Mandy Temple attended the March IGC meeting in her role as Australia’s IGC representative and as an IGC Bureau (Executive) member.
"The meeting was well attended and brought together delegates and experts, from around the world - but not Russia or Belarus, whose FAI membership is suspended - to deliberate on regulatory issues, technological advancements, and past and future championships," Mandy said.
"We were hosted by the Celje gliding club, Slovenia, which will be the venue for the Women’s World Gliding Championships (WWGC) in 2026, which coincides with the club's 100th Anniversary."
Key Decisions
Year 1 proposals, which need a second confirmatory vote in 2026:
* Junior Age Eligibility Adjustment: A modification of the age limit for junior pilots, moving the 25th birthday deadline away from the southern hemisphere championship season (Moved from 31 December to 31 March)
* Mandatory Proximity Awareness Transceivers: To enhance safety, the use of proximity awareness transceivers in tow planes at Category 1 events will be mandated, aiming to reduce mid-air collision risks during championships
* Flight Recorder Identification Checks: New protocols proposed to verify flight recorder identities at Category 1 events, ensuring the integrity and authenticity of recorded flight data.
* External Antenna: A requirement for all championship aircraft to be fitted with an external antenna was passed. In discussion, it was explained that in the previous week, working with international Search and Rescue, and correlating OGN data from aircraft flying in the Alps, Angel Casado of IGC was able to direct rescue services to find and save a pilot who had crash landed in the Alps
* Turn Point Geometry: Championships turn points will be “Thistles” with a 20km wedge rather than cylinders
* Sporting Code Revisions: The more commonly used earth model WGS84 to be used for distance calculations moving away from the FAI Sphere
Year 2 proposals coming into immediate effect
* Change to bid schedule: A consolidated model to remove 'clumping' of events outside of Europe, which arose as each Championship had a separated rule and was governed by an independent schedule.
A complete list of all decisions is here: https://tinyurl.com/IGC-decisions-2025
Championship Bids and Future Events
The delegates voted on bids for upcoming championships:
2027
25th European Gliding Championships (EGC) awarded to Vinon, France
8th Junior European Gliding Championships (JEGC) awarded to Lithuania
2028
World Gliding Championships (WGC) awarded to Colommiers, France (beating South Africa)
Q and A session
Andrej Kolar of Naviter, Erazem Polutnik of LXNAV and Nik Salej of LX Navigation attended and spoke about their vision of the future of gliding. There was lot of discussion about the future role of heads up displays (HUDs) in the cockpit.
Reports were received from the Working Groups and Sub-committees of IGC.
OSTIV - Organisation Scientifique et Technique Internationale du Vol a Voile
Annex A – WGC rules and handicaps
Annex B – GNSS approval
Annex D – IGC Pilot ranking list
ANDS – Air traffic, Navigation, Digital Systems
GNSS approval
Championship Management Group
Safety
Scoring
History
Virtual Gliding
Country Development
Bid Manager
Trophies
Decentralised competitions
CASI – FAI Air Sport General Commission
EGU – European Gliding Union
CIMP – FAI Medico-Physiological Commission
Championships – Reports from previous and future championships
SGP – Sailplane Grand Prix
Guest Speaker – Proximity Analysis Tool (PAT)
'What’s next with PAT' – John Warrington from Australia spoke about the latest improvements of the IGC’s Proximity Analysis Tool. Note that I have now completed training and have a log in to the PAT system and am learning how to analyse flights for my role as an IGC Steward at Category 1 events, and can also access traces from all Australian competitions, too.
Pilot of the Year
Stephan Langar was awarded IGC Pilot of the Year and presented with a trophy and certificate.
The complete minutes of the two-day meeting can be found here;
fai.org/sites/default/files/documents/igc_2025_plenary_meeting_-_minutes_final_draft.pdf
The next Plenary meeting will be held in Lausanne Switzerland in March 2026. There are also monthly Bureau Zoom meetings with a physical Bureau meeting in October.
New items for discussion at the next Plenary meeting in 2026 must be notified to IGC by 30th September. Please contact me if you have any issues that you would like me to raise or if you have any questions about any aspect of IGC.
At the moment Australia does not have an Alternative IGC delegate, if you have any interest in this role please contact me for more information - i
