Parachute jumpers from ten nations are competing from July 14-20 at the 11th Latin American Parachuting Championship and the First Friendship Parachuting Cup, both at the International Parachuting Center in Cuba, 140 kilometers to the east of Havana.
Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela. Russia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Qatar are some of the nations taking part in the event, as affirmed by Rolando Alfonso, president of this discipline in Matanzas province. The main purpose of these events is to set Cuban and Latin American records in this sport.
In the modality of Individual and Team Landing Accuracy, the only modality in the competition, Cuba is represented by three male teams and one female team, while there are women from other nations contesting in the individual category. Trainings have been undertaken with an AN-2 aircraft (with capacity for ten passengers) and an MI-17 or MI-8(helicopterwith capacity for 20 passengers), available since the morning of July 14.
The general regulations of the competition state that teams will be made up of 5 contestants and judges will take the best four records. The participants must comply with the safety requirements demanded by FAI for jumps with parachutes and sports gear will be checked by the Technical Commission of the Cuban Sports Parachuting Federation.
The maximum height for jumping will be 1200m, and the minimum 900m. Each competitor is obliged to show its life insurance before accreditation. The jury is made up of by Omar Gómez Morejón, director of the event, Jorge Derviche (Judge COLPAR of Brazil and President COLPAR), Jelson Amorím and Alberto Moncada (Judge Parachuting FAI and Judge COLPAR), Lázaro Santacruz Hernández (President Cuban Judges Commission) and another six judges from Chile, Perú and Cuba.
Recent history…
Parachuting, paragliding and motor paragliding are three kinds of air sports practiced in Cuba. Some of the most important free flight events held in Cuba are: the Copa 26 de Julio, the Liga Oriental, the biannual national paraglide championship in Santiago de Cuba. Last August, for the glory of foreign and Cuban pilots, a new competition was added: the Policarpo ÁlvarezIn Memoriam Sports Paraglide Cup, Sagua de Tanamo, in the eastern province of Holguin. Besides, last March, foreign and Cuban pilots met at the National paraglide Championship held in Puerto Boniato, in Santiago de Cuba, with the participation of French, Venezuelan, Irish, Jamaican, Dutch and German contestants.
The event was called for by the Cuban Free Flight Federation (FCVL by its acronym in Spanish) and the Cuban Aviation Club (CAC by its acronym in Spanish) with the purpose of developing the competitive level of Cuban aviators.
