posted Dec 30th, 2015 - Weembi Lille was the name of the 4-way team that placed 3rd two times this year at two of the most relevant indoor meets, the World Challenge 2015 and the Clash of Champions 2015.

It is very unlikely that the same team name with the same team members will also appear on any outdoor leaderboard any time soon. However, it was actually not a big surprise that Weembi Lille finished in the medal and cash positions at both events.

It is not only the high-profile level of the team members that brought the success. Weembi Lille is also the name of a new 17-foot wind tunnel in France, and three of the team members are working there as coaches: Julien Degen, Christine Malnis and Thomas Perrin, who are all members of the French national teams.

The three Weembi tunnel coaches had French FLY-IN Girls member Sophia Pecout in their lineup at the World Challenge in Bedford. Christine Malnis and Sophia Pecout have been team mates with the French Girls since 2013 and won gold medals in Prostejov 2014. Julien Degen is French 4-way world champion of 2010 and team mates with Thomas Perrin in the current French national 8-way team.

Only Julien Degen came back for the Weembi Lille lineup at the Clash of Champions, where the French FLY-IN Girls competed with their own complete team and Thomas Perrin had his Gavroche lineup together. However, Julien Degen recruited three new Weembi members who defended the 3rd place of Bedford successfully, only with an even significantly higher meet average.

The Weembi lineup now consisted of four 4-way world champions, three from 2010 (Julien Degen, Mathieu and Guillaume Bernier) and one from 2014 (Roy Janssen).

Clash of Champions 2015			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		J,13,8	K,20,5	9,21,19	C,3,6	7,O,15	A,18,1	2,H,P,D	16,L,11	E,N,10,B	12,Q,F,22	Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	26	32	30	28	33	29	41	28	37	29	313	31.3
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	28	30	29	30	34	27	39	28	34	26	305	30.5
3	Weembi Lille	FR	27	28	30	29	33	27	35	28	30	28	295	29.5

World Challenge 2015			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		15,K,E,F	11,22,A	16,H,M,19	3,10,D	17,18,P	4,12,O	5,N,L,G	14,B,C,20	2,1,21	J,Q,6,13	Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	40	24	32	25	29	26	38	30	24	33	301	30.1
2	SDC Rhythm XP	US	36	24	28	22	28	23	34	26	23	29	273	27.3
3	Weembi Lille	FR	36	20	31	25	23	23	31	29	21	29	268	26.8

The complete Weembi lineup for the Clash of Champions met on the November 4/5 weekend at the Airspace wind tunnel in Belgium for two hours of team training. Then they added another hour of flying time in the three days before the competition in Dubai.

Roy Janssen said that this lineup came together because the 4-way world champions simply love to compete: "Secondly, it gives us all a good chance of flying again on a high level with experienced flyers. It's great to be competing with each other, and not against each other. We always had a lot of respect for each other during our 13-year battles, and now we join forces as friends."

He remembered that it was still work to get ready for the Dubai competition: "The first hour of training felt pretty rusty for all of us. It made us realize how much we were in sync with our previous teams. Things that are considered normal, like picking up grips blindly for example, need suddenly to get attention. Timing, speed and strength vary from team to team, and we are no exception. A new slot for me, a new piece partner, and some differences in technique need time to adjust."

He said that the second hour of training felt better and more comfortable, for body and mind: "The physical flying and fine-tuning during flight is not to be taken for granted if you don't do any hardcore flying for a while. I never even thought about stuff like that before with Hayabusa, it was all so natural. However, with an experienced lineup you can already make big steps forward with little time."

Roy Janssen did not expect the new Weembi lineup to seriously threaten NMP PCH Hayabusa or Arizona Airspeed.

"No matter how good the individual flyers are, you still need time to train. With three hours in total, it's already good if you can stay close to them. But don't get me wrong, we are not there just for fun! One of the things that I noticed is that the competitor spirit is absolutely there, and it's great to feel the thrill of competition again."

The last and third hour of training at Inflight Dubai was supposed to give the team effort the final touch: "It gave us the chance to practice our entrances and get more comfortable with flying together, and try to get back some good energy in the jumps. Of course, it was rougher as what it should be like, but we were not holding back, and we were just enjoying this experience as much as we could."

Roy Janssen personally enjoyed the Weembi project: "After one year of being off the team, I really enjoy flying and 4-way again. I feel like re-born, and there are plans to continue in some way or another. However, it will stay on a low-level training base. But who knows what the future brings. For now, we will do our very best to perform well and enjoy the ride."

He added that it was still a strange feeling to compete against his old team mates. Weembi Lille eventually finished ten points behind Arizona Airspeed and 18 points behind his former team, NMP PCH Hayabusa.