Swiss pilot Sebastian Benz flew 592.41km (574.61km straight) on his Enzo 3 for a new free distance world record using up to 3 turnpoints and also the longest ever recorded in Brazil!

He tells us more about this amazing achievement:

“The Swiss League has been coming to Caicó since 2018. While many flights over 500 km have been achieved, and quite a few over 550 km, we somehow never managed to push significantly beyond that. Personally, I had already flown around 550 km three times before this attempt. It felt like we were stuck against an invisible wall — as if 550 km was a barrier we couldn’t break.

But of course, the Brazilians had already proven from Tacima that much more is possible in the Sertão. With flights well beyond 550 km, they showed us that 600 km and more is not only possible, but within reach. That thought stayed with us.

The day started promisingly. Around 6:15 small cumulus began popping, and Chrischi and I decided to tow together at about 6:30. Conditions were interesting right away — the air was crystal clear. Usually in Brazil it’s quite hazy, but on this day visibility was incredible, almost as if rain had washed out the atmosphere (even though, of course, it never rains here at this time of year).

After release we tried the first cloud, but it was still very early and the lift wasn’t quite working. We pushed on toward the next one, scratching for altitude. I had to fight for every bit of climb, drifting slightly into the wind and waiting for something usable. In front of us lay big stretches of shrubby trees — not the kind of terrain you want to be low over — so I really needed that extra height. Eventually, I managed to climb enough to cross into safer ground. Chrischi wasn’t so lucky; after a tough battle he bombed out and had to land.

From there things improved. I found a good cloud street towards Patu and could make fast progress. Patrick and Jérôme were behind me — sometimes closer, sometimes further — but we never really joined up. At times I got low again, usually when the cloud line broke, but I managed to recover each time.

Crossing towards Quixadá I hit my lowest point of the day. After the mountain crossing I sank deep, with endless trees in front of me. I had no choice but to drift crosswind behind the ridge until I finally hooked a strong 5 m/s climb that brought me back to 1,500 m. That thermal probably saved the day.

Later, Patrick overtook me with a great line and very efficient flying — I was playing catch-up after losing time. I chose a slightly more southern route after the Tabosa plateau, to cross the big "valley" towards the big plateau. Conditions turned exceptional. Just before and after jumping onto the plateau, I could climb to 3,200 m. Normally this section is blue and tricky, but this time clouds worked beautifully and the flying felt easy.

By around 550 km I was still high and determined to keep pushing. The atmosphere had changed — smoke filled the air, and with the sun low in front of me it became very hard to see the ground. The only thing visible was the glittering reflection of the lake near Pedro II. Below lay a mix of canyons, forests, and small towns — not ideal landing terrain — so I stayed high.

As sunset approached, I started my final glide, expecting to land short. But the air was buoyant, and the glide just kept going. Each time I reached what I thought would be my last field, I still had altitude to push further. In the end, I landed almost at 18:00 sharp, right at the edge of legal twilight. I even had to push a bit of full bar at the end to come down in time! While setting up final, I could hear high-pitched squeaks of bats already out hunting. The wind, which had been 20 km/h higher up, dropped to zero in the last 50 meters — a surprising but very welcome nil-wind landing to end the day.

The result: 592 km with three turnpoints, my longest flight ever, and the second longest flight ever done. In straight line it was “only” 574 km, since the wind shifted mid-day and my track ended up banana-shaped. Wind strength was modest overall — around 35 km/h in the morning, dropping to 15 at midday, and building back to 25–30 km/h later. Honestly, another 5–10 km/h would have made the flight even more efficient and could easily have pushed us over 600 km.

What made this flight exceptional wasn’t just the distance, but also the duration. I was airborne for 11 hours and 28 minutes, using nearly the entire day length (about 12 hours). We could have not towed much earlier and the landing was limited only by twilight.

Finally, I have to congratulate Patrick — he flew an incredible first 500k flight, finishing at 588 km! That’s just shy of the best Brazilian three-turnpoint flights from Tacima. His progress has been impressive, and I’m sure he’ll be back to attack again soon.”

Check out Sebastian's flight here.

Congratulations Sebastian and cheers from the Ozone team