Race rules

CONCEPT 

The Pyrenees Air Tour is a three day unassisted paragliding walk and flight around the central part of the Pyrenees. During the race, the pilots will only be allowed to walk with their equipment or to fly. Each evening at 7pm, the competitors must have reached one of the refuges to have dinner and spend the night there. The pilots will be able to share their experiences, tell about the great moments of the day and discuss possible strategies for the next day. The return to the goal must be done at the latest on Sunday afternoon at 4 pm.

PROGRAM 

Departure: Luchon Superbagnères, restaurant La chapelle (to be confirmed depending to the work on the cablecar)
Arrival: Luchon, airfield landing
Duration: 3 days
Dates: 30 to 2 July 2023

PLAYGROUND

http://pyreneesairtour.com/en/playground

GAME RULES

Starting from Luchon Superbagnères, the competitors will have to complete a course (goal race) with optional markers decided by the organisation and a committee of pilots, with a return to the airfield landing in Luchon. The nights will be spent in one of the refuges. The latter will welcome participants on a half-board basis (dinner, overnight stay, breakfast). Lunch will be provided by the competitors (possibility to buy lunch baskets in the huts). Travelling will be by two means of transport, either on foot or by flying an approved paraglider. The race is blocked at night between 7pm and 6am.

ORGANIZATION

Event organizers and directors 

The organiser of the Pyrénées Air Tour is the paragliding club Nouv'l'air. The event director is Fred Juvaux.

Jury 

Composed of the race director, and two volunteer pilots from among the competitors. Its role is to rule in case of disputes between competitors, to sanction by a penalty a breach of the rules, to validate the calculation of the points and the passage of the refuges allowing the establishment of the final classification.

Walking and flying conditions 

The pilots are the only ones to take the necessary decisions regarding the choice of walking routes and the choice of flying, in order to preserve their physical integrity and that of others. Analysis and anticipation of terrain and flight conditions, and their evolution, must remain a priority at all times.

PILOTS

Conditions of participation

  • Be over 18 years old 
  • IPPI5 licence
  • Third party insurance
  • Be in possession of a specific medical certificate, dated less than one year from the date of the event, mentioning the competitor's ability to paraglide in competition and to walk in the mountains for 3 days.
  • The organization strongly recommends that pilots have an individual accident covering paragliding. Indeed, competitors do not benefit from any additional insurance apart from their individual and personal cover.

Racing rules 

  • The pilot must have his mandatory flight equipment with him at all times
  • The pilot chooses a unique and complete equipment for the 3 days of racing. In case of damage and with the agreement of the jury, the pilot may change it.
  • The pilot must fly in aerological and meteorological conditions adapted to his level of piloting and his fatigue. He must also take pedestrian routes adapted to his physical condition. He is solely responsible for his choices and undertakes not to expose his physical integrity and that of others.

Travel rules

  • The pilot is only allowed to walk and fly, any other form of movement is strictly prohibited (swimming, climbing, etc.)
  • Only routes authorized for pedestrians may be taken. It is up to everyone to come out at their own risk. Routes subject to decrees are prohibited.
  • Violation of controlled airspace will result in a penalty of up to the immediate disqualification of the pilot.
  • The pilot undertakes to respect the visual flight rules which apply to paragliding in accordance with French laws.
  • Failure to comply with these rules is a very serious fault which will result in penalties ranging from penalty to disqualification.

Application of penalties 

The jury reserves the right to adjust the penalties according to the seriousness of the facts and the underlying intentions.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Registration details 

The registration will be done by Internet by following the link available on the website of the Pyrenees Air Tour. In order to validate the registration, each pilot will have to pay the full registration fee of 210 €, as well as send us all the required documents. Confirmation of registration will be sent by email to the pilots. The list of registered pilots will be put online on the Pyrenees Air Tour website. There are 40 places available. The first complete and validated files will be given priority. After that, the pilots will be put on the waiting list in the order of registration (complete file).

The organisation reserves the right to invite additional pilots. The organisation also reserves the right to refuse a pilot if he/she does not have the required qualities to participate safely in this event.

Registration fees 

The registration fees include: 

  • Half-board accommodation in the huts (2 nights)
  • Welcome breakfast on the morning of the start.
  • Buffet at the prize-giving ceremony.
  • Souvenir gift for all competitors.
  • Management of the race follow-up with tracking application on smartphone
  • In the event of a refund of the registration fee, whatever the reason or date of withdrawal, 30 euros will be retained as a fee incurred by the organisation.
  • No refund in case of pilot withdrawal after June 1, 2023.

List of registrants 

The organization considers that all pilots registered for the Pyrenees Air Tour participate in the entire event. Thus, if a pilot wishes to leave the event, he must imperatively inform the organization. Image rights: pilots authorize the Pyrenees Air Tour to use their images for photos, films, reports, articles, etc. 

The security score 

All registered pilots must imperatively check in directly, by SMS or telephone from a refuge no later than 30 minutes after stopping the race each day. The security checkpoint allows the organization not to trigger unnecessarily search and rescue. The lack of a safety score is a very serious fault which will result in penalties ranging from a penalty to the disqualification of the driver.

