posted Mar 12th, 2009 - The upcoming meet weekend is still not one of the busiest this year, as the 2009 season is still in the very beginnings. However, a new competition draw will be posted Friday evening, and teams in Brazil will put some scores on the NSL leaderboard.

The NSL News reported on 12 February 2009 that the Brazilian national team CTR Optimum has a new lineup for the 2009 season and provided more details.

André Ferraz and Fábio Diniz have been team mates since 2005 and also brought the Brazilian teams into the international NSL Network. Fábio Diniz has now stepped back, and Daiton Ribeiro has taken his Tail slot.

Fábio Diniz will still continue to help running the meets in Brazil, and he has even bigger plans for the future. He recently told the NSL News that he and his partner André Ferraz have the goal to bring a high-quality international 4-way competition to their country. It is only a goal at the moment, but the plans are in the works.

It would not be the first time that Brazil hosts a top event in Formation Skydiving competition. In fact, the FAI/IPC World Championship of Formation Skydiving took place in Brazil in 1987.

The airport in Foz do Iguaçu was the location where the competition was held. The Iguazu Falls are one of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world. The Iguazu River dumps its water at a location on the border of the Brazilian state of Paraná and the Argentine province of Misiones. Paraguay is the third nation that connects with its border in the area around the Iguazu Falls.

The World Meet in 1987 had its own and very special drama when the French 8-way team left Brazil, visited Paraguay in the team's own plane and jumped nearby after the competition draw was posted. It did not help to beat Andy Gerber's Golden Knights who won the gold medals in 8-way. France's TAG team won the 4-way gold medals over the Golden Knights who competed in both events. Austria was in 3rd place with team Amadeus.

The French training abroad was not illegal under the rules of 1987. The IPC adjusted the language of the competition rules after the competition in Brazil. Russia attended the competition in Brazil again after the first international appearance at the World Meet 1985 in Yugoslavia and won the bronze medals.

This weekend's competition in Brazil will be less dramatic and takes place at a different and less spectacular location. It will be interesting to see how far André Ferraz and Fábio Diniz can push their plans for a high-profile competition in Brazil next year.