26/08/2021
Podziękowania od zwycięskiej drużyny SUI-2 😁
Dear Balloon Friends
Thank you very much for all the kind comments and congratulations. Our team at home Meteo Dani, Routing Roman and Gian-Marco, ATC Corinne are the heroes behind our success. Without a team and that includes the chasing crew with Jris, Robert and Bruno, such an achievement is not possible. Also all ATC controllers on our way are part of the success. We were welcomed everywhere and the way was paved for us. In Poland there were active military areas ahead of us, the lady from ATC said all Airspaces are open for you, go ahed and let us now what you need. Isn't that wonderful?
The patience and persistence paid off, we had stopped believing it would work. FRA 2 was on a winning course and had to land for lack of ballast. Congratulations Eric and Benoit on your equal performance. This gave us a relaxed approach to the landing. We still had 90 kg of sand 10 liters of water for an expected heavy landing with 30-40 km/h. Our meteorologist Daniel Gerstgrasser calmed the winds and we were able to use the short calm phase before the thermals started to land at a gentle 25 km/h.
We are looking forward to a fantastic award ceremony on Saturday in Poland. Also the whole organization team with race management, local organization and helpers as well as the fantastic and informative coverage by Gordon Bennett TV are part of the success of this long distance world championship. Congratulations to all teams on their achievements. It was not an easy weather situation and it demanded everything from us. All are back on our beautiful earth without any accidents. It is not only the victory that counts, just the participation results in unforgettable moments. Another history in ballooning is written. Thank you all friends of ballooning. Let's pass on the enthusiasm for ballooning to the youth.
Photo credit Matze Schlegel.
