THE GREATEST SUCCESS

It's January 2009, Polish winter shows its full beauty. We are going inaugurate new season with a warm-up in the mountains: Rabka town, temperature –17 C. We meet at a national PPG team camp, combined with friendly ski/paragliding competition. To our surprise, we can easily run tasks od 15-20 minutes even in that frost, rewarded with fantastic photo scenery of dazzling sun & snow.

During our camp we want to try out specially modified Plasma 22, with main intention of tuning the gear for three pilots, who last year qualified for the Air Games in Torino: Tomek Kudaszewicz, Grzesiek Krzyżanowski and Piotrek Trzciński. They uninamously considered the paraglider a great one, so the orders went out immediately.

Merging the flying with skiing was very exciting - I didn't ski for the last twenty years, but after a little training felt brave enough to join the game.

Results:

1. Tomasz Kudaszewicz
2. Mirek Hołownia
3. Grzegorz Krzyżanowski

At the end of February I received my Plasma 22 and started trainings. Immediately I realized I had to change my power-pack for a stronger one, as the need for raw power during slaloms is enormous. Such a dynamic paraglider has fantastic acceleration and can turn on a dime. My trainig resulted in achieving clover leaf times under 36 seconds before WAG 2009 expedition. Grzesiek performed similar, and Piotrek received his wing some two weeks before the competition so nad no chances for a solid training.

In the effect, at Torino AIR GAMES Grzesiek Krzyzanowski and Tomek Kudaszewicz were the best prepared, yet it was Piotrek Trzyński who performed best. Here's the story: two weeks before departure for Torino I broke my hand occassionally flying in Białystok. DISASTER! For that two weeks I was mainly wondering how should I fix the steering handle to the plaster on my hand, how will I handle the throttle with other, non-trained hand etc. Anyway, after some adjustments we hit the road to Italy in good spirits. The first and only official training was my only chance to try out conceived "plaster grip" and to recover my best disposition. The Italians announced the training session for 9 AM - great - but their usual speed and organisation resulted in some three hours delay, so we started around noon with strong thermal activity. Once in the air I am fairly optimistic - it's not bad generally, I can fight for top places, I just have to be thorough with take-off preparations; in flight I can't use my left hand for anything else than steering, as it is permamently fastened to the brake with strong velcro.

All pilots are flying cautiously and safely, but I have to have at least some training, so I enter the clover leaf. In the middle of it, at full speed ans some 2 meters over ground some bad thermal or a rotor behind a pylon cause an assymetrical collapse. Result is inevitable - I crash again, completely destroying my power-pack and damaging two fingers of my right hand together with a plaster-covered thumb of the left one. I think it's all over. Fortunately, Grzesiek invites me to borrow his spare gear. Working with Piotrek (the black one) they set it up in no time. Of course, no more training for me. With this gear I won't even be able to start the engine on my own. Some other problems follow:

1. soft cage I never flew before (you can't use full power on take-off, as it could break the cage and cut the paraglider's lines)
2. the propeller turns the other way as in my gear, meaning all my training is in shambles (now the other turn is facilitated than I am used to)
3. the paramotor has significantly less power and weight -- so all my flight parameters are different, the canopy is less loaded etc.
4. harness is not regulated as it should -- as a result after take-off to first task I find my seat plate hurting me in my back instead being below me. In the result, I am flying highly uncomfortable position I can hardly endure, not to mention catching balls with my legs and hitting goal, no way I could use the speed-----------

After that task I am placed 16th with big loss to the leaders, while only eight pilots go to the next stage. So it's time for positive attitude and flying - there are three tasks remaining: a clover-leaf, precision landing and dragon, i.e. catching ribbons. I fly them good, thus sneaking into final on 5th place - at last good performance on my part.

NOW ABOUT GRZESIEK

The guy was twice hit by bad luck - first during initial task (slalom with balls). Just before take-off the wind changed its direction so that it was blowing from behind, and Grzesiek started to change his take-off direction accordingly, as flexible cage forbids helping oneself with the paramotor. He had still a minute to his take-off, yet the official waved his flag a bit earlier, causing a big loss. The other time was pure chance - during dragon the ribbon instead of unfolding did break and fell like a stone, so that Grzesiek could not catch it at all. That moment decided: Grzesiek did not enter the final and finished competition on a 10th place – what a shame!

FINALS: I fly in a pair with Piotrek and commit a ridiculous mistake, executing entire slalom in a mirror image. My better time does not count - I get excluded, while Piotrek goes to next stage.

NOW ABOUT PIOTREK

He covered entire elimination pretty good with no mistakes, but in the finals he was sure he will lose with me (in Poland he had but two weeks of training). After my huge mistake he moved on and whole story ended abruptly, as seeing chances to win the medal he decided to go all out. Unfortuntely he entered his third turn too aggressively, got a collapse and hit the ground. The paramedics evacuate him with an amulance, but soon it is clear he's all right, just thoroughly battered. HE PLACED FOURTH, HAVING GOOD CHANCES TO FINISH EVEN BETTER - BAD LUCK!

