The world’s oldest and most prestigious ballooning event is again being hosted by Poland after a hiatus of 85 years.
Gas balloon pilots from Poland, France, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and the United States are taking part in this year’s competition.
"These are outstanding aviators for whom long-distance ballooning is a great passion," Jerzy Makula, president of the Polish Aero Club, told state news agency PAP.
Makula, who is a multiple world champion in glider acrobatics, said that three Polish crews were competing in the race.
"They are very well prepared and stand a high chance of success," he added.
The first Gordon Bennett Cup race, sponsored by American newspaper tycoon Gordon Bennett Jr, was held in Paris in 1906 and was watched by over 200,000 spectators.
Poland previously hosted the event in 1934, 1935 and 1936. The country was also slated to host the competition in 1939 but it was cancelled with the outbreak of World War II.
Another opportunity to host the Gordon Bennett Cup was missed by Poland in 1983 due to martial law imposed by its communist-era rulers.
The rules of the competition have not changed over the years. Each team consists of two pilots. Pilots are airborne for up to three days and nights in an open basket, carried by the gas balloon and steered only by the winds in different altitudes.
The balloon that flies the furthest nonstop distance measured in straight line from the start point, wins. The only constraint facing the competitors is a ban on landing in water.
Poland has won the competition six times, with the most recent triumph in 2018, when the Polish team of Mateusz Rękas and Jacek Bogdański flew over 1,145 km, starting in Bern, Switzerland, and landing near Ostróda in northern Poland to beat an international field of 22 crews.
Thanks to the win, Poland got to host the next competition. It was originally planned for 2020, but was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rękas and Bogdański are both competing in this year’s event.
Bogdański told the PAP news agency before the race that competing on home turf was "a fantastic prize" for winning in 2018.
"Finally, after 85 years, the Cup has returned to Poland,” he said.
“Crowds of people have gathered at the Toruń airport to support us, although it is not a popular and easy sport ... only eight people in Poland have a balloon pilot's licence,” he added.
Rękas said that preparing a balloon flight "requires a great deal of logistic work because there are many obstacles on the way."
These include storms and heavy rains, in addition to "forbidden air zones, military exercises and airports that are not entirely friendly to balloonists," he told reporters.
(mrs/gs)
Source: PAP, gb2020.aeroklub-polski.pl