4th FAI Women's European Hot Air Balloon Championship
The 4th FAI Women's European Hot Air Balloon Championship (German Fourth FAI hot air balloon - European women ) found in 2017 in the Polish Leszno instead.
European champion was Beata Choma from Poznań , Poland. The silver and bronze medals went to Agnė Simonavičiūtė from Lithuania and Elisabeth Kindermann from Graz , Austria .
course
After Alytus in Lithuania (2010), Frankenthal (Palatinate) in 2012 and Drenthe in the Netherlands (2015), it was the fourth balloon sport event according to FAI guidelines in which women competed for the title of best female hot air balloon pilot in Europe. The competition was held from September 4th to 9th, 2017. 28 balloonists from twelve European countries took part. The 2015 European Champion Ewa Prawicka-Linke from Leszno entered the race with the start number “1” . One of the possible take-off locations was the Leszno-Strzyżewice Airport (EPLS) in Strzyżewice near Leszno. The competition management lay with Moniek Vande Velde, Belgium and Mathijs De Bruijn, Netherlands. September 4th was reserved for the general briefing and the opening event on the market square in Leszno.
Due to the weather, five of the nine planned trips could be carried out on five days of the competition. Due to increasing winds, the first two trips on September 5th were canceled.
Six tasks were set during the early morning trip on September 6th. The starting place was freely chosen by the pilots. In addition to approaching the target crosses, a “donut” as a three-dimensional figure had to be driven over the city of Leszno, and the last task was to drive to a self-declared target in height and distance. After this run, Simonavičiūtė was in the lead with 5040 points ahead of Kindermann (4426) and Daria Dudkiewicz-Golawska from Leszno (4338). At the same time, five more balloons drove a "fiesta" over the city.
A start in Dolsk was planned for the evening of September 6th . Since a storm front was approaching, this take-off was canceled and a short “fox hunt” started from Leszno airfield. The “fox” flying ahead lays out a cross that the chasing balloons have to hit. Lindsay Muir (United Kingdom, 1000 points) was best , ten points ahead of Dolores Deimling from Frankenthal and 13 points ahead of her daughter Chloe Hallet. Dudkiewicz-Golawska (4957) was able to push past Kindermann (4837), Choma was in fourth (4699) and Deimling in fifth (4484) in the overall standings, which Simonavičiūtė led with 5290 points.
The morning trip on September 7th was also canceled due to high wind speeds. Many participants accepted the offer to visit the Leszczynski Castle in Rydzyna . The evening drive of the day featured a slow drive and a "race" that was to maintain a predicted speed. Julia Selezneva (1000) did her best tasks ahead of Astrid Carl (815) and Daiva Rakauskaitė (Lithuania) and Ieva Skele ( Latvia , both 1000 points). Then Simonavičiūtė was ahead of Choma, Muir, Dudkiewicz-Golawska and Kindermann.
On the morning of September 8th, six tasks were driven. In addition to the slow speed and the three-dimensional task that Muir won, there was a fight for centimeters that day. Choma was 78 centimeters better than Simonavičiūtė on the tenth task. Kindermann, Katharina Kraeck (Nuremberg) and Carl missed the target cross of the twelfth task by 106, 127 and 195 centimeters. Kraeck also scored very well in the eleventh task (982). Then Simonavičiūtė lay in front of Choma and Kindermann. Diana Nasonova from Russia was deducted 200 points because of a hard ground contact .
During the fifth competition drive, three tasks were driven in the evening. The starting place was freely chosen by the pilots. In the 16th task, Choma scored 1000 points significantly better than Simonavičiūtė (599) and Kindermann (731). The 17th task won Simonavičiūtė with eight points from Choma. The 18th and last task saw three Lithuanian women in front. Junior Migle Vaituleviciute was ahead of Rakauskaitė, Simonavičiūtė, Kindermann, Nasonova and Choma. With her mistake in the 16th task, Simonavičiūtė had given the lead to Choma.
The next trip on September 9th was canceled due to strong winds on the ground and at low altitudes at 5 a.m., making Beata Choma European Champion.
Results
| rank | pilot | nation | Points | Task victories |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beata Choma |
 Poland
|
14127 | 2 |
| 2 | Agnė Simonavičiūtė |
 Lithuania
|
14026 | 2 |
| 3 | Elisabeth Kindermann |
 Austria
|
12177 | 1 |
| 4th | Lindsay Muir |
 United Kingdom
|
119421 | 2 |
| 5 | Daiva Rakauskaitė |
Lithuania
|
11617 | 2 |
| 6th | Migle Vaituleviciute |
Lithuania
|
11169 | 2 |
| 7th | Kristine Vevere |
 Latvia
|
10895 | 0 |
| 8th | Sylvia Meinl |
 Germany
|
10649 | 0 |
| 9 | Daria Dudkiewicz-Golawska |
Poland
|
10515 | 0 |
| 10 | Sanne Haarhuis |
 Netherlands
|
10449 | 0 |
| 11 | Ewa Prawicka-Left |
Poland
|
10428 | 2 |
| 12 | Renata Narbute |
Lithuania
|
10330 | 1 |
| 13 | Diana Nasonova |
 Russia
|
9599 | 1 |
| 14th | Ekaterina Larikova |
Russia
|
9364 | 0 |
| 15th | Katharina Kraeck |
Germany
|
9164 | 0 |
| 16 | Julia Selezneva |
Russia
|
8952 | 1 |
| 17th | Rita Becz |
 Hungary
|
8930 | 0 |
| 18th | Dolores Deimling |
Germany
|
8277 | 0 |
| 19th | Marija Petric-Miklousic |
 Croatia
|
8118 | 0 |
| 20th | Kristyna Kubatova |
 Czech Republic
|
7704 | 0 |
| 21st | Astrid Carl |
Germany
|
7451 | 0 |
| 22nd | Chloe Hallet |
United Kingdom
|
7448 | 0 |
| 23 | Ieva Suopyte |
Lithuania
|
7365 | 0 |
| 24 | Joanna Biedermann |
Poland
|
7320 | 1 |
| 25th | Maria Oparina |
Russia
|
7226 | 0 |
| 26th | Ieva Skele |
Latvia
|
6636 | 2 |
| 27 | Constanca Llado-Gambin |
 Spain
|
5655 | 1 |
| 28 | Melanie De Groot |
Netherlands
|
3843 | 0 |
Daiva Rakauskaitė (5th place, Vice European Champion 2012 & 2015)
The European champions Ewa Prawicka and Beata Choma (2015 & 2017)
Lindsay Muir (4th place, European Champion 2012)
- Team ranking
| rank | nation | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Lithuania
|
606 |
| 2 |
Poland
|
589 |
| 3 |
United Kingdom
|
539 |
| 4th |
Germany
|
494 |
| 5 |
Russia
|
488 |
| 6th |
Latvia
|
487 |
| 7th |
Netherlands
|
397 |
Web links
- IV MISTRZOSTWA EUROPY KOBIET W BALONACH NA OGRZANE POWIETRZE (official website; Polish, English)
- Official final result (pdf)
- 4TH FAI WOMEN'S EUROPEAN HOT AIR BALLOON CHAMPIONSHIP (German, English)