posted May 18th, 2013 - The NSL News contributed with "Funny Feelings" to the April issue of Blue Skies Mag. The article was related to the beginning of the new competition season and the first meets that bring back the special atmosphere and feelings of a competitive environment.

The 2013 season has long become reality, as the first major outdoor competition of the year, the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship with the annual Shamrock Showdown Skins Game, was successfully completed in March. The same counts for the first major indoor competition, the World Challenge in Bedford.

The combination of the numbers and data after those two events now allows the first series evaluation of the new situation in the runup to the next World Championship of Formation Skydiving in 2014. The top contenders have two years to get ready for it, and it seems like there will be more and tougher competition than ever before in Prostejov next year.

Turning Points: Outdoor/Indoor Skydiving 2013

Finally - the 2013 competition season has begun, and it took off very well at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship 2013 in DeLand. Arizona Airspeed and three other AAA/Open Class teams from Qatar had posted scores earlier at the Valentine's Meet in February, plus seven teams in the AA and A categories. However, the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship, including the annual Shamrock Showdown $$$ Skins Game, has become the first major competition of each new 4-way season.

Teams from 10 different nations made it feel again like a mini version of a world championship, and the starting point for the year has now been defined for all participating teams. That is, for the outdoor performance. Yes, it still sounds somehow funny to me, and I still have to get used to it. We all better get used to it: There is outdoor skydiving competition, and there is indoor skydiving competition - plenty of it.

The NSL News has covered 11 different events this year so far, and the twelfth one is coming up in Bedford. Ten of them were indoor competitions. Ten of twelve!!!

It makes complete sense, of course. The long winter break was no fun before the first wind tunnels were built. Those first ones even still required warm clothing. Yes, it was great fun to travel to Florida or Arizona in the winter and jump for a week or two. But what then, back in the cold and miserable places where most skydivers and competitors spend their winters? Waiting for spring and summer, watching videos, creeping, going to the gym, telling team stories over beer in the bar, what else?

Now there are wind tunnels almost everywhere across the planet, and they keep popping up like mushrooms. Newer tunnels are recirculating the air, and nothing is in the way any longer to fly and train comfortably in the winter season. They are the perfect training tool for the off-season (outdoor off-season, I mean...) and it was only a matter of time before tunnel flyers would want to show their skills in competition while waiting for the outdoor season to begin. There was not much to cover for the NSL News between October and March or April in the old days. Now we have had ten events since January, and it has been very exciting.

The outdoor/indoor combination is perfect for the sport and will stay, no doubt. The indoor season for skydivers is almost over now in the western hemisphere, and the outdoor season has started. Let's take a look at the outdoor situation after the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship.

Arizona Airspeed won the meet, which is nothing extraordinary. Mark Kirkby and Thomas Hughes are still undefeated at outdoor meets since the beginning of the 2011 season, while new members Thiago Gomes and Chris Farina started their own new series. Airspeed will also win the USPA Nationals this year and become the U.S. national team for 2014. The Paraclete/Shamrock has produced the USPA gold medallist for over a decade. Win in DeLand in March, and you will win the USPA Nationals the same year, no matter where they take place. The same counts for the World Championships every other year, by the way...

SDC Rhythm XP has roughly maintained the same distance to Airspeed as last year with the new line-up. That's the U.S. situation.

Things are different on the international leader board; the top teams have moved closer together. Canada's Lemay family with Katie Woods was expected to move closer to Airspeed - and did so. Russia's new Barkli line-up finished only five points behind the reigning 4-way world champions from Arizona. Russia and Canada were not even close to the U.S., Belgium, and France at the Mondial 2012 in Dubai, remember?

The next two years could bring a totally new situation to the 4-way world. There could be five countries within striking distance for the gold medals: the U.S., Belgium, France, Russia, Canada. That is only the case though if NMP-PCH Hayabusa allows all other teams to catch up. The Belgians are the only top team coming back with the same line-up, and they were only one single point behind Airspeed in Dubai.

The U.S., France, and Canada are rebuilding their national line-ups, and Russia with the new Barkli lineup begins to train more this year. It's hard to believe, but the small country Belgium seems to have the unusual opportunity to run with a head start into the next two-year cycle. The other four top teams will move closer, np doubt about that, and there will be tough competition in Prostejov 2014. However, Hayabusa may have the chance of a lifetime.

The first international outdoor scores at the Paraclete XP meet in DeLand showed this new reality, with Russia and Canada moving closer to Airspeed. It might still sound bizarre, but the upcoming indoor competition at Bodyflight Bedford will provide more and brand new outdoor information, as well.

Yes, there is an overlapping-area between indoor and outdoor competition, not only as indoor skydiving is a great training tool for skydivers and teams. There were teams that competed outdoor in DeLand and will also attend the World Challenge 2013. Their scores will be the parameters to define the starting point for all teams, even including the ones who did not compete at both meets. Thank SkyGod for the indoor/outdoor combination...