UK Skydiving National Championships

Skydive Hibaldstow Awarded Nationals for Next 3 Years

2011-10-20T14:28:00.000+01:00

At the recent BPA Competitions Committee last week, it was decided that Skydive Hibaldstow had again presented the best bid to host the National Championships. This bid is for the next 3 years until 2014.

The dropzone will therefore host the following events:

4-way - Rookie, A, AA and AAA
8-way - Intermediate and Senior
VFS
Artistics Freefly - A and B
Artistics Freestyle - A and B
Speed Skydiving

In preparation for the Nationals 2012, Hibaldstow will be running many coached training events run over weekends by recognised international competitors. In addition, a series of training weeks will be scheduled which are designed for teams wanting to do a high number of jumps. You can find out more about these exciting events, when they are schedule, here - www.skydiving.co.uk/Experienced.htm.

Nationals Completed

2011-08-21T14:10:00.000+01:00

It has been another fantastic Nationals and all the competitions have completed in beautiful sunshine. So, to sumarise in the 8-way Intermediate - team 8 A Cake won with a massive 24 point lead over scratch team Reprob8s who suffered a rare 20% penalty after they had a camera mal. Another scratch team, St8 Of Confusion took 3rd place with 15 points.

The senior 8-way has had the biggest attendance in years with 8 teams and finally Microclim8 had a battle on their hands with Brit Chicks. Microclim8 won it with a 13.1 average and only trained for a single exit (When they were VNE, they had 3 different exits). Brit Chicks took the Silver with a very respectable 11.9 average. This is also an on year, so the question is will Microclim8 take their position to go to Dubai in 2012 or will they let Brit Chicks go? In 3rd place were SuperSonic (no guesses who their teams mates are made up of then!) with a distant 72 points.

Again, a word of thanks must be given to Texas team SPX8 who travelled a long way to come and compete with us. They and a few other teams have just gone up to do a 40-way.

Freefly was also well attended with 4 in the senior A class and 5 teams in the B class. Even though Kinetic were the highest World Cup ranked British team, they took a 2nd place behind full time freefly coaches Volare who took Gold with 57.1 points. Euphoria were in Bronze position with 49.6 points.

Last but not least, special mention must go to Larsen & Brusgaard who sponsored the Speed Skydiving with a fantastic set of 3 audible altimeters going to the 3 medal positions. Next year, it is hoped that there will be more Speed Awareness Roadshows promoting the fun and exciting discipline.

Next weekend, we have the Headdown Freefly UK Record attempts and also the Fly Hard II 40-way formations.

Day 2

2011-08-21T09:01:00.002+01:00

Good morning! Lift 1 is about to take off and the dropzone is a hive of activity. With only 3 rounds to complete at the most, everything should be completed by early afternoon.

End of Day 1

2011-08-20T21:22:00.000+01:00

Its been a great day today and not what we expect. The forecast was very mixed, yet we experienced a lot of sunshine. Some disciplines have finished all their rounds already, such as Freefly A and B, Freestyle A. The 8-way Senior has the most still to complete with some teams having gotten as far as round 7 and needing to make another 3 jumps.

In the Speed Skydiving, its really worth noting newcomer Eddie Monteith. Other than 2 training jumps on the Friday, he currently has an average of 235 mph with 1 round left to do. Breaking that 200 mph barrier is a real achievement.

For those of you who know Al and Pixie from the Freestyle A, they have gone on to win a 4th successive gold medal. Is this a record? They took a commanding 13.9 point lead over Dunkerswell team Freestyle99.com.

Round 6 - The Battle Is Hotting Up

2011-08-20T16:26:00.001+01:00

Round 6 is well underway for many of the FS teams and some of the Freestyle B and Freefly B teams have now finished their competition. In the Freefly B class, there is a close battle forming between Area 99 and team Jessna. They tied on round 3 and are only 0.4 away from each other. Again in the 8-way there is also a very close situation with only 4 points separating 3rd and 7th place. Microclim8 are slightly ahead with a score of 69 over Brit Chicks 64. Can the Brit Chicks pick up the pace and take that Gold?

So a quick weather update. We have had a few brief weather holds as the cloud has gathered in, but the aircraft are taking off again. Last but not least, in the Speed Skydiving, Simon, Eddie and Michael have been fighting it out. Simon is in the lead at the moment with a high score of 278mph average in Round 3. However Leigh has just started his competition late due to commitments in the Freefly B class. His first round was pretty good scoring a 261mph at his first attempt. There are still 3 rounds to do and it is the best 3 speeds out of 6 that count.

Rounds 1 and 2

2011-08-20T10:05:00.001+01:00

Normally, there are 2 Dorniers running for the 2nd weekend of the Championships. For the first time, the dropzone has brought in 3 aircraft which means a much faster turnaround. In the space of 2 hours almost everyone has now done 2 rounds. The judging is in full flow now and the expected battle between Brit Chicks and Micro Clim8te is close. Brit Chicks scored a fantastic 14 in round 1 and were bettered by 1 point by Micro Clim8te.

Day 1 - SPX 8 Team Interview

2011-08-20T07:32:00.000+01:00

Good morning readers, the skies are beautiful, cloudless and blue. So to start with, how about an interview with visiting US team SPX 8.

1. Can you tell us a bit about your team history?

SPX 8 has been a team since 2006. It started as an Intermediate (USPA) team. After 2 seasons (with a few personel changes) the team won Gold at the US Nationals (Intermediate) in 2007. 50% of the team stayed together and we competed in the USPA Open Catagory for 2 years. The team took one year off and reconfigured with 6 new and 2 remaining team members for the 2011 season and are again competing in the intermediate class at the US Nationals.

Our coaches over the past few years have been primarily Mark Kirkby for our DZ Coach and Andy Honingbaum for our tunnel coach. We have averaged between 7 and 11 points depending on the year and the team.

2. So the most important question, why has the team has decided to enter the UK Nationals?

I have had the opportunity to jump with many Brit Jumpers over the years as a Coach, Judge (I am a P3 Coach, and Dubai 500 Captain) and a competitor in both World Cup and World meets. The Brit Jumpers have been inviting me to bring over a team for many years and this year proved to be the year that it all worked out!

3. What is the 8-way scene like in the USA?

8-way in the US has always had a strong showing at the US Nationals. There will probably be as many as 11 practiced 8-way teams and the same number of pick up teams this year. So approx 11 teams in Open and 11, teams in Intermediate.

4. What is your opinion of the Dornier G92 in the training jumps you have done thus far?

We like the plane. It is a fast climber and the pilots do a great job of spotting. It took us a few jumps for us to figure out the exits but were helped a great deal by the local teams.

5. Where do you train in the US and what is it like?

SPX 8 trains at Skydive Spaceland in Houston, Texas. The drop zone is open 364 days a year. We now have 8 Twin Otters, 2 Skyvans, and 2 Cessna Caravans. We have a private airpark with 200 acres of landing area. Although it gets a bit hot in Texas in the summer, we have all air-conditioned creeping and packing areas. It is a great DZ to train at.

6. For those that know little about 8-way, what are the major differences compared to 4-way?

Some will disagree I'm sure, but I believe 8-way takes a bit more precision than 4-way. Levels are more critical and the shape of points are more important. Another difference is that in 4-way, all the randoms and all the random draws are what puts big point totals on the score board. Whereas in 8 way, it is the blocks that are faster and point the points on the board.

I've often seen times where a good 8-way team can split in half and score well doing 4-way. But putting 2 good 4-way teams together to do 8-way doesn't seem to nessesarily mean big scores. "Just my opinion".

The Draw

2011-08-19T21:02:00.001+01:00

The draw has been made and it's an 8am take off. For the 8-way senior, it looks to be quite a slow draw with only round 5 looking fast. There are a fantastic 8 teams in the senior and only 3 rounds in the intermediate.

8-Way Senior
R1 - K,18,16
R2 - A,M,14,6
R3 - 21,N,20
R4 - L,9,17
R5 - F,E,G,4
R6 - B,12,1
R7 - 13,8,11
R8 - 2,O,C,5
R9 - 22,D,3
R10 - 19,P,J,Q

8-Way Intermediate
R1 - F,21
R2 - P,1
R3 - 19,K
R4 - B,13
R5 - J,M,6
R6 - G,14
R7 - 4,N
R8 - 18,K

Registration Closed

2011-08-19T19:34:00.001+01:00

Registration is just about to close here at Skydive Hibaldstow and there are quite a few last minute teams submitting their paperwork such as local DZ team Discombobul8te. They are made up of team members from Unagi and Slot Machines from the 4way AAA from last weekends competition.

In the Freefly A class, there are 3 teams in contention for the medals and all with a good chance. Volare who competed in the VFS last weekend are now made up of Frazer Smith, Mikey Carpenter and Dan Parker (from the BLTs).

