The British Open Championships 2024 took place in at Manston Airport, in Kent (UK) serving as the test event before the 1st FAI World Paramotor Endurance Championships (3rd and 10th of August 2024)

The competition lasted 4 days, with one day cancelled due to bad weather. For two days, pilots had a 3-hour time window to perform given navigation tasks, such as snake navigation or declared speed. Additionally, there were precision and economy tasks.

There were 43 pilots competing in the PF1 (foot launch) class and 16 in the PL1 (solo trike) class. Besides UK pilots, there were guests from Germany, France, Netherlands, Ukraine, Ireland, and Belgium.

Benedikt Boss, a German pilot flying the Viper 6, won the gold medal in the Open class (all pilots) and the German National Champion title.

Bruce Daniels, who ended 4th in the general classification, was the best British pilot and won the title of the 2024 British Champion.

Benedikt reports: "The event had a really nice atmosphere. We compete with each other a lot in the air, but on the ground, we are all good friends and enjoy time together. I have to say, there were quite a few high-level pilots who did not let me relax! But I am glad with my performance and experience because I could find my weak points and prepare better for the World Championships in August."

Bruce Daniels, flying the Viper 6, became the 2024 British Champion. Bruce reports: "The competition started well, but I was flying very conservatively during the first navigation tasks to ensure I didn’t get a penalty. A lot of people landed out on the first day. During the second navigation task, I scored consistently high in the constant speed tasks, thanks to the large speed range of the Viper 6. On the last day, we had three precision tasks: spot landing, bowling landing, and precision wing control. In these tasks, I scored 1,115 out of 1,250 possible points, pushing me from 4th in the British National table to 1st place. Overall, I scored 4th in the Open Championship and 1st in the National Championship."

Michael Merle from France finished 2nd in the PL2 (solo trike) category flying Viper 5.

Sandra Moreels (Sirocco 3) from France was the best female pilot. She finished 9th overall in the PF1 foot launch category (out of 43 pilots) and was awarded Best Newcomer 2024.

Congratulations to all pilots!

Cheers from the Ozone team.

Results here