My father started flying when I was a baby, so the passion for flying runs in the family. I started paragliding when I was 15 years old, because while I was playing with a glider on the ground, doing groundhandling, I accidentally made a big jump and was in the air for 5 minutes. My future instructor
Eduardo Lagoa helped me land by giving me instructions via the radio.
I progressed and took small steps until I was able to compete in paragliding, and to be able to fly the highest-level competition gliders correctly. I started with the
Koyot, Niviuk's beginner wing, continued with a second-hand EN B which was very complicated, and then moved on to the
Artik 3, the most fun glider I have ever flown. I continued learning with a
Peak 4, which gave me a taste for racing and now I finally have my
Icepeak X-One. It's the perfect wing to be able to match my rivals and try to win by doing my best. I did all this development over 12 years.
From my first
Koyot to the
Artik, through the
Peak, my
Takoo tandem, and on to the
X-One, I have always felt very safe. I am very happy to progress and improve with Niviuk paragliders, they make me experience the best sensations in the air.
The results I am most proud of are: second place in the
Portuguese League in Serra da Gata 2022 and tenth place in the
Portuguese National Championships in Manteigas, without being able to do all of the tasks.
One of the stories I will never forget was when I was training to get the official tandem pilot certificate, to be able to fly dual flights. At that time I was not yet fully familiar with wing and it was a day of strong winds. Instead of landing at the back of the take-off, where I was supposed to, I ended up on top of some pine trees. I think there are only two types of pilots: those who have already landed on top of a tree, and those who will land on top of a tree in future.
My current goal is to be in the top three in the Portuguese championship and to give my best in Spanish and international competitions.