They have done approximately 40 training jumps but are all very skilled flyers. Then there is team Kinetic who recently came back from the World Cup in Germany having taken 4th place. Although not as skilled, they have been training hard and have a polished routine. Lastly, we have seasoned team Euphoric who were also at the World Cup and are very experienced.

8-Way also looks quite exciting. Coming back for their 2nd Senior season is team Blizzard who train at Netheravon (but are Headcorn jumpers!). Quoting Nigel Rowlan the camerama, "Since taking gold in the intermediate class 2 years ago, we have decided to come back and take gold in the seniors". This year they have completed around 75 training jumps over 6 weekends and half of this week at Hibaldstow. They have also changed 2 team mates.

The official draw starts at 8pm and will be posted here shortly afterwards.

Lead-up To The 2nd Weekend

2011-08-18T12:50:00.001+01:00

This weekend sees part 2 of the National Championships. We have 8-way, Freefly, Freestyle and Speed Skydiving. One of the most interesting battles will be between Micro Clim8te and Brit Chicks. Historically Micro Clim8te has roots in Connexions and team VNW, all of which have won the British Nationals in 8-way on several occasions.

For the first in at least 6 years, there is a realistic contender to their crown, in the shape of all-girls team Brit Chicks. They have been training hard and recently came back from a fantastic World Cup meet. Hopefully during the course of the weekend, there will be an interview with one of their team members. Brit Chicks have been training today at Hibaldstow.

Another noteworthy team to mention who are also at the DZ training today are team Kinetic. They came 4th at the recently World Cup in the discipline of Freefly with a 7.2 average, showing that the UK are very strong in the Artistics disciplines. Again, hopefully I will try to interview Charlotte or Pete from the team.

Round 10 Scores

2011-08-15T12:30:00.000+01:00

We just had a fantastic display of 4way with the final round - 11, 9, D. What a fantastic finish to the competition. Gold and Silver medals were secure from Round 9 with Satori already on a commanding 175. They finished with a total of 196. A 19.6 average with very little training and a new team member is a pretty good average.

Silver went to SonicNutz who worked hard all year and after a disappointing World Cup, came back in force to score 171 points in total. Bronze medal went to the Bodyflight Aerodyne girls on 147. Mention must also go to Boogie Nights and a Vision who beat the girls teams but competed in the Open class with international members. Thet scored 153 and 162 respectively. The averages are up significantly on last year across most classes.

So, the medal presentation will take place in 15 minutes time.

Round 10 Complete - The Battle for A Class

2011-08-15T11:45:00.001+01:00

Round 10 is completed. Another interesting story in the A class - teams Raykipo and RAFPSA Phoenix were tied after Round 8 for the Bronze medal on 81 points each. A jump off seemed inevitable, however RAFSPA Phoenix sadly had to go home early and fulful work commitments. Therefore Raykipo get the Bronze. Incognito took Silver medal only a point ahead on 82 and High Altitude Heroes were way ahead on 90. Well done to all the teams there.

So Round 10 is just about to be judged in reverse order. Only the top 6 teams qualify, but 9 teams have completed their jumps and they will be judged as well.

Round 9 Complete

2011-08-15T10:41:00.002+01:00

Round 9 has just been completed. Hibaldstow team Kaizen scored an obvious 16, but were bust down to 15 because of camera angle shortly after launch. They are over at the judges room now to find out why the infringement has been given.

Army Nemesis looked to be doing great on their jump but then had a major mental block at the beginning of a Block 17 second time round. That cost them dearly and they scored 10. Satori scored a top scoring 17 on the round with SonicNutz taking a solid 16. The teams have all done a quick dirt dive and are now kitting up for the final round 10. Good luck to all.

On a quick note, Satori Red team yesterday took a fantastic Silver medal position. They did so with an unusual method. During final few rounds, the scores between 5 teams were all within a few points of each other. They decided for their final round to dial their speed back a touch rather than take the extra risk and speed it up. That worked in their favour and they got the Silver with a 12.5 average. The standard of teams in AA this year was much higher than in 2010. We think 5th place this year would have outscored last years Gold.

Day 3 - AAA Round 9

2011-08-15T09:20:00.000+01:00

We have just had a kit on call for Round 9 of the AAA teams. Last night, the judges were up to date with the judgeable rounds, however it was decided not to post final scores until this morning. Its been a thrilling finish for many teams in the lower 3 classes with the decision of who took medals decided on a final ballsy Round 8. More about that later.

Round 7 and 8

2011-08-14T19:45:00.000+01:00

After a 1 hour weather hold, the dropzone sprang back into operation to try and complete everyones final jumps. Sadly the meet will not complete today much to everyone's disappointment. The final loads of taking off now, but most teams should have completed Round 8. That means that for some, its a big party tonight. But for a few teams in the AAA class they still have to do their Rounds 9 and 10.

The way it works is that the top 50% (minimum 10 teams) go through to Round and then that repeats for Round 10 (minimum 6 teams).

Photos

2011-08-14T14:10:00.000+01:00

A few photos of the DZ from the competition.

Dorian Harwood Interview

2011-08-14T12:31:00.001+01:00

Just to keep all the readers interested, I prepared an interview for a bad weather moment, but seeing as we have not had any today, I have posted cameraman Dorian Harwood's interview now:

1. Coming to Nationals this year, which team are you filming and what was their training commitment for the season?
Each year I always try to work with a couple of teams, this season its been High Altitude Heroes in the A class who won overall Gold in the Rookie class last season and then Boogie Nights in the AAA class.

2. Many jumpers regard the 4way cameraman as not really being on the team, or being misfits. Why do you think this perception exists and what value do you feel you really add?
I think it is because people only get to see the teams dirt diving or practising the exits and the camera flyer is just seen lurking around in the back ground. I wouldn't say we are misfits, if anything being a good FS camera flyer takes good flying skills and years to develop those skills. A good camera flyer can be the difference between Gold and Silver, if you don't get good judgeable footage.

3. Aside from camera work, what other types of skydiving / parachuting do you enjoy?
Up until recently I worked most weekends filming Tandem and AFF so any chance to do some FS coaching or practising my freeflying is always a premium which I enjoy. Hence the reason why I enjoy the FS camera work so much. It brakes the jumping up and keeps your skills current.

4. Is it true you used to be one of the rare breed of DZ owners and what was that experience like?
Back in 97, I was jumping at LPS where I did my first SL jumps all on round front and back kit. The then current owner Dick Barton wanted to sell up so I thought it would be a good opportunity!

I knew nothing about running a DZ apart from I needed a CCI, so I teamed up with ex-RAF and Falcons team member Chris Frances. The next 2 years we ran LPS together and I ran the office, admin, DZ set up and student training. And Chris too the helm as CCI! Then in 99, I sold out to Chris to move into camera work and then started working at Hinton.

5. Away from the dropzone, what job do you now do?
When I'm not filming, my normal day to day job is An equine dental technician or in laymens terms a "horse dentist". I'm one of only 140 fully qualified in the U.K.

6. Do you have any funny stories or experiences in the sport.
Weston had just taken charge of a Cessna caravan, so one of the pilots Mike Westwood needed to get rated on it. On the first Tandem lift of the day, beautiful sunny Sunday morning we took off. Flying was Mark Gibbons with Mike Westwood in the left seat and I was sat by the door as I was jump master, at 13,000 ft.

The red light came on, so I opened the door and took a look out, and carried on looking, then the green light came on. After a minute both pilots turned round looking between the seats at me and signalling for me to start get people out the door and asking why I wasn't doing anything.....to which I replied "hey,dumber and dumber! maybe you would like to turn the plane round 180 degrees and fly it in on the right run in! It does pay to check the spot.

Round 4 and 5

2011-08-14T12:28:00.000+01:00

Another progress update now. Round 4 was completed and Round 5 is half complete. The single A class is hotting up for Silver and Bronze medal positions with Raykipo, Incognito and Enigma Nom all within 3 points of each other. Four points in front are well known team High Altitude Heroes who have moved up a class this year.

A similar position also exists in the Rookie class where 4Mula are way out in the lead (19 points in fact), but right behind them are Azure4, EJ3 and Fiasco all within 3 points of each other. Further down the rankings only a point lower down are RAFSPA Hurrican and Sky Vandals.

Good Morning - Day 2

2011-08-14T08:29:00.002+01:00

It is nice and sunny this morning, the 4 aircraft are fueling up and we expect to kick off at 9am prompt.

Day 1 - Round 3

2011-08-13T21:45:00.000+01:00

Day 1 has finished folks and it has been a surprisingly good one. Most of the teams have done round 3. Check our Live Scores out to see what has happened, but it should all be up to date (largely helped by the 2 judging panels). Today we did 54 lifts.

Tonight we have a big BBQ at the DZ and Anna Howerski (UK women's record freefly holder) singing on the main stage.

Tomorrow morning, first take off is 9am. The forecast is sunshine and clouds, so lets see what happens.

17:45 Update

2011-08-13T17:41:00.001+01:00

There have been numerous Stand Down, Kit Up type calls. So many in fact, I have lost count. But because of this, most teams have now completed their Round 2 in what is a decidedly poor forecast.

