posted May 27th, 2018 - One of the many different battles in all kind of different parts on the four leaderboards of the World Challenge 2018 took place between five teams from four different countries in the very middle of the AAA Class field.

It was in fact exactly the middle of the field where the same five teams were the last ones who got their scores for Round 9 on the AAA Class leaderboard. The judges posted scores only for the top half of the leaderboard after Round 8. The second cut after Round 9 left half of the 18 teams without their scores for Round 10, while all teams completed all rounds.

The same five teams were separated by only five points, and each of them posted at least three of the nine highscores, which shows too how close they performed to each other.

Alakran from Spain attended the team's 4th consecutive World Challenge this year. Many other teams have visited Bedford just as often or even more regularly. British team Eclipse competed for the 7th time at the same event, and Les Affranchis Flyzone from France have not missed a World Challenge since 2013. Jazz Republic from South Africa, with InTime operators Claire King and Dirk Venter in the lineup, matched Alakran's four appearances. and Eros came back after their first World Challenge last year.

World Challenge 2018			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		10,H,F,13	20,6,22	12,1,11	4,M,G,J	9,B,P,A	N,C,8,3	K,7,L,D	18,19,14	5,Q,21	Total	Avg
14	Eclipse	UK	19	16	14	26	36	12	24	17	18	182	20.2
15	Les Affranchis Flyzone	FR	17	15	15	24	35	15	28	17	15	181	20.1
15	Jazz Republic	ZA	16	15	15	24	30	18	28	16	19	181	20.1
17	Alakran	ES	18	17	15	23	34	14	23	17	17	178	19.8
18	Eros	UK	19	17	14	23	30	18	25	14	17	177	19.7

It was still a special situation for the team from Spain, as the World Challenge 2018 was Alakran's first AAA Class competition. Even that is not extraordinary, as many teams have used the indoor competition in Bedford to step up into the next higher category, especially before the outdoor season begins.

There are, however, not many teams who have moved through the four categories as systematically as Alakran has done it. The same lineup, which consists of two real-life couples, started in the Rookie Class at the World Challenge 2015 and moved up each year at the next World Challenge.

The World Challenge 2017 was the team's highlight so far, as Alakran won the AA Class bronze medals after an extra round for silver against the team from Bahrain.

The next step into the AAA Class this year was very successful, as well, as the Spanish team posted a new team record average, even though it was the first AAA Class competition at the World Challenge.

Alakran actually came together as an outdoor team in June 2014, after meeting at Skydive Spain in Seville. The team members had only between 50 and 200 jumps and no indoor experiences. This changed with indoor training at Windobona in Madrid, while Alakran continued to jump from planes at DZs in Spain.

World Challenge 2018	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
AAA Class	10,H,F,13	20,6,22	12,1,11	4,M,G,J	9,B,P,A	N,C,8,3	K,7,L,D	18,19,14	5,Q,21	-	Total	Avg
Alakran	18	17	15	23	34	14	23	17	17	-	178	19.8
World Challenge 2017	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
AA Class	F,G,D,P	9,J,18	E,7,M	19,13	4,L,8	2,21	C,14,20	1,K,O	A,6,11	N,B,H,Q	Total	Avg
Alakran	27	20	27	14	15	16	13	18	17	30	197	19.7
World Challenge 2016	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
A Class	9,C	L,7	19,8	B,H,A	O,2	K,M,6	P,J,F	E,Q,4	G,D,N	21,N	Total	Avg
Alakran	16	17	12	23	13	16	25	15	13	13	163	16.3
World Challenge 2015	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rookie	C,O,A	F,B,N	E,P,L	K,D,Q	J,H,M	G,E,C	H,N,J	B,M,F	O,K,G	P,Q,D	Total	Avg
Lahottia	9	10	4	6	11	9	10	17	10	10	96	9.6

4-way participation and progression of teams from Spain at world meets since 1985

Alakran have also competed at Spain's national outdoor championships in 2016 and 2017, where they won bronze medals, and attended a few regional meets in Spain. In fact, Alakran is aiming at the next outdoor championships this year hoping to be selected for FAI's European Championship in 2019.

Spain was a reliable force at the FAI World Championship of Formation Skydiving between 1985 and 2006. Ever since, there was only one team that represented the Mediterranean country and Soccer/Football powerhouse at the world meets. Spanish 4-way legend Ivan Coufal had brought a team one more time to the FAI Mondial 2012 in Dubai.

Neither Papea nor Barak, currently the two strongest Spanish 4-way teams, competed at any of the world meets between 2008 and 2016, and the list of registered teams for this year's FAI World Meet in Australia is not available yet.

Alakran's progress is impressive, and the team might move a little bit closer toward the top of the Spanish outdoor rankings this year. The goal for the next World Challenge is the 20+ average benchmark.