04/08/2019
A nova vela CCC que esta chegando para abalar....
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2019 official Triple Seven statement
Dear fellow pilots,
since there was a lot of unverified information running through the social media, it is our duty, to officially explain what was happening in the relation of the Triple Seven, CIVL and the CCC working group, which one consists mostly of the designers from the biggest brands in paragliding world.
Triple Seven entered the CCC world for the first time with the Gambit, sending the XS size to the test house for the certification of the wing.
The test house gave us a green light on the certification of the flight test as well as load and shock test for the self-certification of the wing up to the L size (130 kg)
We gave permission to the test house to send the papers directly to the CIVL for the certification of the wing so, from our side, all was done correctly or at least we thought so.
We filled in the papers in time, for the rest of the sizes 60 days before the World championship. The paperwork was sitting at CIVL web page till the last week before the competition where concerns were raised from the designer of one of the biggest companies in the paragliding world.
The issue was, that the shock test was done at 800 daN instead of 818 daN, which made L size obsolete with the shock test only. The load test was done to 130 kg.
Of course, the so-called working group in the CCC system raised this question just a few days before the competition, leaving us without an option to correct this with a higher shock test. The easiest way to get the player out of the game, especially if you're the one who runs the show.
The rule is, that one needs to have all sizes certified in order to have the wing at Worlds championship.
The CIVL president explained:
The rule should be clear, so we don’t need further interpretation. We had to interpret.
- The manufacturer should know the rule. They didn't.
- The test laboratory should now the rule. They didn't.
- When CIVL receive and publish the document, the Committee should be informed ASAP. It wasn't.
- The Committee should examine and OK the document within an appropriate delay. It did not happen.
- There were 1,5 months before publication and comment.
Time should be given to the manufacturer to deal with any problem arising if possible. The manufacturer had none.
Nobody's perfect. I believe we have to admit this global failure, accept the Gambit, make sure such failure will not happen again.
Since the process involving us as manufacturers, the CCC working group and CIVL, failed to raise the question in time, the issue was put to vote by the CIVL bureau.
They voted at the same time about the Gambit being allowed to fly without the L size in the competition and Flow Spectra who did not send the papers to CIVL in time.
Both wings passed the vote and Gambit was like this, officially allowed to fly at the Worlds.
At that point, the CCC working group with Luc Armant leading the whole agony started pushing the CIVL with questions as to why is there a rule-bending for Triple Seven with the Gambit. It was clear that there was no safety issue as the L size was not presented in the competition, the only thing that was here was that all parties involved, admitted a mistake in the process and voted for Gambit to fly in the race.
We would like to add here, no one cared about Spectra and Flow, only Gambit was on the table.
We've spent all week debating things with Luc and some other members of the CCC working group. The pressure over the CIVL and Triple Seven was being built all the time.
Since they managed to look into every possible corner in order to get Gambit out of the field, we started looking at the paperwork provided by other manufacturers to the CIVL as well. We found out that not Ozone, not GIN and also many others, did not provide sufficient paperwork in order to have their latest models (From 2016 already), fully certified with the CCC class. The issue is exactly with the shock tests as the companies did not provide these statements from the test houses, or if made by self-certification, did not provide all the necessary documentation in order for the CIVL to accept it. CIVL was once again mocked by these very creators of well known ENZOgate mishap.
https://lu-glidz.blogspot.com/2014/02/enzogate-ozone-hatte-zweiten-bauplan.html
The only manufacturers that provided the data for the shock tests were, Triple Seven, UP and Niviuk.
The pilot of other brands practically can't check at the moment if his wing has made a sufficient shock test or not.
When this issue was formally raised to the CIVL, Mr. Luc Armant got quiet. Triple Seven Gambit is now confirmed and will compete at Worlds.
We believe we had to put out facts in order to have a clean name since some of the designers went fully on, on social media stating that the Gambit is not safe, without checking the facts first. We knew it won't be easy to enter the competition world with big players running the field but we never ever have expected that the "big" ones will go so hard in order to prevent a possible new player in the field.
Now, we hope there will be a fair and good competition in Krusevo! We wish all the pilots a safe, fair and fun competition!
With best regards
Triple Seven team