Race time 

On Friday the race runs from 10am to 7pm 
On Saturday the race runs from 6am to 7pm 
On Sunday the race runs from 6am to 4pm.

Night rest time: between 7pm and 6am minimum, the pilots must stop the race during the night rest and sleep in one of the refuges defined by the organisation. A penalty of 500 points per 30 minutes of delay will be applied for any arrival after 7pm.

Procedure at the start of the day: turn on the Tracker when you leave. 

Race stopping procedure: within 30 minutes of his decision to stop the race for the day and in any case before 8 p.m., the pilot sends an SMS to the safety check-in mobile number with his pilot number and the name of the refuge that it has reached (failing that, its precise GPS position)

Emergency release 

Upon landing on the ground, the pilot must IMMEDIATELY retract his paraglider. A paraglider on the ground not assembled or folded up means: "I NEED RESCUE". 

The pilot who flies near a pilot in difficulty must assist him or warn the DE by all means. The Jury will assess the method of compensating the score of the pilot who has rescued. 

In the event of an accident :

Step 1: The emergency triggering will be carried out directly with the emergency services (same procedure as a non-race emergency). 
Step 2: The pilot triggers an SOS thanks to his tracker 
Step 3: The pilot will inform the organization as far as possible in order to take the appropriate measures

Classification 

The classification is done in four stages with the following order of priority: 

  1. The number of refuges validated with return to Luchon aerodrome on Sunday 20 before 3 p.m.
  2. The number of points obtained with the optional waypoints. 
  3. The time of arrival at Luchon aerodrome. 
  4. The penalties applied.

The track of each pilot must include at least one point in each waypoints cylinder in order to validate it. All cylinders have a radius of 400 meters. The time is taken when the pilot arrives at Luchon aerodrome, with the addition of any penalties. The timing is stopped from the moment the pilot enters the arrival cylinder (radius 200m). 

The permanent provisional ranking will be established taking into account the elements of “live tracking”. However, the risk of loss of data from the system obliges all competitors to provide a track of their GPS for verification of beacon passages at the request of the organization. It is therefore important to store the GPS tracks of the three days of the race by any means at your convenience. The pilot chooses the track options according to the memory capacity of the GPS and his own judgment. A provisional classification will be established on October 10, 2021, pending the control of all the tracks of the pilots.

Doping 

Like all other sports disciplines, our activity is subject by French law to anti-doping rules: the use of doping products is strictly prohibited outside the framework of specific and justified medical prescriptions. 

Respect for the environment 

Each pilot undertakes not to leave any trace of his passage and to respect the environment in which he evolves, fauna, flora and soil.

FLIGHT EQUIPMENT

Mandatory material 

Competitors have the choice of equipment used, this choice is placed under their sole responsibility. 

  • Approved (EN or LTF) or CCC certified glider
  • Harness
  • Rescue parachute
  • Paragliding helmet
  • Charged and switched on mobile phone
  • Auxiliary battery 10000 mAh minimum

All of this equipment must be in the pilot's possession during race times. The race committee can inspect the pilot's equipment at any time. It is not possible to change the flight equipment, except in case of deterioration of the declared equipment with the authorization of the race committee. For any clarification on the definition and approval of the various materials, see the FFVL framework regulations.

Material strongly recommended 

Gloves, waterproof jacket, poles, change of clothes, compass, knife, sun cream, vario, external battery, first aid kit, back protection, camelbak, energy bars, sunglasses, survival blanket, whistle ... 

Live Tracker 

The use of a live tracking application will allow the pilot to follow the race throughout the event on the internet. It does not constitute a proof of the course achieved. The switching on and off of the tracking application and the recharging of the smartphone are the responsibility of the rider. Incorrect use of the live tracking may result in penalties.

GPS 

Each pilot manages the autonomy of his GPS and batteries. GPS track: in case of dispute with the live tracking, the pilot is allowed to provide a GPS track in ICG/UTM WGS84 format. The GPS track provided must include at least: 1 point every minute in the air 1 point every 200 m on the ground. To validate a beacon the track must have at least one point inside the cylinder. Each pilot must provide the cable corresponding to his equipment for unloading the tracks.

COURSE

The course is a goal race with optional markers, the aim being to validate all the markers making up the course and to finish at the Luchon airfield before 4pm on 2 July. These markers have different point values depending on their difficulty. Each marker can only be validated once and in the order of the course. The refuges and markers must be passed by flight or on foot within the defined radius to be considered validated. Each pilot must be able to enter the GPS coordinates of the beacons and refuges in his GPS. Nights must be spent in one of the huts on the course. A night spent outside of an official hut (at a local's house, hotel, hut, under the stars, etc.) will result in a penalty equal to half of the points collected for the day.

RESPONSIBILITY

Participation in the Pyrenees Air Tour is the sole and entire responsibility of the participants. Everyone is required to take out personal insurance for the risks associated with their participation, risks for themselves and for others. Everyone is required to ensure their physical integrity and that of others through their decisions and actions. The Pyrenees Air Tour organization declines all responsibility towards participants and third parties for any damage that may occur as a result of participation in the event. By registering for the Pyrenees Air Tour, participants unconditionally accept the above regulations, exempt the organization from any liability towards themselves and undertake to assume alone any liability towards third parties that may arise from their participation and their own facts.