Augustin Bedek wins XContest Standard Class 2024

Team Pilot Augustin Bedek came 26th *overall* in XContest 2024, flying his EN-B Base 2. All his flights were in France. (That’s against all the CCC wings, all the pilots who did seasons in Brazil etc … pretty impressive!). His biggest-scoring flight was a 236km FAI triangle from Col de l’Izoard on 20 August.

Needless to say, he won standard class (EN B and below). He was 4th in Sport and 17th in Serial Class.

Augustin’s philosophy is "fly big on a safe wing". He says, “I really enjoy taking my time and flying a relatively easy wing, allowing me to progress safer and keep focus on the flight instead of the wing. Learning to optimise flight speed, plan A and B, flying time... is already very demanding and I don't want to add a demanding wing to the equation.

“I see while flying XC with friends who fly EN-D wings, that decisions and working to find and keep the thermals/lines make most of the differences during long flights. Paragliding is already dangerous, for most pilots a top-end wing is not needed. If, through making big flights, the other EN-B pilots and I can motivate others to stay in a lower category and make our activity safer, it would be really nice”.