XC News

Chrischi about his record attempt on September 29

We were in the air shortly before 7 a.m. At that time, there were only a few small cumulus clouds, and the thermals were still very weak. Nevertheless, we managed to stay airborne all the way to Patu. That was where the first beautiful cumulus clouds started to develop, and suddenly it became much easier to find good lines and strong lift.

That was also the moment when Seb (Sebastian Ospina) and Chrischi (Christoph Richert) joined up and, from then on, worked as a team, trying to find the best lift under each cloud. Together, we flew south past Quixadá towards the three declared turnpoints.

Near the third turnpoint, we missed the cycle slightly, and the thermals were very weak. Chrischi got extremely low, down to around 100 AGL, and had to struggle for a long time in a small valley before finally managing to climb back up. Seb was already able to continue into the next valley, but he also got very low there. Because of the poor landing options and the remoteness of the area, this was an extremely unpleasant situation for him as well. But he also fought his way back up and was then slightly ahead. That was crucial, because the goal had to be reached before sunset for the world record to count.

However, time was also running increasingly short for him. With practically no sunlight left, he found the last bit of lift, managed to gain enough altitude once again and finally flew into goal only a few minutes before sunset, with just 70 AGL – and thereby secured the record.

When he landed, Chrischi was still 20 km short of goal. Luckily, the fantastic Fly With Andy crew was already on its way and picked him up from the wilderness shortly after landing. Seb had a bit more trouble reaching the next road, as his landing site was surrounded by bushes.

Seb has therefore actually set a new world record in “Declared Distance Using Up to 3 Turnpoints” with 444.4 km! Although he flies for the UK, we congratulate him - and hope he flies for Switzerland at some point in the future. ;-)

And the Swiss team is already planning a longer task to take down Seb's record.