IGC - a force for good or a failing institution

Hi Neil

I can understand your frustration regarding the decisions taken by the IGC. The problem there lies in the fact that it is one Country one Vote. This is what has to be addressed in the first place and the Voting should be balanced in favour of Membership in each Country. At the moment there is a large Block of small countries with small Memberships which have a high interest in Holding Championships as it is a considerable source of Income for them.

I agree with you that we should have major Word Championships only every 4 years (same as Olympics) and Continental Champions every 4 years in between
these.

However I do not agree your statement about EASA as most of the negotiations with EASA are done through the European Gliding Union EGU which works closely with the European Air Sports Organisation.

Further the IGC is mostly involved in the Badges, Records and Competitions and has never done much to develop Gliding at Grass Root Level. That is supposed to be done by the Clubs and their National Gliding Organisation and in Europe partly by the EGU which unfortunately are mostly concerned with Regulatory Matters.

Bruno Ramseyer
IGC Delegate Ireland