posted Mar 20th, 2017 - The first jump of the second day at the Shamrock Showdown 2017 finalized the outcome of the first outdoor battle between Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP.

Rhythm needed a good start into the second day to put more pressure on Airspeed after the 9-point difference. Saturday morning brought the opposite, as Airspeed added three more points to the lead in Round 7. Rhythm was back on eye level for the remaining three rounds, where both teams tied their totals. However, Skydive DeLand's $1,000 prize money for the AAA Class winner was safely in Airspeed hands.

Airspeed’s new lineup kept the Shamrock winning streak since 2007 clean, which made last weekend's 1st place the 10th time in the 11-year period. Airspeed had missed only the Shamrock Showdown 2010 that the French national 4-way Open Class team won who became the new 4-way world champions the same year in Menzelinsk, Russia.

Ari Perelman achieved his own personal goal easily at Airspeed's first outdoor meet with the new lineup, which was a 20+ average. The 23.9 average at the Shamrock Showdown is not on HayaBusa level yet; however, the first outdoor step on the way to Australia 2018 was successful for Airspeed in DeLand.

Shamrock Showdown 2017			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		4,E,P,12	20,5,L	J,6,13	N,7,K,C	15,1,F	G,B,18,3	8,11,Q	H,22,19	14,2,16	M,D,21,O	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	23	22	25	34	22	23	21	20	18	31	239	23.9
2	SDC Rhythm XP	US	22	23	22	29	22	22	18	19	19	31	227	22.7
3	Elixir	US	18	19	22	27	20	21	21	19	13	29	209	20.9
4	Parachute Montreal Fuzion	CA	17	14	17	22	16	12	15	17	13	24	167	16.7
5	Adventure Flyers	PY	7	6	7	9	6	9	7	9	5	8	73	7.3
Rank	AA Class		4,E,P	20,C,L	J,6,13	N,7,K	15,1	G,B,18	8,11	H,22,19	14,2	M,D,21	Total	Avg
1	Simba	US	10	8	8	11	7	9	7	8	7	13	88	8.8

The Shamrock Showdown 2017 included once again the traditional Skins Game. Skydive DeLand sponsored the $2,000 jackpot that included $1,000 for the Skins Game, which offers all participating teams the opportunity to win cash prizes round by round.

Teams receive a handicap according to their averages after the first five rounds. Each following round has the raw scores on the leaderboard, and the scores after handicap determine the winner of $200 for Rounds 6 - 10. The handicap is adjusted after each round.

The Sun Path Products NSL News reported earlier that Elixir won the first $200 for the last round on Friday. Eliana Rodriguez, Craig Girard, Shannon Pilcher and Nick Grillet came back with another 21-pointer on Saturday morning, which turned out to be the highscore for the round and added $200 to the Elixir account.

Elixir had Belgian 4-way legend videographer Willy Boeykens on camera in DeLand who had also launched the Belgian Skydiving League in 2004.

The Elixir cash streak was over after the $400 for Rounds 6 and 7. Parachute Montreal Fuzion used the night from Friday to Saturday to digest the exit funnel in Round 6. The 17-pointer in Round 8 was rewarded with $200 on a much stronger second day for the Canadian visitors.

SDC Rhythm XP's strong finish in the last three rounds was also rewarded with cash. The highscore for Round 9, with the slowest sequence of the 10-round meet, was worth more than only the $200 for the runner up. It was a part of the 3-round match with Airspeed at the end of the meet.

The run for the last $200 of the Skins Game was the most dramatic one. The second fast sequence of the meet followed the slowest one, and Airspeed and Rhythm set the cash benchmark high with their 31-pointers. Elixir needed 29 points to win the round after handicap, and they took the lead with exactly the right number.

It was not over, as Fuzion could still take the money with a 24-pointer, as they did. It was an exciting and cheery finish in front of the DZ-TV screen...