posted Oct 22nd, 2018 - The aftermath of the FAI World Meet 2018 included an update on 17 October with a review of the battle for 4-way Open Class gold medals between NMP PCH HayaBusa and Arizona Airspeed, and a preview of the next upcoming showdown between the reigning 4-way indoor and outdoor world champions from Belgium and the French challenger Weembi Mix.

The story mentioned that neither any Arizona Airspeed nor any Weembi lineups have defeated the current HayaBusa lineup that has been training and competing together since the end of the 2014 season. In fact, it was in December 2012 when Airspeed won the last time at the FAI World Meet in Dubai.

However, there was one single meet of the 32 competitions that HayaBusa has attended since December 2012 where the Belgians ended up in 2nd place. It was the 5th Dubai International Parachuting Championshipin December 2014 when the three Canadian brothers Martin, Vincent, Benoit Lemay and Katie Woods won by 11 points, with Jean Christophe Ouimet on camera.

Martin, Vincent and Benoit Lemay had started earlier to train and compete in 4-way VFS, as well, and launched the multiple-event project with VFS team mate Philippe Thibodeau in 2012. Katie Woods then replaced father Michel Lemay in the 4-way Open lineup, while Jean Christophe Ouimet became the new VFS member.

FAI World Meet 2018			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		21,L,B,G		22,18,17		19,7,O		J,16,12		10,A,D,15		Q,M,F,C,N		H,20,P,13		6,14,11		E,2,5		4,1,3		Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	32		21		27	-2	24		22	-3	62	-2	22	-2	20	-1	27	-1	22		279	27.9
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	26	-5	21		27	-1	24		24	-1	60	-1	26		22		27		20		277	27.7
3	Aerodyne Realfly	FR	29	-1	19		24	-2	23		24		52	-3	20	-3	17	-3	24		19		251	25.1
4	Qatar Tigers	QA	24	-2	14	-1	24	-1	21		22		53	-4	21	-1	18		20		17		234	23.4
5	Echochamber	SE	25	-1	16		21	-1	17	-2	20	-1	48	-4	14	-3	18		21	-1	15	-1	215	21.5
6	Amnesya	IT	24	-2	14		20	-1	18		18	-1	48	-5	18		14	-2	21	-1	15		210	21.0
7	Satori XL	UK	21		14	-1	21		19		19		37	-3	19		17		18	-1	16	-1	201	20.1
7	Airheads	CH	22	-3	14	-2	19	-2	17	-1	18		44		16		16	-2	18	-1	17		201	20.1
9	Evolution	CA	21	-1	13	-2	22		18	-1	15	-3	43	-2	15	-5	15	-2	19		15		196	19.6
10	Airbus FSZ Saar	DE	21	-1	14	-1	17	-5	17		16	-1	45	-1	15	-3	14	-1	18	-1	15		192	19.2
11	Tanay Wolves	RU	22		14		18	-1	17		16	-2	35	-3	17	-3	14	-1	18	-1	14		185	18.5
12	Rotor Out	AU	21	-1	13	-1	18	-2	14	-1	16	-1	32	-3	13	-7	13	-1	18		14		172	17.2
13	CTR Optimum	BR	19		10		17	-1	15		13	-1	31		14		14		18		13		164	16.4
14	Papea Masculino	ES	17	-1	13		18		13	-1	13		28	-3	14	-1	14	-1	13	-2	12		155	15.5
15	Out of the Blue Project 20+	NL	16	-1	11	-1	13	-3	14		15	-1	28	-2	15	-1	15		14	-2	12	-1	153	15.3
16	Meraki	ZA	14	-3	11		14		14		13		28	-1	12	-1	12		14		12		144	14.4
17	New Zealand	NZ	10	-4	9		12		11		10		21		7	-3	11		10	-1	11		112	11.2
18	Paraguay	PY	10	-1	8		10	-1	7	-2	9		17		7	-4	8	-1	10		8	-1	94	9.4
19	Cyprus	CY	13	-1	8		9	-2	8		7	-2	19	-1	7		8		9		5	-2	93	9.3

Evolution placings at world meets in 4-way Open since 2006

Jean Christophe Ouimet stepped in front of the camera for VFS training and competition after the FAI World Meet 2012, with Jean-Sebastien Vadeboncoeur replacing him in the VFS camera slot. Both Evolution lineups trained and competed for two years, and the 5th DIPC in Deccember 2014 was the last meet for Evolution with bronze medal winner Katie Woods, while it was the first meet for NMP PCH HayaBusa with the new lineup and Jeroen Nollet in the tail slot.