Satori in the AAA had their score revised from an 18 to 19 (was this a protest?). Team Fox Force (aka Satori Blue) had to come back on the bus after a rare camera incident where their cameraman Wez had a chin strap failure. Fortunately, it did not take them long to get back in the air.

The VFS is hotting up nicely with Volare and the BLTs both scoring a 21 on a fast round. Round 2 is much slower, so lets see what they do.

Back On Hold, 13 Loads Completed

2011-08-13T13:30:00.001+01:00

A quick update. We are back on a weather hold, but not before completing 13 loads. The AAA and AA classes have completed their Round 1. Leading in the AAA is Satori. scoring a 15 but suffering a triple bust were SonicNutz. Army Nemesis are also doing well on a 15. Well known competitor Dane Kenny is also taking part after a 5 year hiatus.

In the AA class, team Full Stop have just done an amazing 23 in time which I would be surprised if many AAA teams could surpass. Winning the single A class last year, they were always going to be up there in the rankings. Their nearest competitors are Brit Chikos and Gravity on 17.

Gear On

2011-08-13T09:41:00.000+01:00

A gear on call has just been given. If you look to the horizon, there is some really patchy blue spaces appearing which might be good to jump. Fingers crossed.

Good Morning - Day 1

2011-08-13T08:06:00.000+01:00

Good morning readers, as forecast its overcast and cloudy. That's not to say that it will not clear later (which I think will happen). In the mean time, I will be scheduling in a series of interviews soon.

The Draw

2011-08-12T21:38:00.005+01:00

So the draw has been done for the 4way and VFS on the all singing all dancing Hibaldstow presentation stage. Again, its another UK record with 55 teams in the 4-way and 3 teams in the VFS. I think that is bigger than the US Nationals? Experienced judge Kate Charters is the chief judge and DZO Hannah Swallow is the Meet Director.

Tommorrow, the dropzone hopes to try something new - they plan to try and fly with 4 of our Dorniers in the air at the same time. Everything will need to run like clockwork for that, so it should be exciting.Anyway, wheels are off tommorrow morning at 8am.

Rookie
R1 - N,P,F
R2 - B,J,C
R3 - G,E,A
R4 - K,D,O
R5 - M,L,Q
R6 - H,A,L
R7 - K,M,G
R8 - N,O,H

A
R1 - D,K,7
R2 - Q,B,C
R3 - H,O,8
R4 - P,F,G
R5 - 4,M
R6 - 21,9
R7 - 19,L
R8 - 6,E

AA
R1 - P,Q,7
R2 - K,9,13
R3 - 19,L,G
R4 - O,B,M,4
R5 - 1,F,A
R6 - 22,J,14
R7 - 2,6
R8 - D,11,H

AAA
R1 - 15,E,G,16
R2 - C,N,20,1
R3 - A,P,6,H
R4 - 14,B,M,22
R5 - 19,5,4
R6 - 13,J,18
R7 - F,7,Q,2
R8 - 10,8,12
R9 - 21,K,L,17
R10 - 11,9,D

VFS
R1 - 1,J,7
R2 - 9,G,C,M
R3 - E,4,13
R4 - I,17,5
R5 - B,H,K,D,16
R6 - 15,A,14
R7 - 11,6,10
R8 - 2,N,F,L

Friday Daytime and Interview Time

2011-08-12T13:48:00.000+01:00

On what would be called the practice day, we are all currently sat on the ground with low overcast cloud overhead. Plenty of teams have turned up and if I add up those registered and those we know of who are coming, its already over 40. There will still be plenty more turns to come.

So in the meantime, how about an interview with 4way champ, Katie Woods:

1. How did you get into skydiving and at what point did you decide you wanted to get into serious competition?

When I was 16 my friend and I were getting bored during the summer holidays, so we decided we wanted to do something constructive. I had done a couple of tandem paraglides when I was a kid so I suggested learning to do that. He wasn't keen but suggested we could learn to skydive at a dropzone in Nottingham; it only took him a day to persuade me! We worked stripping wallpaper the holiday before and did the static line course that summer.

I think I decided I wanted to compete at a high level whilst I was still a RAPS student. I used to play a lot of tennis but had been out for a while after an injury. Whilst I was getting too old to compete in tennis at the level I wanted to, I realised I was young enough to go for it in skydiving.

2. You are known as being a member of top team Satori. Last year you left the team, why was that?
To start of it was a really hard decision. The team is great and I had an amazing 3 years with them, learned loads and made some really good friends. When we had the meeting at the end of last year not everybody could commit to the same things.

I've always wanted to move abroad and had been putting it off for years. Moving to the States and trying to get on with 4-way in the US is the next challenge for me and I am really enjoying it.

3. How did you end up joining Boogie Nights?

I was talking to Steve one day about Brit Nationals and wanting to come over and do a team for it. Its a great event and I love the comptetition. He mentioned he was doing a team with Vince and Mike and they were looking for a tail. He spoke to the guys and that was that really. They're amazing jumpers and I'm having a great time with them.

4. You have spent a lot of time in Florida this year. Why did you move out there?

I moved to the States mainly for the potential opportunities in 4-way. However, I chose Deland specifically for a few reasons; the main one being that I have trained there in the past and really love both the DZ and the area. On top of that a lot of coaches that used to work at Deland have moved away so there is the opportunity for another coach there.

5. Aside from sausage grabbing, what other types of skydiving / parachuting do you enjoy?

I actually enjoy pretty much every aspect of skydiving. I was lucky enough to work in the wind tunnel for a few years so did quite a lot of freeflying there which I really enjoy. I have also always enjoyed swooping. This year, I competed at the French Swoop Nationals and one of the FSL meets in Deland. Starting to learn the different disciplines has been a lot of fun, but I also really enjoy trying different freestyle moves, especially the blindman. Doing camera I also enjoy both for the camera, and the clear air to swoop in :o)

Interview with Kerry Foster

2011-08-11T16:20:00.000+01:00

Kerry Foster works in the Hibaldstow office, is engaged to one of the cameramen and is a first-time Nationals competitor. Lets see how she is preparing for the competition:

1. Kerry, what does it feel like preparing for your first Nationals competition?

Preparing for my first Nationals is very nerve racking! I have enjoyed being part of the team and i'm really excited about competing.

2. What is it like being on an official Satori team (talk about your team mates and who your coach is)

I feel very proud to be part of the Satori Academy, Julia Foxwell and John Mciver have been the teams main coaches both in the tunnel and in the air. I couldn't have wished for better, both have been encouraging and have helped the team go from strength to strength, I feel from the moment the team started training with the academy to now has been 100% improvement in learning the skills to get to the Nationals.

3. Do you feel that your team has put enough training in?

I'm so happy with the team! Training has been great and we've all learned alot. We've all pulled together and made comprimises just so we can get together, and we've also been lucky with the weather to get the jumps in on the days we've been training.

4. Do you find it hard to balance the needs of your lovely daughter versus the needs of your team?

Being a mum and skydiver are sometimes quite difficult, but like any other parent with a hobbie and interest, as long as you plan well ahead then its never really a problem, My daughter Abigail has become a bit of a DZ child! but on my days off i've been able to spend the quality time she needs and have spent some lovely days with her and my partner Wez. (Although with Wez being the camera man it helps that we get to spend time together aswell!)

5. As a Rookie team, do you have a continuity plan? (i.e. which exits are you taking and which are you taking something else out fo the door?)

Together as a team, we have done between 45 and 50 jumps together, so our continuity plan is small in size. Our best exit is Block no 19 as this proved in training to be our strongest. We did try various exits such as H and M's, they didn't work. The 19 has been so strong and being able to grip switch to any random has seemed easy.

The VFS Story

2011-08-10T13:13:00.000+01:00

Since the first competition 2008, VFS has steadily taken a hold on the world scene. There will never be as many teams as the 4-way event simply because of the high level of skill needed to compete at even a basic standard. That doesn't however mean it should not be recognised as a fantastic and visual discipline in its own right.

Lets also not forget also the importance of the cameraman in vertical formation skydiving. He or she must be as skilled as the performers and have as good a knowledge of the formations. Being in the right place to show all the grips is vital because in this discipline it is much easier than formation skydiving to hide a grip behind a leg or arm.

This year, (at the time of writing!), we have 3 teams registered:

Bad Lieutenants - Matthew O'Riordan, James Davies, Dan Parker, Jim Harris, Martin Reynolds (camera)
Volare - Killer, Mike Carpenter, Fabian Raidel, Frazer Smith, Adrian Wild (camera)
VFS15 - Gary Crisp, Will Walls, Will Smith, Matt Elliott, Darren Glover (camera)

The BLTs are the Skydive Hibaldstow sponsored / trained team, however Volare are made up of current World Champions and professional tunnel coaches. Last year Volare were known simply as VFS team and they came within 6 points of the BLTs, so it should make for an interesting competition.

