posted Feb 25th, 2015 - It's time to get ready for the first part of the Paraclete XP Indoor and Outdoor Championships 2015.

4-way and 8-way teams will travel to Raeford this week, if they have not arrived by now to get some indoor training done before the competition begins on Saturday morning.

The event includes once again the only 8-way indoor competition in the world, and nine teams are registered so far for the challenging task in the 16-foot flying chamber. The number of 8-way teams will grow, as several teams from France have made the trip to Paraclete and have not been listed yet. Former French 8-way world champions Martial Ferre and Damien Sorlin have been organizing this French 8-way project for a few years, and they are at Paraclete again this year. Some of their team members at the Paraclete 8-way competition in the past were later selected for the French national lineups.

Paraclete XP Indoor 2014		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	K,13,22	15,3,10	D,B,6,9	G,7,E,18	11,4,L	A,21,1	J,Q,N,12	C,F,8,O	P,17,M,14	2,16,20	Total	Avg
2	Arizona Airspeed	24	19	45	31	24	27	26	35	34	22	287	28.7
5	SDC Rhythm XP	21	20	36	28	23	23	27	30	29	19	256	25.6
7	Carolina Turbo XP	21	19	35	27	22	22	26	31	26	18	247	24.7
8	Golden Knights	18	20	30	27	22	24	27	28	25	20	241	24.1
9	Verve XP	13	17	26	19	15	18	21	26	18	14	187	18.7
13	Spaceland Lite	13	13	21	18	15	16	18	18	17	13	162	16.2

The two teams from Dubai will also compete at both Paraclete events. Eliana Rodriguez and Craig Girard are bringing their new 4-way Open Class lineup, Dubai Asaar Gold, to Raeford, while Alena Chistova guides the Dubai Asaar Ladies on their US trip as the player coach.

The former Russian 4-way and 8-way competitor used to travel to the USA for training and competition with Russian national teams long ago. She said that her last visit to DeLand was in 2004. A year later, she competed with Russia's national 8-way team Evolution Pro at the World Cup 2005 in Eloy and won the bronze medals.

Alena Chistova then came back to Eloy for the USPA Nationals 2012 where she was coaching the Dubai Asaar Ladies on their first trip to the USA. A year later the Dubai Ladies competed once again at the USPA Nationals 2013. Alena Chistova then joined the active lineup and competed for the United Arab Emirates at the FAI World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2014 and the 5th Dubai International Parachuting Championship.

Eliana Rodriguez and Craig Girard are bringing their Dubai Asaar Gold team to Paraclete for the first time. No team from the United Arab Emirates has yet competed in Raeford. Dubai Asaar teams have visited the USA several times, including the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship in DeLand. However, it is the delegation's first participation at the double header in Raeford and DeLand.

The best US 4-way teams will probably receive most of the attention, when Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP will have their first showdown this year. Carolina Turbo XP and Golden Knights will join the two top teams, and the US Army delegation is also sporting a new Gold lineup for the 4-way competition at Paraclete.

Dallas 350 visits from Texas, together with Spaceland Lite, who will compete in 4-way and 8-way both, and Verve XP is back, as well. The dark horse is a pickup team with coaches Solly Williams (Golden Knights) and Shannon Pilcher (SDC Rhythm XP). They have German Airbus member Thomas Mack in their lineup and another 4-way top competitor...