The PD Blog

Tempest Skills Camp in Sebastian

Last weekend Sebastian Tempest held a 4 way skills camp at Skydive Sebastian. 10 participants attended and did mostly 2-on-2 skydives with members of the team.  The weather was perfect and allowed the skills camp to proceed as planned and all jumps were completed on schedule.
Saturday night there was a group dinner followed by the traditional Sebastian Tempest ice cream cake for dessert (part of the teams very strict training diet). 
Everyone had a great time and improved their 4 way and relative work skills. The weekend was a success for both the participants and team Sebastian Tempest, as they got to try out their new PD sponsored canopies.  The Sebastian skies were filled with orange, silver, and white.
Ari, Crash, and Pat even shared the PD fun with the cute Red Bull girls wandering the landing area (very altruistic of them, trying to get some exposure for PD.  The PD Blog doesn't think for one second that they were just trying to chat up the Red Bull chicks...  or... maybe... hey... wait a minute.....!!).

Tempest is planning on more skills camps in the future and will announce those through the Skydive Sebastian website.  Get in on the next one for some 4-way fun!

"Italian Style" in Fano, Italy

It's the second time that PD has a Demo Tour Stop in Fano, Italy. First time was in 2007, and this year was as good as before.
Fano is the home DZ of It's like a big family entertaining themselves with many different activities. Have a look to their website.

Italians are very friendly, and always happy to have the opportunity to try new canopies. Sometimes they are a little bit too "hungry" and you have to slow down their enthusiasm because they are not affraid afraid (thanks Kolla for the right spelling!) of trying a demo they might not be ready yet to handle the safiest way. It makes your day a bit more "spicy" than usual !

Livio, our dealer from Sinapsi, was help a lot, translating and explaining why you should or shouldn't jump this or that canopy; and sometimes, he just let his arms down, looked at me with a "don't be that much suprised" look, and say: "Italian Style !".
But we all had a very good time. And the weather was with us. Shining sun, caressing wind, quenching beer.

Beside his canopy course, Livio was also coaching a RW 4way, Team NEXT.
Even if he was very busy on the ground, Livio managed to put himself on a few lift to do some hop'n'pop, and practiced his downwind landings for the next I.S.T. competition.

The pictures can be found HERE

As always, I had all my demos ready to fly.
Here is a list of which canopies I have for you.

Dedric
European Rep.

Shamrock Showdown in DeLand

Saturday afternoon and the PD Blog is about to grab some sunglasses and head of to Skydive DeLand to check out the Shamrock Showdown in person.  3 rounds have already been judged but the winds are honking so we will see how the meet is progressing. 
A lot of teams signed up for the event, so with some of the worlds best talent like Airspeed Odyssey, Perris Fury, Golden Knights Black (all from the US), Russian Black Cats, Canada Evolution, Norwegian female team Fortitudo, new Florida team Tempest - and my favorite - Icelandic team Bangsimon (just to name a few) we are certain to see some kick ass skydiving today.
Check the NSL page for scores, stats and interview with the competitors - lots more rounds to come.  If I can find someone with a camera at the DZ I will even post some action shots tonight so keep your fingers crossed.   

Optimum CTR, Brazilian 4-way team

Optimum CTR, the Brazilian National 4-way team has recently returned from its first training camp of the 2008 season, in Eloy, Arizona.
Their coach, Craig Girard (of Arizona Airspeed) introduced the team to Skydive Arizona's newest addition - a Pilatus Porter.  Optimum CTR will represent Brazil at the 18th World Championships of Formation Skydiving in Maubeuge, France in August.  Porters will be used at that meet so it was time for the team to get used to the different exit techniques and sight pictures out of a right hand door.