Teams Registered So Far

2011-08-10T10:12:00.002+01:00

As we approach the start of the 4way and VFS National Championships 2011, I thought I would give an update to progress so far. At the office, we have already received 25 team registration forms. Typically, it is normal for approximately 30 to 50% of teams to pre-register in advance, so it looks like another bumper nationals event.

If you look on UKSkydiver.co.uk, there is also a thread detailing which teams are taking part:

AAA
Slot Machines
Cookie's Monsters
Army Nemesis with a difference
Reverse Cerberus
Bodyflight Aerodyne
Boogie Nights
Satori
Unagi
Escondido
SonicNutz

AA
Kryos Airkix
Eclipse
Satori Red

A
Enigma Nom
Enigma Pork Sword
Silver Fox
Satori Yellow (aka Team Toushi)
High Altitude Heroes
Raykipo

ROOKIE
Fox Fource (Satori Blue)
Hydra
Sky Vandals
EJ3
4mula

VFS
Bad Lieutenants
Volare
VFS15

Kaizen coaching at Hibaldstow

2010-09-01T12:08:00.003+01:00

For those of you who are starting your team training early or simply want some 1 on 1, team Kaizen who are sponsored by Skydive Hibaldstow are coming to the dropzone to coach this weeken (4th to 5th September).

All Done for 2010

2010-08-22T19:01:00.004+01:00

Well done to the Skydive Hibaldstow machine that has now completed the 2010 National Championships. So onto the results:

8-way Intermediate

Discombobul8 36 points
Micro Prim8 25 points
Reprobates 23 points

8-way Senior
It is worth noting that Andy Pook who won with Micro Clim8 has been on the podium a record 12 times!

Micro Clim8 122 points
Brit Chicks 89 points
Magnificent 7 71 points

Freefly B

RAFSPA Lightening 27.90 points
Cougars 27.10 points
Danza Slap 24.40 points

Freefly A

Volare 62.20 points
Army Euphoria 53.60 points
Kinetic 49.00 points

Freestyle B

Volanicity 31.50 points

Freestyle A

Airkix Freestyle 58.80 points
Italian Job 57.00 points

Speed Skydiving

Mike Lovemore 264.56 mph
Simon Brentford 256.28 mph
Leigh Birchenough-Richards 252.56 mph

Photos of the medal winners will be posted here in the next few days. Many thanks to all those who came to the event this year. We were all rewarded with lovely weather, despite a rather dodgy forecast. Many thanks must also go to all the hard working judges who came to score points, measure miles per hour and decide how artistic a dive could be. Next weekend, we have the 45-ways and headdown record attempts, plus load organising.

Some More Video's

2010-08-22T15:31:00.002+01:00

Freefly B Class Finished

2010-08-22T12:57:00.004+01:00

In an exciting final round clincher between Hibaldstow home team Cougars and RAFSPA Lightening, they took the gold by scoring a fantastic 11 points in the comulsory against 8. Cougars has always taken the higher scorer in free rounds and RAFSPA Lightening in the comulsory rounds. Danza Slap held on to 3rd place by scoring 4 points in round 5, the same as team There's Something About Hippo!

The positions for Intermediate 8-way had looked to be pretty set, however a fight is now brewing between bronze and silver places. Micro Prim8 and Reprobates are now within a point of each. They have completed round 7 so far with 1 to go. Senior 8-way is judged over 10 rounds, so still a few hours of flying by the Dorniers are needed. Weather permitting, the remaining jumps should be completed today, just in time for a big party.

I will get some of the more recent videos online soon.

R5 Completed

2010-08-22T09:50:00.002+01:00

The 8-way Intermediate seems to be pretty set with Discombobul8 4 points ahead of Stu Ferguson's, Micro Prim8. Back in 3rd place is Reprobates who had an unlucky R3 scoring a 0.

Day 2 - Good Morning

2010-08-22T08:09:00.003+01:00

Its clear blue skies this morning and 50 minutes until lift 1. A quick update on speed skydiving. The speed jumpers were all able to do their round 4 jumps, however Simon Brentford had a malfunction on one of the ProTracks mounted on the latteral straps. The rules clearly state that the readings of 2 are needed, so Simon is doing a rejump on lift 1.

Last night in the bar, Mike McNulty entertained everyone with his excellent bar tapes of the day. It is wonderful to see so much talent on the screens from the UK community, particularly in the grass roots level.

A Few Loads

2010-08-21T19:17:00.003+01:00

A few loads went up, before the clouds thickened up. The speed skydiving are now up to their R4 and senior 8-way 4. H has called it for the day, so now its time for a spot of BBQ! Its wheels off for 9am tommorrow morning.

More scores will follow when judging has caught up. In the meantime, I've uploaded a few videos.

Kit on

2010-08-21T17:47:00.001+01:00

After a few hours rest and generally getting bored on the DZ, the 5 minute kit on call has been given.

Lesley Gale Interview

2010-08-21T16:20:00.003+01:00

The first interview for the 2nd weekend of Nationals is recently ex-editor, Lesley Gale. She may be an ex-editor of the Mag, but she is also a part of 8-way team Brit Chicks, a load organiser and well know UK skydiver. Read her views of her tenure at the magazine here:

1. How does it feel to have left the magazine after 15 years in the role of Editor?
I am really happy to be opening a new chapter in my personal book of life. After 15 years it's time to take up a new challenge. I also feel great pride in my achievements with The Mag. I recently re-read my original editorial in my first magazine, December 1995 where I set out my
goals of making it more up to date, educational, international, fun, informative and focussed on the leading edge of the sport. It's pretty cool that I did all that I set out to do and more. My work here is done!

And I am pleased to hand the baton to Liz Ashley and wish here every success. Did I mention I'm looking forward to the new experience of The Mag popping through my letterbox and it being a surprise!

2. I hear you are planning an 'educational' trip across the U next year. What does this involve?
I am going to drive from the east coast of the USA to the west, visiting a dozen or more DZs over the space fo four months for various cool events. Together with my boyfriend and cameraflyer Stikkos, I'm going to make an educational resource for teaching big-way skydiving, including video and interviews from the people, places and events we visit.

This is a trip of a lifetime! I've never done anything like it. I have been lucky enough to gain some sponsorship towards the cost of the trip, through the Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship. This is a truly amazing trust fund set up to support any Brit with a travel project that brings real value back to the UK as well as the individual applying. Any skydivers with a good idea, see www.wcmt.org.uk

3. Next summer is some time away, what are you going to do in the meantime?
I'm going to spend considerable time planning the trip, hopefully find a few more sponsors and set up a website so anyone interested can follow our travels via a video diary. Also I have some coaching commitments lined up, a few big-way camps and the 200-way sequential world record attemmpt in Eloy, November 2010. And I'm hoping to finally 'get round to' all those little projects everyone has at home that they don't have time for when working and skydiving.

4. Do you ever see yourself returning to the world of publishing and editing?
My travel project is a publishing venture in a way, it just uses a different medium, of video rather than paper. For sure I have a creative side that is especially fulfilled when working within the sport I love so much. I have an idea for a book for AFF Graduates, and a few other possibles, such as one on the history of Airspeed - again it is going to be great to have the time to give these a go.

5. Are there any plans for a 2011 Britchicks or UK record which you are a part of?
We aim for the next Brit Chicks in 2012 as next year I will be doing too much travelling. This will be the same format as ever - everyone is welcome, coaching will be offered, and we aim to set a new female national record.

I would also love to organise a mixed gender Brit Record, of course with the help of a small team of experts. We certainly have the talent in the Uk to go much larger than the 100-way set in 1999 - but it takes someone with the time, effort and energy to get it going.

6. Now that you have a little bit more free time, would you like to learn something different to the discipline of FS and bigways?
If you've been reading The Mag you'll know that I started freeflying with Alberto Fuertes in the Bodyflight tunnel over the last year - Stikkos and I won the Freefly B category at the World Challenge, April 2010. We also did about 50 jumps with Mikey Carpenter in Lodi, California. I love it and will certeinly do more.

Never jumped a wingsuit yet either but that's on the 'wannado' list .. plus I'd love to learn ground-launching and do the mountain flying boogies that are becoming more popular.

7. Was the magazine censored by the BPA when you were Editor?
It's not so much a matter of censorship as that Skydive is the BPA magazine and not everything related to skydiving is deemed suitable. For example, the BPA prides itself on a great safety record, through its Operations Manual. Base jumping, ground launching and proximity flying are obviously not covered by the Ops Manual so we couldn't include 'how-to' articles on these topics. But we have printed occasional photos of these subjects so it's not that they were or are banned completely.

When wind tunnels arrived in the UK there was a certain level of scepticism and misunderstanding of how they relate to skydiving. So it took a while before tunnel-related articles were accepted in The Mag. But now I think that the benfits of wind tunnels in increasing participation and raising the quality of British skydiving have been proven then they have become accepted.

