Airfield Stendal-Borstel, Germany
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Archive for April, 2021

04/292021

Cancellation of the 36th FAI World Gliding Championships in Stendal

News 1
We are sad to inform you about our decision to cancel the 36th FAI World Gliding Championships at Stendal-Borstel airfield. After continuous exchange with the relevant authorities of the Federal State of Saxony-Anhalt and the county of Stendal, they finally stated that an approval of the championship event cannot be expected at this point in time due to the ongoing restrictions of public life related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Now 2 months before the beginning of the training period, this leaves the cancellation as the only option to us.

We would have loved to host the event back in 2020, 100 years after the first gliding competition on the Wasserkuppe. Now also in 2021, it is not possible for us to welcome legends of our sport in Stendal. While being sad, our disappointment stands small in the light of the overall tragedy caused by the pandemic.

All the best wishes from our end go to Thierry Paris and the team in France for the WGC of the Club, Standard and 15m-classes. We hope it’s going to be a great competition!

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04/222021

Late-April update from the Organizing Team

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Dear gliding enthusiasts,

it continues to be a challenging situation for all involved. In this update, we want to provide more transparency on the limitations that we expect for the WGC in July. As stated in our update from early April, we want to decide on April 30th on whether the WGC can happen or not. The decision criteria remain as stated. The rules and laws on Covid-limitations are constantly changing in Germany. So we are planning to publish the final and specific Covid-rules in late June. These will be an appendix to our Local Procedures.

We expect the Covid-rules for the 36th WGC in Stendal to contain the limitations mentioned below – some of them were mentioned in our update from early April already. There may be changes until July. But this list reflects the current rules as of late April 2021.
  1. For entry into Germany, the official regulations as published by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany apply: https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/einreiseundaufenthalt/coronavirus. This means that travellers from risk areas, high incidence areas or virus variant areas have to follow quarantine regulations als laid out on this website. The list of such areas is constantly updated and can be accessed at the website of the Robert Koch Institute. As of April 21st, Quarantine upon entry will not be possible at the Stendal airfield.  If individuals have to be tested prior to entry to Germany, the costs of these tests will not be reimbursed by the organizer.
  2. Pilots, team members, volunteers and members of the organizing team will have to be tested for Covid-19 infections when arriving at the airfield and potentially during the competition. Should the health authority accept Antigen self tests for this purpose, the organizer will cover the costs of these tests. In case the authority requires the use of PCR tests, the organizer will not cover such costs. As of mid-April, such PCR tests come at a cost of approx. 50€ each.
  3. Persons with a positive Antigen test result will have to move into a quarantine facility in order to have their test result validated through a PCR test. The facility is located in a former hotel nearby the airfield. This also applies to individuals who were in direct contact with the positively tested person. The costs of this quarantine facility  of 21.50€ per night and person as well as validating PCR tests are not covered by the organizer.
  4. In closed confinements, protective face masks will have to be used and personal distancing rules must be followed. Usage of rooms will be limited to a specified amount of persons.
  5. Daily briefings may be held online through a video conferencing system.

As of late April, hotels, restaurants and hostels are still closed in Germany. We strongly encourage all teams who plan to stay outside of the airfield to reach out to their hosts.

Please let us know via email to info@wgc2021.de in case you have any further questions.

Kind regards,
Henning and Christoph for the Organizing Team
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04/062021

Early-April update from the Organizing Team

News 1

Dear gliding enthusiasts,

Let us give you another update on the preparations of the 36th WGC at Stendal during the ongoing pandemic situation. First, we are very happy that we received 97 entries until the deadline on March 31st. This is great, given the current circumstances with the pandemic still restricting public life. Now obviously, participants and the organizing team would like to have clarity on if the WGC will actually happen or not.

We will make this decision together with the local authorities on April 30th, based on the viability of a number of preconditions outlined below. We will also need at least 60 valid entries (i.e. entry fees paid) by the end of April. Otherwise it will not be possible for us to run the competition, since we have to enter contractual committments from May onwards. In case we will cancel the WGC on April 30th, we will fully reimburse entry fees that we received until that date, minus potential transaction fees. Our reimbursement policy from May onwards is specified in the Local Procedures.
Since our last update late February, we agreed on preconditions with the authorities that have to be met in order to run the competition:
– the 36th WGC in Stendal will not be a public event. Visitors will not be able to enter the airfield, access is restricted to registered team members, registered volunteers and members of the organizing team only
– facilities on the airfield will have to be arranged in such a way that keeping the distancing rules is possible

– team members, volunteers and members of the organizing team will have to be tested for Covid-19 infections before and during the competition. Positively tested persons will have to move into a quarantine facility in order to have their test result validated. The costs of this quarantine facility and validating PCR tests cannot be covered by the organizing team. Further details of the testing rules will be published in June, before the competition starts.

For entry into Germany, the official regulations as published by the Federal Foreign Office of Germany apply: https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/einreiseundaufenthalt/coronavirus; the relevant federal state (named “Länder” on this website) is Sachsen-Anhalt. These regulations are frequently updated. Until summer, there may be improvements for vaccinated persons. But the extent of these improvements is not clear yet.

Please let us know via email to info@wgc2021.de in case you have any questions.

Kind regards,
Henning and Christoph for the Organizing Team
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