News

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!

Dear gliding enthusiasts,

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.

Dear gliding enthusiasts,

Dear gliding enthusiasts,

Since late December, we received 93 entries for the 36th World Gliding Championships at Stendal. We are very happy about that, given the current circumstances! We also received many questions on how the Pandemic crisis will influence the competition. So let us give you a quick update on where we are with our preparations for the 36th WGC at Stendal.

So far, we arranged towplanes and facilities, worked on official documents and reached out to various authorities. So all the basic work is in progress and continuing. But we are also working under the assumption that the competition will happen under significant Covid-19 restrictions. The full extent of these restrictions is not fully clear yet, so we delayed the deadline for entry-fee payment until April 30th. The Invitation Bulletin was updated accordingly.

A few restrictions are already known. We expect not to be able to host any visitors beside contest participants. Furthermore, hotels and restaurants are still closed in Germany. So all teams who are hosted outside of the camping ground are encouraged to reach out to their hosts and check if their reservations are still valid. All participants who did not register yet via our registration form are asked to complete this until 7th of March. This helps us in our preparations.

Further alignment with the public health authorities will happen during March. We are planning to give a more precise update on these restrictions in late March / early April.

All the best to you and stay safe!

Henning and Christoph for the whole Organizing Team

Please find the relevant documents to have your license validated in our Downloads section. The general process is described in our License Validation Bulletin. It also outlines which licenses will have to be validated.

We just published the new invitation bulletin for the 36th World Gliding Championships in the Open, 18m and 20m Multi-Seat classes. The document is available in our Download section.

Besides the new schedule, there are two relevant changes compared to 2020:

1. The Covid-19 pandemic forces us to add more facilities than we planned with. Hence we asked the IGC to raise the entry fee from 850€ to 1,000€. This is subject to approval of the IGC Plenary Meeting.
2. In early November, the new international airport of Berlin was opened. The former airport of Berlin Tegel will be closed in early 2021. This goes along with changes in the airspace structure. They are already visible in the map of our contest area on the last page of the bulletin.

As always, feel free to ask any questions via email to info@wgc2021.de.

We are aiming for the same period in mid to late July and will publish the new schedule for the 36th WGC in 2021 on this site within the next days.

Dear competitors and gliding enthusiasts: the recent dynamics in COVID-19 outbreak requires changes in timelines for entry fees and in refund policies. Please refer to our COVID-19-Bulletin for further information.