Honorin Hamard and Seiko Fukuoka in Roldanillo. Photo: Ed Ewing
After 10 tasks and more than 800km of racing, France’s Honorin Hamard has won the Paragliding World Championships in Roldanillo, Colombia. He beat 147 other pilots to win the title, forcing Michael Maurer into second place and Torsten Siegel into third.
In the Women’s competition, Seiko Fukuoka Naville won the day, beating Keiko Hiraki (JP) and Nicole Fedele (IT) into second and third place.
The competition ended with a long and arduous 123km task that saw the entire field decked at about the 90km mark as a storm cell shaded out the valley. With no sun and no lift pilots got what distance they could before landing. After two weeks of blasting neck and neck into goal it made for a subdued, and for some frustrating, final day.
In the Nations, Team Germany took home the gold. A beaming Harry Buntz, German team leader, stood with his pilots on the podium as the gold medals were handed out.
The French camp meanwhile was also beaming. A relaxed and happy Didier Mathurin, French team leader, said he was “super happy” with the result.
Didier has pioneered new ways of mentoring, coaching and training new and young pilots in a professional way, and last night’s medal ceremony proved they work. He explained he had “two more generations below Honorin” who are in training – a remarkable achievement for a sport where it is generally accepted that age and experience helps you fly better and win.
“I was always told that young pilots need time, experience and to learn from the old guys, but in fact that is wrong,” Didier said with a happy shrug. “The young pilots pick everything up very quickly, very safely, and you only have to correct them once.”
The competition saw 10 tasks of between 45km and 123km, a total of 824km of racing.
Safety-wise the FAI report there were 10 reserve deployments logged throughout the comp, including two mid-air collisions where both pilots deployed. One reserve deployment resulted in the pilot breaking their arm, the others were injury-free. One pilot deployed twice – in the first task and in the last task. All pilots completed incident reports which are logged with CIVL.
Aside from deployments, there were two other incidents of note that required hospital care. Early in the comp a pilot suffered a side collapse and a cravat soon after launching, resulting in a rotation into the ground. He landed feet first and broke his lower leg. And a pilot on the last task hurt their back landing heavily. Both pilots are expected to make a full recovery.
Overall Top 10.
1. Honorin Hamard, (FR, Enzo 2), 7,099
2. Michael Maurer (CH, Boomerang 10), 7,041
3. Torsten Siegel (DE, Boomerang 10) 7,031
4. Helmut Eichholzer (AT, Enzo 2), 7,030
5. Chrigel Maurer (CH, Boomerang 10), 7,029
6. Stephan Morgenthaler (CH, Enzo 2), 7,012
7. Juruj Vidic (SL, Enzo 2), 7,010
8. Ulrich Prinz (DE, Enzo 2) 7,009
9. Marc Wensaur (DE, Boomerang 10), 6,981
10. Joachim Oberhauser (IT, Enzo 2), 6,962
Women’s Top 5
1. Seiko Fukuoka Naville (FR, Enzo 2), 6,473
2. Keiko Hiraki (JP, Enzo 2), 5,941
3. Nicole Fedele (IT, Enzo 2), 5,904
4. Kirsty Cameron (GB, Enzo 2), 5,839
5. Laurie Genovese (FR, Enzo 2), 5,767
Nations Top 5
1. Germany, 18,360
2. Slovenia, 18,221
3. Spain, 18,211
4. France, 18,130
5. Switzerland, 18,099
More at: www.airtribune.com/worlds2015/blog__day_13
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