In summary, a National Governing Body magazine is never going to be 'living on the edge', you have to buy an independent magazine for that kind of coverage, as the magazine should rightly focus on the BPA's main goals of safety, education and training of sport parachuting.

R3 Completed and Hold

2010-08-21T14:15:00.004+01:00

You guessed it, the weather has closed in again and we are now on hold again.

MicroClim8 are on fire just scoring a healthy 10 on R3. They are made up of ex-Connexions and ex-VNE jumpers. All their scores have been above 10 so far. Right behind them are Magnificent7 who have scored 7 on each round so far!. Brit Chicks are in 3rd place doing a respectable 8 on R2. But behind the girls are 2 more teams all within a point.

R3

2010-08-21T12:09:00.004+01:00

Ok a quick update, some good some bad. The weather has opened up beautifully over Skydive Hibaldstow and most teams have done Round 3 already.

On the down side, the ISP which serves cametrix.com has gone down, so no online scores. I will try to put as many as I can online here.

In the Freefly B, both RAFPSA Lightening and the Cougars scored 5.70 on their first round.

Xtormin8 scored a 6 in round 2 bust down from a 7 midway through their jump. This was matched by Last in the Bar also did exactly the same when on of their points was keyed before it was shown to be stable. Trained team Magnificent7 (great name!) were also going at the same pace, but were clean, so they scored a nice 7 on the board.

In the Freefly A, Volare who are just back the world championships in Russia did a wonderful routine scoring a high of 8.50 for R1. Danza Slap put a good effort into their routine and scored a 4.80.

R1 and 2

2010-08-21T10:40:00.002+01:00

Round 1 has been completed by all the teams. In the 8-way senior which has the most teams, Last In the Bar did a fantastic 6 points in time, 1 ahead of trained team Brit Chicks. But Brit Chicks did have a double bust taken off their score. Magnificent 7 made up of AAA 4way jumpers have just been awarded a rejump after their camera went out of focus. They scored a 4, so lets see what they can do on a repeat.

5 Min call given

2010-08-21T08:33:00.001+01:00

All the teams are racing to get their gear on. Fingers crossed, the weather will stay clear now.

Hold

2010-08-21T06:58:00.001+01:00

H our friendly CCI has just put everyone on a 5 minute standby call. I think it is time to arrange a few interviews to keep all the readers interested on this blog.

30 Minute calls on Day 1

2010-08-21T06:27:00.002+01:00

Good morning folks, Amy at manifest has just given the first calls for each of the 3 aircraft. It quite cloudy, but is probably jumpable. I say probably, it's one of those cloud layers which is hard to tell what is above it, how high it is and how thick it is!

Draw and Teams

2010-08-20T20:58:00.006+01:00

The competition brief has just been given and it is a bumper crop for the 8-way formation skydiving. I can confirm the stats from the previous post (7 senior and 3 intermediate). Artistics teams appears to be a bit down on numbers though. Freefly A has 3 teams and the B class, 5 teams. Freestyle is even lower - A class has 2 teams and only 1 in the B class. No skysurfers sadly. Does this mean the end of skysurfing?

So onto the draws:

8-way Senior

R1 2,7,K
R2 18,13,21
R3 19,A,8
R4 G,J,L,D,Q
R5 10,M,20
R6 22,N,14
R7 11,9,5
R8 12,C,P,4
R9 1,H,16
R10 15,3,6

8-way Intermediate

R1 B,19
R2 6,1
R3 M,G,18
R4 F,J,P
R5 4,21
R6 14,N
R7 K,13
R8 4,P

Artistics Freefly B

R2 1 (Totem), 5 (Caterpillar), 6 (Bruette)
R5 4 (Single grip head Up), 2 (Hand to foot grip), 3 (Double sit to feet grip)

Artistics Freefly A

R2 3,4,6,5,9
R5 8,2,1,7,10

Lastly, in the speed skydiving, we have a small group of 5 competitors including winners from the last 3 seasons. Peter Warren, one of the competitors is giving the brief at 7am.

Regular UK judge, Frank Mallebone is the chief judge for the event and Hannah Swallow returns again from last weekend as meet director. Jumping starts tommorrow morning (weather permitting!) at 7am. See you then for more exciting blog news.

Registration Closed

2010-08-20T19:25:00.002+01:00

Registration has now closed and the dropzone is excitedly waiting for the competition brief to begin. Pending confirmation, there are 7 senior and 3 intermediate 8-way teams.

Afternoon Update

2010-08-20T15:09:00.003+01:00

Well the weather threatened to clear up at one stage this afternoon. One of the Dornier's got as far as taxing down the runway. Blizzard's, Brit Chicks, Microclim8 and Xtormin8 teams have all turned up in you guess it, the 8-way discipline.

Friday Morning Weather

2010-08-20T10:02:00.002+01:00

Unfortunately the weather is gray and overcast, so no jumping at the moment. This was the same story last weekend, so fingers crossed jumping will happen on schedule. Mike in the office is busy signing people in though, so we are expecting a busy weekend.

Photos up

2010-08-19T17:20:00.001+01:00

The 4way and VFS photos are up!

Speed Skydiving Interview

2010-08-18T16:43:00.002+01:00

One of the lesser known National's disciplines is Speed Skydiving and this weekend, the competition is about to be run at Skydive Hibaldstow. You don't need to train for it, form a team, have 10,000 skydives or even be able to fly headdown to take part.

Peter Warren is one of the best in the UK. Read his story about why he chose this discipline and why he thinks you should come and take part in the UK Nationals.

Peter Warren interview

More National's events to come

2010-08-17T11:31:00.002+01:00

If you thought that the National Championships were all over at Skydive Hibaldstow, then you would be wrong. This weekend has an exciting lineup (which will tax the wonderful manifesters Bec and Amy):

8-way - Intermediate and Open
Freefly - A and B class
Freestyle - A and B class
Speed Skydiving

Thats 7 events, so why not make up a scratch team if you do not already have one.

Flag jump

2010-08-15T17:05:00.001+01:00

Our resident tandem instructor , always put a display on with our 2000 sq foot Union flag. This time however, Blair Stent managed to capture a superb photo of another tandem instructor, Olly Burgin, touching the top of the canopy.

AAA Decided, Medals Given

2010-08-15T15:38:00.003+01:00

It was always going to be a known entity between Satori and Bodyflight for gold and silver positions. Well done to Satori who really pushed ahead from the R6 random round onwards. They did a 20.7 average with Bodyflight also putting a good performance scoring an 18.8 average.

Bronze however was a close jump between Vision and another Hibaldstow team, SonicNutz. The two teams were within 1 point at R7. However it was SonicNutz who did their jump of the meet to take 3 points and the bronze.

Something interesting to note is that all the AAA teams did their R10. Normally there is a semi-final and final cut, however a choice was made by the judges to the teams to see if they wanted to get a 'more accurate competition average and personal best'. They all said yes!

In the medal ceremony, BPA Vice Chairman, John Horne presented the medals. It is worthwhile noting that he is the only Vice Chair since I have been jumping who was also competing. Nice work John.

Well thats National's in 4way and VFS complete for 2010. I will put the medal photos up as soon as I receive them.

VFS Results

2010-08-15T15:12:00.003+01:00

VFS continues to go from strength to strength. This year there were 3 teams, last year 2 teams and the first year it was a demonstration event. Congratulations goes to obvious winners the Bad Lieutenants who won, a solid 6 points ahead of Kix VFS on 62. Scratch team Bad Council Tenants took 3rd place after suffering quite a few busts themselves. Speaking to cameraman Ben Cornick he said "our training began on Round 1!".

Bad Lieutenants 68
Kix VFS 62
Bad Council Tenants 4

Results In

2010-08-15T14:36:00.004+01:00

All bar the AAA have been judged now and that is being shown live on the screens in the DZ.

So beginning with the Rookie class. Raykipo put up a valiant effort to close the big points gap with Ch4os and clawed back 3 points in R7 and another in R8; but it was not enough. Third place went to High Altitude Heroes.

Ch4os 111
Raykipo 100
High Altitude Heroes 97

Single A standings remained as they were from the end of Day 1. Well done to Full Stop in the Gold medal position, Eclipse who took silver 19 points behind and the much closer Tetris in 3rd place. The final week of team training which Eclipse did this past week really paid off. Gr4vity were in 4th place only 2 points behind Tetris.

Full Stop 123
Eclipse 104
Tetris 100

The Double AA class gold and silver medal positions went down to the wire on a diffult round of C,18,G. Hibaldstow team, Unagi managed to pull the dive of the competition off with a 13 in time by doing some consistent block 18's. RAFSPA Firefly gave it their all, but they lost some points on the hill with unjudgable camera angles. They scored an 8. Sirius and Slot Machines also had the same battle for the bronze and in the end Sirius won it by a single point. Commisserations Slot Machines.

