{"id":5007,"date":"2026-03-15T15:23:39","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T14:23:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.paradeltafeltre.it\/martina-centa-protagonist-in-colombia\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T12:01:52","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T10:01:52","slug":"martina-centa-protagonist-in-colombia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paradeltafeltre.it\/en\/martina-centa-protagonist-in-colombia\/","title":{"rendered":"Martina Centa protagonist in Colombia"},"content":{"rendered":"&#13;\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-large-font-size\">Experience, grit and women&#8217;s 6th place in a high-level race<\/h2>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">The <strong>Feltre Para and Delta Club<\/strong> is proud to report the international experience of our member<br\/><strong>Martina Centa<\/strong>, who recently participated in a very high<br\/>level competition in Colombia, competing against pilots with very high international rankings.<\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>The race: FAI 2 &#8211; American Championship and Niviuk Cup<\/strong><\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">The competition took place in an area of Colombia that, for about ten years, has been considered ideal<br\/>for free flight. It consisted of two FAI competitions (Championship of America and Niviuk Cup). <\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">The level was very high, with participants of great experience and international ranking. In both<br\/>competitions Martina took an excellent <strong>6th place in the women&#8217;s ranking<\/strong>, a result that<br\/>confirms her solidity and competitiveness even in international contexts. <\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">The first race included 4 tasks, the second 5 tasks, with routes between 70 and 100 km.<\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Twenty-two years with a head in the clouds<\/strong><\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Martina has been flying since <strong>2003-an<\/strong> impressive <strong>22 years of experience<\/strong>. She started at just 16 years old with a first two-seater,<br\/>driven by a strong curiosity about the air and flying. 2003, a particularly mild year, helped<br\/>bring her closer to this world for good.  <\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Today, competitions for her are mostly stimulation and fun: she feels little<br\/>of competition as pressure, much more as an opportunity for growth.<\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Equipment and preparation: safety starts the day before<\/strong><\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">In the race Martina used an <strong>Ozone Zeno 2<\/strong> with a <strong>Gin Genie Race 5<\/strong> harness, a<br\/>performance configuration designed for high-level flying.<\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">For competitions of this kind, the group is crucial, but equally crucial is<br\/>personal preparation. It all starts the day before: <\/p>&#13;\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-medium-font-size\">&#13;\n<li>Meticulous control and organization of equipment<\/li>&#13;\n\r\n\r\n&#13;\n<li>preparation of all instruments<\/li>&#13;\n\r\n\r\n&#13;\n<li>Adequate breakfast and excellent hydration (essential in Colombia to avoid<br\/>dehydration and drops in concentration)<\/li>&#13;\n<\/ul>\r\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">On takeoff Martina follows precise rituals: she carefully opens equipment and harness, often in silence or<br\/>with music. This allows her to reduce insecurity and arrive lucidly at the briefing and then the<br\/>takeoff. <\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">In Colombia, the takeoff took place without a strong wind &#8211; a condition that calms her down. Once in<br\/>flight, stress decreases significantly and drops even more after the start. <\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Technical tasks, complex weather, and Pacific wind<\/strong><\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">The weather conditions have not been optimal:<\/p>&#13;\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-medium-font-size\">&#13;\n<li><strong>a lot of rain<\/strong><\/li>&#13;\n\r\n\r\n&#13;\n<li><strong>high humidity<\/strong><\/li>&#13;\n\r\n\r\n&#13;\n<li><strong>Very low cumulus bases<\/strong>, an unusual situation for the area<\/li>&#13;\n<\/ul>\r\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Often departures were late, resulting in increased Pacific wind from the west,<br\/>which fell back on the east-facing takeoff causing a critical downwind situation.<\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Tasks rarely ran along the ridge: only the start was sometimes in that area, while<br\/>buoys were placed in the middle of the valley or on the opposite side. To avoid dangerous areas, routes<br\/>were often zig-zagged from one side of the valley to the other. <\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">A key element: in such vast plains, moving alone or in too small groups is<br\/>not advantageous. In this race, strategy had limited margins: there were not many tactical alternatives<br\/>and it <strong>was mainly speed that made the difference<\/strong>. <\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>A thousand eyes in the air and few landing alternatives<\/strong><\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">With so many pilots flying at once, &#8220;a thousand eyes&#8221; are needed to avoid accidents. In addition, the<br\/>area required great care in line selection: many seemingly landable fields<br\/>were actually sugarcane crops. <\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Martina found many differences from flying in Italy, where we are used to ridge flying<br\/>in an alpine environment. It is also different from Spain: there the thermals start from the ground but are often<br\/>very sketchy; in Colombia, on the other hand, they tend to have more vertical development. However, with<br\/>the high humidity present during the race, it was difficult to pinpoint precisely the trigger points<br\/>thermals.  <\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">The area is definitely more favorable for those who have flown there before the<br\/>competition.<\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Pressure, emotions and personal growth<\/strong><\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Martina handles pressure naturally: for her, the competition is a stimulus, not a burden.<br\/>Also crucial is the support of the group &#8211; Team Italy has been a point of reference inside<br\/>and outside the competition.<\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">From a personal point of view, this experience leaves you with a lot:<\/p>&#13;\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-medium-font-size\">&#13;\n<li>the satisfaction of having left <strong>alone for Colombia<\/strong>, facing doubts, fears and the<br\/>distance from her children and husband<\/li>&#13;\n\r\n\r\n&#13;\n<li>confrontation with very strong and motivated Austrian and French athletes<\/li>&#13;\n\r\n\r\n&#13;\n<li>a welcoming and positive environment<\/li>&#13;\n<\/ul>\r\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Colombians, he says, are extremely kind people: they can lift you up even after a<br\/>task gone wrong. With little, they convey a contagious happiness. <\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">The memory he will take with him? Just this combination of high-level confrontation,<br\/>group spirit and human warmth. <\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Goals 2026: national and big dates<\/strong><\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">For this year, Martina has clear goals:<\/p>&#13;\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list has-medium-font-size\">&#13;\n<li><strong>the national<\/strong><\/li>&#13;\n\r\n\r\n&#13;\n<li>Doing well at the home race, the Alpen Cup<\/li>&#13;\n\r\n\r\n&#13;\n<li>get a good result in Greece in the World Cup, an area it calls diverse and very<br\/>interesting for flying<\/li>&#13;\n<\/ul>\r\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">With her determination and experience in Colombia, we are confident that<br\/>will continue to bring us great satisfaction.<\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Congratulations <strong>Martina<\/strong>, the <strong>Feltre Para and Delta Club<\/strong> is flying with you!<\/p>&#13;\n&#13;\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>&#13;\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#13; Experience, grit and women&#8217;s 6th place in a high-level race &#13; &#13; The Feltre Para and Delta Club is proud to report the international experience of our memberMartina Centa, who recently participated in a very highlevel competition in Colombia, competing against pilots with very high international rankings. &#13; &#13; The race: FAI 2 &#8211; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":5119,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paradeltafeltre.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paradeltafeltre.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paradeltafeltre.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paradeltafeltre.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paradeltafeltre.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5007"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.paradeltafeltre.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5250,"href":"https:\/\/www.paradeltafeltre.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5007\/revisions\/5250"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paradeltafeltre.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paradeltafeltre.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paradeltafeltre.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paradeltafeltre.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}