posted Dec 30th, 2008 - The NSL News story on 15 December 2008 already covered a wind tunnel competition that Mass Defiance members organized at SkyVenture New Hampshire this month. Mass Defiance member Ben Liston provided the information for the first story and now followed up with additional information. He also sent video footage of the indoor meet to the NSL News, which will be uploaded later.

SkyVenture New Hampshire 2008 4-way Tunnel Meet

For jumpers in the northeast, the skydiving season typically ends in October and most freefallers put their rigs in the closets and break out their skis and snowboards. This year, however, SkyVenture New Hampshire hosted the 1st annual 4-way FS competition to provide relative workers with the chance to get together for some friendly competition and chance to network with other jumpers who might be interested in forming teams in 2009.

Tunnel competitions are not a new concept, but this meet was a landmark event in that it was the first 4-way tunnel competition to be held in a 12ft diameter tunnel. As recently as just 5 years ago, only top national teams had the skill and control to safely execute 4-way in12 foot wind tunnels, but the average abilities of formation skydivers has steadily risen in recent years. This is a result of USPA's integrated student program, Kurt Gaebel's efforts to develop regional meets through the National Skydiving League, and the fact that we have nine vertical wind tunnels in the USA alone that are available to the public. National and regional skydiving competitions are certainly here to stay, but competitors seem excited about tunnel competitions; they are certainly a cost and time efficient way for teams and individuals to gain competition experience.

Twelve teams attended the ten-round meet at SkyVenture New Hampshire, with folks traveling from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Florida, and Guatemala for the event. PD sponsored team Ranch Fallout, Sunpath sponsored team Centerline XP, and Mass Defiance team members (sponsored by UPT, PD, Bonehead, L&B, and SkyLeno Suits) attended the meet. Experience levels ranged from some flyers never having done 4-way in a wind tunnel and having less than 200 jumps to others with thousands of jumps and extensive tunnel and freefall competition experience. Three teams from the US Military Academy's Black Knights were also able to attend, using the meet to help prepare themselves for the 2008 USPA Collegiate Nationals.

Weather issues, at a recirculating wind tunnel?

An ice storm that hit the north east just days before the event left competitors and event organizers fearful that the tunnel might not have power for the meet. While tens of thousands people were left without power for days on end and even some businesses within eye sight of Skyventure New Hampshire didn't have electricity, mother nature spared the tunnel. Competitors arrived mid-day Saturday and all were able to complete the included practice time and the meet rounds by 8:00PM.

Community and Industry Support

Similar to boogies and local meets, this event was only able to succeed as a result of a community effort. It began with SkyVenture New Hampshire offering air time for the meet and practice time at a discounted rate for all competitors. Competitors themselves organized local teams to supplement the trained 4-way teams from the North East. National judges Jim Rees and Brian Smith, along with regional Judges Brian Stephens and Rodney Cruce volunteered their time, with Rees serving as chief judge for the meet. The unsung hero of the day was local formation skydiver Sara LaWare who flawlessly kept the team rotations on schedule, managed the scoreboard, and ensured that each team's jumps were recorded and delivered to the judges.

Event sponsors United Parachute Technologies, Bonehead Composites, Performance Designs, Ouragan Suits, and SkyVenture New Hampshire provided T-shirts, hats, gift certificates, and other prizes so that every competitor ended up leaving the awards ceremony with something from one of the industry manufactures. Lastly, the wind tunnel staff volunteered their classroom space for competitors to use for flight prep for the day, did an excellent job keeping everyone safe throughout the day, and provided each team with their preferred airspeed for the meet rounds. Ben Liston organized the event and served as meet director with the help of tunnel owners Laurie Waas and Rob Greer.

Competition Structure

The competition was divided into two classes. Eight teams participated in the Intermediate division and three in the Open division. The Intermediate rounds contained between four and five points and consisted of all random formations in the USPA dive pool as well as three blocks. The included blocks were ones that required all members to complete individual turns (sidebody/sidebody, cat+accordian/cat+accordian, and bipole/bipole). The Open division rounds each had five to six points and consisted of eight blocks, some that induced slot switches and some that required vertical transitions (burble hopping).

Working time for all competition rounds was 35 seconds and teams had 1 minute to enter the air stream, complete the working time and exit the chamber to make room for the next team. Intermediate team members entered the flight chamber one at a time and working time began after the team formed a star and then broke it to move to the first point. Working time for the Open class teams began when they launched from a standing position off the tunnel net.

Teams used the official practice time to warm up and also to work with the tunnel drivers to figure out the team's preferred airspeed, which was noted for the upcoming meet rounds. Everything ran smoothly over the course of the day and the 12 teams were able to complete all ten rounds in just under 5 hours.

Results

MD Fooza dominated the open class division winning all but one round and finishing in first place with a 10 round average of 26.1. The team was comprised of locals Ben Liston and Brian Stephens and experienced 4-way competitors Rodney Cruce and James "Bu" Klinge from Florida. USPA advanced class team Ranch Fallout with Robert and Kim Schuyler, Dave Grabowski, and Dave Bower and USPA Advanced class silver medalists Centerline XP (Brian Smith, Corey Beaudreau, Mark Izzo, and John Silva) battled it out for second and third place. The two teams were back in forth over the first four rounds, but Centerline XP found it's footing as the meet continued, and bested Fallout over the last six rounds finishing second with a 20.8 average. Ranch Fallout performed very strong over the course of the meet and finished in third with a 19.1 average.

In the Intermediate division, West Point's Autobots with Philip-Daniel Divinski, Roy Ragsdale, Hunter Thomas, and Brandon Quitana led the way, posting the top score on 7 of the 10 rounds and finishing with a 21.7 average. Ranch Vortex finished second with an 18.6 average. Team members Francisco Leonardeli, Hollie Reno, Janel Menter and Jason Newcom, who placed 5th at USPA Nationals in the Intermediate class, were right at home after training at SkyVenture New Hampshire over 2008 and finished in second place with a 18.6. West Point's Globetrotters came in third with 17.4, and had a particularly strong round 7, winning that particular round by 3 points.

Teams headed out to a local restaurant after the final rounds where they were soon joined by the judging staff with the results for the day. As one might expect, the competitors closed down the bar sometime after 1 am, already looking forward to the season ahead and coming back for the 2nd annual tunnel meet that's in the works for 2009.