Paragliding competition in Annecy … The ‘freeze’ will affect all FFVL sanctioned XC competitions in France. Photo: Marcus King
France’s free flight federation have “frozen” all paragliding competitions for the next three weeks, following the death of 21-year-old Timo Leonetti in the French Nationals last week.
In a statement sent to its members on 17 June the Federation Francaise de Vol Libre (FFVL) said that all cross country competitions organised under the aegis of the FFVL would be suspended until midnight on 7 July.
The statement read: “Following Timo Leonetti’s tragic accident, which has left its mark on our entire community, the FFVL has, as a precautionary measure, suspended all distance paragliding and hang gliding competitions until midnight on 7 July 2024.”
The FFVL will use the three week window to examine its processes and rules and “if necessary” change them to ensure the safety of pilots.
The statement said: “Jean-Louis Coste, president of the FFVL, has commissioned an internal investigation by the national technical directorate [and] set up a working group led by the SGS (Safety Management System), tasked with assessing the technical and safety rules relating to competitions.”
It added: “This period will be used to analyse our rules and procedures and, if necessary, adjust them to ensure the safety of our pilots and all those who take part in these events.”
The French and international paragliding world was shocked last Friday when news broke that Timo Leonetti, one of the sport’s youngest and brightest stars, had died following an accident during the French Paragliding Championships in Passy, northern French Alps.
The announcement of the competition “freeze” will have caught local organisers by surprise. June and July are peak competition season and the official FFVL French competition calendar lists several taking place between now and 7 July. They include the popular Ozone Chabre Open held in Laragne and the Alsace Open.
Organisers of the Ozone Chabre Open said they had confirmed with the FFVL that the competition will happen as planned. A member of the organising team said: “We talked to the FFVL and went through our protocols and safety systems, and they have said we can go ahead.” The Chabre Open is a long-standing ‘fun’ comp for pilots flying EN B and C gliders and has a strong track record of being well organised with good safety. We have asked organisers of the Alsace Open for an update too.
The FFVL did not publish a list of competitions that will be affected or publicly confirm any other details of how the competition freeze will work.
The FFVL has around 43,000 members across six disciplines, including hang gliding, paragliding, snow-kiting and speed-riding.
Source: France Freezes Paragliding Comps | Cross Country Magazine
