The 4th FAI World Paragliding Aerobatics Championships have launched in Turkey Oludeniz. The event will be held from September 9th to 15th, 2024. It is organized with the support of Babadağ Teleferik, the Turkish National Air Club and Paragliding Federation, the Ministry of Youth and Sport, the Governor of Muğla, and the District Governor of Fethiye.

26 pilots (18 men and 8 women) from 12 Nations came to take part in the event. 24 of them compete for the Solo, Female, and National Teams titles. There are also 8 teams (two pilots in each) who compete in the Synchro category. Among them, you can see the famous SAT Fusion consisting of Raul Rodriguez (ESP) and Horacio Llorenc (ESP), competing only in Synchro, and Back2Back of Luke de Weert (NED) and Theo de Blic (FRA). Looking at them, one can say that the choreography will be pushed to the limits.

FAI Officials working at the event are Fabio Loro (ITA) FAI Steward, Andrew Cowley (GBR)  - FAI Jury President, Jamie Shelden (USA), and Thomas Senac (FRA) - FAI Jury members.

Turkey and France are the most numerous nations in the event. Both have sent 6 sportsmen. Turkey has sent Aslı Seher Topçu, Pelin Asılkazancı, Berkay Nal, Melih Kaan Kılıç, Yunus Emre Gültekıṅ, and Ali Yesil and France -  Carole Leconte, Maud Perrin, Hugo Lami, Florian Landreau, Maxime Casamayou, and Théo De Blic. USA is presented by 3 pilots: Jennifer Lauritzen, Tabor Clayton Henderson, and Max Marien. Switzerland by two: Pablo Eberhardt and Vincent Tornare. And other countries are presented by only one participant:  Jennifer Plöschberger (Austria), Jimmy Giroux (Canada), José Luis Zuluaga García (Colombia), Kristýna Carrera (Czechia), Gabi Fonck (Germany), Marco Papa (Italy), and Luke De Weert (the Netherlands).

The opening ceremony was held on September 9th, at the 1700m restaurant on the Babadag mountain. Impressive view and warm welcome. Lunch was offered for pilots and staff. They were able to fly some training flights only from 1200m take off because of the low cloud base in the afternoon. The general safety briefing was also held on that day.

On the next day, the first competition round was held. But it was not finished. After 8 pilots the launch was closed due to low clouds and strong wind. More info in the following days.

 

Event website: https://civlcomps.org/event/pg-acro-worlds-2024