Results:

• PIOTREK FOURTH
• TOMEK SEVENTH
• GRZESIEK TENTH

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Time for new challenge - coming World Championships, to be held in Czech Republic. My broken hand is healing and getting better each week. Brand-new Nucleon 29 is ready. The trike (a new design with Simonini engine) has great power, but the cage has its faults - it's too weak and still not ready. A week before the trip I am still training with broken cage: no problem in the air, but take-offs are a nightmare. I am also a bit nervous about short time to change my habits from Plasma 22-2d to a Nucleon 29, but I head for Czech Republic full of positive energy and there will be no mercy for my rivals.

The entire Polish team arrives a couple of days early, so we have time to get used to local conditions. Weather is good, so we add extra tanks to fly longer. Jarek Balcerek and Piotrek Krupa have the most interesting sets - two identical tandem trikes with additional sprayer tanks mounted on the very top of the cages look a bit like two flying police cars or ambulances. Thermal activity allows for touring the vicinity, so we polish our skills for the economy tasks. My brand new and not broken-in gear shows temper and isn't going to minimize its consumption. Not good, but fortunately the service team of EC-EXTREME shows up, with a whole trailer of spare parts.We put on a new carburetor, Rysiek Żygadło helps to tune it and... it's cool. Krupa has bigger problems, his engine seized up and he has to absolve a 2000 km trip to bring new parts form Germany. Once the engine is fixed, EC-EXTREME guys volunteer to break-in in over whole night - that's invaluable, since the next day we start competition.

First flying and first emotions: with Adam Paska we watch precision landing and there is a Czech PL-2 crew who dive into non-mowed part of the airfield and bounce back in the air. They continue their flight, but their trike is positioned sideways, they got off course towards goal and now aim for the judges and public. People run away and we have a Formula One crash - they touch the ground, right wheel breakes off and spins near us. The trike with a touch of luck does not turn upside down and stops within short distance. They crew get out unharmed, what a show !!! Fortunately the remaining part is all quiet, with just minor distractions like landing in the corn or broken sticks, especially by Monster of the German Gunnar who did break a stick together with his cage and prop.

Bad luck for Piotrek Trzyński Czarny and Mirek Chołownia - they tune their new engines too much, causing seizures and losing valuable points. Weather is rather difficult, as for the whole competition there is strong wind coming from Poland, that is over the mountains, and bringing constant turbulence. Sławek Turczewski gets angry, since completing the eight he clocked the best time, but missed a stick and earns a lot of penalty points. Grzesiek Krzyżanowski is paying games - arrives from his route 15 minutes after the window is closed and claims he did not hear that at the briefing. Emilka Plak is going strong, but her precision landing is not that precise - she dives, does not brake her paraglider, touches ground just before the ball damaging her cage. "Zero points", when the bull's eye was within reach. Bad luck hits Adam Paska - in last task his paramotor gets weak, he has to break off the slalom he was doing and barely manages to reach the landing area – another corn landing was close.

Krzysiek Romicki as one of three pilots decided to cover a route in a day with really bad conditions; despite strong wind and turbulence he managed to complete his flight in one piece. As for myslef, I have a lot of problems with Czech map initially and some tasks go bust. I am very unhappy, constantly confused by trails that on the map look wider than gravel roads. On the fourth day I state I'll kill myself if I have to fly another another task with that map. Of course it turns out that up that every day left to the end of the competition there was a map rask to be flown. Fortunately a good moment came and the map at last became clear to me. I am glad with navigation over curved route with declared speed  - earned 970 points, with Andrzej Malkusz as winner. My favourite tasks, i.e. precision and slaloms are still to be flown. In the last days we fly five different precision tasks I was afraid were overlooked - and I win them all ! Two days left and I am secind in overall ranking, one day left and I get to the lead. Emotions near the boiling point, just let's not spoil anything. An "eight" slalom before me - despite my love for the task I would prefer not to fly at all, especially as I never did exercise that one. I stay fully focused, visualise all the task. After take off I get high and watching my rivals I notice they are doing pretty well - I have no choice, have to go for the max. I enter the slalom - first round with a bit reserve, repetition with pedal to the metal. Is it enough? For certain I will know that after landing, but hot applause from the judges and the public suggests I did it. Yes, I am the World Champion! My hard work and a lot of pain are rewarded in the best possible way. The icing in the cake is a world record on a clover-leaf. The world is beautiful.      

Polish team has it's greatest success in its history.

Piotr and Dominik Dudek in PL2 did fantastic during entire championships. Their navigation tasks impressed many of us, as they've been locating practically all of the pictures and made no mistakes. Weak engine did not allow for great slaloms, but economy brought good point rewards. They got bronze medal individually.

Other highlights were world records on PF1 slaloms by Grzegorza Krzyżanowski and Emilia Plak, as well as their good finish: Emilka fourth, and Grzesiek fifth.

