Spain’s Alvaro Romero Camacho Wins Second FAI Junior World Paragliding Championships

The second FAI Junior World Paragliding Championships drew to a close last weekend after seven demanding tasks, with distances ranging from 51km to 100km, in often tricky conditions.

Spain’s Alvaro Romero Camacho took the overall title, finishing ahead of Switzerland’s Noe Court in second and Germany’s Matthis Nedele in third. The result caps an impressive run for the young Spaniard, who had placed third at the Europeans just the week prior — both overall and in the nations rankings.

In the women’s competition, Ivone Silva claimed the junior female world champion title, with Britain’s Kanan Thakur in second and Zoé Vanhersecke in third. Switzerland topped the nations standings, followed by the UK and Germany.

“The highlight of the week for all of us was dominating the first task,” said Kanan Thakur, who was the first female pilot to lead the day. “Leading man was Dylan Mansley and leading nation was the UK. We achieved the same on the second-to-last task.”

The championships took place in Krusevo, North Macedonia. Although all seven tasks were completed, it was far from straightforward flying. Eli Egger, coach of the Austrian team, explained: “The weather was super difficult — a lot of wind, especially at first from the south and then a strong north-westerly. The organisers weren’t even optimistic we could fly all the tasks. But the youngsters proved very skilled at take-off and handling their gliders.”

“We had different styles of flying depending on the day,” she added. “Some days you could race, other days you had to slow down and be more tactical. It was overall very interesting flying.” The only major disruption was a stopped task on the final day caused by turbulence, while rain halted the first task early on.

Looking ahead, the third edition of the FAI Junior World Paragliding Championships will take place in Pegalajar, Spain, from 14-22 May 2028, organised by Club Centro de Vuelo Pegalajar with the support of the Royal Spanish Aeronautical Federation.

Full results and live competition replays are available at CIVLcomp. Keep following the action at yowfly.com — and for your next competition trip, don’t forget to stay hydrated on the road with the Your Journey Bottle.