-1 to Day 1, Official Practice Day and the start of the Competition
The publication of the tentative schedule for tomorrow, the official Practice Day and therefore start of the 9th FAI World Cup in Canopy Piloting. The anomaly with the date shown at the top of this mini-site is the result of an internal discussion between IPC and the FAI - for the FAI the start of a competition is the Opening Ceremony - for IPC it is the arrival day for all competitiors, judges and essential staff as detailed in the Bulletin.
So today is Day -1 to the start of this competition. In total there are just over 100 competitors registered to compete (initial registration) from 25 countries covering 6 continents - a real World Event. Although the current Overall World Champion is not registered to participate this year, the Current World Canopy Piloting Accuracy Champion (and Freestyle Champion) Curt Bartholomew is registered as is his fierce rival Nick Batsch. The top female pilot, Cornelia Mihai, Silver medalist Overall and Bronze in Speed, along with Greg Windmiller, Silver in Speed will also be in Dubai - this should be a very exciting competition. Hopefully the weather this year will be kinder to us than it was in Farnham, Canada.