Swedish Worlds 2020

[Lasse Karlsson]

That would be very cool John

Cheers
Lasse

[James9118]

Can I clarify something? The venue for the 2020 fly casting world championships has been announced - does this venue have water?
What was the intention behind the ICSF combined championship - to have the plug casting over grass and the fly casting over water? Sounds like two separate events but in the same week and city.

Cheers, James

[Lasse Karlsson]

According to the photos in the prospect, the flycasting events are at two different locations, and the casting at a third. Now the casting won't happen. I still suspect the spey to be at the mouth of river Mørrum and the overhead will be at Karlshamn.

I guess, and it is a guess, that having the events in the same city and very close together could have had some crossovers between competitors, as well as some more spectators. I know the Swedes have a long history of having all kinds of sports happening in the same week, in the yearly Swedish Championships, and having the casting sport events close would mean some might get interested and also the other way. At present there is several top level competitors that compete in both from several countries, more could only be a good thing
And of course having the judges stay in the same place makes it easier, I suspect stretching it over ten days was a way of having fewer judges, but them working harder?
Looking forward to the formal invitation next month.

Cheers
Lasse

[sms]

Just stick those casters in their waders and knee deep in a lake/sea some where and have them cast onto shore, judges can walk around without freezing their balls off in cold water for hours on end, and accurate measuring would be a breeze!

This is what we did in the 2013 Nordic Fly Casting Championship in Tampere with spey events. That was because of the wind coming from the worst direction so we did not have any other choice. Accurate and easy measurements.

[Lasse Karlsson]

Thanks Sakari, we've done it a few times in Gøteborg too, when the wind have been straight in for the spey events, would be super easy to do with the overhead too..

Cheers
Lasse

[John Waters]

Hi Lasse,

I hope so too, maybe there will be some developments in the future.

Hi James,

It is the Swedish Casting Federation which had the foresight and courage to host both world championships, not the ICSF. The ICSF does not organise tournaments, member nations do it all. It is a pity that Sweden’s wish to showcase both events together in 2020 will not be realised but I am sure it will happen in the future for all the reasons Lasse has mentioned.

Inland casting began with fly people competing in both fly and plug events, I hope reciprocity will increase between inland fly and water fly casters in the future. It is starting in some countries, with Sweden, Norway, UK, USA, Japan and Australia, leading the way. The nation that does hold the inaugural joint WCs just needs everyone to get behind it and attend. Maybe in the immediate term, targeted international events, not WCs, maybe the go, we’ll see.

Some logistics are a challenge (refer Andy’s comments on plug logistics and those relating to general water issues, particularly pertinent to Spey events) and the cost will always an issue without financial assistance, but I agree with Lasse, it would be great if they could be overcome.

Court space issues in Fly Accuracy and Plug Accuracy events could be solved by having targets set in a single line, in front of the caster. Lots of things can be done, including options for water fly, inland fly and plug distance events, we just need to be flexible and inclusive.

Will be interesting to see which nations bid for the 2020 inland WCs, I expect a European nation but hope it could be from another region. The advantage of Europe is that maybe we will have some reciprocity in 2020 with casters visiting the respective events as spectators.

John

[Dung Fly]

Well said John.

If you notice, those countries who are pushing forward aren’t those who have a major influence within the ICSF executive board. Whilst Flycasting is on the up, Castingsport unfortunately is in decline and has been for a number of years. From a relative outsiders view there is a greater focus on the City events in favour of the World Championships which I believe was the catalyst for the demise due the limited countries that participate.

The last ‘inclusive’ event was in Maynooth, Ireland, which was a really great event but became a financial elephant for the organisers, something that all organisers need to watch out for.

Alas the boating lakes of yester year have nearly all disappeared which would have been ideal for fly casting events.

[Torsten]

John,

Court space issues in Fly Accuracy and Plug Accuracy events could be solved by having targets set in a single line, in front of the caster. Lots of things can be done, including options for water fly, inland fly and plug distance events, we just need to be flexible and inclusive.

I see only a challenge for 18g - but as I've written we had German senior and the youth world championship here and our stadion looks compared to Karlshamn quite similar (at least from google maps), maybe it's even possible to find a lawn with more space nearby - I think it's feasible. I'd assume the real problem is the critics from the executive board and that's why they cancelled the casting part.

[Paul Arden]

So any idea what dates we are now looking at?

Thanks, Paul

[Lasse Karlsson]

So any idea what dates we are now looking at?

Thanks, Paul

I would guess the dates for flycasting still applies

Cheers
Lasse