posted Aug 22nd, 2018 - The closer look at the slowest sequences that NMP PCH HayaBusa have faced in the same time period as Arizona Airspeed and Aerodyne Realfly concludes the NSL News evaluation of this topic.

There is no scoring data available of 2018 events since the Belgian 4-way world champions have not attended any outdoor competitions so far, except for the military CISM championship with its different dive pool and rules. HayaBusa will defend their Belgian outdoor title though before they travel to Australia for this year's showdown with the strongest opponents.

The lowest HayaBusa 2017 numbers don't seem to be very encouraging for the other top teams. The Belgians are known for their strength when it comes to the fast sequences, and it does not look much better for the more technical slower sequences. Coach Gary Smith knows the stronger and weaker areas of the team very well, and HayaBusa is still constantly working on improvements of the performance. The Belgian 4-way world champions seemed to be ahead in all areas at the end of the 2017 season.

The 20-pointer in Round 4 at the FAI World Cup 2017 was the lowest score at HayaBusa's first outdoor meet last year, which turned into two 21-pointers at the Belgian Nationals. HayaBusa then finished the outdoor season with the second highest 10-round average in the history of the team at the USPA Nationals 2017 and had a 22-pointer as the lowest score for a round. That was in 2017, and HayaBusa has been well ahead of either Arizona Airspeed or Aerodyne Realfly, or both, at all indoor events ever since.

USPA Nationals 2017		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	O,4,9	G,21,A,H	N,D,J,14	L,16,12	K,19,6	E,2,10	P,11,15	17,3,22	F,7,1	Q,5,M,20	Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH HayaBusa	31	33	28	23	25	23	23	22	31	31	270	27.0
Belgian Nationals 2017		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	22,L,G,M	6,N,H,B	4,18,A	C,P,2,11	20,F,E,K	21,17,7	16,D,15	O,14,13	19,12,Q	3,J,10	Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH HayaBusa	26	38	23	28	32	24	25	21	21	24	262	26.2
FAI World Cup 2017		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	L,O,F,K,11	C,3,7	13,2,G	1,17,20	-	-	-	-	-	-	Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH HayaBusa	35	26	21	20	-	-	-	-	-	-	102	25.5

It may not look as hopeless for the HayaBusa opponents as it seems after the first look, at least not for the slower sequences. Aerodyne Realfly matched the HayaBusa performance in Round 4 at the FAI World Cup 2017, and each of the two 21-pointers at the Belgian Nationals 2017 had a random formation in the sequence.

On the other hand, the Belgians killed the only 3-block sequence in the 10-round meet (21-17-7) with a 24-pointer.

The lowest score at the USPA Nationals 2017 was a 22-pointer in Round 8 for a 3-block sequence (17-3-22) which sounds impressive too. However, two of the three blocks were on the faster end of the dive pool, even though the sequence created a slot-switcher for the front piece.

Arizona Airspeed and Aerodyne Realfly have been confronted with slightly slower sequences and might not be as far behind in this area. Then it would go back to the faster sequences where NMP PCH HayaBusa was still ahead last year, and chances are little that they have slowed down in the meantime.

The Belgian Nationals 2018 are scheduled right after the USPA Nationals, and both events will provide new data for the latest evaluations and speculations before the world meet...

French Nationals 2018		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	E,G,10,2	9,Q,14	5,19,C	12,16,A	15,1,17	20,L,3	13,F,22	11,N,D,O	M,7,8	P,4,H,21	Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Realfly	20	28	23	23	19	20	20	31	24	27	235	23.5
Coupe de France May 2018		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	J,C,O,16	21,E,A,8	3,13,D	Q,N,9,2	M,B,12,K	4,11,5	G,6,H,L	17,1,18	19,P,7	10,14,15	Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Realfly	34	24	21	33	28	20	32	20	26	19	257	25.7
Shamrock Showdown 2018		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	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	Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Realfly	27	24	21	28	17	28	31	19	23	27	245	24.5
FAI World Cup 2017		1	2	3	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	L,O,F,K,11	C,3,7	13,2,G	1,17,20	-	-	-	-	-	-	Total	Avg
1	RealFly-Sion	35	26	20	20	-	-	-	-	-	-	101	25.3

Paraclete XP Summer Classic 2018		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	F,M,C,10		14,P,A,15		19,11,9		E,B,22,7		2,K,G,12		3,O,1		4,17,J		Q,13,D,6		N,L,8,18		16,21,20		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	35		25	-1	24		27	-2	25		23	-1	25	-1	26		23		21		254	25.4
Shamrock Showdown 2018		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		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		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	28	-1	26		24		34	-1	21		29	-2	31		20	-1	23		28		264	26.4
USPA Nationals 2017		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	O,4,9		G,21,A,H		N,D,J,14		L,16,12		K,19,6		E,2,10		P,11,15		17,3,22		F,7,1		Q,5,M,20		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	27		32		29		22		24		22		21	-1	23		29		29		258	25.8
Paraclete XP Summer Classic 2017		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	K,20,17		8,7,11		P,G,14,N		H,C,9,15		J,F,3,5		Q,E,M,13		2,21,L		6,12,B		22,O,10		A,1,19		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	24		21		27		33		33		33		21		23		19		24		258	25.8
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	23		22	-2	25		34	-1	22		23		21		20		18		31		239	23.9