posted Apr 21st, 2009 - The NSL News story on 28 February 2009 had already reported a personnel change for Sebastian Tempest lineup. The team's Center Outside of 2008, Ari Perelman, did not continue with Tempest, and Gilles Dutrisac took his slot.

The same story mentioned that it would be a challenging situation for the new Tempest member, who moved up from a 12.1 average with FSC Wind Damaged in the AA Class to a 17-average level team in the AAA Class. The news story was posted before Sebastian Tempest competed for the first time with the new lineup at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2009.

The FSL season opener is already history, as well as the April meet of the Florida Skydiving League, which was completed last weekend in DeLand. Sebastian Tempest attended both competitions and seems to be on track with the new team member.

Some things have changed in the meantime though. The NSL News story in February introduced Gilles Dutrisac as the new Center Outside for Sebastian Tempest, as Ari Perelman left this slot open for the new Tempest member.

The new Tempest lineup decided already before the Shamrock Showdown 2009 that the more experienced Thiago Murradas would switch from his former Point position to the center slot where he now works together with 4-way veteran Kris Peterson who has Tempest's Center Inside driver's seat.

Tempest did well at both events, and the team members were happy once again after the end of the 6-round meet in DeLand last weekend. The three Tempest members of 2008 know that it will take a little while until the new lineup will be back to the same scoring level of the end of the 2008 season.

Tempest 2009 started almost exactly where the previous Tempest lineup was when they competed together for the first time in the summer of 2007. The 13.3 average at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2009 in March came after a loss of 13 points, probably due to a slower judging speed in the 10-round meet. Tempest lost three points in the 6-round meet last weekend in DeLand.

Last weekend's 13.8 average has an even higher value for the Tempest members, as the competition draw for the six rounds was more challenging compared to the Shamrock Showdown. The recent draw did not offer any opportunity to post some higher scores, it was work from the beginning to the end.

The lowest score of 10 points came after a 2-point deduction in Round 6, which will be shown later on NSL YouTube TV. Other than that, the 13-pointer in Round 1 was still higher than five Tempest rounds at the Shamrock Showdown, and Tempest's new front piece mastered the challenges of the draw very well.

The next meet will take place on Tempest's home turf in Sebastian, and the training schedule gets busier before the FSL May meet. Tempest hardly trained at all between the Shamrock Showdown and the April meet last weekend. A trip to Paraclete XP's windtunnel in North Carolina is on the agenda at the beginning of May, and outdoor training in Sebastian is planned for the May weekend before the next FSL meet.

The Tempest scoring progression will surely continue to move upward. Only the competition draw in May will determine how much.