Antoine Girard flies 400k FAI Triangle – first ever

Antoine Girard has claimed a new FAI Triangle world record – a massive 400km. He is the first paraglider pilot to fly a 400km FAI triangle.

Flying on 16 June he launched from near Karimabad in northern Pakistan and was in the air for 11hr 32 minutes. He was flying an Ozone Zeolite 2.

From Karimabad he flew west to a turnpoint in the far west of Pakistan, then southeast towards the provincial capital of Gilgit, before flying back northeast to Karimabad and beyond.

The flight took him through and across high altitude and heavily glaciated mountainous terrain, where peaks reach 6,000-7,000m. His highest altitude during the flight was more than 6,700m (nearly 22,000ft).

Antoine is well known for his adventure flying in Pakistan and the high mountains of the Karakoram. On 18 July 2021 he became the first paraglider pilot to fly up and over the summit of an 8,000m peak when he soared over the top of Broad Peak (8,051m).

After his 400k triangle flight he said: “At the controls of the Zeolite and the F*Race 2, Veso Ovcharov and I teamed up to increase our speed on the course. The strategy worked perfectly until heavy rain interrupted our progress.

“I chose to wait it out and then skirt around the rain zone. While this decision cost me almost an hour – leaving me to navigate weak and disorganised thermals after the storm passed – patience finally paid off. The flight concluded with the first-ever 400km triangle and a new world record in one of my favourite playgrounds!”

The current FAI Triangle world record is 358km and is held by Edouard Potel – it was set from Col de l’Izoard in the southern French Alps in August last year. The exact distance of Antoine’s flight will need to be ratified by the FAI to stand as an official world record.

Antoine’s flight stats include:

Distance: 400.5km FAI triangle
Maximum speed: 90 km/h
Average speed: 35.8 km/h
Ceiling: 6,746m
Gain: 2,455m
Flight time: 11 hours 32 minutes
Maximum climb: 5m/s

Explore the tracklog at Syride