The new Evolution lineup knew that they would sacrifice the chances to become 4-way world champions by splitting up the training and competing in both events. However, they had decided that the challenge of winning FAI medals in both events had a higher value and promised more fun than focusing on 4-way Open Class competition alone.

Evolution accomplished the goal impressively at the FAI World Meet 2014 in Prostejov, where they won bronze medals for Canada with Katie Woods in 4-way Open, only four points behind Arizona Airspeed, and with Jean Christophe Ouimet in 4-way VFS.

FAI World Meet 2018			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way VFS		21,L,B,G		22,18,17		19,7,O		J,16,12		10,A,D,15		Q,M,F,C,N		H,20,P,13		6,14,11		E,2,5		4,1,3		Total	Avg
1	SDC Core	US	26	-4	26	-1	20	-1	27		17		19	-3	19	-1	23	-1	21	-2	19		217	21.7
2	Evolution	CA	22	-1	17		15	-1	23	-1	15	-1	15	-1	13	-2	20		19	-3	17	-1	176	17.6
3	Focus	AU	22	-7	20	-1	13	-2	20	-1	12	-1	16		14		17		18	-1	20	-1	172	17.2
4	Vertical Flystation	RU	18	-5	14	-4	9	-6	20	-1	13		7	-2	8	-4	16	-1	18		18		141	14.1
5	Blue Pelican	NO	17	-3	13	-3	13	-1	15	-1	10	-1	11	-2	13		15		16		13	-2	136	13.6
6	Omni 99	UK	18		10	-1	11		15		10		11		9	-1	11		14	-1	11		120	12.0
7	Kwansta Kwattro	SE	12	-1	11	-1	7	-4	14		8		10		5	-2	6	-1	11	-1	11		95	9.5
8	Wait For It	FI	7		5	-1	4	-2	5	-3	2	-2	2	-2	4	-1	5	-1	8		7		49	4.9

After winning two sets of bronze medals, the same Evolution lineup traveled to Dubai a few months later and met the new HayaBusa lineup. Roy Janssen had left the team after winning the first gold medals for Belgium, and Jeroen Nollet had to fill the HayaBusa tail slot in Dubai. Evolution were obviously a step ahead of the reigning 4-way world champions after winning by 11 points in Dubai, and they still decided to follow through with the new plan.

In fact, Evolution even proceeded with the next step by bringing VFS expert Jean Christophe Ouimet into the 4-way Open Class lineup, as well, while Jean-Sebastien Vadeboncoeur was now filming the team in both events. The Canadians were aiming higher in 4-way VFS where the silver medals seemed to be in reach, even though defeating HayaBusa in Dubai was also promising for a better placing than a bronze medal position at the next world meet in 2016.

The Evolution plan worked out again, even though the consistent progression in 4-way Open (9th - 6th - 5th - 4th - 3rd) came to an end at the FAI World Meet 2016. The Canadians won their first silver medals in 4-way VFS after a battle with a new French national team, while they dropped to 6th place in 4-way Open.

The same Evolution lineup still continued with the same plan and were able to defend their silver medals successfully in Australia against the charging home team, Focus. France had not sent a VFS team to Australia.

It was easier to hold the silver medal position in 4-way VFS than maintaining the 6th place in 4-way Open without much training at all. However, Evolution's multi-event lineup since 2012 still managed to grab a Top 10 spot with the 9th place in 4-way Open, while NMP PCH HayaBusa has moved very far away in this event...