We go back from Czech singing songs, with a bunch of medals:

PF1 - TEAM BRONZE MEDAL

PL1 - INDIVIDUAL GOLD MEDAL AND WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BY TOMASZ KUDASZEWICZ, AND TEAM BRONZE MEDAL

PL2 - INDIVIDUAL BRONZE MEDAL BY PIOTR AND DOMINIK DUDEK, AND TEAM GOLD MEDAL

Fantastic and faultless job was done by our team lider Wojtek Domański, not for the first time by the way. Thanks and congratulations.

Another set of thanks and congratulations goes to coach Adama Paska, who created such great national team.

Most of the national team is equipped with Dudek canopies and we are really honoured tat the best PPG manufacturer of the world tunes its products to our needs, and in coopertion with the company we can raise pour skills even higher.

Many thanks to EC EXTREME service for all their help and repairs - great job, guys!

I think there is still a lot to win for the Polish team - we have enormous potential, eliminating some recurring mistakes will bring boost the results and some people will get to the very lead, instead of being always in the vicinity - I wish them that from all my heart.

PF1:

1. Michel CARNET 2 GBR
2. Pavel BREZINA 8 CZE
3. Frantisek SALAVA 3 CZE
4. Emilia PLAK 26 POL
5. Grzegorz KRZYZANOWSKI 22 POL
18. Kamil MANKOWSKI 24 POL
20. Piotr TRZYNSKI 25 POL
35. Slawek TURCZEWSKI 23 POL
41. Miroslaw HOLOWNIA 27 POL

Teams:

1.CZE
2.GBR
3.POL

PL1:

1. Tomasz KUDASZEWICZ 102 POL - ZŁOTO
2. Petr MATOUSEK 104 CZE
3. Francisco GUERRA CUBERO 115 ESP
4. Alfonso REDONDO 108 ESP
5. Daniel CRESPO 101 ESP
6. Jens HICKEN 121 GER
7. Andrzej MALKUSZ 116 POL
8. Tomas KLAPER 111 CZE
9. Krzysztof ROMICKI 103 POL
10. Andrew SHEPHERD 107 GBR
19. Adam PASKA 109 POL
24. Maciej HORBOWSKI 117 POL

Teams:

1.ESP
2.CZE
3.POL

PF2:

6. Ryszard ZYGADLO / Marta DENIS 307 POL

PL2:

1.Walter HOLZMULLER / Peter METZGER 209 AUT
2.Gunar BARTHEL / Rico HANIKA 205 GER
3.Piotr DUDEK / Dominik DUDEK 208 POL - BRĄZ
4.Jaroslaw BALCERZEWSKI / Piotr KACZYNSKI 206 POL
9. Piotr KRUPA / Agnieszka KRUPA 207 POL

TEAMS:

1.POL - ZŁOTO
2.CZE
3.RUS

Back home we had some time to rest, relax, and of course boast around a little :) Then there was another challenge: Polish Championships in Borsk. As usual it can't go easy, as I am going to start in PF1 class, i.e. my take-off weight will be smaller, while canopy remains the same, so yet another combination to get used to. I receive a new EC-EXTREME paramotor EC-18 with Easy 100 evo engine. Fortunately I manage to get six hours of flight time - required minimum for breaking-in - and off I go.  

Borsk is an abandoned military airfield. Three kilometers od asphalt runway hidden between lakes and forests, beautiful place. Everyone is caressing their gear, checking oil and polishing pipes, weather is great and tomorrow we start. Almost always there is a precision landing for starters and so was this time too. Conditions are a bit tricky, with strong wind higher which was completely imperceptible on the ground due to inverison layer. Practically everyone had different situation, you wouldn't know when the wind will let you free, so few pilots actually did hit the ball, Sławek among them.

Next two tasks invlolved slaloms - clover leaf and an eight. Most dangerous rivals include Grzesiek, guys from Tricity and of course my friend from Białystok Sławek. We compete on a truly world level, there is no turning back. When you fly on the edge it's always possible to have some crash, but this time everything goes clean and I am personally satisfied too, finishing 1st on the cloverleaf and 2nd on the eight. Next goes economy - fantastic triangle by Adam Cegiełka, but gambling doesn't pay off and he can't reach the airfield. As usual, Grzesiek Krzyżanowski is a class for himself in economy tasks. Flying the map with limited fuel is no fun - as Adam showed us, going for the far TPs can bring you zero points. In Borsk this can be even dangerous, as the airfield is surrounded by forests and once really seconds decided when the engine died over last of the trees. After last but one task I dropped to the fourth place, with my friend Sławek Turczewski beating me. Final task called for a declared time navigation. This is some 50 kms course, where you have to stay within 200 m from a curved route and simultaneously cover it with precalculated speed - there are time measuring gates with penalty points if you can't keep the prescribed pace. In total I got right 70 of the 72 gates and win the task with a huge advantage. I finish the competition in second place overall.

RESULTS

PF1 Category

I place Grzegorz Krzyżanowski
II place Tomasz Kudaszewicz
III miejsce Andrzej Malkusz

PL1 Category

I miejsce Krzysztof Romicki
II miejsce Adam Paska
III miejsce Piotr Dudek