Hang gliding dominated XCeara 2009, Brazil’s big-distance paragliding and hang gliding competition, which ended on 29 November after a week of flying.
Strong winds hindered paraglider pilots, but Brazil’s hang glider pilots took advantage of the conditions to fly big distance from Quixada in Brazil’s north east.
Marcelo Ferro flew the furthest, hitting 352.9 km on 25 November. An east wind helped him hit a top speed of 121 km/h with 5 m/s climbs, as he covered the distance in a little under seven hours. It was his second 300+ km flight of the week – he had flown 333 km two days previously.
Two days later, on 27 November, Rodrigo Gerundo Cavalcante dos Santos and Erick Vils both flew past the 340 km mark to hit 344 km and 342.65 km respectively.
Erick, who had also flown 330 km earlier in the week, reported 60 km/h winds and 7 m/s thermals with similar sink. He hit a top speed of 139 km/h and covered the distance in less than six hours.
Rodrigo took things a little easier, taking six hours 18 minutes to cover his 344 km, with a top speed of 107 km/h. Both pilots took off at 11 am and flew at heights up to 2,800 m.
Earlier in November Brazil’s Kamira Pereira set a new women’s world paragliding record of 324.5 km launching from Quixada.
See the track logs:
