Blog | 4ᵗʰ BGD Weightless, 2021

Blog
Summary
Details
Pilots
Results
Registration

25 Jul, 2021 REGISTRATION

Flying site

Gemona area of the Volo Libero Friuli club

This is a mountain region with flatlands to the south of launch, the Julian Alps to the east and the Dolomites to the west...

Expand page for more details

65 Pilots Confirmed
65 Pilots total registered
280 EUR Entry fee

Go to Pilot List

90 Pilots max allowed
16 Countries presented
✅ EN-C and below allowed
❌ CCC & EN-D wings prohibited
🏆 FAI Status = CAT 2 🏅

left before start of event

Safety

🛰️

The organiser will supply Live trackers to you, for safety and scoring

Live trackers supplied
🚁

The region supports helicopter rescues

Helicopter rescue
⚕️

There will be medical rescue services at launch

Medic on takeoff
📱

The region generally has good phone coverage

Good phone coverage
📻

We will be monitoring radios for your safety whilst you fly

Radio coverage
🛰️

Live Tracking is MANDATORY in this event to score. The organiser will provide the trackers.

Live trackers mandatory

Organisation

🚐

There will be vehicles supplied to take you to launch

Launch Transport
🥾

There will be retrieve vehicles available to return pilots to HQ

Retrieve included
🛰

The organisers will download the tracklogs at HQ for scoring

Tracklogs managed
📢

The organisers are using Airtribune for registration, tracking, blogging and to publish scores

Airtribune blogging

Benefits

💳

The organisers will give you an ID card with all the essential items listed

ID Cards
🍕

There will be a social evening with food

Food
🎉

There will be an organised party during or after the event

Party
🎵

There will be live music or a DJ at the event

Live music
👕

You will receive a tshirt or other welcome gift

Free gift

Environment

🌲

The organisers have commmitted to Carbon Offset the event and/or Plant a Tree for each competitor

Carbon offset / Plant a Tree
♻️

The organisers support reducing the use of unnecessary plastic at the event. This includes NOT giving disposable water bottles

Plastic reduction

Prize funds and scoring categories

Female class
Leisure Class (EN-B & below)
Overall Class (EN-C & below)

Contacts

Event Organisers
- FlyEvent
- +38631404688
- brett@flyevent.org

Event info

For 2021 we are going to take you on an adventure in Italy. Gemona is a fantastic venue for pilots from low airtime to world class.

It has it all. With a grassy launches, plentiful landing options, flatland flying, mountain flying, friendly locals, good food , great wine and exceptional ice-creams; there is something for everyone to enjoy. Even the inexperienced pilots will find a nice challenge to help them improve.

---------
The 2021 event may be impacted by the COVID-19 virus, although we hope things will be back towards normal by that time. But do ensure you have read and understood how we will be operating the payments system, refunds etc before you commit to participating this year.
---------

You will find that getting to Gemona is easy. There are flights to Venice Airport, around 1 hour from the venue. Car hire or trains to the region can be used from the airport.

Gemona has many place to stay including hotel, houses, BandB etc. They cost from as little as 25 euro a night. Book early for the best deals. There is also camping available for tents, caravans and camper vans at the HQ/goal field.

As well as the BGD Weightless there will also be the British Sports Open the week directly after the Weightless. If you are aspiring comp pilot you may be interested to fly both competitions You will find the subsequent event stretches you a little more than the prior event, helping you towards consistent goals by the last week. The British Sports Championship will be limited to EN-C wings.

A few words about the BGD Weightless:
The BGD Weightless is a new concept for a paragliding competition. An annual event, it is based on weight as the theme. It is still an FAI Category 2 competition, flying by FAI rules however.... up to now flying heavy has always been an advantage. This has resulted in heavy equipment and ballast for competitions. BGD would like to change all this and encourage people to fly with light equipment by offering some small changes through the scoring system to make the results a little fairer.

The BGD weightless is aimed at pilots looking for a sense of adventure, seeking to improve their Cross Country and/or competition experience or just enjoy a unique experience hanging out with some of the best pilots in the world. Hosted in a relaxed environment, Italy will be the perfect venue.

