Stephan Morgenthaler (CH), the only pilot to make goal on Task 3 at the Paragliding World Championships 2015. Photo: James Pagram
The Paragliding World Championships 2015 is a marathon, not a sprint. At two weeks long it’s the longest competition in the sport, and demands not only skill and judgement in the air, but patience and endurance on the ground.
Half-way through and the Swiss are leading the way. Competition leader Stephan Morgenthaler is so relaxed you could use him to chill a coke on launch. In second place Austria’s Helmut Eicholzer is similar, always ready with a quick smile and happy to talk. Chrigel Maurer, in third, is enjoying the flying, racing against his brother, and is having fun, spending his downtime on training runs with fellow X-Alpers Clement Latour and Aaron Durogati.
Among the women, Laurie Genovese is leading, carrying France’s honour with her. Daria Krasnova (RU) and Seiko Fukuoka Naville (FR) are in second and third place. Seiko said she usually prefers stronger conditions, but she’s enjoying the flying and the racing.
Team-wise, with the Swiss on top the Germans are also exuding a quiet efficiency, studying the map before each race, planning their routes and appearing quietly professional. They have a full-time video maker here with them, who is sending reports back to one of the major TV Sports shows in Germany. The focus is clear to see – they want a result.
Further back Team France is in eighth place. Team leader Didier Mathurin revealed he has five generations of competition pilots in the French training scheme. That must be no comfort to some of the older French guys at the moment, who are mid-pack in the rankings. Only Honorin Hamard, the young XC hound who won the XContest last year, is in the top 20, at 13th. Saturday night in Roldanillo saw plenty of pilots enjoying a beer in the town square – none of the French were out.
The French also lobbied hard for the cancelled task on Saturday to be taken as a rest day – they need to fly as much as they can in order to catch up. Memories of the European Championships on home turf St Andre in 2012, when not one French pilot saw the podium and the team finished in eighth place, will no doubt not be very far away.
As the competition enters its second week the pilots will have to dig in hard. They’ve had five days out of six flying so far, including the practice task, and have another seven on the horizon, including today, Sunday.
Follow the competition, including live tracking, and see full results at www.airtribune.com/worlds2015
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