posted Oct 22nd, 2012 - The NSL News has published updates from Germany on a regular basis, and the last ones were not the best ones. ISB Air Remscheid had missed the German Nationals 2012 and will not compete at the Mondial 2012. Then the German 8way team EADS recently lost Thomas Spielvogel due to a serious work injury.

Germany's national coach Mathias "Mausi" Maushake was on a Florida vacation with his family this month, and the NSL News used the opportunity to get additional information of the German situation just about a month before the start of the competition in Dubai.

The live NSL Talk with Mathias Maushake happened at Skydive DeLand while Polaris from Norway was training with coach Steve Hamilton and the new Russian team Sunny Wind were in the middle of their fall training camp. The NSL News will follow up with more information from Norway and Russia very soon.

Mathias Maushake was a member of the German 8way team who competed at the World Meet 1993 in Eloy and finished in 5th place, four points ahead of Switzerland. There he was also team mate with Uli Sehrbrock who is now filling the 8way slot for Thomas Spielvogel. Spieli had competed in 4way for Germany at the World Meet 1993. One of the two German prime TV channels, ZDF, covered the event in Eloy.

The review of the German history offered another opportunity. Martial Ferre, French 4way and 8way world champion and SkyQuest Germany 2012 organizer, recently provided the NSL News an interesting video clip of the 16way competition in Empuriabrava. He also put together a few other videos in a very special way where he features the most exciting battles between teams at specific meets.

Two of those battles took place in 8way at the World Cup 2011. Aerodyne Maubeuge from France and the Golden Knights had their most exciting race, which was covered extensively by the NSL News. The other 8way battle was between Germany and Switzerland, and Martial Ferre was directly involved as a player coach. As in 1993, the German 8way team finished right ahead of Switzerland, and both teams will go at each other again in Dubai.

Mathias Maushake will observe this battle not only in his function as the national coach in Dubai. He is traveling there for another reason, as well. He was the Meet Director of the World Meet 2006 in Germany and knows how to deal with big events and skydiving operation in general. He has been running the skydiving center in Kassel-Calden for many years, one of the longest standing and biggest dropzones in Germany.

His job in Dubai is to help coordinate the three different places of action at the event site. He will be in charge for the Accuracy and Canopy Piloting operation. He said that the Formation Skydiving teams will once again land on the Palm Jumeirah island and take the speed boats back to the facilities and take-off position.

He does not expect the German 4way team to win bronze medals again, as they did at the World Cup 2011, since the competition will be much stronger. The 8way team might be able to defend the 4th place, even though Switzerland has been training more than the Germans. The new German Chicas lineup in the female 4way category will probably end up in the middle of the field. Mathias Maushake has a few more days of vacation before heading back to Germany and then to Dubai.