posted Mar 28th, 2008 - The last videos of the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2008 have been uploaded, while the NSL News has already changed the location from DeLand to Bodyflight Bedford in the United Kingdom.

The special NSL-TV page with all meet videos of the Shamrock Showdown has also been added to the NSL website. The link to this page can be found on top of the Shamrock Showdown page. The NSL-TV page includes a link to the part of the NSL Shop where 4-way fans have the opportunity to show appreciation for the free and labor intensive NSL-TV service...

Both Rounds 9 and 10 of the Shamrock Showdown complete the NSL-TV coverage. The majority of the teams was done after eight rounds since the weather situation had interfered with the meet operation a few times throughout the weekend. However, there was still enough time left on Sunday to complete a few more rounds for motivated teams, while others waited for the award ceremony or prepared for the departure from DeLand.

The judges, Golden Knight Eric Heinsheimer and Jukka Olkkonen from Finland, had promised to still evaluate the remaining videos and post the scores after the official conclusion of the event. It was mainly the Pilatus Porter that continued to fly the top teams who were eager to get additional competition practice from the right-hand door.

Airspeed Odyssey and France Maubeuge both completed all ten rounds, as well as the Canadian national team Evolution. Russia's world-class team Black Cat stopped after Round 9, together with Norway's female team Fortitudo.

The two top contenders neutralized each other in the last two rounds, and Airspeed Odyssey eventually finished five points ahead of the French national team with a 25.2 average. Black Cat and Evolution both lost one point each in Round 9, while Airspeed and France were clean in both remaining rounds.

The FSL Shamrock Showdown 2008 was over, and several top contenders in the 4-way world had successfully exchanged their first blows at the beginning of the world meet season. It was time to think forward and prepare for the next top event, which was scheduled only two weeks later, the World Challenge 2008.

Bodyflight Bedford had recently announced the detailed event schedule for the annual windtunnel competition, which will bring together 40 teams from all over the world this year. The field of teams in the two competition classes has already been posted for weeks on the event page.

The official event information includes the introduction of the judges. Bodyflight Bedford owner Paul Mayer has set up two judging panels this year, due to the significantly larger field compared to last year, when 19 teams competed at Bodyflight Bedford. Ruth Cooper serves as the head judge for the other six 4-way judges. CamScore once again provides the judging and DZ-TV system.

The event information also shows the schedule for the two days at Bodyflight Bedford. The team briefing is scheduled for 8:00 am on Saturday morning. The teams begin with their official training session in the flying chamber at 8:30 am. Each team has three minutes to practice and set the specific airspeed for the competition rounds.

The competition draw will be posted and announced at 10:30 am in the main hangar. The first teams then have one hour to prepare for Round 1 of the competition, which is scheduled for 11:30 am. The rotation of all 4-way teams for one round will take approx. 80 minutes. Five rounds will be completed on Saturday.

Bodyflight Bedford now also posted the exact schedule of the team rotation on both days. The flying order at 11:30 am on Saturday morning begins with Team Sequence from Denmark, which just returned from Florida after competing at the Shamrock Showdown. The next two teams, Satori and Fortitudo, are still on the Shamrock leaderboard, as well.

The next team in line will be the first top contender, mystery team XL, this time with Steve Hamilton, Pete Allum, Thomas Hughes and Brian Johnson. Airspeed Odyssey is no. 20 in the lineup of teams and has the opportunity to watch its top challenger before, Hayabusa Defence, which is the 16th team to enter the flying chamber. Norway's national team Arcteryx has the 8th position in line.

Airspeed Odyssey visits the World Challenge 2008 once again for similar reasons as last year. The top contender for the gold medals at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving in France this year is eager to meet the best teams in the world at a competition before going to France.

Hayabusa Defence and Arcteryx are probably the only top contenders for medals this year that Airspeed has not met at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2008, depending on the situation in Russia this year. The World Challenge 2008 will complete the first round of direct confrontation between the world's best teams.

There are other good reasons, not only for Airspeed Odyssey, to travel to Bedford. Last year's winner cashed in £5,000 for the first place, and Airspeed surely plans to take home the same amount this year. The teams in second, third and fourth places will once again be rewarded with £3,000 - £1,500 - £500, as well.

The preparations at Bodyflight Bedford are in full swing, and the NSL News will follow up with more news, stories, pictures and videos later. Stay tuned.