Leading the event will be Bruce Goldsmith and he will have a world class team behind him to present one of the most advanced events in the world. The event is particularly suited to leisure pilots that have flown some small XC's(20km+) and have flown in one or two fun competitions, but it will not exclude more advanced pilots, who will also benefit from participation.

Remember, the event is a brand-new concept of competition where being heavy has less of an advantage and carrying excessive ballast will not help you so much. We want to have a fun week where everyone feels like they have a chance of scoring well, regardless of what they fly, and how heavy they fly.

As always, we will be giving away lots of prizes at the end, all through our famous 'names in a hat'. There will be a brand new BGD glider of your choice, a Naviter instrument and more. But you have to be there to win.

We look forward to flying with you!

Flying site

Gemona area of the Volo Libero Friuli club

This is a mountain region with flatlands to the south of launch, the Julian Alps to the east and the Dolomites to the west.

Selection and entry fee

The event is open to all pilots, however, a strict selection process may be applied to participants and a place is not assured.

The organisers will select from the registered pilots and offer places at their discretion. Registering does not assure you of a place. Places will not be offered in the order of registration, nor according to WPRS ranking, but instead will be decided on a criteria set by the organisers.

The entry fee will be €280 euro and details of how to pay will be sent to the selected pilots.

All Pilots must hold the following:
- An FAI IPPI-4 licence
- An FAI Sporting Licence
- Medical insurance (including rescue and repatriation)
- Third party liability insurance

All the above will be checked at registration

Also:
- SMS text phone
- Recently repacked reserve parachute
- Certified helmet
- Harness with certified back protection
- 2M Radio capable of 143.900 Mhz FM

If you do not have ALL of the above you will NOT be permitted to participate.

The event will have weight limitations set accordingly:

Equipment weight maximum - 22kg*
Ballast maximum** - 3kg*

* Exceptions will be given where more weight is required for safety, ie being underweight for the wing
** Ballast is considered as any additional weight you carry exclusively to increase the wing loading, including but not limited to Water

The organisation will be providing GPS trackers at the venue for your safety and convenience.

Documents required at registration

Issued by your local NAC on behalf of the FAI. You cannot normally compete in an FAI event without one. Contact your National Association (NAC)

FAI Sporting Licence
The FAI IPPI card is an International card that states your skill level. It is issued by your National Association and matches the level or your flying Licence

FAI IPPI Card
The organiser requires you to present your National flying licence.

National Licence
You will need to sign an applicaton form at the venue. Usually the organiser will provide it on arrival.

Signed Application form
You will need to sign a waiver or release document to show you understand the risks. Usually the organiser will provide it on arrival.

Signed Waiver/Release form
You must provide the organiser with a copy of your liability (3rd party) insurance documents

Liability Insurance
You must provide the organiser with a copy of your medical, rescue and repatriation insurance. You can purchase Global Rescue cover from Airtribune

Rescue/Medical Insurance

Cancellation Policy

We do not anticipate cancellation of the event however, Pilots should note our cancellation policies, in keeping with all major events and adapted to allow for the current Covid situation;

Any pilots who cancels their registration will be given refunds as follows:
- Cancellation within 7 days of paying* = Refund less 10€ of the amount paid
or
- Cancellation more than 30 days before competition start date = 75% refund of entry price.
- Cancellation 30 days or less before comp start date = 0% refund of entry price

ˣ Payments made less than 7 days before the event are excluded

Cancellations must be informed by email and the date at which the email is received will be used to calculate your refund.
Please be aware, refunds, if due, are not immediate. If we are busy in the main flying season then we only do admin 1 day per month. Your deposit and/or payment is NOT transferable. There is a strict selection process and you cannot bypass this by passing your payment to another pilot.

Cancellation of a Competition by the Organization ie Covid19 interference etc
In the event the organizers deem it necessary to cancel, relocate, or reschedule the competition you will be entitled to transfer your entry to another FlyEvent contest, or to carry it over to the 2022 season. You will not lose any of your entry fee.

The organizers will not be liable for any costs incurred by anyone attending, or intending to attend the event, or any consequential losses arising from the cancellation, relocation, or rescheduling of the event.

