SRS OZONE, COLOMBIA

Published on:
08 Feb 2024

The first paragliding competition in 2024 was the Ozone @sportsclassracingseries. The skies of Piedechinche, Colombia filled with paragliders as competitors from 26 different countries converged on one of the finest flying locations in the world. The Valle de Cauca is a wide flat-bottomed valley, filled with sugar-cane fields, and flanked on both sides by mountain chains. Both the mountains and the sugar-cane fields produce excellent and regular thermals and in nearly every task, the pilot needs to choose which is the best and fastest option.

The first couple of tasks were fairly regular affairs, and Dylan Mansley and Summer Barham, both flying Photons, used them to establish a lead in the overall and women’s categories from which nobody would be able to dislodge them. A concentric circles type task was set for the third task, offering genuine options into the flats or along the mountains. It was good to see all the pilots scattered over such a large area!

After a couple of more fairly conventional tasks, another imaginative task was set. The experimental idea was to race around a circuit as many times as possible before the task deadline. This would concentrate the pilots in a small area, keeping everyone in the game together, and the end-game would be to calculate the final glide to be landing exactly at the deadline. Sadly, the weather did not cooperate and this final task will have to wait for the Berga competition for its inauguration.

This was a week of fast and furious racing with every task done with overlapping pulleys for almost its entire length. The diverse field of pilots testifies to the universal appeal of this new format.

Congrats to all the pilots and cheers from the Ozone Team

Results:

Overall