Unagi 90
RAFSPA Firefly 186
Sirius 73

Sam Lee - BCPA v BPA Nationals

2010-08-15T13:00:00.004+01:00

Sam Lee is the British Colleigate Parachute Association chairman and a single A 4-way competitor. Whilst we are waiting for the final AAA jumps to happen and of course the judging, I thought it would be interesting to see Sam's perspective of the 2 National competitions:

1. Sam, how have you enjoyed your first BPA Nationals?
It's been an amazing experience. To have the opportunity to compete against so many amazing teams and see some truly fantastic skydiving is a real honour and I will definitely be back next year, although most likely just for a scratch team. My team (Tetris) had a rocky start - we intended to do 30 training jumps in Perris on the BCPA Foreign Trip, however our Inside Centre, Antonia Nilsson, unfortuntely injured herself the day before the training was to begin!

We ended up completing just 14 jumps with Holly Blake filling in (BCPA Foreign Trip Organiser). Since then Marc Fletcher stepped in to be our Inside Centre and we've done 20 jumps together and 4 hours tunnel. We wanted to do more, but simply didn't have the time or weather. All together a fantastic experience though.

2. Both BCPA and BPA Nationals have been running for many years. How does the atmosphere compare to the BCPA Nationals?
Well to start with, BPA Nationals requires much earlier mornings. BCPA Nationals has suffered the last few years from poor weather, but it's one of the few skydiving events where this doesn't matter much! It's a fantastic combination of a Boogie and competition, with entertainment for all during the day and in the evening, and competitions and organised jumps for all experiences. BPA Nationals obviously has a greater focus on the competition, but the BCPA is moving in that direction (when the weather allows).

One major similarity between the events is the numbers of BCPA teams. Our monthly draw competitions and event competitions have been very successful this year and this is really apparent with the number and level of BCPA teams entering the BPA Nationals.

3. Where do you practically see the BCPA Nationals going over the next few years?
I see a greater focus on competitions for everyone. This year we had 4-way, freeflying, accuracy, and 3-way scrambles so everyone can get involved. With a greater number of BCPA coaches, our events also see a lot of FS1 stickers being gained. Oh, and a bigger hot-tub for next year! ;)

4. What are your personal plans for skydiving over the next few years?
With just one more year at University I've decided I should probably try and claw myself our of my overdraft(s). So I will most likely only be doing a scratch team next year. I plan on focusing on personal skills through 1-on-1 coaching and I'd also like to get my FS Coach rating so I can start passing on what I have learnt over the last few years. Lastly, I would also like to pass on my enthusiasm for formation skydiving.

R8 judging

2010-08-15T11:52:00.004+01:00

There are rumours that R8 for the non-open classes will be judged in reverse order just to make things extra exciting.

In the single A class, it's fair to say that Full Stop have taken the gold (or have I spoken too soon with their 18 point lead?) However who will get the Silver and Bronze is anybodies guess as there are only 4 points separating the teams - Eclipse, Tetris and Gr4vity.

Rookie is also looking like a final round clincher. Raykipo and High Altitude Heroes are only 2 points apart. That is espcially easy to change in a class with only random formations.

R8

2010-08-15T10:01:00.002+01:00

The judging panel are busy judging round 7 now. Unagi lost their first 2 points of the day to score a 10 on what was a good jump for them. Slot Machine equalled them with a solid 10 in time. The weather is beautiful and it will only take a few hours to complete the 2010 competition.

Good morning on Day2

2010-08-15T08:09:00.001+01:00

Good morning campers. The weather looks a lot better than it did this time yesterday. There are large blue patches. It is a bit windier though. Hopefully, wheels off at 9am will happen.

Stats

2010-08-14T22:26:00.001+01:00

One more quick thing - 118 loads, 1770 skydives. Not bad for a late start.

Round up for Day1

2010-08-14T22:03:00.003+01:00

You may have noticed that in the VFS competition, the trained team, Bad Lieutenants are not scoring as highly as expected. Well thats because their usual cameraman Matt was not able to make it this weekend. The fill in camera man for this weekend is Andy Newell, a talented freeflyer, tunnel coach and world championship competitor in his own right. Despite this, there have been a significant number of camera busts. This goes to show how important it is, that the cameraman has trained alongside the team and how incredibly hard it is to film VFS.

The AAA is interesting as usual. Bodyflight at the top had caught up and passed by 1 point team Satori. Going into Round 6, the fastest all random round (P,O,N,D,E), postitioning can change very easily. To that effect Bodyflight did an impressive 32 in time and Satori a 38 bust to a 37.
SonicNutz and Vision are also fighting it out for the Bronze position with only a point between them. Currently SonicNutz have the slight lead at 100 points. The closer the competition, the more exciting it is!

In the single A class, Full Stop (Milko's team) are starting to show what they are worth by pulling a few points ahead on each round. This was except for Round 6 where they took the highest score of 25. 2nd and 4th place are much closer, separated by only 5 points between Eclipse, Tetris and Gr4vity. Those 3 teams have been battling all summer at the 3 grand prix events.

Rookie leaders Ch4os are the clear leaders 14 points ahead of High Altitude Heroes. This is depsite them having 14 busts! The services teams are also having an exciting competition a little further down the competition and are 3 points ahead. Who can hold their nerve, RAFSPA Typhoon or Royal Navy Storm?

Tommorrow, the wheels take off at 9am. See you then for part 2.

Enthusiasm

2010-08-14T19:31:00.003+01:00

A lot of teams have now completed R6 and the day is ending with beautiful weather. The AAA class are going for R7 in addition. Its great to see the enthusiasm of some of the teams competing at Nationals this year. One Rookie team in particular are Shake, Ruttle and Roll. I did an interview with the famous Tom Ruttle at the Hibaldstow Grand Prix. They have come on leaps and bounds, putting a 9 on the board in R3. They have done a few weekends here and there over the summer and shown great improvement under the coaching of Simon Cathrine from SonicNutz. They are currently averaging around the 6 mark after 4 rounds judged.

Update

2010-08-14T17:35:00.003+01:00

The Dorniers are running flat out at the moment and all 3 have just done their 30th loads. The weather also has slowly but surely become better and better. Its pretty much blue skies at the moment. At this pace, most teams should complete R6 and some R7, but that's just my guess (currently 17:38GMT).

Photos

2010-08-14T17:12:00.002+01:00

R4

2010-08-14T15:53:00.002+01:00

Round 4 is well in progress. Satori managed to complete their rejump on R2 and scored a 15. The AA class is hotting up also. In Round 3 they had a camera mal where the footage was zoomed in. This apparantly had something to do with the camera type. They jumped R4, but are waiting to see if the judges have awarded them a rejump. Fingers crossed they do.

Round 3 and rejumps

2010-08-14T13:47:00.005+01:00

Unfortunately, there have been quite a few camera busts due to 'metrological conditions' or thick clouds! One of those teams who are rejumping is Satori after loosing 4 points. Bodyflight and Satori's were within a point of each other at the World Championships (Bodyflight in the women's category) and are fighting it out here. Bodyflight scored a 14 on round 2. What can Satori do?

In the Rookie class, there are a record 24 teams and many of those who are scratch teams. Raykipo, an all girls team just did a fantastic 14 points in time after a slowish start. This puts them in the lead (temorarily, as things can easily change!) taking 3 points over High Altitude Heroes who scored an 11.

The single is also suffering from some bad met. Full Stop (who won the Rookie last year and have moved up to A), suffered a lose of 3 points due to cloud, plus another 1 for an NJ on launch.

Photos

2010-08-14T11:54:00.003+01:00

Round 2 is well under way and the 2 judging panels have completed R1 judging.

AAA R1 judging

2010-08-14T10:17:00.002+01:00

Established teams Escondido and Kaizen have just been judged for R1. They both scored a 13. Satori who have just come back from the World Championships in Russia did a nice clean 20 in time. SonicNutz who are aiming for a medal position just got a 15 bust down from a 16. Its also nice to see guest South African team (with Steve Hamilton) coming back to Hibaldstow for a 2nd team. They did a 15 in time.

Round 1 in Progress

2010-08-14T09:56:00.001+01:00

As the title above says, Round 1 is well progressed and each Dornier has already done 5 loads. I am trying to get the scores data streaming shortly.

5 Min Call Given

2010-08-14T08:55:00.002+01:00

Manifest has just given a 5 minute call and the white Dornier is turning over.

Garry Denton Interview - Aircraft Engineer

2010-08-14T07:34:00.003+01:00

A dropzone and National Championships is made up of more than just the CCI, canteen staff and bus drivers. There are all the back ground jobs which are absolutely essential for a DZ to run efficiently. Garry Denton is one of those people who quietly works away in the engineering hangar and even if you are aware that he exists, did you know he was a skydiver?

1. Most people think you're just the aircraft engineer, however you started off as skydiver. Can you tell us about that earlier era in your life?
Most people don't know I exist ;) But yes for my sins, I was a skydiver. My 1st static line jump in 1990 on an aeroconcical (rig number 4) at Doncaster Parachute Clib. I became an instructor in 1995 which I loved and even now miss that side of the sport even more than jumping. I did around 950 jumps in my time and my last was a demo out of a helicopter. Why did I stop? Well 2 thing I suppose. The aircraft side became a priority and I fell out of love with jumping. I just stopped getting the buzz.

