Endurance Format Highlights Airmanship, Skill, Planning, and Navigation

The FAI has announced the first event in a brand-new series of championship races geared towards paramotor pilots who want to stay aloft and take the long way home, with the first big event coming next August.

The FAI World Endurance Paramotor Championships have their roots in Estonian pilot Papa Kolar's concept in 2010, where he envisioned a competition focused on extended airtime and strategic power management over strict speed. FAI Event Director Barney Townsend, a 3-time veteran of the World Paramotor Championships, recognized that the format was limiting to contestants' greater desire to just keep flying and enjoy the ride.

"The great thing about the new Endurance format is that it gives more airtime. Pilots who are travelling a long way to compete want to spend less time at the airfield and longer in the air," Townsend said. "With the longer flight window, wider competition area and less pressure at take-off, it is attractive to a broader audience. Those who have flown it, have loved it."

Townsend got to have some practice in implementing Endurance Paramotor races, getting the British Open Endurance Paramotor Championships started in 2018. From there, he went on to oversee the sport all the way to the international level, working with the FAI's Microlight and Paramotor Commission to create the inaugural race.

Endurance Paramotor will differ from the rest of the Paramotor slate by offering more varied terrain, larger competition areas, freedom of flight, and considerable attention paid to flight planning, ADM, piloting skills, and navigation. As a more wholistic approach to competition, it should prove a popular contender in the Paramotor scene. So far, the FAI says it's seen pretty strong registration interest, which is always a promising indication.

The very first FAI World Paramotor Endurance Championship will begin on August 3rd, running to the 10th.

FMI: www.fai.org