posted Oct 5th, 2023 - The series of national outdoor championships after the conclusion of the 23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving continued in Spain. It was the national team Papea who had to defend their national title a month after Round 10 at Skydive Voss in Norway.

The competition in Spain was a completely different story compared to the previous visit in Norway, where Papea had to work for their established Top 10 position. Papea were actually expected to be one of the top contenders for the 5th place, right behind the four medal contenders, as the latest NSL Power Rankings were showing on August 18th, after the latest input by Sven Ibens. The competition between the 5th and the 10th place was tighter and closer than expected, and Papea ended up in 8th place on the world cup leaderboard.

The Spanish national team in 4-way Open was also a part of the 15th FAI European Formation Skydiving Championship, which was embedded in the world cup event. The NSL News reported the tight 10-round battle for the European bronze medals between Airbus Illertissen Oceanside (Germany) and Amnesya (Italy) with the update on August 28th. According to the NSL Power Rankings, Papea would be a part of the same battle, together with Agera from Norway, and they were.

FAI European Championship 2023			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		3,G,N,19		11,17,L		13,7,C		2,D,O,8		14,K,J,12		9,M,P,H		5,4,18		15,1,10		16,21,E		F,20,6		Total	Avg
1	France 4-way Open	FR	23		25	-1	26		24		19		45	-1	19		19		23		23		246	24.6
2	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	20	-4	20	-2	25		23	-1	18	-2	45		20		19		24		24		238	23.8
3	Airbus Illertissen Oceanside	DE	17	-1	18		20	-1	17		14		31	-1	15		15		18		18		183	18.3
4	Amnesya	IT	16	-1	17		19		17	-1	16		31	-1	15		14		18		18	-1	181	18.1
5	Papea	ES	14	-3	17	-1	18	-1	17		14	-1	32		14	-1	15		18		18		177	17.7
6	Out Of The Blue	NL	17		15	-1	18		16	-1	15		31	-4	14		13		16		18	-1	173	17.3
7	Agera	NO	15	-2	13	-2	16		18		12	-1	32	-1	13	-1	15		18		13	-4	165	16.5
8	Aurora	SE	14		14		15	-1	13	-1	12		26		11	-1	13		13	-1	17		148	14.8
9	Sequenz	DK	14	-1	12		15	-1	12	-1	10	-1	24	-1	12		11		12	-1	13		135	13.5
10	ALIS	UA	11		10		9	-2	11		10		20	-1	9		9		10	-1	14		113	11.3
11	DNF	UK	11	-1	9		12		11		9		21		9	-1	9		8	-1	10	-2	109	10.9

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Airbus Illertissen Oceanside - Amnesya - Papea at the 23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving - Video footage courtesy of FAI/ISC/InTime

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It was finally only a 6-point difference that separated Papea from Airbus in the European bronze medal position, and four contenders were separated by ten points after Round 10, with each of them sharing highscores for single rounds. Papea had a slower first half of the 10-round competition and tied the European bronze medal winners from Germany with the total for the remaining five rounds.

It was too late to make up for the earlier losses, as Airbus defended the bronze medals stubbornly with their own strong second half. Papea had lost six points in the first five rounds, Germany only three throughout the whole competition.

Papea, the Spanish military team for the CISM world championships at the same time, also has a slower start in each round. They are launching a Star (Random Formation M) before presenting the first formation of each sequence. The Star is the first formation at each CISM round, however, other CISM teams like NMP PCH HayaBusa and Qatar Tigers are launching the first formations without the Star at FAI/ISC and other civilian events.

The videos from the Spanish outdoor championship are showing Papea again with their CISM exit strategy. This time, it turned out to their advantage, as the jump plane was a Pilatus Porter with a right-hand door. Only a few teams are trained enough to launch the complete formations for any sequence from this door. Papea finished more than an average point higher in Spain, after the slow competition draw in Norway.

Spanish Outdoor Nationals 2023		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA/4-way Open Class	C,16,10	4,20,6	15,2,7	B,9,12	P,18,Q,A	F,E,L,J,17	G,H,5,1	Total	Avg
1	Papea	18	14	16	19	18	32	15	132	18.9
2	Kalash	8	10	13	12	17	19	15	94	13.4
3	Papea 2	12	8	9	11	11	19	13	83	11.9
4	Bripac	7	7	7	8	10	12	8	59	8.4
5	Falling Stones	8	8	7	7	8	6	7	51	7.3
6	Magyx Otiima	6	7	7	6	6	8	6	46	6.6
7	Q-COS	4	4	5	4	7	7	6	37	5.3

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Papea at the Spanish Outdoor Nationals 2023

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