The United Kingdom national hang gliding championships are held annually and, since 2000, separate championships have been held for Class 1 and Class 5 gliders. Some years ago the UK women's championships was combined with the Class 1 competition.
The format, length and locations of UK national championships are decided and arranged by the hang gliding competitions panel. The Class 1 (flexwing) national championships and the women's championships were run as a series of competitions until 2001. The Class 5 (rigid wing) championship was a single meeting at a well known European site from 2000 to 2002 but did not run in 2003,4, 5 or 6 and arrangements for 2007 are still provisional but it looks like it will be run alongside the Class 1 nationals at St Andre. The Class 1 championships has been a single meet since 2002. These meets will continue to be run in mainland Europe and are usually sanctioned as a FAI Category 2 competition and earns CIVL ranking points; in 2007 the venue will be St Andre les Alpes, Haute Provence, France and further details will be published as they become available.
To compete for the national Class 1 championship title a pilot must hold an Advanced rating and be eligible to fly for the UK in a FAI Category 1 Championship - subject to CIVL eligibility criteria. As an interim measure UK pilots with just a BHPA Pilot (Hill) rating are eligible to compete in the national Class 5 championship. To compete as a guest a pilot in either pilots may be of any nationality but must hold a minimum of Pilot rating or equivalent standard i.e. equivalent to the SAFEPRO IPPI4 rating. Rules and application forms can be downloaded from here :- natsrules05.doc
Minimum criteria for National Championships
- GPS flight verification to be used
- GAP 2002 formula to be used
- Race (latest version) scoring to be used
- Minimum of five task days to be scheduled
- Minimum task distance set to be 30 miles
- Run to current year nationals rules
- Appointment of an independent safety committee
- To be self financing and non-profit making.
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