The competitive flying finally started in the AAI Paragliding World Cup being organised at Bir Billing. Bright sunshine greeted pilots today morning at Billing that provided strong thermals and breeze making conditions ideal for paragliding.
As many as 118 out of a total of 130 pilots participating in the World Cup took off today morning filling the skies with colour. In today’s task the pilots covered a distance of 97.73 kms from the launch site in Billing. The pilots flew into skies from Billing, took a turnaround from Kangra and landed in Bir in the evening.
The organisers said that clear skies allowed the pilots to fly well above 3,500 metres from the sea level. Out of 118 pilots, who took to skies, 22 pilots failed to complete the task set for the day. Though initially the pilots faced some difficulties, conditions got better in the afternoon, the sources here said.
Maxime Pinot, top seeded pilot, finished at the top at the end of the day. He took three hours one minute and 50 seconds to complete the task. Jurij Vidic of Slovenia, world number 2, was close behind Pinot. He completed the task six seconds after Pinot taking three hours, one minute and 56 seconds. The top 10 pilots participating in the World Cup were also not far behind.
“The conditions were really good today. At the start it was a bit bumpy, so it was important to avoid making any mistakes. I did not take too many risks. But after the turnaround I started pushing and managed to build up a good speed. Once I broke free of the pack, I managed to remain ahead,” said Pinot.
Spain’s Xevi Bonet Dalmau was third finishing the task in three hours, two minutes and 10 seconds, while Torsten Siegel of Germany and Louis Gerin-Jean from France jointly finished at the fourth position completing the task in three hours, two minutes and 16 seconds.
Among the Indian pilots, Ajay Kumar finished at the 47th place. He covered the distance of 97.73 km task in three hours, 23 minutes and 42 seconds, while Vijay Soni was on 50th place. Soni took 3 hour, 24 min and 27 secs.
One of the most experienced pilots of Indian contingent, Gurpreet Dhindsa, completed the task in three hour, 28 min and 19 sec to finish in the 52nd place. Dhindsa had to rely on his experience to complete the task today as he broke one string of his glider. Kumar, Soni and Dhindsa were the only Indian three pilots out of the eight in the competition who managed to complete the task for the day.
“My objective for the day was to finish the day’s task. As such, I did not want to take any risk. Today’s task was quite technical. I am pleased with my performance. I would like to build on the good start,” said Soni.
