Events & Competitions

Back
18 Aug 2025

And they’re off! 23rd FAI European Balloon Championship takes to the sky

Story by Jonathan Perron-Clow of the FAI Ballooning Commission's Public & Media Relations Sub-Committee

A little bit of rain couldn’t hold back the 82 competitors assembled in Wieselburg, Austria at the 23rd FAI European Hot Air Balloon Championship. After the Opening Ceremony on Saturday 16 August 2025, on Sunday (after a brief weather delay), the pilots took off to commence their weeklong quest to determine the best pilot in Europe.

The FAI European Championship is one of the most hotly contested balloon events in the world, with a major concentration of excellent pilots gathering from across the continent. While many pilots competed individually in their recent national championships, they set differences aside and come together as a nation and bring a team-based approach to this continental event.

Precise flying, stunning backdrops and camaraderie will be on full display in Lower Austria for the event that runs until 23 August.


Image courtesy of Martin V

The competition begins

The Opening Ceremony took place on Saturday evening, indoors due to rainy weather. Each pilot was introduced in a festive atmosphere complete with the pomp befitting the event.

Many countries held their national championships in the weeks leading up to the European Championship to help pilots sharpen their skills. Recently crowned national champions Alexis Béjat (FRA), Dominic Bareford (UK), Uwe Schneider (GER) and Ivan Ayala (ESP) are in the field in Wieselburg, as are other recent European and World champions including Clément Seigot (FRA) and Stefan Zeberli (SUI) as well as four other members of the top 10 FAI ranked pilots in the world including Roman Hugi (SUI), David Spildooren (BEL), Thomas Kinderman-Schoen and Tomasz Filus (POL).

For the pilots gathered for the European Championship, the week began with a few practice flights, getting them into the rhythm of those early morning briefings and challenging flights. Sleep management is key during a long week of flying!

Day 1: Sunday 17 August

Event Director Martin Wegner (GER) got the pilots started with a three task flight during the first window on Sunday evening. There was no desire to ease them in! Calculated Rate of Approach Task (CRAT), Hesitation Waltz (HWZ) and Elbow (ELB) appeared on the task sheet as they entered the briefing room.

The excitement needed to wait a few minutes longer, as the pilots gathered at the launch site and had to contend with some rain. Following a supplementary briefing during which the Elbow was cancelled, pilots were able to launch after the rain’s departure from the area. In short order, each of the 82 balloon teams set their pilot into the air.

Calculated Rate of Approach Task

Pilots first had to arrive at the CRAT in a timely manner. The task is designed around a cross on the ground with the scoring area only open at some times. In this case, it was open for five minutes of every 10: from 00 to 05 minutes past the hour, then 10 to 15 minutes and so on. Pilots could also tempt their fate by throwing it on the cross itself which was open the entire time. This task calls on pilots to calculate when they should launch based on how long it will take them to arrive at the cross. Either that or they rely on a bit of well timed luck or a good throw of their marker.

Former World Junior champion Roy Gommer (NED) worked it all out to achieve a leading 0.19 cm on the first task, with Vytas Kerdokas (LIT) extremely close at 0.23 cm, good for 1000 points each. Rene Erni (SUI) rounded out the top three with 0.37 cm as 10 pilots achieved results within 10 m. All in all, 26 pilots were able to score on the physical marker showing that they were on the ball for the first task.


Image courtesy of Martin V

Hesitation Waltz Task

Pilots then carried on to the tune of the Hesitation Waltz. In this task ("HWZ") a pilot has multiple crosses to choose from, ranging from metres to a few kilometres apart according to the event director’s preference. It takes its name from the hesitation that comes from trying to pick which target they’ll fly closest to. One of the targets was moved at the supplementary briefing giving pilots a better opportunity to achieve a score. Pilots had the added challenge of needing to drop their markers using the gravity method whereby they cannot throw it and must simply drop it off the side of their basket. This has come even more into vogue in recent years with such a strong calibre of competition.

Thirty-six pilots dropped their markers at one of the crosses laid out for them with Martynas Lycius (LIT)’s 3.28 m being the closest. Iris Broeders-Van Ham (NED) was at 3.45 m and Maximilian Vormberge (LUX) rounded out the top three with a 3.76 m drop.

Day 1 results

After the provisional scores were posted for the first flight, the task one champion was Roy Gommer (NED) who sat at the top of the leaderboard with 1987 points, followed by Bastian Schwarz (GER) and Martynas Lycius (LIT) at 1866 and 1864 respectively.

Follow the action

Top skills will be on display all week in Wieselburg. FAI will provide extensive coverage of the Championship with regular updates on its website, Facebook, and Instagram.

Be an International Ballooning Ambassador and share news, reels and posts for this event. Here's how:

  1. Follow, Like & Share posts and reels from Facebook and Instagram
  2. Use the hashtags: 
    #airsports #FAIballooning
    #ballooningeuropeans2025
     #ehabc2025
    #hotairballooning
     


Image credit: Maximilian Vormberge

Header image courtesy of a team member