go.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Disappointing News
As we reported earlier, the contest is over-subscribed, so the organizers started to scale back entries and the Canadian Team has been affected by the cut. We are now allowed to enter only two pilots in the contest. Since Willem is #1 on the Canadian list and Jerzy #2, I am now on standby.
This in stark contrast to Germany who has 8 pilots, and England with 7. In total 6 pilots were cut from the contest in the name of safety. In the big picture, I fail to see how 6 pilots out of 140 total pilots will make a material difference to safety!
All of the cuts were made to overseas teams, those who have likely started planning the soonest and invested the most effort in putting together their entry.
In the case of Team Canada, Gliders are rented, airfares paid for, hotels reserved - money paid out.
The cuts were made based on the IGC's new ranking list. A Eurocentric list if one has ever been made! The list is heavily biased towards European competitions and the large European countries and awards more points to European competitors then overseas competitors. How are small countries like Canada, Israel, Chile, Argentina and Lithuania (all the countries that have been cut) expected to compete?
Going forward, the process needs to change, Countries need to be guaranteed a minimum number of pilots to remove the inequity of Germany's 8 pilots to Canada's 2 pilots. The IGC ranking list needs to be reviewed for fairness for all countries and the European bias removed.
This can only be done at the IGC meetings and it will be an uphill battle since the entire IGC is Eurocentric.
This in stark contrast to Germany who has 8 pilots, and England with 7. In total 6 pilots were cut from the contest in the name of safety. In the big picture, I fail to see how 6 pilots out of 140 total pilots will make a material difference to safety!
All of the cuts were made to overseas teams, those who have likely started planning the soonest and invested the most effort in putting together their entry.
In the case of Team Canada, Gliders are rented, airfares paid for, hotels reserved - money paid out.
The cuts were made based on the IGC's new ranking list. A Eurocentric list if one has ever been made! The list is heavily biased towards European competitions and the large European countries and awards more points to European competitors then overseas competitors. How are small countries like Canada, Israel, Chile, Argentina and Lithuania (all the countries that have been cut) expected to compete?
Going forward, the process needs to change, Countries need to be guaranteed a minimum number of pilots to remove the inequity of Germany's 8 pilots to Canada's 2 pilots. The IGC ranking list needs to be reviewed for fairness for all countries and the European bias removed.
This can only be done at the IGC meetings and it will be an uphill battle since the entire IGC is Eurocentric.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
WestJet provides two passes for the Team
Thanks to SAC member John Mulder who flies for WestJet, we have two passes from WestJet for any flight within Canada.
We neeed to determine how best to use this passes to the benefit of the team, but may be able to auction them amongst SAC members.
We neeed to determine how best to use this passes to the benefit of the team, but may be able to auction them amongst SAC members.
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