posted Jan 16th, 2010 - The 4-way competition in the female category at the Dubai Championship came to an end that did not offer any surprises or new information.

The French World Cup winner of 2009, Aerokart Deep Blue Maubeuge, walked away with the 1st place and $20,000. The 17.8 average is not a very impressive meet average after the eight rounds. However, the NSL News story on 11 January 2010 already provided some information of the Deep Blue performance in Dubai that explains some of the reasons for the lower scores.

As in Dubai, Deep Blue did not have much competition at the World Cup 2010, as well, where the French team finished with a 20.4 average after ten rounds. The next Deep Blue scores at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2010, with exits from a Twin Otter, will provide a more realistic picture of the team's current performance level.

Adequate direct ompetition is difficult to find in the female category. There are only a few all-female teams that perform on the French scoring level. The US team Spaceland Blue and the new Team Bodyflight lineup will most likely be the only serious competition for Deep Blue this year. Hopefully, either of these two medal contenders will use the Shamrock opportunity to test the French performance under pressure.

The all-female teams always have the opportunity to compared their scores with the teams in the Open Class, as the NSL News did it randomly during the competition in Dubai. However, the competition for the medals at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2010 in Russia separates the teams and will create a different kind of competition pressure.

The German Chicas in 2nd place in Dubai, winner of $15,000 cash, finished significantly below the team's last scores at the World Cup 2009 (16.3 - 13.6), as well. Some of the reasons for the lower scores are probably identical with the French ones. In addition, the Chicas were also competing with an alternate and not much training before the meet.

The German national team for 2010 lost Nina Kuebler at the end of the 2009 season, and Antje Prochnow filled the open slot in Dubai. The Chicas will now have to make a decision how to continue this year. The World Meet is scheduled for the first week in August. In the meantime, German rival Incognito Leutkirch, also with a new team member, is preparing for the next opportunity to challenge the Chicas again.

Only the Empuria Gatas from Spain scored higher compared to their last results. However, the 9.6 average of the World Meet 2008 in France dates much farther back, and the 10.5 average in Dubai does not seem to be so much higher.

The Dubai scores still have to be considered under the same circumstances as for all other teams, the exits from the Bell 212 helicopter. It seems as if most team's scores were at least an average point below the usual scoring level. This puts the Spanish scores in a much better perspective, compared to the world meet two years ago.

Last not least, there were more good news for the female 4-way competition, which has not grown much as of number of teams at the international events in the past years. Morocco had a female 4-way lineup for the first time in the history of Formation Skydiving competition and the female category.

The same actually counts for the Open Class team from Morocco. The north african country had never had a 4-way team compete at either a World Cup or a World Championship of Formation Skydiving. Morocco's Open Class team even finished in 7th place of the 14 teams.

Hopefully, the NSL News will be able to report of both teams from Morocco competing again at the World Meet in Russia this year.