Pico do Gaviao Paragliding World Cup
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The Pico do Gaviao Paragliding World Cup is taking place in Brazil from the 7th to the 14th of September.
The enormously successful 2017 Pico do Gaviao World Cup confirmed Brazil as the land of seven-day competitions. In the words of Richard Gallon, 'Pico do Gaviao is such an amazing launch, take-offs in every direction. So many task options. Every day we do a completely different task with a great variety of flat land and relief flying. You have to fly by feeling as there are no clouds to help you. The Brazilians are really teaching us how to fly'!
Two years ago, Brazilian pilots took the top five trophies and nine out of the top fifteen places. But the Europeans dominated the recent Baixo Guandu Super Final. Who will rule the skies and fly away with the best thermals in Brazil this time?
Equal numbers of Brazilian and French pilots are taking part, proof of the increase in world class Brazilian pilots.
Seven overall World Cup winners and three ladies’ winners will be taking part, all keen to notch up another victory. At least half of those in the thermals above Pico do Gaviao will be there chasing one of the few precious places left for the Super Final.
Pilots from thirty different countries will be competing, showing the popularity of Brazil for Paragliding World Cups, combining great skies, big friendly smiles and generous thermals!
In addition to the PWCA app and the pwca.org website (which now includes photos of the pilots) with the live Commentary, tracking and scores, the local organisers have also made an excellent app. Search for: PWC Andradas.
Update 8.9.2019
To kick off the Pico Do Gaviao 2019 Paragliding World Cup, a 70km task, zigzagging south west across the rolling hills, was set.
As soon as everyone got into the air, the first day nerves were blown away by the great thermals which, if anything, were a bit stronger than expected. The cycles were short and the ceiling was high, which made reading the clouds really important. There was very little wind until the last part of the race. In summary, perfect paragliding conditions.
From the beginning, there were different route options which divided the gaggles up. The end part of the race was nail biting as the lead gaggle got low and stuck and were overhauled by those behind.
107 pilots made goal within 1 hour and 7 minutes of each other.
The average speed of the fastest pilot round the course was: 33kmph.
Summary written by Ruth Jessop
Top 3 overall
1st Chigwon WON
2nd Rafael SALADINI
3rd Loïs GOUTAGNY
Top 3 ladies
1st Marcella UCHOA
2nd Emma CASANOVA
3rd Tomoko YOSHIKAWA
Top 3 teams
1st Ozone
2nd Woody Valley
3rd Kortel Design
All the results are available here : http://pwca.org/results/results/
Mental Training. Bio-Hacking for pilots...
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A pilot’s mental training is a key element, both for winning the World Cup and for clocking up the kilometres in an XC, or for leisure flying. There are lots of ways of making your mind work before and during a flight, from now on, we’ll frequently return to this subject.In this edition, we’ll be putting the spotlight on WHM, a method of ‘bio-hacking,’ working in depth with how we function, which can be very efficient
Read the magazine, as always for free:
First task of the 16th FAI Paragliding World Championship in Krushevo, Macedonia
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The 16th FAI Paragliding World Championship is taking place in Krushevo, Macedonia, until the 18th of August 2019.Situated at an altitude of 1350m, Krushevo is the highest town in the Balkans and a stunning location for this year’s World Championship; the plains out front provide the perfect paragliding playground. Krushevo has built up an excellent reputation as the base for both national and international paragliding competitions over the past ten years and is a very worthy venue for this most prestigious event.
This year we celebrate 30 years of the Paragliding World Championship. The best in the World came from all over the World, with 150 pilots taking part from 48 different countries; bringing flying friends together from as far afield as Argentina, Japan, Iceland and New Zealand.
Six previous World champions are taking part: Pierre Remy (2017), Honorin Hamard (2015) and Charles Cazaux (2011). And in the Ladies’ ranking: Seiko Fukuoka Naville (2015, 2017), Klaudia Bulgakow (2013) and Petra Slivova (2003, 2007, 2011).
Just a reminder that you can keep up with all the action on
Where you can read the live Commentary, follow the pilots on the tracking, keep up with all the scores and relive each task thanks to the very talented Mr Broers.
The first task on Wednesday was an 81km triangle in the Perlagonija Valley with 138 pilots in goal.
Ozone R&D Team Pilot, Honorin Hamard(FRA) was the winner followed by Ferdinand Vogel (DEU) in second and Pierre REMY (FRA) in third. All flying Ozone Enzo 3s.
The weather forecast for Krushevo on Meteo Parapente:
Crossing New Zealand
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Reader's Story Text and photos by Kilian Hallweger, Michael Malchereck, Nicolas Manthos et Markus Anders
Flying XC and skimming the ground in stunning European countryside
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Skimming flights and easy distances above dreamy countryside… Three paramotor pilots explored northern Italy and flew over stunning countryside…
Strengthen YOUR mental attitude By USING the cold and your breathing?
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Mental preparation can improve your physiological and psychological performance in any sport. Dutch man Wim Hof has become known as the ‘Iceman,’ beating astonishing records. To prepare his body and spirit, he has developed a method which should be accessible to everyone, and also usable in everyday life. We tried it…
Test: 777- Queen Who is it designed for?
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We made the most of the lovely autumnal days to try out this wing at St André les Alpes, Annecy and in the Vosges, in different conditions, from excellent to frankly horrendous.
Test Niviuk Hook 5
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The Catalan manufacturer has just brought out the latest version of the Hook. There are new features and significant improvements in this fifth-generation wing.
PWCA Superfinal 2018 March 2019
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The 10th Super Final was a truly amazing event set in the Sugar Loaf landscape of Baixo Guandu, Brazil.
New app:Relief maps
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A new app for iOS and Android which will, no doubt, be very useful for hike&fly pilots.