Belgian Paragliding Open 2023 Krushevo

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08 Jul, 2023 Live tracking

Event info

The Belgian Open 2023 will take place in Krushevo, North Macedonia, in the mid July of 2023, directed by Martin Jovanovski and Goran Dimiskovski
HQ will be based at Hotel Montana Palace...

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Flying site

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135 Pilots Confirmed
135 Pilots total registered
300 EUR Entry fee

Go to Pilot List

130 Pilots max allowed
22 Countries presented
✅ All certified wings allowed
🏆 FAI Status = CAT 2 🏅

left before start of event

Registration will open on
25/01 15:00 (Europe/Skopje)

Safety

🛰️

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

Live trackers supplied
📱

The region generally has good phone coverage

Good phone coverage
📻

We will be monitoring radios for your safety whilst you fly

Radio coverage

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
💩

There are toilets at, or near, the launch

Toilets on takeoff
📢

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

Airtribune blogging
🏋️

There will be ballast water available at launch

Ballast on takeoff

Benefits

🥪

There will be daily lunch packs for pilots

Lunch packs
🍺

There will usually be goal beers for winners

Goal beers
🎉

There will be an organised party during or after the event

Party
👕

You will receive a tshirt or other welcome gift

Free gift
🅰

This event awards PWCA letters

PWCA Letters

Contacts

General Questions
- Thibault Voglet
- thibault.voglet@hotmail.fr

Event info

The Belgian Open 2023 will take place in Krushevo, North Macedonia, in the mid July of 2023, directed by Martin Jovanovski and Goran Dimiskovski
HQ will be based at Hotel Montana Palace.

Flying site

Situated at an altitude of 1350m, Krushevo is the highest town in the Balkans, 159 km from the capital Skopje, 55 km from Bitola, 32 km from Prilep, and only 68 km from the Macedonian - Greek crossing border “Medzitlia - Niki”. Main takeoff places are East and West starts. Very comfortable even for beginners they also enjoy excellent (in mountain terms) roads connections.
East Start 1420m ASL (41.340802, 21.256547)
It is facing east - northeast towards Pelagonia Valley. It is several minutes drive from the town and an asphalt road goes almost through the launch. When you take the paraglider out from the car, it is already on the place where it should be open. Lazy pilots will love this launch. East Start is a grassy shallow slope bordered by big trees from the South, which offers thick shadows in sunny days.
Home thermals are everywhere: on the left, on the right side from the take off and sometimes straight ahead.
All kind of different cross-country flights can be made from East start. Usual flights are out-and-return to town Prilep to the East, all kind of triangles and zigzags in the valley or over the ridge or distance flights to the South up to the Greek border. Coming back from the South is quite difficult because in "normal" summer afternoon light north wind is blowing through the valley. A good road connection helps coming back.
West Start 1440m ASL
It's a secondary smaller take off place facing west - southwest, it is 500 meters away from East Start. Cars, again, can be driven right up to the launch.
The same cross-country flights can be done from here. Landing fields under this launch are smaller than on the other side of mountain where there are very large fields, mostly grassy. This launch can also be used for beginners so landings should suit competition pilots too!

Selection and entry fee

Multiple Options :

1) Entry fee : 300€
Including : Organization, trackers, retrieve and lunchpacket.

2) Hotel Montana Palace :
2.1)Double Room : 25€/night/pers. (2 single beds or 1 double bed).
2.2) Single Room : Price TBD really soon.

3) Shuttle from Airport (Skopje/Ohrid to Krusevo (Out & Return) = 50€/pers.
3 pilots minimum.

You'll have to choose your options while you'll receive your confirmation of selection.

Total of your options has to be paid to the Belgian Free flight Federation bank account.

The bank account details will be sent via email once selection is made.

You must have a valid FAI Sporting Licence. For the Belgians this means having an XC Licence AND shelling out 5€ to FBVL-BVVF.

75% of the places are reserved for the Belgian pilots.
Registration will open on Wednesday 25th of January 2023 at 15:00 Brussels time.
First selection will happen on 03rd February at 17:00 Brussels time.
Criteria will include, WPRS ranking, speed of registration.

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

Signed Application 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

By the time we make the selection and people start to pay, this will be known with better confidence. If we have to cancel later, we may need to keep a minimal part of the fee to cover costs already incurred without losing money. This is considered the pilots' share of the risk. However, the majority of costs will be incurred as late as possible.

Any pilots who cancels after paying their entry fee may apply for a refund as follows:

Cancellation date before 15st May 2023 = 80% refund of entry fee.

Cancellation date before 15th June 2023 = 50% refund of entry fee.

Cancellation date before 1st July 2023 = 25% refund of entry fee.

