posted Feb 21st, 2012 - The Paraclete XP Indoor Championships 2012 also included a high-profile VFS 4way competition. The currently two best teams in the world, 2010 world champion and World Cup winner of 2011, Team4speed XP from France, and the US national team SDC Standard XP, plus several well trained other teams presented top 4way performance in all dimensions at Paraclete.

The NSL Network included VFS 4way for a few years at its very beginnings. Low number of teams and events and the lack of information did not allow the NSL News to keep this part of the NSL News coverage and the NSL Network up to date and alive, even though the event itself fits right in.

The NSL News encouraged the participants at Paraclete once again to provide information, photos and stories to make event coverage possible, and help came from France this time. Team4speed XP member Frédéric Nenet followed up on his promise to help and recalled the event from the French perspective for the NSL News audience.

The French national team arrived at Paraclete XP on January 31st and had scheduled four training days before the next confrontation with the team's principal rival, SDC Standard XP, who were training at the same time. Team4speed had a good training week and went into the competition with a good feeling, ready for an aggressive performance on top of the basic skills.

Frédéric Nenet said that his team was watching SDC Standard XP carefully during the training, while the US team had their eyes on the French team, too. Both teams have different engineering systems, and the mutual observations happened in a friendly atmosphere.

Team4speed was not the only French team at Paraclete XP. The Bottrop Bulls, a new VFS team, are also from France, and the NSL News mentioned the three French 8way lineups with Martial Ferre and Damien Sorlin earlier. Frédéric Nenet said that it was interesting to hear so much of his own language at the meet in North Carolina.

Paraclete Indoor 2012		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Total	Avg
Rank	VFS 4way	C,20,13	B,18,O,8	K,A,16,Q	H,F,J,4	2,11,10	M,E,21,22	P,L,3,12	14,6,D	Total	Avg
1	Four Speed XP	30	34	36	34	34	29	26	35	258	32.3
2	SDC Standard XP	32	31	33	31	30	29	23	31	240	30.0
3	Arizona Arsenal	27	27	28	24	26	25	16	29	202	25.3
4	Bottrop Bulls	21	27	29	26	23	21	20	26	193	24.1
5	Paraclete XP	18	21	24	19	23	19	16	24	164	20.5
6	STF Block Party XP	19	21	21	17	19	20	15	20	152	19.0
7	BoopAri	14	16	10	14	15	13	9	12	103	12.9

Competition draw and briefing for the VFS teams took place on Friday evening, together with the other events. His team went straight back home after the live draw. A quick look at the sequences on the way to the hotel gave the Team4speed members the feeling that speed would matter a lot and mistakes would be costly.

The meet began Saturday morning at 8:00 am, and the rotation always started with the traditional 4way teams. Frédéric Nenet said that his team was happy with the meet opener, even though Standard won the round by two points: "We had a bad transition in the middle of the session that slowed us down." However, the French team knew even better now that it would be a tough battle with the US team.

The comeback in Round 2 was strong and important: "We did very well, no mistakes. We left the chamber and watched Standard. They had a different engineering, and we won by three points. It was a good response, and now we were up by one point."

VFS 4way all teams - VFS 4way: France vs. USA

Team4speed applied the same strategy in each following round: "We start carefully on the first page and then accelerate when the techniques work well. Then we continue to increase the speed while we apply the same techniques."

The French strategy worked very well in Round 3 and Round 4, and the lead was up to seven points by then. Frédéric Nenet said that the doubts after the bad start were gone now, and vigilance and concentration was on the top level at that point in time. It was no surprise that the French team added another four points to the lead in Round 5.

The French dominance and momentum came to an end in Round 6 when both top teams tied their scores for the first time. Team4speed was somehow glad that the first day was over: "We were up by 11 points then, but there was no reason for too much joy yet, the finish line was still far away. However, our confidence level had gone up up."

The 8way and Freeflying teams took over after the completion of the six VFS 4way rounds within four hours on Sunday morning. Frédéric Nenet said that his team had the feeling of mental exhaustion: "We went home to eat and recover. Then we returned to the windtunnel in the afternoon to support the end of the Freeflying event. What a beautiful show! Then there was the event dinner where we met all of the rivals, and we enjoyed a very nice atmosphere."

The French team took care of business in the last two rounds on Sunday morning just as strongly as on Saturday and finished 18 points ahead with a 32.3 average. Frédéric Nenet said that this was never done before: "We were happy. That relief to erase the defeat of the year was past in a wonderful way, and the congratulations by our American windtunnel friends and competitors warmed our hearts. Thanks to our sponsors, and then a big thanks to Paraclete XP who organised once again a flawless competition."

Additional messages of French supporters came by internet, also to the Bottrop Bulls who won three rounds over Arizona Arsenal, the US top team in 3rd place. Frédéric Nenet and his team are now looking forward to meeting the US team again at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2012 in Dubai at the end of the year.