posted Jun 16th, 2009 - Perris Fury won the Paraclete XP Indoor Skydiving Championship 2009 and beat Airspeed for the first time. Does it really count? What does last weekend's Fury victory actually mean for the top US contenders?

First of all: it wasn't Airspeed Odyssey's team name that was on the leaderboard in Raeford. The 17 - 0 run remains officially intact. Mark Kirkby, Andy Delk, Thomas Hughes and John Eagle competed under Arizona Speed, as half of the team was missing.

It does not seem to make a lot of sense to compare the scores too seriously. However, it still makes a lot of sense to take a closer look at Perris Fury's scores and performance, even without looking at the world class (Air)speed scores.

All the records and charts indicate that Perris Fury is catching up with Airspeed, step by step, slowly and safely. The Airspeed world champions are a target out there that is very challenging and testing for all top contenders. Fury is fully using it to consistently charge up with new energy and motivation ever since the Perris team has begun looking for the direct confrontation.

The Fury efforts pay back and keep showing results. The curves are going up, indoor and outdoor, and the team has arguably arrived on the same scoring and performance level. There is more than enough evidence for this statement, at least after the Paraclete XP Indoor Championships.

The 29.8 average matches Airspeed's record average exactly, posted at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championships 2008. Fury lost two or three points due to penalties last weekend and was close to get to the magic 30.0 average benchmark. It is obviously up to speculation only whether the original Airspeed lineup, with Craig Girard and Eliana Rodriguez in the front piece, would have come up with another miracle performance in Raeford or not.

The re-match at this year's event offers very interesting aspects almost exactly one year later. Perris Fury competed with Thomas Hughes in the Center Inside slot at the Paraclete XP 2008 meet, indoor and outdoor. He pushed Christy Frikken, Josh Hall and Uli Steuwe to a new performance level, while Chris Farina was recovering from a serious back injury. Fury with Thomas Hughes ended up only two single points behind Airspeed's record average at the tunnel meet.

Thomas Hughes then completed his 2008 season with the US 8-way team and joined Spaceland Force XP this year. His new team beat Perris Fury at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2009 by six points after ten rounds. Airspeed won nine points ahead of Spaceland Force XP.

Chris Farina was back with his team at the USPA Nationals 2008 and won the silver medals behind Airspeed. He has been working hard ever since to not only bringing Fury back to the level where the team was with Thomas Hughes in June 2008. The Perris team wants to challenge Airspeed, and it needs a Center Inside that can drive the Fury engine past Airspeed and Spaceland Force XP.

Chris Farina showed last weekend that Perris Fury does not need a Thomas Hughes any longer to get to the highest performance and scoring level in the world. He outscored Airspeed and Spaceland Force XP at the same time with the tied record average, as Thomas Hughes flew the Center Inside slot for Arizona Speed.

Of course, the situation will be different when Airspeed and Spaceland Force XP will come back with their own original lineups. However, Perris Fury surely got another strong confidence booster last weekend and knows for sure now that they can keep up with the best of the best, and with their own original lineup.

Thomas Hughes on his end now knows a lot about the other two top contenders. He made his experiences with Perris Fury last year and learned last weekend how Airspeed's engine is running. He will have interesting insights when he goes back to his own team, which has the next training camp scheduled in two weeks.

Lifting the scores to the very top level alone does not win a championship, as Airspeed has shown many times. Perris Fury also needs to learn how to win at the most challenging situations.

Airspeed's unprecedented competition experiences were the main reason for many comebacks and peak performances at critical times and when it was mostly needed, as Airspeed members mentioned several times. Can Perris Fury get to this level of meet experience?

Only time will tell. However, it is a fact that Fury has been competing much more frequently and has sought the direct confrontation with the best teams in the world. This year, the Perris team has competed at each meet that Airspeed has attended so far. Each meet provides new experiences and insights and makes the team members feel more familiar with the immediate pressure.

USPA Nationals 2009
Who will win the AAA/Open Class competition?	Arizona Airspeed Perris Fury Spaceland Force XP
	Current Results

This part, the psychology of competition, will eventually produce the winner at the major events. The top teams are already on the same skills and performance level. Competition experience, meet management and mental strength will probably be the deciding factors, not only this year.

Airspeed has already shown all of it. Perris Fury is consistently adding the ingredients. The third top contender, Spaceland Force XP, has shown much of it, as the lineup includes three world champions plus Thomas Hughes. The 2009 season could turn into the most exciting one in the history of US 4-way competition. The NSL News could be reporting a 3-team jumpoff situation after ten rounds at the USPA Nationals...