‘I was in goal sipping an Aperol Spritz!’

Pál Takáts (HUN, Ozone Photon) won the SRS Skywalk Edition 2025 in Gemona, Italy, which ran from 2-9 July. He beat Stanislav Klikar (CZE, Sky Merlin) into second place with Brett Janaway (GBR, Gin GTO3) in third.

In the women’s competition Magdalena Janaway (GBR, Gin GTO3) took top spot, with Summer Barham (USA, Ozone Photon) in second and Martina Hauri (CHE, Ozone Lyght) in third.

The third event of the SRS’s year partnered with Skywalk for the competition, which saw the full spectrum of weather conditions, from sizzling heat, to violent thunderstorms.

The competition saw six tasks – 76km, 49km, 93km, 50km, 50km and 55km – with the first two tasks using the classic ridge run towards Slovenia before sending pilots out into the flats.

The third task opened in the same way, but continued through the mountains to Meduno before returning home via the plains. Many pilots got to experience an amazing convergence line which carried them effortlessly nearly all the way home from Meduno.

Task 4 was a flatland task with a goal at Udine. The SRS’s Ruth Jessop reported: “With turnpoints placed to keep pilots in the centre of the valley, it was ironic that only pilots who went to the mountains anyway were able to complete the task.

“Steady attrition in the flats made the end of the race nail biting to watch. The hills proved to be the only viable route and Paulo Silva eventually scraped into goal to win the day.”

The competition finished with a couple of “fast and furious” tasks that combined the mountains and flats.

Ruth said: “Whatever your place in task six, the stunning cloud formations at the start made it a day well worth getting out of bed for. Exceptional meteorological conditions allowed the pilots to climb next to the clouds right to their tops, giving the most amazing cloudscape to fly in.

“The task was full of route choices with the leaders unable to see who they were racing against as they were so spread out. Pál on an Ozone Photon raced to goal on the mountains. Luke Nicol came charging in a few minutes behind him across the flats on a Gin GTO3.”

Pál Takáts took the win after the dramatic race to goal in the last task. “I was already sitting comfortably drinking an Aperol Spritz by the time the other pilots arrived in goal a full five minutes after me!” Pál joked.

The SRS is designed for pilots flying EN C gliders and is increasingly seeing a high level of racing and competition for podium spots. Overall task winners included Aurelijus Andreliunas, Pál Takáts, Mark Hayman and Stanislav Klikar.

In the women’s competition Magdalena Janaway and Summer Barham took it turns to swap task wins. “Magda came seventh overall in task six, proving that this is far from a boys-with-the-fastest-toys sport,” Ruth said.

In the teams, Flymaster took the win from Team Gin, which had been leading for most of the week. Team Gin came second, with Team Ozone in third.

Ruth added: “The competition had lots of fun sides to it. There were three father-and-sons taking part. The Gins and the Janaways were the main rivals, with Brett and Mark winning by a wingtip ahead of Gin Seok Song and his son Chaewoon Song, who thoroughly enjoyed his first SRS.

“Just for fun the four oldest pilots were also scored against the four youngest. Gin Seok Song and Didier De Saint Etienne were the main scorers for the Oldies, however the Youngsters proved nimbler and faster: Chaewoon Song, Mark Janaway, Joao Pinheiro and Mattia Vosti.”

Skywalk’s Gerhard Holzner and Arne Wehrlin were there as competition sponsors – and to hand out a brand new Mint (EN C) in the prize draw at the end of the competition. The glider was won by Jaroslaw Wieczorek and Joao Pinheiro won a Naviter Oudie N Fanet.

Full results