World and European Hang Gliding Champion Christian Ciech won the Iquique Hang Gliding Open, which took place in Chile between 30 October and 4 November 2016.
Ciech won all but the first of the six tasks in the Open event, finishing ahead of Christian Cid (CL). There was a separate Sport Class too, which was won by Gerardo Rocha of Chile.
The Iquique Open has been in existence for several years, but this year is the first time it has achieved FAI cat 2 status. Co-organiser Erick Angles of Atout Vents said, “This competition has been quite challenging for the pilots, as it was the first official competition ever organised in Chile”.
Thirty pilots from six countries took part, and every day was taskable. Separate tasks were set for the Open and Sports categories, with distances up to 161km (Open) and 88km (Sports).
Sadly, the practice day was marred by a fatality – a mid-air collision between a competing hang glider pilot and a free-flying paraglider pilot, who died. The hang glider pilot is recovering in hospital.
We offer our condolences to the pilot’s friends and family. Organisers have praised the other competitors for their generous spirit in caring for the injured pilot, visiting him in hospital and buying him a plane ticket to Santiago for treatment.
Tight landing spots? Not here …
Atout Vents say they hope the 2017 event will also be the first National Chilean Championship. “We hope to see many more pilots from many more countries for the second edition in 2017.”
Results – Open
1 Christian Ciech, IT, Laminar
2 Christian Cid, CI, WW T2C
3 Jose Tomas Garcia Johnson, CI, Combat L14
Sports Class
1. Gerardo Rocha, CI, Litesport 4
2 Hector Rodriguez, CI, Discus
3 Gabi Konig, ES, Discus
All results can be found on Airtribune.com.
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