In 6 days of training the team made 40 skydives and did 6 hrs of wind tunnel.  The main focus was on B slots and learning the new roles.   
Plans for 2008 include another training camp at Skydive Arizona and training in Brazil as well.  The Brazilian 4-way Nationals will take place in September this year and Optimum CTR will be competing - planning on earning the gold medal for the 5th time in a row :)

Team members are Andre Ferraz (Point), Pedro Ushizima Jr. (Inside Center), Fabio Diniz (Tail), Ziara Abud (Outside Center) Renato "Gordinho" Acerbi (Camera).
We wish Optimum CTR best of luck in future training & competitions - we look forward to see you guys in France!

Mass Defiance

Ben Liston of Mass Defiance (PD’s sponsored 4-way team from up north) got in touch with a few updates. The boys from the North East had a strong finish at Nationals this season – a 19.3 point average earned them a 5^th

place open class finish in 4-way. They also had a blast for a third year in row with team Lock It Up in the 8-way event and took home a silver medal in 16-way with the Golden Knights. Outside of their competitive efforts, the team’s done a great job over the last four seasons of running the New England Skydiving League, being an approachable resource for new jumpers, doing demo jumps and helping to make local events and boogies successful.

While New England has brought a snowy winter, the team has been tearing it up in the tunnel and are hungry to get back air when the weather breaks. You can find team members at SkyVenture New Hampshire on Tuesday nights for free RW coaching (individuals and teams are both welcome!), and they regularly coach there on weekends as well. Mass Defiance was proud to work with the West Point Parachute Team over the fall and psyched with the Cadet’s strong performance at Collegiate Nationals this year. The team can be contacted via the Mass Defiance website  for general questions about 4-way or would like to inquire about coaching. 
The team also wrote a great article about the basics of 4-way that is posted at CollegeSkydiving.com (another great website for young jumpers) - but the information is good for people of all skill levels.

While the team’s tail flyer, Jim Rees, has sadly decided to step down for the 2008 season (this part-time team has held strong with the same line-up since 2004!), the rest of the guys are looking forward to competing at the Paraclete Money Meet, the New England Freefly Scrambles, and the US Nationals in 2008. There’s no news yet on who will fill Jim’s big shoes (size 13), but we’ll post more news when we get it!

CSC Rhythm in the tunnel

CSC Rhythm kicked off their 2008 training earlier this January with style - and many firsts (beer!!!).
They did their first tunnel camp in 2008, it was the first camp with the new lineup, first camp with Kirk Verner as a coach and the first camp in the new Paraclete XP windtunnel.  The team said that each one of those experiences far exceeded their expectations - couldn't ask for a better start for 2008. 

JaNette from CSC Rhythm commented that in a very short time, the team has developed a great rapport that is evident bith in the air and on the ground.   "Kirk is a great coach, who is guiding us both jump-by-jump and helping to lay out a long term vision for the team.  This inlucdes not only flying and 4-way techniques, but also team building.  The new Paraclete XP windtunnel is extremely impressive.  We heard tons of great things about it, and yet only after entering that tunnel for the first time did we really appreciate how superior it is.  For starters, the size and smoothness of the air are awesome, but every detail from the moment you walk in the facility is the best we have experienced.   We were joined by another team, O2 for the camp.  They looked great and we enjoyed sharing the experience with another team.  Cant wait until next camp!!"

You can find more information about upcoming camps on the team website - check it out!

 

Perris Fury Raffle Winner

One of our sponsored teams, Perris Fury recently organized a raffle where the participants had a chance of winning a free day of 3-1 coaching with Perris Fury - pretty much a dream day of fast and furious 4-way with some of the best flyer's on the planet.

The lucky winner is Reagan Bellinghausen.  He gets to pick his favorite slot for the day and Fury members will fill in the other slots.  Everything is included - free jumps, free video, free coaching for every jump, free packing and even a free session in the tunnel.

2nd and 3rd place winners Chris Wajnarowski and Johnny Bateman will receive their choice of a Fury T-shirt or a "Best of Perris Fury" DVD.  Perris Fury would like to thank all that purchased tickets and participated in the raffle - the team really appreciates your support!!