posted Mar 16th, 2018 - The Shamrock Showdown 2018 is in full swing.

The starting time in the morning was delayed by an hour to avoid the chilly morning weather that came with the perfectly blue skies. However, Cessna Caravan and Twin Otter were up by 9:00 AM with the first loads.

The plan for Friday was the completion of six rounds, and one more round might be added to use the perfect weather conditions for an earlier completion of the meet on Saturday.

The first handicap for the Skins Game will be assigned after Round 5, which will reward the first team with $200 cash for Round 6.

An additional round would bring the next $200 for the winner after handicap. The leader, Arizona Airspeed has suffered only two point deductions with the 28.0 average after Round 4. It will be difficult for the U.S. champions to add $200 skins to the $1,000 for the first place, which seems to be secured already by now.

Shamrock Showdown 2018			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		B,J,17,20	M,10,O,3	Q,22,2	A,D,P,F,16	N,12,14	15,9,C	K,4,G,E	21,1,13	7,6,11	H,5,19	8,L,18	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	28(-1)	26	24	34(-1)	21	29(-2)	-	-	-	-	-	162	27.0
2	SDC Rhythm XP	US	27	23	23	33(-1)	18	27	-	-	-	-	-	151	25.2
3	Aerodyne Realfly	FR	27	24(-1)	21(-1)	28(-4)	17	28	-	-	-	-	-	145	24.2
4	Aerodyne Weembi Girls	FR	26(-1)	23	21(-1)	33(-1)	15(-2)	26	-	-	-	-	-	144	24.0
5	Qatar Tigers	QA	25	23	22	29(-2)	17	25	-	-	-	-	-	141	23.5
6	FL Defiance	US	16	14(-1)	8(-4)	15(-3)	12	16	-	-	-	-	-	81	13.5
7	Adventure Flyers	PY	11	11	9	14	9	11	-	-	-	-	-	65	10.8
8	SCZ ZEUS	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

The new NSL Reality TV clip features the teams getting ready for Round 1 on Friday morning. Arizona Airspeed, Aerodyne Realfly and Qatar Tigers shared the first load of the Cessna Caravan, followed by Aerodyne Weembi Girls and Adventure Flyers.

All five teams will jump from the same aircraft at the FAI World Meet 2018 in Australia.

SDC Rhythm XP and FL Defiance took off shortly after the first Cessna Caravan load with the Twin Otter. SCZ ZEUS joins the competition on Saturday and will use the Twin Otter, as well.

The two teams of the French delegation are back in the middle of their internal battle for the domestic top spot. It was the World Challenge 2017 where the 4-way Women team outscored the Open Class lineup the last time.

Pamela Lissajoux is back in the lineup after missing the Wind Games, and the Aerodyne Weembi Girls are only one point behind after Round 6.

Aerodyne Realfly has not been able yet to keep up with Arizona Airspeed, and they also allowed SDC Rhythm XP to settle in 2nd place. Rhythm had finished behind the French national team at the FAI World Cup 2017 in Saarlouis and is six points ahead after Round 6, with the same average as after Round 10 at the USPA Nationals 2017.

Arizona Airspeed has made the next step in the meantime, as the 27.0 average after Round 6 is significantly higher compared to the 25.8 in Perris last year.

However, there are four more rounds to go tomorrow, and Aerodyne Realfly may get some consolation after the last round of the day, which was the first round for the Shamrock Skins Game.

The 28-pointer won the $200 for Round 6 after handicap (31.56). FL Defiance was close and would have taken the money with one more point...