posted Jun 3rd, 2013 - The weather in Finland was much better than in Germany last weekend, and the Tampere Parachuting Club did not struggle too much to hold the 1st Annual Jämi Open competition. Organizer Marko Saaresto said that his club wants to help advance the sport in Finland by setting a good example of meet management.

He reported that a total of 27 competitors participated early in the season, while many skydivers in Finland are usually still hibernating at this point in time. The event took place on the day when schools in Finland close for the summer vacation, and it includes all the school celebrations.

It was also a catastrophic weather forecast for the meet weekend, however, challenging weather conditions are nothing unusual in Scandinavia, and the participation was still a success by Finnish standards.

Jun 1st, 2013		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Total	Avg
Rank	A Class	9,G	Q,L,8	M,J,4	Total	Avg
1	Umpa Lumpat (FI)	8	5	8	21	7.0
Rank	Rookie	G,F,E	Q,L,A	M,J,B	Total	Avg
1	Koostumus (FI)	7	1	2	10	3.3
2	Porkkanamafia (FI)	0	0	1	1	0.3
2	Hymiö (FI)	0	0	1	1	0.3

Marko Saaresto said that Meet Director Sanna Lahti is a natural born organizer who made much of the Jämi Open happen. The skydiving center in Jämi is a beautiful place with perhaps the best facilities in Finland (on-site hotel, restaurant, roomy club house, bunkhouse etc.) and the combination of a passionate and capable meet director and a great environment guarantees success - if the weather cooperates...

The Tampere Parachuting Club uses mostly a Comp Air experimental jump plane for the members and visitors. Marko Saaresto said that it is an "excellent purpose-built vehicle for whisking people to the sky."

He added that his club is bringing back Freeflying to this year's events: "We were delighted to see eager participation of gifted freefliers who have yet to test their mettle at the nationals. This kind of combined FS-FF meet seems to be the way to go, as it caters greatly to those rookie to intermediate skydivers interested in competitive skydiving." He said that seasoned competitors once again made themselves available to instruct and coach new license holders.

Finland's Freeflying team in Dubai 2012	Finland's Freestyle team in Dubai 2012

Muikeenmairee (Teppo Helminen, Mariela Vallanvaara, Jesse Salmenoja on camera) won last weekend's Freeflying competition after a very tight race (29.2 - 28.7) with Vajaat Daltonit (Viivi Naakka, Jussi Heinonen, Miika Ala-Uotila on camera). Team Vajaat (Ari Riihimäki, Jouni Kantola, Jari Leppämäki on camera) placed 3rd with 4.4 points.

Koostumus ran away from the other two Rookie Class teams in 4way, while Umpa Lumpat launched the team's third season in the A Class with the 2012 lineup. Umpa Lumpat competed for the first time at the national championships of 2011 (Antti Jokela, Ilpo Suominen, Lasse Riikola, Anssi Ikola, with alternate Ulla Jämsä and Janne Lindstedt on camera).

Antti Jokela, Ilpo Suominen and Lasse Riikola came back with former alternate Ulla Jämsä for the 2012 season. Janne Lindstedt was again on camera, and Umpa Lumpat improved the meet averages (4.0 - 6.4 - 8.2 - 9.5) meet by meet. The same lineup launched the 2013 season with a 7.0 average at the first meet last weekend.

Marko Saaresto was a happy host: "We are already excited to see how big this event will be next year..."