{"id":20661,"date":"2026-07-29T16:32:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T14:32:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ojovolador.com\/?p=20661"},"modified":"2026-10-06T09:07:05","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T07:07:05","slug":"pan-american-paragliding-accuracy-championship-arica-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ojovolador.com\/en\/pan-american-paragliding-accuracy-championship-arica-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Pan American Paragliding Accuracy Championship Arica 2026: a heart-stopping comeback for Andr\u00e9s Racca and a coronation for Chile\u2019s young talent"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The 1st FAI Pan American Paragliding Accuracy Championship, held from 10 to 19 July 2026 in Chile\u2019s northernmost city, ended with a triple for the host nation: the team title, women\u2019s gold and junior gold. In the individual overall ranking, the finish was heart-stopping: Argentina\u2019s Andr\u00e9s Racca (BGD Adam Spot), who was fourth going into task 12, nailed his landing at just the right moment to take the continental gold, also setting the first Pan American accuracy record: two consecutive zeros \u2014 the so-called \u201cdouble zero\u201d \u2014 on the target at La Lisera beach.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pan American Accuracy Championship: from the Morro de Arica to the sand of La Lisera<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Organised by the IRPA club with the support of Chile\u2019s Ministry of Sport, the Chilean Olympic Committee, the IND, FEDACH and FECHPA, the championship brought together 39 pilots from eight countries: 34 competed for the Pan American titles and five national teams fought for the team title. Launches took place from the Morro de Arica, with landing on La Lisera beach. Flying as guests outside the continental ranking were China\u2019s Yang Chen<\/strong> \u2014 reigning world champion and world-record holder, also on a BGD Adam Spot \u2014 and Liao Qingli; Chen won the open overall ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Pan<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Pan American Accuracy Championship: Chile at home, seven pilots, home-grown talent and a triple<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The host team was the big collective winner of the championship. Chile fielded a squad of seven pilots, three of them juniors \u2014 trained since childhood alongside other young pilots at the Maitencillo launch, following in the footsteps of renowned acro pilot V\u00edctor \u201cBicho\u201d Carrera, who grew up there among lines, fabric and aerobatics. That grassroots work paid off with the team title \u2014 ahead of Colombia and Bolivia \u2014 women\u2019s gold for Elena Javiera Espinoza Sep\u00falveda<\/strong> and junior gold for Rafael Carvallo<\/strong>, who also took bronze in the individual overall ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colombia<\/strong> had a solid championship and took team silver, with Diego L\u00f3pez<\/strong> second in the individual overall ranking and Nathalia Pinz\u00f3n<\/a><\/strong> second in the women\u2019s category. Bolivia<\/strong>, third in the team ranking, added junior silver for Sergio Guill\u00e9n, the same pilot who was leading the overall ranking before the final task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the women\u2019s category, Guatemala\u2019s Jeroma Sexton<\/strong> completed the podium in third place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pan American Accuracy Championship: twelve tasks and a heart-stopping finish for Racca<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In the individual ranking, the competition was held between 11 and 17 July over twelve tasks. \u201cYou couldn\u2019t make a mistake, because you\u2019d automatically drop to the bottom of the table,\u201d Racca told Ojovolador. The Argentine pilot went into task 12 in fourth place, just 2 cm clear of the drop zone in the table. He scored a 1 on his landing; then Diego L\u00f3pez (Colombia) scored around 11-12 cm, Rafael Carvallo (Chile) \u2014 flying a BGD Punk and having already discarded an 8 \u2014 scored a 9, and the leader, Bolivia\u2019s Sergio Guill\u00e9n (Mac Para Muse), who had led the championship from start to finish, landed off the target pad, about 30 cm away. Racca went from fourth to Pan American champion in a single task, closing the championship with four zeros \u2014 including the record-setting consecutive double zero \u2014 and 35 cm in total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a lot of fun, very competitive,\u201d says Racca of the range of equipment on the target: Da Vinci wings (Rhythm 2, Point 2), Advance (Alpha 7), Mac Para and Ozone Moxi, as well as a large BGD fleet with numerous Adam Spots, a Punk, two Epic Freestyles, a Magic and an Adam 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pan American Accuracy Championship: the Arica 2026 podiums<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"Pan<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Overall ranking (Pan American individual)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Pan American Paragliding Accuracy Championship<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Andr\u00e9s Racca (Argentina)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Diego L\u00f3pez (Colombia)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Rafael Carvallo (Chile)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Women\u2019s category<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    1. Elena Javiera Espinoza Sep\u00falveda (Chile)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Nathalia Pinz\u00f3n (Colombia)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    3. Jeroma Sexton (Guatemala)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Junior category<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      1. Rafael Carvallo (Chile)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      2. Sergio Guill\u00e9n (Bolivia)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      3. Elena Javiera Espinoza Sep\u00falveda (Chile)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n
        \n
        \"Pan<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

        Teams<\/strong>: 1 Chile, 2 Colombia, 3 Bolivia.<\/p>\n\n\n

        \n
        \"Pan<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

        Racca\u2019s wing: a brand-new Adam Spot<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        Racca competed on a BGD Adam Spot he had received just ten days before the championship, having flown the Adam 2 until then. As the pilot explained to Ojovolador: \u201cMinimum speed, the stall, you can put it right there, you go 5-10 centimetres further on the brake, it stalls super stably, you come down vertically. You raise your hands, it doesn\u2019t pitch, you stay stable. It really helped me a lot, it was a great help, I\u2019m very, very happy with the wing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Argentina, a work in progress: fourth in the team ranking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

        Accuracy is a young discipline in Argentina, with barely three or four years of history. The Argentine team, made up of just three pilots \u2014 Racca, Rodrigo Ponzo Viano and Mario Sueldo, also a BGD pilot \u2014 had no discard task and fought for the top places in the early tasks before losing ground and finishing fourth in the team ranking, behind Chile, Colombia and Bolivia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Next stop: Argentina 2028<\/h2>\n\n\n
        \n
        \"Pan<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

        Argentina has been selected to host the next Pan American edition in 2028, with a pre-Pan American event planned for 2027. Racca returned home with a double task: keep training and get the organisational machinery moving. In the short term, the Argentine calendar includes a round of the Argentine Accuracy Championship in October and another in Tucum\u00e1n in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        If the level seen in Arica is anything to go by, American accuracy flying has plenty of rope \u2014 and centimetres \u2014 left to run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        *Photos and full results: civlcomps.org \/ FAI-CIVL<\/a>, Club Irpa and Andr\u00e9s Racca<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        The 1st FAI Pan American Paragliding Accuracy Championship, held from 10 to 19 July 2026 in Chile\u2019s northernmost city, ended with a triple for the host nation: the team title, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2245,526,524],"tags":[2244,2546,2547,897,1709,2545,1239],"class_list":["post-20661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-accuracy","category-competition-xc","category-paragliding","tag-accuracy-en","tag-andres-racca","tag-bgd-adam-spot","tag-chile-en","tag-fai1-en","tag-pan-american-championship","tag-paragliding-accuracy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ojovolador.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ojovolador.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ojovolador.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ojovolador.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ojovolador.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20661"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ojovolador.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20745,"href":"https:\/\/ojovolador.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20661\/revisions\/20745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ojovolador.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ojovolador.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ojovolador.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ojovolador.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}