Andreas Schwartz finished 3rd of the sport class in the Austrian Paragliding League

After placing second in 2023 with his Volt 4, Andreas Schwartz alias Blacky stepped again on the podium at the 3rd place in the Austria Cup in the sport class with his Volt 5. He tells us more about his successful but quite wet season ;-(

After a world-class start to the Austrian league season with brilliant conditions at the Schöckl Cup with two out of two tasks, the 2024 curse fell on the weather and did not spare the competitions.

One cancellation followed the next… The Staufen Cup, the Alpencup, the Adrenalin Cup, the Austrian Open, and the Alpenrosen Cup were cancelled because of poor conditions.

We got the opportunity to make one task out of 2 during the Loser Open and the Kaiser Trophy. Unfortunately, there was no valid ranking at the Alpe Adria Cup because of a collective gaggle sinking flight 😵 and the following Hohe Wand Cup was cancelled.

At the Ikarus Open, we were able to fly and score in 2 out of 4 possible tasks… and that was it for the season! Statistically, this is the worst competition year in history.

With so few tasks run, the pilots had no right to make a mistake and had to fly well and show themselves to be up to the task in each valid competition. In these conditions, I did a good job with my #speedmachine and managed to secure the third spot in the sport class.

Congratulations Blacky! A podium well-deserved in a difficult season 💪 Let’s hope for better conditions next year and we wish you all the best in competition and outside!