Three new World Champions: 2025 FAI F3K World Championships for Model Gliders
The 2025 FAI F3K World Championships for Model Gliders has come to a close with three new World Champions of FAI model gliding crowned, in Tarp, Germany, following an intense competition with six days of challenging tasks that put the pilots’ meteorological and aerodynamic expertise to the test.
Alongside World Champion titles for Croatian Marko Damjanovic in the Seniors and Dutch Finn Martens in the Juniors, Yeon Ju Kang from Korea has become the first ever female world champion in this class, in a landmark moment for this increasingly popular sport.
A total of 75 senior and 30 junior competitors from 28 nations gathered in Germany, whose Aeromodelling Federation (MFSD), and local club MFC Tarp hosted this class of FAI aeromodelling world championships for the first time.
- Event website
- Photo album: FAI Flickr
The new world champions
Exceptional performances from Damjanovic and the Croatian team meant that their combined points after the preliminary rounds took them to the top of the Teams podium, ahead of France and hosts, Germany.
France once again took a silver in the junior teams, ahead of South Africa, but it was the Austrian juniors who claimed the champion title.
Six female participants from five national teams competed in the senior category, meeting the required number for a Female Individual World Champion title to be awarded for the first time in this class. In a promising sign for future growth, three females also competed in the junior category.
Antonis Papadopoulos, FAI Aeromodelling Commission (CIAM) President, who participated in the event as Jury President, commented:
“Congratulations to all the winners and all those who participated in this challenging competition. It is encouraging for the future of the sport that this class is attracting so many female competitors. Kang’s victory marks a historical moment, as the first ever female world champion.”
After the Closing Ceremony, Papadopoulos thanked the organisers, stating: “The FAI F3K World Championships were very well organised by the German Aeromodelling Federation (MFSD), supported exceptionally well by the local club MFC Tarp. As CIAM we would like to thank the organising team and the Tarp municipal authorities for their efforts to prepare and run the event and of course their hospitality.”
As well as regular coverage by FAI during the course of the competition (see articles on FAI mini site), to broadcast this popular sport to a wider audience, a team from Sport Deutschland TV was present for the two final days of the competition to livestream the action online:
Livestream from Sport Deutschland TV: 1 August 2025
Livestream from Sport Deutschland TV: 2 August 2025
Results
Senior
- Marko DAMJANOVIC (Croatia)
- Arijan HUCALJUK (Croatia)
- Henri SANDER (Germany)
Marko Damjanovic, the Croatian F3K World Champion 2025
Female
- Yeon Ju KANG (Korea)
- Michelle GOODRUM (South Africa)
- Selina FRUMMEL (Austria)
Champion Finn Martens of the Netherlands (left) and Vice Champion Colin Angermann from Germany (right)
Junior
- Finn MARTENS (Netherlands)
- Colin ANGERMANN (Germany)
- Romain GALLET (France)
Senior Teams
- Croatia
- France
- Germany
Junior Teams
- Austria
- France
- South Africa
Full Results
The full results can be found on the GliderScore website (managed by Gerry Carter) following the links below:
The next FAI F3K World Championships are scheduled for 2027 in Bulgaria.
About model gliding (F3K)
Known for being technically and physically challenging, the F3K class of model gliders requires a launch technique similar to throwing a discus in athletics. On top of mastering the physical launch, pilots must also read the meteorological conditions to decide how much ballast their aircraft requires to penetrate the wind. Once aloft, the competitors must locate the thermals to give them the lift required to complete the tasks and try to gain the coveted 1000 points for the best flight of the round. The maximum wingspan of an F3K class glider is 1.5m.
Image credit: Antonis Papadopoulos
