2015 FAI Annual Report

14-15 / 68

FAI ANNUAL REPORT–2015 FAI ANNUAL REPORT–2015 12 13
Air Sports
Championships
& Events
The event year 2015, which culminated with the FAI World
Air Games in December, has been bustling with activity
for all air sports. In total, 69 Championships and 641
Category 2 competitions registered in the FAI Events
Calendar have taken place all around the globe.
Several disciplinesmade theirdebut ontheworldcompetition
scene, such as Indoor Skydiving, Wingsuit Performance
Flying and Speed Skydiving.
HIGHLIGHT EVENTS
FAI brought additional resources, including worldwide
TV production and distribution, to three selected events
to ensure their international media coverage. These
competitions were also granted full support and branding
by FAI’s sponsor Breitling.
28th FAI World Aerobatic Championships
The 28th FAI World Aerobatic Championships were held
from 20 to 29 August in the French city of Châteauroux.
Playing at home, France topped almost all the rankings:
general and male (Alexandre Orlowski), female (Aude
Lemordant), and national team. The gold medal for Final
Freestyle was the only one to slip from their grasp. That
went to Rob Holland from USA, who thus became the
first pilot in the history of the Championships to win this
programme three times in a row (2011, 2013, 2015).
The competition proved to be a great popular success
all week long. The public attendance culminated on the
last day with some 60,000 visitors present at the airfield.
59th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett
Seventeen gas balloons fromeight nations competed in the
59th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett long-distance
race. About 5,000 spectators supported the teams at the
launch site in Pau, South-West France, on the evening of
28 August. Emotionswere at their highest when theworld’s
best gas balloon pilots lifted off to the sound of their
national anthems. After an excitingly tight finale on the
fourth night, Kurt Frieden and Pascal Witprächtiger from
Switzerland won the competition by landing the furthest
away, near Jaczno, Poland, an impressive 2,080.80 km
from the departure point.
6th FAI World Sailplane Grand Prix Championship
Maximilian Seis fromFrancewas the surprisewinner of the
6th FAI World Sailplane Grand Prix Championship which
took place in Varese, Italy, from 5 to 12 September. At
the age of 22, although the youngest and one of the least
experienced pilots, he proved that talent and motivation
are two of the most important factors in winning such a
competition. Seis won two of the races, was 4th in two,
and placed 6th on the other race day, thus earning points
on each day and flying very consistently.
“The public attendance
culminated on the
last day with some
60,000 visitors
present at the airfield.”