Marcelo Sánchez has broken the Spanish record for free distance in a straight line with his Peak 5, covering a distance of 356 km. In addition, together with fellow pilot David Polo, he achieved the national distance record via three turnpoints of 371 km, and the two pilots together with Paco Navarro achieved the national record for a flight to goal set at 330 km. All this, in a few days of "strong winds" that provided them with the perfect weather window to achieve these feats.
"These flights have been the result of many hours of training, both flying and fitness. What makes the difference in these long and complicated flights are the final hours, when you are most tired and your physical preparation is most noticeable. The hours of training gave me extra stamina when it came to making decisions," Marcelo explains.
"Apart from the preparation, another important point is the choice of the wing, as you need one that has top performance. But the most important thing is that you feel connected to it and that you feel comfortable in flight, so that you can concentrate on what is important and not on controlling the glider. Also, a comfortable wing means less mental fatigue, so the Peak 5 is perfect for this type of flying, as it meets all these requirements," he adds.
On their first record-breaking day, the 23rd of July 2022, he took off from Arroyomolinos de León (Huelva) and 8:16 hours and 334.59 km later he landed in Villahermosa (Ciudad Real). In this flight he set the new Spanish record for flight to goal, with 315 km. Not content with that, just two days later, on the 25th of July, he took off again to break three more records. "We beat the record for flight to goal again with 330 km to Bonete (Albacete). And also the record for the distance in a straight line at 356 km and the record for the distance via 3 turnpoints at 371 km", says Marcelo. This time they took off from Zarza-Capilla (Badajoz) and landed 7:48 hours later in Casas de Madrona (Valencia).
"This flight began to take shape just the day before, when many people considered the day to be bad due to excessive wind, forecast to be 40 km/h. We knew that it was going to be hard, but it was what we needed to be able to break the records we had in mind," says Marcelo. "At the beginning it was very tough, as it started with no clouds and it was very windy, but once we got past that part it started to get better. I insisted on setting a fast pace from the beginning, because the key to the flight was to catch the convergence that started to form from about kilometre 180 onwards. That turned out to be further away than we thought, as the strong north-westerly wind was pushing it away from us.”
"Once we had the convergence in range, I increased the pace even more to connect with it as soon as possible. We connected with it and that&39;s when I started being hopeful. It was steady lift at 1-2 m/s without turning, so I managed to get about 200 m above my companions. I had the weather memorised, so I knew where I had to be and at what time. Everything went according to plan. We climbed to 4,700 m AMSL and stayed between 3,500 m and 4,700 m for 2 hours. Undoubtedly, the thing that stood out most about the flight was the cold; a hellish cold that I had to endure, but that was the day. It forced me to climb higher and maintain that height. I knew that what little lift I had left was in those upper layers".
"At that moment, Paco, David and I already knew that we had bagged the goal record and it was time to go for the other two. So we endured the cold and tiredness as best we could. In reality, at that moment you don&39;t care about anything, it&39;s just you and your goal. In the end, everything went brilliantly - the first time in Spanish history that someone broke all three records in a single flight. In addition, we have to add the record we achieved on the 23rd, which makes a total of 4 records in two days. We still have some days of flying left in this area, so let&39;s see what else we can achieve. I will give my all until the end," concludes Marcelo, who always goes for more.
You can see the details of the flight of the 23/07/2022 here.
You can see the details of the flight of the 25/07/2022 here.
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