Sports-Class Racing Series

Paragliding Racing for A New Generation

Rules

Interim 2025 rules are as follows. They may be updated on 1st March 2025 for the remaining season.

Overview

The SRS is a brand new concept with big ambitions for the future. However, we are not seeking to make the series overly complicated, particularly in the beginning. Please therefore assume FAI Section 7a in the main part, with the exceptions as listed below. In cases of ambiguity, we shall refer to the PWCA rules for clarity. The decision of the SRS Technical Director is final in all matter.

  1. SRS Membership:
    • The SRS series is a Members Only organisation. A pilot must have paid his annual membership prior to arrival at his first seasons edition.
    • The cost of membership for 2024 will be €25 euro (no increase on the 2023 price)
    • For 2024 we will be collecting the Membership fee when you pay for your event entry fee.
    • A Membership symbol will be shown on all Airtribune SRS events.
  2. Harnesses:
    • Pilots must fly with the same harness during one event. In special cases (lost
      luggage, damaged equipment, etc.) the TD can allow a harness change during the event.
      Any pilot who changes their harness without notifying the TD will incur a penalty
      of up to zero for the day.
    • Partners will be allowed to present 2 RFC Harnesses during a season.
    • Harnesses must not be equipped with any form of mechanical propulsion.
    • Electrical fans used to inflate fairings are allowed up to a power rating of 10W as
      long as the fairing has no rear-facing exhaust. This rule does not apply to
      harnesses already in existence on 18/03/2023.
    • A minimum of one reserve/rescue is required. We recommend a pilot flies with two.
    • Harnesses must come with mandatory EN1651:2018 or LTF09 certified protection and EN or
      LTF certified harness structure.
    • The harness must be certified as per section 7 requirements (excluding the two reserve/rescue requirement)
      An indicative list of allowed harnesses can be referenced here: https://www.fai.org/page/harnesses-and-back-protectors , but for a more accurate answer on if your harness meets the certified criteria you should look for a test report here: https://para-test.com/reports 
    • Any harnesses listed on the SRS banned list are excluded from participating, regardless of the status of the harness on the CIVL list.
    • In the future the SRS may release further harness restrictions. Please check this section regularly.
  3. Wings:
    • Certification is limited to EN-C, except for wings with a maximum certified weight of 75kg, where they may be certified EN-D, providing all larger sizes of the same model are certified EN-C.
    • Any 2-liner certified after 1st January 2024 must have a Speed Limiter tape between A & B risers. Be sure to check your wing is compliant before purchasing for the 2024 season!
    • A Partner Manufacturer or Sponsor may enter one RFC (Ready For Certification) wing per season, according to the rules used by the PWCA RFC wing definition, and compliant with an EN-C standard.
  4. Weight & Ballast limits:
    • Pilots must fly within the certified weight-range of their glider.
    • Pilots must be fit to fly with their chosen quantity of ballast. Any pilot experiencing difficulties launching will be required to stand aside and may not be allowed to fly.
  5. Communication Equipment:
    • Radios (2 metre band) are mandatory for all pilots and must be used for safety purposes only.
    • All pilots’ radios must be switched on and tuned to the safety frequency announced at the task briefing.
    • The use of voice-activated microphones (“VOX”) is prohibited.
    • All pilots must carry a, switched on,  mobile telephone with them during the task time.
    • Pilots not fulfilling these requirements can be grounded or penalized.
  6. Safety:
    • Any pilot deemed to be flying in an unsafe manner or with unsafe equipment will be penalised. This is in Section 7, but it is worth quoting again!
    • Briefings will be issued in PDF format just prior to the event. It is mandatory that a pilot reads the PDF so that the onsite safety briefing may be more concise.
    • Training Day takes place before registration is complete. Therefore, live tracking and full safety backup/retrieval will not be available. It must be borne in mind that this is a free-flying day, and the organisers participation will probably be limited to transport up the hill and possibly a limited retrieve service.
    • It is ALWAYS the pilots responsibility to fly within their limits according to the conditions and all other aspects. A task being suitable for the competition does not mean the task is suitable for you. Consider when it is time for you to land, or not take off.
  7. Trackers:
    • The SRS provides a Flymaster Tracker for each competitor as a safety measure, to know at all reasonable times where they are whilst flying. The tracker provides one-second resolution live tracking, and in-flight communication between the organisers and the pilots (Level calls, SOS, Report back). The tracker will additionally be their primary scoring device.
    • Each competitor must take the Live Tracker at take-off, and he must carry it on his person whilst flying and whilst being retrieved. Penalty for non compliance is zero points for the day.