2. How did you become the Skydive Hibaldstow engineer?
Initially I was given a job here, as a promoter for the parachuting business (which I wasn't the greatest at). So Steve sent me to the aircraft maintenance companies to help the engineers, cleaning and taking panels off. Basically all the mundane duties and was told I had an apptitude for it. Then over time, I took my engineering licenses and here I am a few years later.

3. The dropzone owns a significant fleet of Dornier and SMG aircraft, how do you prepare for the National Championships?
To be honest the preparation is minimal because the aircraft are permanently been maintained whether it be schedule or non-schedule work. But what I do make sure of is that we have certain parts and assemblies prepared and ready to go incase of any issues.

4. Lastly, how do you think your preparation would compare if you had to maintain a fleet of Cessna Caravans or Twin Otters as there are at other DZ's?
The type of aircraft isn't really an issue to be honest as if we were using any type we would put things in place to prepare for such a large event.....twin otters and caravans, do you know something I don't?

Good morning

2010-08-14T06:34:00.002+01:00

Good morning all. Or that might be debatable if you are a competitor, because the cloud layer is at around 800ft and the gaps in between not big enough to jump. Despite this, teams are dirt-diving and preparaing for action. Manifest has said that they can give the competitors a 5 minute call at any time.

Draw

2010-08-13T21:45:00.003+01:00

Here it is:
ROOKIE: R1 N,J,K R2 F,O,C R3 E,A,H R4 B,D,L R5 P,Q,M R6 G,Q,L R7 A,E,K R8 P,D,F
A: R1 A,21R2 N,P,J R3 2,B R4 4,E R5 F,6 R6 O,D,M R7 8,9 R8 C,7
AA: R1 P,14,15 R2 13,N,7 R3 1,11 R4 9,B,6 R5 22,21 R6 20,A,J R7 F,8,19 R8 C,18,G
AAA: R1 9,20,K R2 12,10,1 R3 3,14,21 R4 B,18,H,22 R5 A,17,F,16 R6 P,O,N,D,E R7 7,6,J R8 15,G,11 R9 13,5,M R10 4,C,8
VFS: R1 8,F,D R2 1,4 R3 E,12,13 R4 5,3 R5 A,C,10 R6 H,K,14 R7 9,B,I R8 2,6
As per usual at the Nationals, its wheels off at 7am. Fingers crossed, it will stop raining over night.

Record number of teams registered

2010-08-13T20:25:00.002+01:00

Registration is officially closed and our friendly CCI H is giving the competition brief. The good news is that we have a record 54 teams in the 4-way and 3 teams in the VFS. Fantastic!

The Chief Judge for the meet is the capable Liz Warner and backing her up is DZO, Hannah Swallow as Meet Director. Coming up is the draw for the competition.

Registration Closed

2010-08-13T19:18:00.002+01:00

Officially, the registration has closed, although there is still a large queue in the DZ office. So no word yet as to how many teams there. The competition brief is due to start at 8pm tonight.

Brief Weather Gap

2010-08-13T16:32:00.002+01:00

Despite virtually continuous on and off rain today, there was a big enough gap to to get a couple of lifts. Many teams thought better of it, however a few braved what turned out to be a thin layer of cloud to make their practice jumps. It's raining again now.

The dropzone is also getting a lot busier and the office is chocabloc with jumpers paying their registration fees.

Eclipse Interview

2010-08-13T13:19:00.004+01:00

In the first of our interviews, we have Hibaldstow regular team, Eclipse who have just spent a full training week at the DZ. The following answers are from Simon Chittick and Jenny Buckle.

1. How has your final team training gone this week and do you feel your ready?
Training has gone really well. 38 jumps in 5 days. We felt we had learned the techniques on our previous camp and in the tunnel. So this week was about consolidating that and building on what we have already learned. Our coach, Katie Woods, has been with us for the whole week and has been giving us lots of challenging dives. We were allowed to unwind on the last jump with an all random dive and scored our best ever of 28 in time!

2. Do you think it's a good idea to do a full week of training right before Nationals?
It is a good idea to train, but it is very important to have a break before. We took 2 days off to get off the dropzone to allow us to relax and re-energise before the nationals. We now feel we have a good balance of being current and competition ready without being worn out.

3. Which teams are your major competition in single A and do you get on with them?
We expect Tetris, Gravity and Full Stop to be our major competition. During the season, we have been close to Gravity and Tetris. There may well be other surprise teams that we haven't seen yet that will turn out to be strong. We just hope to do our best. The official party line is yes we get on with them all, unofficially, we will let you know after round 8!

Just as a side note, we want to thank the DZ for being so accommodating. It is doubtful if we would have got the volume of jumps in elsewhere.

Midday update

2010-08-13T11:48:00.002+01:00

The weather is still unjumpable, although it has stopped raining. Mike McNulty is busy doing kit and docs checks for the who are steadily arriving ever few minutes.

To keep you all interested, I am preparing an interview of a well known jumper or two. Watch this space.

Friday Morning

2010-08-13T09:43:00.002+01:00

For those that don't who will be doing the reporting this weekend, let me introduce myself as Simon Brentford. I'm the web admin, but I'm also a competitor in the 4-way with team Unagi. Formailties aside, I arrived late last night and was surprised how many teams there were already at the DZ.

Many of them are having a lie in this morning as its raining sadly. The forecast is somewhat mixed today, so fingers crossed it will clear up soon.

Nationals Booklet

2010-08-12T14:38:00.004+01:00

We have compiled together a Nationals booklet for your use which contains info on each discipline, prices, accommodation, dropzone rules, aircraft red and green lights, buses, aircraft loading and much much more.

National Championships 2010 - Information Booklet

Enjoy reading!

More teams

2010-08-11T17:00:00.001+01:00

We now have 33 teams registered.

Nationals Logo Unveiled

2010-08-09T16:00:00.002+01:00

Regular Hibaldstow skydiver, Holly Killham is a professional graphic designer. For the last few years, her modern perspective on design has been the inspiration for some memorable t-shirt and competition designs. So introducing the Nationals 2010, we have our new logo!

More teams and t-shirts

2010-08-06T15:12:00.002+01:00

We are now at the 30 teams mark who have registered. Bec is off to the t-shirt printers to oversea the latest Nationals designs.

This weekend is your last chance (if your a weekend team that is!) for a spot of last minute training.

For those of you who have already registered, can you please phone the office (01132 505600) to pre-pay for your jumps.

Teams registered

2010-08-05T13:24:00.002+01:00

So far we have 25 teams registered for the Nationals. This is already shaping up to be a busier competition than last season. If you haven't registered yet, you can do so online. Simply open up the Registration tab and download the forms. You can fill them in without having to print them off. Then simply email them back to us.

World Championships complete, medals won

2010-08-05T11:46:00.002+01:00

The 2010 World Championships are complete, sniff. But on the plus side, congratulations go to the British teams who brought in a record haul of medals. So well done to:

Volare Freefly - Silver medal
Bad Lieutenants VFs - Bronze medal
Female 4-way Bodyflight - Silver medal
Open 4-way Satori - 47 point new UK record, 22 point record average and 8th place

You can see the scores at omniskore.com and skyleague.com.

So whats next? Well its the National Championships in 2 weekends' time. Its not too late to form a scratch team. You can email the dropzone (info@skydiving.co.uk) if you would like to take part.

Satori break British record

2010-08-04T09:48:00.005+01:00

Team Satori are currently at the World Championships in 4-way in Russia. They have just smashed the UK record for most points in 35 seconds with an impressive 47 points in time. At present, they are lying in 8th place, 2 points behind the Germans. Go Satori!

In the VFS, another one of our sponsored teams, the Bad Lieutenants are doing well in 3rd place with a 13.5 average. This is a big improvement on last year's UK National championships where they averaged 9.3 and this shows how much hard work they have put into their training.

Lastly, Volare Pro Flight who are sponsored by Skydive Spain have entered the Freefly category. They are in 2nd place with 44.3 points. The question is, can they close the points with 2 rounds to go? The USA team has 46.5.

Nationals entry prices online

2010-07-15T11:57:00.000+01:00

Folks,

Even though the prices are available in the official documentation released by the BPA, we have tried to make your life a bit easier, by publishing here a list discipline by discipline:

4-way FS - AA / A / Rookie - 8 rounds @ £90 per team jump (£95 with pool camera).
4-way FS - AAA - Additional 2 rounds (final and semi Final) = 10 rounds in total. These rounds must be paid for by all teams in advance and will be refunded to the teams that do not qualifiy.
8-way FS - Intermediate - 8 rounds @ £180 per team jumps (£185 with pool camera).
8-way FS - Senior - Additional 2 rounds (final and semi Final) = 10 rounds in total - these rounds must be paid for by all teams in advance and will be refunded to the teams that do not qualifiy.
VFS - 8 rounds @ £95 per team jump.
Freefly A - 7 rounds @ £60 per team jump.
Freefly B - 5 rounds @ £60 per team jump.
Freestyle A & Skysurf A - 7 rounds @ £40 per team jump.
Frestyle B & Skysurf B - 5 rounds @ £40 per team jump.
Speed - 6 rounds @ £20 per jump.

