posted Aug 10th, 2018 - The regular season of the United Kingdom Skydiving League (UKSL) was completed after the third meet in July, and the Hibaldstow Cup offered the British 4-way teams one more meet opportunity at the end of July at the hosting site of the national championships, which are coming up later this month.

The British Parachute Association (BPA) is crowning national champions in all four NSL outdoor categories (AAA - AA - A - Rookie) and the AAA Class winner becomes the national 4-way team in 4-way Open for the next year. The best all-female lineup on the AAA Class leaderboard represents the United Kingdom in 4-way Women.

Satori XL (4-way Open) and NFTO (4-way Women) qualified as the national teams at last year's championship and will represent the country at the FAI World Meet in October. Other British 4-way teams in any of the four categories follow up regularly at the ESL Championship that the British delegation has won twice in 2008 and 2014.

There is an additional treat for the British 4-way teams at the national championships that BPA has supported for many years. The winner of the AA Class competition also qualifies for the FAI World Cup in the following year.

UKSL 2018		1	2	3	4	Avg
Rank	AA Class	UKSL May	UKSL June	UKSL July	Hib Cup	Avg
1	Alola	-	-	-	10.7	10.7
2	Draconis	-	-	-	10.2	10.2
3	Anti Climax	-	-	-	9.0	9.0
4	Satori XS	-	-	-	8.3	8.3
5	RAF 100	7.5	6.7	8.8	-	7.7
6	Manticore	5.8	7.3	9.5	-	7.5
7	Nexus	6.0	7.7	7.8	-	7.2
8	Alchemy	5.5	6.5	7.3	-	6.4
9	Vertigo	6.5	6.7	5.5	-	6.2
10	Viento	4.7	-	-	-	4.7

The FAI World Cup brings together not only the official national teams. Each country may register a total of up to four teams to compete at the event that takes place every other year. The British Parachute Association has traditionally sanctioned the winner of the previous AA Class competition at the national championships as one of the four teams attending the world cup.

The winning AA Class team usually moves up into the AAA/Open Class world after the British Nationals, and participation at the next world cup is a very attractive goal for the first year in the highest 4-way category. It also gives the AA Class competition a special meaning.

The NSL News records are tracking back this special BPA treat to the 2006 season, even though it may have been in place for longer. Damn Zebra placed only 2nd in the AA Class behind Bodyflight Storm at the Nationals in 2006 and still competed for the British delegation at the FAI World Cup, as Storm won the AAA Class competition in 2007 and would compete at the FAI World Meet 2008.

Next AA Class champion was Phobia in 2008 who then competed at the FAI World Cup 2009. Unagi (2010 - 2011), Hyrrokin (2012 - 2013), Phoenix (2014 - 2015) and Tyanno4us Rex (2016 - 2017) have had the honors to travel to the world cups and compete in the AAA/Open Class ever since.

UK Nationals 2017		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class	K,D,M,Q	4,B,21	L,8,14	C,N,15	7,19	G,O,E,13	6,2	1,11	Total	Avg
1	Salty Jacks	19	10	9	11	11	13	11	8	92	11.5
2	Pajama Pumas	18	11	11	11	11	11	9	9	91	11.4
3	Vantage	11	9	8	13	11	14	10	11	87	10.9
4	Sausage Addicts	13	9	8	11	7	9	9	7	73	9.1
5	Funtime Piglets	13	10	6	7	9	9	7	5	66	8.3
6	Dive Hard 4.0	11	9	8	6	6	9	8	8	65	8.1

This year's UK Nationals will once again include the qualification for the FAI World Cup 2019 which will be hosted by Skydive Arizona, and the best AA Class team will be a part of the British 4-way delegation.

Ten AA Class teams have attended the meets in the United Kingdom this year, and the overview of the results offers an indication who might be in contention for the AA Class title. Manticore has shown the best progression throughout the three UKSL meets and can be expected with a 2-digit average at the national championships.

The two top teams in the AA Class at the Hibaldstow Cup were not too far ahead of the highest scores at the last UKSL meet, and an exciting competition can be expected for the precious top spot in this category.

Last year's winner, Salty Jacks, posted an 11+ average after a 1-point battle with Pajama Pumas, and a similar average could win this year, too. Tyanno4us Rex won the previous world cup qualification in 2016 with a 10.1 average and finished with 10.0 in the AAA/Open Class a year later at the FAI World Cup 2017 in Saarlouis. The UK Nationals 2018 are coming up on the August 24 weekend.