posted Sep 14th, 2018 - All 4-way and 8-way Formation Skydiving events have been completed at the USPA Nationals 2018, and Arizona Airspeed cannot accomplish a new FS Sweep of the four traditional USPA events (4-way, 8-way, 10-way, 16-way) any longer, despite the absence of the Golden Knights. Paraclete XP8 won the 8-way competition after a good battle with the Airspeed lineup.

The last FS Sweep at USPA Nationals was completed by Airspeed 17 years ago. Airspeed Vertical (Craig Girard, John Eagle, Mark Kirkby, Neal Houston, Mark Steinbaugh on camera) won in 4-way in 2000 and 2001 and provided the foundation for the rosters in the other three events. This year, a new FS Sweep became possible after the early departure of the Golden Knights due to the hurricane threat at the U.S. Army headquarters in North Carolina.

However, a very strong Paraclete XP lineup won the 8-way gold medals and stopped the potential sweep before the 10-way and 16-way events began, which are scheduled for today and tomorrow.

The next NSL News live coverage will come from Saarlouis in Germany, where the ESL Championship 2018 concludes the 2018 competition season for all teams that will not compete for their countries at the FAI World Meet 2018 and still want to enjoy an exciting international meet atmosphere.

ESL Championship 2018 - Power Rankings			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	AtomiX-YUU Skydive	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	6.1.0. Marche In Volo	IT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	JETMAX	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	HorschD FSZ Saar	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rank	AA Class		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	Team Red	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Ayro	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	4Motion - Eisenach	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Black Forest Four	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Das KO´s FSZ SAAR	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6	Windfall	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
7	Blok 43	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8	NOFX	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rank	A Class		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	Aeropotam's	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Heartbeat Skydive Team	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	Rubix	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Skyflakes	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rank	Rookie		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	High Five	CZ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Mach 4	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

The currently registered teams are from six different European countries, and most of them have posted scores earlier this year. The new NSL Power Rankings provide an overview of the strength of the field in all four categories.

6.1.0. from Italy signed up recently after finishing in 3rd place at the national championships. The visit of the Italian team creates a re-match of last year's ESL Championship where 6.1.0. challenged AtomiX YUU from Germany for the top spot in the AAA Class competition. AtomiX YUU is back to defend the title after a 2nd place finish at the German Nationals 2018.

HorschD FSZ Saar from Germany and Jetmax from Belgium both moved up from AA to AAA at the same time at the end of the 2016 season. HorschD had the upper hand in the AA Class competition between the two teams at the ESL Championship 2016, and Jetmax won the first duel in the AAA Class last year. The Belgians may win invaluable ESL points for their delegation next weekend.

Belgium and Germany have teams registered in three categories and seem to be the top contenders for the popular trophy, the ESL Spirit, which has been in German possession since 2016.

ESL Championship 2017				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		ESL	3,10,11	J,H,14,4	C,21,B,2	18,Q,G,M	13,A,5	E,22,K,17	20,19,D	16,F,L,P	7,N,15	6,12,1	Total	Avg
1	AtomiX YUU	DE	10	14	17	17	21	16	16	16	22	18	11	168	16.8
2	610	IT	8	13	17	17	19	16	14	15	22	17	14	164	16.4
3	Dark Energy	DE	6	12	15	14	18	12	14	13	19	15	11	143	14.3
4	Ookpik	FR	5	11	16	14	16	12	14	13	21	15	9	141	14.1
5	NeVa	DE	4	12	15	13	15	11	14	13	21	14	11	139	13.9
6	HF Flying Circus	CZ	3	11	12	13	14	11	14	13	19	13	9	129	12.9
7	JETMAX	BE	2	11	12	14	15	11	9	10	17	13	11	123	12.3
8	4theQueen	UK	1	10	11	12	13	9	10	8	12	11	7	103	10.3
9	HorschD	DE	1	8	10	12	12	8	8	11	11	11	8	99	9.9
Rank	AA Class		ESL	M,J,F,Q	2,H,18	13,D,L	O,4,8	11,C,6	14,19	22,21	B,7,20	E,K,G,N	1,A,15	Total	Avg
1	Falco	BE	10	26	10	12	10	11	9	9	10	15	9	121	12.1
2	Das KOs	DE	8	23	9	7	11	9	6	8	12	13	8	106	10.6
3	Dimension	NL	6	22	9	9	8	9	7	8	11	11	7	101	10.1
4	Blok 43	NL	5	17	10	7	10	7	8	9	12	9	9	98	9.8
5	Windfall	DE	4	17	8	5	8	7	6	5	9	11	6	81	8.1
6	4midable	NL	3	15	4	5	8	7	4	7	7	8	4	69	6.9
7	Manticore	UK	2	12	7	4	7	2	3	4	8	6	5	58	5.8
Rank	A Class		ESL	21,19	K,F,B	D,G,C	J,N,8	9,A	P,7	4,L	O,Q,6	M,E,2	H,N,K	Total	Avg
1	Bazinga	DE	10	8	18	10	10	10	11	8	12	11	15	113	11.3
2	Ayro	BE	8	7	16	12	8	10	11	8	9	12	13	106	10.6
3	Heartbeat Skydive Team	NL	6	3	13	5	7	7	7	5	8	10	11	76	7.6
Rank	Rookie		ESL	P,F,J	E,H,Q	O,G,D	K,M,N	A,B,L	C,M,J	P,K,L	E,G,H	N,D,A	C,O,B	Total	Avg
1	Aeropotam's	BE	10	17	15	8	11	12	15	11	14	9	17	129	12.9
2	Scratch That	UK	8	6	6	4	6	4	4	5	7	1	6	49	4.9
3	Flying Cowboys	DE	6	4	3	4	2	5	1	4	0	2	0	25	2.5

The Dutch delegation has a strong position on the AA Class leaderboard, where Team Red of the Dutch 20+ Project has posted the highest meet average this year. A total of five teams from the Netherlands were registered after the last update and could threaten the German and Belgian delegations.

However, Ayro seems to be ready to challenge Team Red after a recent 12.1 average at the Belgian Nationals 2018. Team Red was only slightly ahead (12.5) after their own national championships in August.

Four AA Class teams from Germany are lurking behind Team Red and Ayro, and three of them also posted their last scoring numbers at the national championships in August.

Each category could produce a winner from a different country, as Aeropotam's from Belgium are the top contender in the A Class, and High Five are a trained Rookie Class team from the Czech Republic. Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Czech Republic could all collect their 10 ESL points for 1st places as a starting position. Three more teams per delegation with the best standings will add to the respective ESL accounts. Round 1 in Saarlouis is scheduled for next Friday morning (September 21st).