That is what Competition is all about

35th Hellenic Paragliding Championship

18th FAI European Paragliding Championships

After a marathon of flying, competing in both the Greek and European Championships, it was followed by another marathon — 950 km of driving.

With a few hours between getting my clothes dry and checking in at the airport for another destination, I thought I’d take a moment to look back and make a small recap.

1,200 km of XC in 14 consecutive, exhausting tasks.

2nd place in the Greek Championship.

But the European Championship was much more than simply competing as a member of the Greek National Team.

As the official meteorologist of the event, as well as a member of the Task Committee and the Safety Committee, I had the responsibility of managing and understanding the weather models in order to support the best possible performance while maintaining the highest possible level of safety.

And, of course, at the same time, I was competing.

9 out of 9 tasks in goal.

870 km flown during these 9 days.

Three tasks over 100 km, with average speeds above 48 km/h.

More than 90 km per day on average.

And, of course, there were those moments when you are really flying on the edge.

Two major collapses. One with a twist followed by a full SIV session under severe turbulence, and another with a cravat at 3,200 m, flying full speed bar with a ground speed of 80 km/h — with everything that comes with it.

But in the end, the real result cannot be measured only in kilometres, speeds and rankings.

I’m going home with a full heart, full of images, experiences and positive emotions.

Experiences that I was lucky enough to share with my son, Ernesto, and with good friends with whom we had a truly great time.

I felt a member of a truly international community of very different people, from different countries and backgrounds, who have shared the same passion for flying for decades.

After all of this, I want to thank the good friends who trust me.

Goran and Martin for their tremendous achievements, both organisationally and in their flying performance respectively, and also Christiano, Fabio and Elena for their kind words and appreciation.

A big thank you as well to Joshua, Cyril, Stephan and Predrag for the excellent cooperation in the committees and in task setting, and above all for their appreciation and trust. Finally I felt so moved by the recognition from my co-pilots in the last briefing, thank you for this inspiration.

Good luck now to everyone at the upcoming Junior World Championship, and I wish my friend Álvaro the very best — I hope he does great!

Exhausted, but extremely happy, after a truly high-competitive, high-safety event, with a great atmosphere, respect, passion and outstanding performance.

One of the best competitions I have experienced in all these years.

Evangelos