If you are unable to attend due to a Covid travel entry ban, then we may allow you to transfer your entry to the 2022 event. To be considered for this you must contact us in advance of the event start, and provide clear evidence of the ban of entry to Italy, which covers the competition dates. If we do not hear from you or you simple do not show then there will be no refund. No shows will cause us unacceptable losses through pre-organised infrastructure, staff etc. For transfers to the next event, the organisers must first consider the circumstances of the event, and ensure there is no significant impact financially to the event.

Please ensure you have adequate holiday travel insurance to cover any losses if you later find you are unable to participate!
ENTRY FEE ADMINISTRATION
All competition Payments are being handled by FlyEvent, on behalf of the competition and local organisers.

Prize fund and scoring categories

We will give further details of the scoring categories in the coming weeks. Typically we expect:

- Sports Class
- Leisure Class
- Womens Class

In the situation we have two liner wings at the event then they may be separated in to a 'superclass'

There will be NO prizes for winning the competition. We will however be offering several prizes by way of a prize draw/lottery, which will include a brand new BGD glider, an instrument and more.

General schedule

Sunday 25th July
Registration at the venue.
15:00 to 19:00

Monday 26th July
First task
Daily briefing being at 9am

Saturday 31st July
Last task, followed by awards and prizes

There will be daily talks from Bruce Goldsmith and his highly experienced team.

Daily schedule

On competition days:

08h30: Headquarters open
09h00: Morning briefing @ HQ
09h30: Transportation to take off
10h15: Task and Safety Committee meetings
11h15: Pilot briefing/Task briefing
11h30: Take-off window opens (depending on the actual weather conditions)
16h00: Scoring office opens
19h00: Provisional results (depending on the last pilot being retrieved)

The daily schedule is subject to change. Any changes to the schedule will be posted on the whiteboard in HQ. Changes will be announced by the Meet Director at the Daily briefing.

Accommodation and Activities

HQ Landing Accommodation
We have moved our HQ to the new landing field where we are also allowed to camp for free. This will be the best location to find yourself in as everything will be at your fingertips.

The organisers have been working hard to establish a new base in the Gemona region. For those that have been before, you will remember the base was in Hotel Willy, and the goal field was to the south of the town, in a rather inaccessible location. But now there is a new location, which brings everything together, and gives you greater options for the region.

The goal field is located at Bordano, a small village to the northwest of Gemona, just 2km, 10 minutes from the Hotel Willy. This new goal field also has a brand new, dedicated HQ facility, bar and camping field. There are also some local bars etc in walking distance. The goal field is huge, and allows for better and safer tasking for the final glide.

The camping at the goal is FREE. There is very limited electricity available, but water supply is plentiful. There are also toilets and showers (male and female, 3 cubicles for each).

For those that prefer to stay at the Hotel Willy, you will find great rooms there, or they have their own camping facilities. Electric and shade is more available at the Hotel Willy, and the showers are on a par. You will have to drive to the Goal/HQ daily, but we may be able to offer some transport for this.

Hotel Willy is a large hotel is situated around 10 minutes drive from the HQ at Bordano. The hotel has a restaurant, bar, tavern, beer garden, take away pizza and other facilities. Camping at Hotel Willy is typically €10 (person and tent / camper). Rooms locally cost from € 25-50 depending on the standard wanted. There are some self-catering options and the campsite also has a restaurant that serves breakfast.

FOR BEST PRICE, RESERVE YOUR ROOM OR CAMPSITE PLACE (INTO HOTEL WILLY) DIRECTLY info@hotelwilly.com

Camping Lago Tre Comuni

The best campsite near Gemona is the "Lake Tre Comuni Camping" one of the most beautiful places in the region (Lake of Tre Comuni).
It's about 8 km from the HQ.

All accommodation infos

The tourist office of Gemona del Friuli

Via Bini 9 - c / o Museo Civico Palazzo Elti
33013 Gemona del Friuli UD
Tel. (0039) 0432 981441 ufficioiat@gemonaweb.it

How to get here

Flights are available to Venice Airport.

The HQ is located on the outskirts of Gemona town. We will be operating transport to/from the Gemona town train and bus station, as required.

Libya
Gemona Italy