End of Season 2025/26 Wrap Up

2026 New Zealand Paragliding Cross-Country Championships

April 1st 2025 to March 31st 2026

End of Season Wrap Up

Here’s the wrap up of the 2026 competition! Again the weather could be described as being a mixed bag and overall the number of South Island flights over 100 km in distance were down compared to seasons 2025 and 2024, as were the number of 50 km flights of the North Island.

However, for those pilots prepared and in the right place when it came on, there were opportunities to fly for a long time and to fly a long way.

Here’s a list of some of the highlights:

• NZ’s tally of 200 km open-distance flights doubled (Ben Kellett, 230 and 206 km, from Coronet Peak)
• NZ’s 9th best open-distance (191 km, Leo Chelle, Coronet Peak)
• The long-standing (Jan. 1999) open-distance record for Te Mata Peak and the North Island bettered (Aaron Chesterman, 128 km)
• Provisionally, NZ’s best open-distance by a female pilot (Kinga Masztalerz, 173 km, Coronet Peak)
• NZ’s 2nd best FAI Triangle by a female pilot (Masztalerz, 151 km, Coronet Peak)
• 5 FAI Triangles over 140 km, and a further 8 more FAI or Flat Triangles over 100 km
• In total, 34 NZ 100 km flights of various course types.

2026 NZ XC Champions and Category Winners

* 1st place and 2026 NZ XC Champion
Pilot: Bradley Franks
Runner up last season, Bradley has secured his first XC Champs title by flying three out of five of the season’s best FAI triangles! (154 km, 149 km and 142 km, all from Coronet Peak, Otago).

* 1st Runner Up
Pilot: Ben Kellett
This year Ben became a two-time NZ 200 km open distance pilot flying 230 km on December 12 and 206 km on December 17, both from Coronet Peak, netting Ben second place overall and a clear first place in the open distance category.

* 2nd Runner Up and 2026 Women’s XC Champion
Pilot: Kinga Masztalerz
Kinga’s flights included the second longest FAI Triangle course ever flown in NZ by paraglider by a female (151 km, Coronet Peak) and the 4th best open distance of the competition (173 km, Coronet Peak)!

* Best Rookie (first-time PG2 competitor)
Pilot: Finn Almog
Placed 26th overall, Finn’s best was a 103 km course heading out north from Coronet Peak to visit Lochnagar and the back country of the Harris Mountains, before very nearly returning all the way back to Coronet!

* North Island Champion
Pilot: Aaron Chesterman
Aaron kick-started his North Island scoring on Nov. 16 with 106 km open-distance from Te Mata Peak, just the 8th ever North Island 100 km flight, and then went 20 km further on Jan. 8 (128 km) to finish 100 points ahead of his nearest North Island rival.

* North Island Best Open Distance
Pilot: Aaron Chesterman
128 km from Te Mata Peak, Hawkes Bay.

* South Island Best Open Distance
Pilot: Ben Kellett
230 km from Coronet Peak, Otago.

Well done all of the above! (Especially Bradley). Thank you to all who submitted flights so we could see where there was good flying to be had.

2026 NZ PG XC Champs Overall and North Island Final Standings

Click on these links to go to full report for the 2026 New Zealand Paragliding Cross-Country Championships, including the table of the top 50 places overall, the North Island table (top 25), and season’s site best flights.

XC Champs Table - Final Standings
North Island Table
Open Distance Table
North Island Open Distance Table
2026 Season Site Best Flights
Season 2026 Milestone Flights