JacquiBruwer

Hi guys, I know I’m jumping into this discussion a bit late, but it’s always good to discuss and ask questions when you’re unsure about something, especially something as simple as a process. A World Class Skydiving Event: 1. A drop zone decides to submit a bid to host an International event 2. They get their Parachute Association and NAC (National Aero Club) onboard and through the NAC they submit the bid to the FAI/IPC (International Parachuting Commission). 3. The bids have to comply according to the IPC Documents: a. Sporting Code and Competition Rules b. IPC Documents (IPC First Category Event Application Document) c. FAI Documents Obtained from: http://www.fai.org/parachuting/documents 4. The Delegate representing a country will then present the bid at the annual IPC Plenary meeting held every January at a pre-determined venue and the relevant committees and country representatives get to ask questions about the bid. The bids are available 1 month in advance to everyone on the IPC website. 5. Then the representatives or delegates as we refer to, vote on the different bids their country would prefer, whether according to price, venue or aircraft. 6. The winning bids are announced at the end of the Plenary meeting as bids are submitted for different events, classes and disciplines. 7. Then the fun starts for that particular country. I am that person that have presented the past 2 bids for South Africa at the Plenary Meeting. It was my 1st time at one of these meetings and I hardly knew anyone. The 1st year, bids were received from Australia and 2 other countries that I cannot recall now and the last year, no bids were received except from South Africa. Anyone that has ever hosted a Word Cup/Meet/Championships will know that it is not a money making event, mostly you are running it at a loss. You do it for the good of the sport and the growth of the discipline. We only have 2 swoop ponds in our country and have managed to host a Class 1 event at both. I think South Africa has to challenge the States to better on these stats!!!! I do not take offence to the bribery comments etc, as I know it’s meant in good spirit, hence the reply on how these things work. For us the US is also very remote because in our world Africa Rules (humor)! As for the high altitude, I do agree that more should be done to ‘acclimatize’ jumpers prior to the competition and I’m sure that the IPC Safety and Technical Committee together with the IPC CP Committee are discussing these very points. This is still a Category 1 event with highly experienced Canopy Pilots who know and understand the risks and how to minimize them, so they should also take precaution and it should not be left up to rules and regulations to govern their discipline. My last comment about the event is that we had the best medical assistance available (advance life support and counselors) on the drop zone and all 65 competitors from the 15 different countries can attest to this, so even in Africa we strive to only provide the best. Let me know if you have any more queries on the bidding process or the hosting of the event in South Africa!

What a remarkable Cameraman and friend. I have fond memories of his visit/stay (3-years) in South Africa and our visit to Russia to meet his family. RIP friend, father and fellow skydiver.