The 37th FAI World Gliding Championships will be held in Narromine, New South Wales, 2 – 16 December 2023. Eighty competitors from 21 nations will compete in the greatest sport event in the world.

The competition will see 80 high performance gliders racing over central NSW for periods of 3 to 5 hours, covering distances from 300 to 500km. The winners of each race will accumulate points. The pilots with the highest point score at the end of the competition will be declared World Champions in three classes of racing.

ABOUT

The 37th World Gliding Championships 2023, Narromine, for Standard, 15 M and Club classes is the most prestigious and competitive gliding competition in the world. This event is organised by Gliding Australia, the peak sporting body, under the auspices of the FAI (Federation Aeronautique Internationale) which is the worldwide body for sport aviation.

Gliding

The sport of gliding is an exhilarating, spectacular and serene flying experience. Gliders take to the air like birds with wings outstretched, soaring on rising air currents, immersed in three dimensional space and flying silently with an eagle’s view of the world.

Men and women of all ages can learn to fly gliders. In Australia you can fly solo from the age of 15 and some pilots continue gliding into their eighties. It is never too late to learn to glide and many pilots take up the sport in their 40s, 50s or even 70s.

The modern glider is a sophisticated, highly aerodynamic aircraft without an engine, designed to travel at speeds approaching 300 kph and capable of heights in excess of 10,000 metres.

WORLD GLIDING CHAMPIONSHIPS

37th FAI World Gliding Championships

2-16 December 2023

Narromine NSW

Visitors welcome – Gliders – Simulators – Family friendly – Great day out

For more information and high resolution photographs, media access and interviews.CONTACT Sean Young media@wgc2023.com.au

Welcome to WGC Narromine 2023!
On behalf of the Australian gliding community, it’s my pleasure to welcome all competitors, spectators, and organisers who will be participating in the 37th FAI World Gliding Championships in Narromine in November/December 2023.
It’s not often that Australia has the opportunity to host the Worlds, so we’re very excited to be running the event this year, and I feel hugely privileged to have been appointed to the role of Competition Director. We expect around 80 pilots from around the world to travel to Narromine and compete in what we expect will be sensational weather conditions, so it should be an absolutely spectacular event!

Of course, running an event of this nature is a huge team effort. We have a team of over 50 volunteers from across Australia (and the Czech Republic!) covering all aspects of the competition, from administration and events through to scrutineering, tasking, and flight operations. There isn’t room here for me to name and thank everyone who has been and will be contributing their time and expertise to the competition, but it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge Deputy Competition Director Beryl Hartley. Beryl was absolutely key to bringing the event to Australia, and she is continuing to do an extraordinary amount of work on the ground to ensure we host a successful competition.

We’re pulling out all stops to make this a great event – our catch cry for the competition is “Safe, Fair and Fun”. We hope that the Australian gliding community will support the event either by coming along to Narromine, or by following the competition on Soaring Spot or LiveGliding.

Michael Durrant
Competition Director

The countdown to WGC 2023 is well and truly underway, with only a matter of weeks to go before teams arrive and competition starts.

Formal entries have been flowing in from across the globe, and official team registration is now open.  We’re expecting a field of around 70 to 80 pilots across Club, Standard, and 15 Metre Classes, representing 20 plus nations.   With such a strong field, and a hot, dry summer forecast for Eastern Australia, we can look forward to a spectacular competition!

On-site registration, scrutineering, and unofficial training all kick off in Narromine on 20^th November.  The first Team Captains’ briefing will be held on 28^th November, and official training will be held from 29^th November to 1^st December, before the Opening Ceremony which will be held on Saturday 2^nd December.  This should be a fantastic event, with all the national teams parading, VIPs including local, State, and Federal dignitaries as well as Ambassadors and embassy staff in attendance, and plenty of food and entertainment on hand!

Contest flying commences on Sunday 3^rd December, and runs through to Friday 15^th December, with the Closing Ceremony and Prize Giving on Saturday 16^th.

Arrangements for the competition are on track, with a highly committed and experienced team of close to 50 volunteers from across Australia and the Czech Republic, working hard to ensure an excellent event.

Competition Director Mike Durrant has been guiding the preparation for the contest, including the development of Local Procedures and other key documentation, liaison with the IGC and Team Captains, and working with organising team leaders to plan for the competition.  Deputy Competition Director Beryl Hartley has been overseeing all airfield preparation, local arrangements, events, funding, and public relations, ably assisted by Jacob Bloom, Ross McLean, and Sean Young.  Jenny Thompson is our very capable Operations Director, supported by Bill Bartlett as Tug Master, and Kerrie Claffey who will lead the marshalling and launch teams.  Other key team positions include David Jansen as Task Setter; Neil Campbell as Chief Scorer; Rolf Buelter as Safety Officer; Ed Marel as Meteorologist; Jack Hart, who will lead Scrutineering and Daily Weighing; and Kathy Bell in the Competition Office.

Meanwhile we’d like to welcome you all to come and visit the airfield at Narromine during the competition, cheer along the competitors, and soak up the amazing atmosphere.  If you can’t be there in person, you can follow the competition at:

• Soaring Spot: https://www.soaringspot.com/en_gb/37th-fai-world-gliding-championships-narromine-2023/results
• LiveGliding: https://tracking.livegliding.com.

The competition organisers would like to thank Destination NSW for providing funding support for to the competition, along with all other competition sponsors, whose support we greatly appreciate. We also thank the GFA and the IGC for their ongoing assistance and advice.

We look forward to holding a fun, fair, and safe competition!