    • It is Mandatory to Report Back on the tracker as soon as possible after landing. Penalty for non compliance from a Warning (first offence) up to disqualification for further offences.
    • A pilot who does not return his Live Tracker may not be displayed on score sheets until it is returned.
    • A lost tracker will be charged to the pilot, or organisation, 200€ for replacement.
  8. PRIORITY LAUNCH:
    • Season starter task
         Top 10 of previous season series
         Top 3 females of previous season series
         Task committee
         SRS Org
    •  First task of each subsequent event
         Top 10 in the series
         Top 3 females in the series
         Task committee
         SRS Org
    •  Task 2 onwards of each event
         All the above, plus top 10 & top 3 females within the event scores.
  9. PENALTIES:
    • Failure to fly with a tracker. Zero points for the day.
    • Modified glider: 1st offence; zero points for the task. Second offence; zero points for all remaining tasks.
    • All-up weight outside certified weight range: 1st offence; zero points for the task. Second offence; zero points for all remaining tasks.
    • Cloud flying: points according to the Soft Airspace Infringement formula (see PWCA Appendix C.8: Airspace Penalties); disqualification from the event for persistent offenders.
    • Aggressive or dangerous flying: progressive penalty up to disqualification from the event.
    • Airspace infringement, horizontal or vertical: points according to the Hard or Soft Airspace Infringement formula, depending on the legal status of the airspace.
    • Track log missing or non-continuous track log when continuous track log is required: zero points for the task.
    • Failure to report back, or late report-back after a task: 10 points first offence. Up to disqualification from the event and possible recovery of S&R (Search and Rescue) costs.
    • Change of equipment during competition, if the TD is not notified of the change, then zero points for the day.
    • This list is not exhaustive. Other penalties may apply, according to the rules or Meet Directors decision.
  10. Scoring:
    • The latest available SRS scoring formula.
    • Lead Out Points are used.
    • FTV is not used within the event. There will be no form of task dropping at the events.
    • The Tracker is the Primary Scoring device.
    • A pilot may present one backup device for scoring if he disagrees with the tracklog from the GPS tracker. This should be his primary flying device and it should be on the approved list from FAI. See here: Accepted Devices
    • All scoring will be by GPS data, including Altitude & height.
    • Scoring tolerances will be 0.1% for all cylinders, airspace & cloudflying measurements.
  11. Task Results:
    • When a pilot lands, his distance/time is considered PROVISIONAL, as calculated by the Tracker data. A pilot should confirm he agrees with the calculated data before handing his tracklog in to HQ.
    • When a pilot returns his tracker to the Scorer in HQ, his distance/time will be considered FINAL and no further changes may be requested to the distance/time. Therefore a pilot should confirm he agrees with the scorer at the time he returns the tracker.
    • If a tracker is returned by a pilot on your behalf, your distance/time is considered final when the scorer receives the tracker. Be sure you are happy with the provisional before giving your tracker to another person.
    • In the instance of problematic Flymaster data for the tracking the Official Scorer or Meet Director may announce a continuation of results being Provisional until such time the issue is resolved. In this instance a pilot may ask for changes to his tracklog until the results are announced FINAL.
  12. Sponsors, gliders and other data:
    • It is the responsibility of every pilot to check the data displayed on the score sheets at the end of the first task and ask for them to be corrected.
    • Any changes requested from task 2 onwards may be refused.
    • No changes will be accepted on the final task day of the event, unless it is also the first task of the event.
  13. Communications:
    • All results, timings, briefings and other official announcements will be made in the official INFO Whatsapp group for the event only.
  14. Teams:
    • If flying in a Manufacturer Team, you must fly with the product the manufacturer sells. ie, You cannot fly a Gin wing if in the Ozone team etc.
    • A team will consist of a maximum 4 persons per event.
    • These pilots can change from one event to another. One pilot can only participate in one team during a competition.
    • The second pilot per task will score for the team. *New for 2024
    • A team is established for the season, but the pilots in the team may change from event to event.
    • The position in the overall task ranking of each team’s second pilot will decide the team ranking.
    • The competition result is the sum of the team’s points for all tasks in the event regardless of task validity
  15. Individual Series Champion:
    • The Sports Racing Series champion is derived by combining the scores from all SRS events in the season.
    • The final result shall have FTV applied, at a ration predetermined at the start of the season. See below for the effect:

