posted Jan 2nd, 2024 - The overview of participation in 4-way Open at outdoor world championships since 1985 that the NSL News posted on December 28th was showing that only four countries in the world have never missed one of the most relevant events in the sport: United States, France, Belgium and Netherlands.

The coverage of Arizona Airspeed's 30-year celebration was mostly related to this special anniversary and did not cover entirely the same 4-way history since 1985. However, the different Airspeed lineups have dominated 4-way competition in the United States since 1994, with a few exceptions, and represented the country at eleven of the 15 events since 1995.

Only Golden Knights (2003), DeLand Majik (2004), DeLand Fire (2006) and SDC Rhythm XP (2021) interfered with Airspeed's 4-way dominance and competed for the United States at outdoor world championships instead. DeLand Majik and DeLand Fire won gold medals for the U.S. delegations, Golden Knights and SDC Rhythm XP added sets of silver medals. All the respective U.S. national teams between 1985 and 2022 won medals at all the events, which is a unique accomplishment in the sport. French and Belgian 4-way Open Class teams, also in attendance at all outdoor world championships, had to leave at times without medals. However, the same three nations together currently dominate 4-way competition, and the Qatar Tigers have joined them at the previous four events.

Top 10 Participation at FAI World Championships since 1985

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There is one more nation that has never missed an outdoor world championship since 1985, including the FAI Tanay Mondial when the impact of the corona virus crisis made it extremely challenging to attend the event. The Netherlands is the only country of the four with a totally clean world championship sheet that has never won a medal and still continues with the representation at the most relevant event in the sport.

The Dutch placements at outdoor world championships are ranging between 24th (Dubai 2012) and 7th (Tanay 2021). The Dutch 4-way teams idled along, mostly positioned between 15th and 20th in the middle of the leaderboards, until Dynamic Fource(Paul Hofstee, Erwin Van den Braak, Maus Van der Poel, Koen Van Der Venne) broke through the Top 10 benchmark in Maubeuge 2008 and maintained the Top 10 position in Menzelinsk 2010.

Dynamic Fource retired after the 9th place, and Paul Hofstee continued with ISR Thunder, a Dutch/Belgian 4-way combination. No Dutch team was able to step in quickly for the retired national team of 2008 and 2010 on a similar performance and scoring level, and the placements on world championship leaderboards dropped back to the previous level, until former Dynamic Fource members Erwin van den Braak and Alex Egberink launched a 4-way project with the goal to lift the performance level in the Netherlands back up to where it was when they both were training and competing.

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Scoring Progression of Dutch 4-way Open Class teams since 1985

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FAI Outdoor World Cup 2023			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	National teams in 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	Arizona Airspeed	US	26		27		26		25		22		48	-1	22		21		25		25		267	26.7
2	France 4-way Open	FR	23		25	-1	26		24		19		45	-1	19		19		23		23		246	24.6
3	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	20	-4	20	-2	25		23	-1	18	-2	45		20		19		24		24		238	23.8
4	Qatar Tigers	QA	20	-1	22	-1	23		20		19		40		13	-4	17	-1	22		19	-4	215	21.5
5	Airbus Illertissen Oceanside	DE	17	-1	18		20	-1	17		14		31	-1	15		15		18		18		183	18.3
6	Amnesya	IT	16	-1	17		19		17	-1	16		31	-1	15		14		18		18	-1	181	18.1
7	Papea	ES	14	-3	17	-1	18	-1	17		14	-1	32		14	-1	15		18		18		177	17.7
8	Out Of The Blue	NL	17		15	-1	18		16	-1	15		31	-4	14		13		16		18	-1	173	17.3
9	Agera	NO	15	-2	13	-2	16		18		12	-1	32	-1	13	-1	15		18		13	-4	165	16.5
10	Aurora	SE	14		14		15	-1	13	-1	12		26		11	-1	13		13	-1	17		148	14.8
11	Sequenz	DK	14	-1	12		15	-1	12	-1	10	-1	24	-1	12		11		12	-1	13		135	13.5
12	Whitefish	AU	11	-1	10	-1	14		13	-1	11		20	-1	9	-2	11		12	-1	15		126	12.6
13	Mriya	UA	11		10		9	-2	11		10		20	-1	9		9		10	-1	14		113	11.3
14	DNF	UK	11	-1	9		12		11		9		21		9	-1	9		8	-1	10	-2	109	10.9

The "Dutch Formation Skydiving Project 20+" eventually created a new generation of 4-way teams and competitors in the Netherlands. The two Dutch teams at the 23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving at Skydive Voss in Norway, Out Of The Blue and Chaotic Motion VIXX, were somehow a result of the 4-way project, even though not all team members participated in it.

Out Of The Blue became the new Dutch national team in 4-way Open and finished in 15th place at their first outdoor world championship in Australia 2018. Next step, with a new and the current lineup, was a Top 10 position, which was easier to achieve at the FAI Tanay Mondial due to the record low in participation.

OOTB continued with ongoing pressure by Chaotic Motion VIXX and lifted the performance and scoring level consistently. The Top 10 position came very much in reach at the 25th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships 2022 in Eloy and became reality at the 23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving. The final step with a Top 10 position and a complete field of national teams is waiting for OOTB at the 26th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships 2024 in North Carolina. Out Of The Blue have already lifted the scoring and performance level of Dutch teams to new record numbers, after considering the number of rounds and the competition draws, which may also show in numbers on the next 4-way Open Class leaderboard of an outdoor world championship.

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Top 4 Placings at FAI World Championships since 1985

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Out Of The Blue at the 23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving - Video footage courtesy of InTime/FAI/ISC

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