Winners photos

2010-07-12T15:03:00.004+01:00

How about some winners photos:

Rookie winners and comment from Penny Wiggins

2010-07-11T16:11:00.004+01:00

I posed the question to Penny "What did you think of the competition and how was it to judge alone?"

"It was a great competition. Hibaldstow DZ staff have been fantastic. This and the teams contributed to a great vibe on the dropzone; and this was especially true, as I had to deal with the teams on a one-on-one basis, being alone here. So I am judging in Russia at the World Championships next, but I am also really looking forward to returning for Nationals and seeing the teams again from this meet."

As on to the results for Rookie after all 6 rounds were completed:

Raykipo - 56
High Altitude Heroes - 53
Information Overload - 48

Well done to all those who hung around the DZ on a Sunday afternoon.

Winds

2010-07-11T14:19:00.003+01:00

It appears that the winds have finally started to drop and the Rookie class can continue with round 6, its been a long time to waite. Good luck to them.

Air Volante, 4mula and Chix'n'Dale, Blaming Sambuca have pulled out before the winds improved.

AAA, AA and A class completed

2010-07-11T12:15:00.006+01:00

Well folks, the UKSL meet for 2010 for AAA, AA and A class are now complete. Here are the final exciting results:

AAA
Sonic Nutz 94
Kaizen 71
TLD 64

AA
Unagi 69
Sirius 60
Old Skool 57

A
Gr4vity 86
Tetris 77
Eclipse 73

In the Rookie class, they are waiting for the winds to jump as it is so close between first and second place.

It remains to see how much more training these teams will do before the Nationals in a month and who else will show up. Certainly in the AAA class a lot of top players will show their face such as Satori (who are going to the World Meet this year) and Bodyflight who have been training hard.

Sometimes its all about who has the best meet and sometimes its all about the training plan coming together in the final few weeks.

11th July

2010-07-11T10:48:00.000+01:00

Its mid-morning at Skydive Hibaldstow and sadly today, the winds are over the limits for jumping. That means the final round for the Rookie class has not been completed and not a single lift taking off.

Penny is just begun judging round 6 of the other classes though. In the AA class Sirius and Old Skool are fighting it out with just 2 points between them in 2nd and 3rd place. AAA class is a certain win for Hibaldstow trained team, SonicNuz. In the A class, Raykipo and High Altitude Heroes are also battling for 1st and 2nd place, its even closer for them with a difference of just 1 point.

Judging is being done in reverse order for each class to keep it exciting at the big view screen in the bar area.

Final Update 10th July

2010-07-10T23:19:00.004+01:00

Well its been a fantastic day. I have to edit the total number of teams registered. It is in fact 27 teams. The AAA, AA and A class teams all managed to finish their final rounds and only Rookie has round 6 to complete. But fortunately, DZO James Swallow has set a start time for 10:30 tommorrow morning, so there is an opportunity for a little party.

The DJ has set up the decks and its in full swing.

As for judging, Penny has worked very hard today. Round 4 judging is completed and she plans to start early tommorrow for a spot of catchup which won't take long.

More updates again in the morning.

Tom Ruttle Interview

2010-07-10T23:13:00.003+01:00

Ok, so its a bit late, but its never too late for an interview with Hibaldstow regular and superstar jumper, Tom Ruttle who is a founding team member of Rookie class team, Shake Ruttle 'n' Roll:

1. Hello Tom, so how many competitions has Shake, Ruttle & Roll attended so far?
Disregarding an informal Scrambles event that happened to coincide with one of our training weekends, the Hib UKSL Grand Prix has been the first and only competition for our team. Ant (Hill), our team captain has competed before with other teams, but for the rest of us this is our first real taste of competitive skydiving! Considering this and the fact that we’ve done less than 15 jumps together, and I think we’ve held it together well!

2. How is the team matching up to expectations and are enjoying the competition experience?
We managed to get through the first five of the competition rounds today, though with long gaps spent prepping in the oppressive heat it’s been absolutely exhausting (tunnel last night didn’t help), but spirits have remained high and we’ve brought out some of the best skydiving any of us have ever done.
There has been a substantial amount of hype surrounding the team in the last couple of months, though almost all of it has come from you, Simon. Have we met your high expectations? Otherwise, we have a friendly (but absolutely not frivolous) rivalry with fellow rookies Incognito (hereafter referred to as ‘Rival Team’) which has kept us focussed, and our coach has been a tremendous motivator, not least because of his constant threats of serious bodily harm as punishment for making the dreaded “mistakes” (as opposed to errors...)

3. Who is your coach?
Shared between ourselves, Rival Team, Blamin’ Sambuca, Herding Cats, and probably many other teams in other classes, Simon Cathrine (of course!) has worked so hard making sure that we’re all putting as much into our skydiving (and tunnel time) as we can and getting as much out of it as physically possible. I think I speak for everyone who’s been on the receiving end of his coaching this year that without his influence, the overall quality of the skydiving on show today from these teams would be far lower. Our thanks go out to him for everything he’s done for us.

4. If you had to imagine attending this competition without any of the tunnel time that you have all been doing, how do you think you would have performed?
A difficult question to answer. I think we’ve done somewhere in the region of two hours tunnel in total, and it’s undeniably useful to see how points build in such a confined space. For me though, at least for the time being, I still consider the two disciplines distinct. Like any skill, getting better at tunnel flying is rewarding in itself, and I’m sure that as our skydiving becomes more disciplined, the benefits will become more and more apparent. For me though, a jump starts an hour before the plane takes off and finishes with taking off the rig in the packing shed. The mental environment of a jump cannot be understated, and the amount learned over a training weekend especially in the early days of a team is huge. That said, the wind tunnel is an excellent tool and is amazing fun!

Ed - Many thanks Tom and good luck with your final round tommorrow.

Round 4

2010-07-10T18:13:00.004+01:00

Penny is busy judging Round 3 at the moment and completed AAA and AA. With that in mind, SonicNutz are appearing to be the clear leaders at the moment, some 10 points ahead of Kaizen. There have been a few busts with team TLD which were NJs. Most teams have done round 4 and are waiting for their next jump.

At this time, its unlikely the competition will be completed by the end of the day. This is despite the fact that the Finnist is working hard also. The Dornier has already done an impressive 34 loads and there is a few hours of jumping still to go.

Its nice to see how many Rookie class teams there are the competition this year. Ten years ago, 12 teams (Rookie) would have been what you expected to see at the Nationals.

Round 1 complete

2010-07-10T12:48:00.004+01:00

In the A class, well known team Gr4vity are fighting it out with Tetris. Both scored a fantastic 15 points in time for Round1, not bad at all . In the Rookie class, things are even closer at the moment with High Altitude Heroes scoring a 10 on the board. Right beind them are 4 other teams all with 9.

All teams have now completed Round 1 and in an attempt to speed things up, the Finist SMG 92 aircraft has been announced for A and AA class, Round 2. This should make for a few interesting exits. For those that do not know what one looks like, its equivalent to a Porter but with the door on the left and a massive float rail / step.

Our BPA judge, Penny is working her socks off judging everyones rounds, so write a comment here in support of her.

SonicNutz Kaizen

2010-07-10T10:08:00.001+01:00

In the AAA class, SonicNutz are definately the strongest team in their class. They just did a fantastic 21 points in time. Behind them are well known team Kaizen who messed up a Q exit loosing 10 seconds before the first point was finally keyed. Depsite this, they still did a fantastic 15 in time.

AA Class begins

2010-07-10T09:55:00.002+01:00

In the AA class, Unagi and Slot Machines begin the right in Round 1. Unagi take a 13 with Slot Machines just 2 points behind showing some solid work on their block 15.

Lift 5 has just taken off and the Hibaldstow machine is on full throttle.

Lift 1 - UKSL 2010

2010-07-10T08:37:00.003+01:00

Good morning folks, I'm reporting for the UKSL meet this weekend and I am Simon Brentford.

Its wall to wall blue skies and with 21 teams registered, its shaping up for a great competition. We have 1 Dornier G92 as the lift capacity which should easily be able to cope. Lift 1 has been put on a 5 minute call.

Whose coming?

2010-07-09T15:40:00.001+01:00

This is a list of teams we already have who are entering:

AAA - SonicNutz

AA - Slot Machines, Unagi, Old Skool

A - Tetris, Teson, Eclipse, Nimeton, Gr4vity

Rookie - Herding Kat, Flaps, High Altitude Heroes, 4mula, Incognito, Shake Ruttle Roll

(lifted from ukskydiver.co.uk)