Season Winner & FTV

  • The 2023 season had a potential 25 tasks, assuming perfect weather for the year and had an FTV of 50%
  • Realistically, with typical seasonal weather, you can expect 16-18 tasks from 25, but this is entirely down to the weather in the season.
  • This means a pilot should typically attend 2 Editions (events) during the season in order to gain a good score for the year.
  • In 2024 we plan to hold 5 events, giving a potential 31 tasks and an expectation of 23 tasks. For that we will apply FTV at 60%.
  • See below for an overview of 2023 scoring.
Valid 1,000 point Tasks in 2023212019181716151413121110
How many of your tasks we score10.510.09.59.08.58.07.57.06.56.05.55.0
Minimum No Editions you should consider attending222222222211

This is an incredibly simplistic way to understand FTV and the season scoring. Apart from anything, it assumes you will know the weather at each event in advance. The intention of a 50% FTV on the season, based on four Editions, is you only need to attend two Editions. But if you choose two with bad weather, and the other two events have good weather, you may not achieve your full potential score. But also, if you attend all the editions, for example, then half of your scores, the worst half as dictated by the FTV calculator, will be set aside, giving you a better chance of becoming the years champion.

For 2024 onwards, the following topics remain under consideration

 

Harnesses: We have a working group looking at restrictions on harnesses. At the moment, there is no formal rule in place. We want to make this a fair competition for all, but we also want to ensure the spirit of Sports wing flying is maintained. This may mean we will bring in some restrictions. For example; a maximum length of the tail fairing; or restrictions on inflatable aspects. However, any pod harness manufactured and released up to summer 2022 will be accepted in whatever rule we publish, providing it is certified.

Weight limits: Again, back to the working group. We are considering an overall restriction on the weight of your equipment. For example, 25kg total. This would include glider, harness, instruments, ballast etc. The limit and restrictions are not final, and there may be some exclusions for the lighter pilots.

Scoring: This is a major aspect of the SRS project. We want to simplify the scoring! But we want to keep the pilots racing. It is our opinion that things like FTV & LeadOutPoints (LOP) have overly complicated the sport. No other sport has a winner that didn’t cross the line first. Lets put that right. But like everything, life is not that simple. LOP are important to the race, otherwise everyone will just follow, and then race at the end. This will lead to manufacturers making faster and faster wings in a bid to win. We will be developing our own scoring system but it will not be so radical. The old stuff isn’t broken, it just needs some updating to address the issues.

Certification: Clearly there is a restriction on certification. A wing must be certified EN-C or below. But life isn’t that simple. Xxs wings for example may struggle to get EN-C, whilst all other sizes are EN-C. So we will publish a rule that will allow our smallest pilots to access the series on wings that may have obtained EN-D on a wing that would traditionally be considered an EN-C.

Wings: From 2023, the 2-liner EN-C was a big feature in the sport. Indeed, it is the basis of the series existing. But will there be any restrictions? We have a working group that will consider future restrictions such as maybe an Aspect ratio limit of 6.7, or tapes on the risers to restrict Speed Bars being too aggressive. What we do not want is manufacturers making crazy wings trying to win, at the expense of safety for the pilots. Maybe in the future there will be a new Sports Certification developed, one step above EN-C. We will see. For this year, all 2-liners C’s we have heard about are below the aspect ration of 6.7, so you can purchase in confidence this year. Watch out for them not having Speed Limiters though between A & B risers!

Results: The way results are processed in a competition is based on 1990 technologies. We had cameras, it took many hours to be retrieved, the results were not available until the morning, and they were printed on paper. Lets move to 2023! When you land, your score is already available online, on your smart phone. When you hand in your tracker, your score is FINAL. So best you check it is correct when you come to HQ. No more delays, and live scoring will be published!

Safety: We are investing in technology. We will have available the latest 4g trackers at all our events. In early 2024 we expect to have a new generation of 4g trackers, where we can send you messages through the trackers, stop tasks with the tracker etc. 

Safety Briefings: These are a mandatory part of every event, and they are important. However, there are often mundane, with many aspects being aimed at the newer pilots. We will be publishing a standardised PDF with the key aspects, to make life faster at the event, and to highlight the aspects more relevant to the local venue more.

Selection: This will not be by WPRS nor by how fast you register. See our separate article on the SRS Score and how it works. You will still have to pay quite quickly when offered a placed in the series though, to avoid missing out.