It sure beats surf rage
year to remind rivals who is firm favourite in the championships proper.
“It’s probably the only title I haven’t won so there’s a lot of pressure there,” Durand said.
“There is always pressure but it’s part of the game and this is a good shot for me.”
Durand has been the mainstay on the Australian side since the early 2000s.
This time around he is shepherding a young squad that now sits below Brazil and above four-time world champions Italy in the world team rankings.
“I feel that we have a pretty strong squad this year,” he said.
“But in saying that we face a couple of hard countries, Brazil being one of them with five pilots in the top 10 at the moment.
“It’s their home ground so that’s not going to be easy.
“But we are in there with a chance and we have a few good young pilots this year.”
With father Jon Sr a longtime hang glider, Durand admits “once I got in the sky I realised there were no more crowds up there like in the surf”.
Yet, like most smaller sports, hang gliding comes with understandable financial pressures.
Each glider costs about $15,000 and the shipping of equipment to international competitions places a huge strain on competitors.
“There are a lot of hurdles to get over to get there,” Durand said.
“It can happen but you just have to work at it.”
To help the squad reach the world championships in Brazil, go to the Australian hang gliding team’s GoFundMe page.