posted Aug 27th, 2015 - The 8-way preview of the FAI World Cup 2015 continues with more interesting information. This time, an update came from France, and it is related to the lineup of the French national 8-way team for 2015 and 2016.

The Sun Path Products NSL News reported earlier that the French lineup will be identical with the one that won the 8-way silver medals at the Mondial Dubai 2012 and posted the second highest meet average in history.

The situation has changed, as Guillaume Bernier decided to focus on his Canopy Piloting competition career, where he advanced quickly to the world's top level after his last 8-way competition in Dubai 2012. Guillaume Bernier won 8-way gold medals for France in 2006 and 2008. Then he added a gold medal in 4-way at the World Meet 2010 in Menzelinsk before finishing off with silver in 8-way and bronze in 4-way at the Mondial 2012.

World Meet 2010			Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		3,21,N	6,20,9	E,G,17,5	K,16,2	12,C,22	B,D,M,1	7,15,J	13,L,P,11	4,18,O	10,14,19	Total	Avg
1	France	FR	25	19	16	21	22	25	18	19	23	15	203	20.3
2	Golden Knights	US	23	17	18	20	22	27	20	17	21	11	196	19.6
3	Barkli	RU	20	19	16	17	22	20	18	19	20	14	185	18.5
4	Norway	NO	8	5	6	7	7	7	8	9	10	5	72	7.2
5	Kazakhstan	KZ	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	4	0.4

France is not short of world class 8-way competitors and former world champions, and Guillaume Bernier's slot was filled quickly. Damien Sorlin is back in the active lineup after standing by as the 8-way alternate in the past years.

Damien Sorlin was a part of the French Formation Skydiving delegation that swept all four sets of gold medals in Menzelinsk 2010. He won the 8-way competition for France after a thrilling battle with the Golden Knights.

The 8-way gold medal in Menzelinsk was not the only one for Damien Sorlin. He was also in the active lineup that won the 8-way gold medals in 2006, and he was the alternate for the 2008 and the 2012 lineups. In fact, Damien Sorlin is probably the most experienced 8-way competitor in France.

The new member of the current French 8-way lineup has also continued with his 8-way engagement after his last world meet as an active competitor in Menzelinsk 2010. He has been coaching several French 8-way teams who visited the Paraclete XP Indoor Championships in the past years.

His last visit was this year at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2015, where he and Martial Ferre guided Veloce QRF to the 2nd place behind the Paraclete XP 8-way team and finished with a 23.1 average.

Thunder ISR member Paul Hofstee was a Veloce 8-way member at Paraclete, who is now also in the Thund8rbirds 8-way team. Damien Sorlin is coaching the potential 8-way medal contender from Belgium, and he will probably bring additional value to the French lineup with his coaching experiences.