Cancellation on or after 1st July 2023 = 0% refund of entry fee.

Notification of cancellation should be by email to the organisers at X1x.paragliding@gmail.com. The cancellation date shall be taken as the date of receipt of the email.

The entry fee payment is not transferable to another pilot in the event of cancellation.

In the event of full cancellation pilots will be refunded a fixed 70% of the entry fee with a sliding scale according to the date of cancellation and costs already incurred. The maximum refund will be 80% of the entry fee.

General schedule

Sunday, July 9, 2023
10:00 – 17:00 – Training Free Flying
17:00 – 19:00 – Official Registration
20:00 – Mandatory Safety Briefing and Opening Ceremony

Monday, July 10, 2023
07:30 – 09:00 – Late Registration

Monday, July 10 – Saturday, July 15, 2023
Contest flying days

Saturday, 15 Jul, 2023
20:00 – Prize-giving and closing ceremony

Daily schedule

08:00 – Headquarter opens
10:00 – Transport to the take-off
11:00 – Pilots’ briefing / Previous task official results / Task definition
12:00 – Take-off window opens
16:30 – Scoring office opens
20:00 – Provisional results

Accommodation and Activities

How to get here

Al-Koufrah, Libye
Krushevo North Macedonia

Plane

International airports in Skopje and Ohrid connects Macedonia with several major European cities. Close regional airports in Belgrade, Sofia and Thessaloniki can also be used, as they are all within a few hours' drive from Macedonia.

Low cost airlines flying to Macedonia
TurkishAirlines http://www.turkishairlines.com - Turkey, Russia, Brazil, India, Israel, Spain, Canada, China, Korea, Norway, France, CzechRepublic, SouthAfrica, Japan, UnitedStates,Ukraine.
SWISS http://www.swiss.com - Denmark, Brazil, India, Israel, Spain, Canada, Norway, Poland, France, CzechRepublic, Japan, SouthAfrica, UnitedStates
WizzAir, WizzAirUkraine http://wizzair.com/ - Great Britain, Italy
Air Berlin http://www.airberlin.com, TUIfly http://www.tuifly.com/de/index.html - Germany, Spain, Canada, Switzerland, UnitedStates
Pegasus http://www.flypgs.com - Denmark,Israel,Ukraine
CroatiaAirlines http://www.croatiaairlines.com -Netherlands, France, Croatia
Adria http://www.adria.si/ - Slovenia

Bus

A number of bus lines connect Macedonia with all neighbouring countries and other European cities. Buses are frequent, and offer relatively inexpensive fares and professional service. Usually they depart from Skopje bus station.
Travelling on public inter-city buses in Macedonia used to be quite an interesting experience, since it usually included loud folk music and the risk of having to travel next to very different people with sometimes not so pleasant habits, subject to many urban legends and jokes. At present, public buses have improved and most of them have air-conditioning as well. Still, if you decide to travel by a public inter-city bus, do check it first before buying a ticket.

Train

An international train, operating daily, twice a day, connects Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Thessaloniki (Greece) via Macedonia. It stops at Tabanovce (the Macedonia-Serbia border crossing point), Kumanovo, Skopje, Veles, Gradsko, Negotino, DemirKapija, and Gevgelija (Greek border crossing point), as well as a few small villages. From Skopje, Veles and Gradsko there are train connections to Prilep (35 km from Krusevo).

Car

The international highway E-75 runs north-south from Serbia to Greece, bisecting Macedonia. This is the most common route for overland tourists to take for entering Macedonia. There are also good roads connecting the country with Bulgaria to the East and Albania to the West.
Krusevo is on around a 2 hour drive (160 km) from Skopje Airport, via Motorway "Alexander of Macedon"/A1/А1 and A1, or on about 1 h 36 min drive (119.7 km) from Ohrid Airport via E65 and R1305 (note that this path is not a highway).

Rent-a-car
Numerous car-rental companies, run by both Macedonian companies and local representatives of recognized Western companies are available in Macedonia. Among the latter there are Sixth, Avis and Hertz, whereas among the most prominent Macedonian companies one should name Biveks, Ineks, Mn, Ni-Mar Komerc and Putnik-Eurodolar.
Rental car prices in Macedonia generally start from 40-50 euros per day, though for longer periods the rate can be somewhat lower. In order to rent a car, be prepared to present a valid passport and driver's license from your home country.

Driving tips
Driving in Macedonia by car: While roads in Macedonia are generally good, drivers should watch out for falling rock zones in mountainous areas, and dogs, cows and sheep in rural areas. Drivers should also note that in Macedonia it is illegal to talk on a mobile phone while driving, seatbelts are mandatory and headlights have to be on during the day.