posted Apr 1st, 2010 - The last NSL News story of the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2010 before the coverage of the World Challenge 2010 kicks off is dedicated to the winner of the AAA Class competition, the French national 4-way team in the Open Class, Aerodyne Cypres Mabeuge.

The first one of the newest NSL-TV videos still features the Top 10 teams with their Round 10. After that, the NSL News audience has the opportunity to watch all ten rounds of the French national team in DeLand.

The NSL News has set up office at Bodyflight Bedford now, as the first photo of this year's event shows. Bodyflight owner Paul Mayer proudly presents his new Flow House, which will be ready for visitors very soon. The Spa can already be used, and the NSL News will present it later.

Round 10 of the Top 10 teams at the Shamrock Showdown 2010

Aerodyne Cypres Maubeuge impressed the skydiving world once again with a superb performance at the Shamrock Showdown 2010. The 24.0 average at the World Cup 2009 in the Czech Republic was already one of the best 10-round feasts in 4-way history. It was the event where the French team joined the 20-point elite club of teams that have completed 10-round meets without scoring below 20 points (DeLand Majik, Team Fastrax, Arizona Airspeed).

The 24.4 average at the Shamrock Showdown included a 19-pointer in Round 4, which didn't allow France to repeat the 20-point feature. However, most teams in DeLand said that the competition draw was actually slower than the one at the World Cup 2009, which lifts the already impressive French performance even higher.

Those two best meets of Aerodyne Cypres Maubeuge won the first places at the respective events. However, 4-way world champion Arizona Airspeed competed at neither of them, while bronze medalist of the World Meet 2008, NMP-PCH Hayabusa, tried to keep up with the French team at both events.

The same French lineup, with Julien Degen, Jeremie Rollet, Guillaume and Mathieu Bernier, had won the silver medals behind Airspeed at the World Meet 2008, one single point behind the undefeated world champions.

It was the last meet where the French 4-way competitors would all compete in 8-way, as well. Julien Degen, Jeremie Rollet and Guillaume Bernier focused only on 4-way from then on, while only Mathieu Bernier continued in 4-way and 8-way.

It was only logical that the French 4-way performance would become even better after that move, as the results at the World Cup 2009 and the Shamrock Showdown 2010 have shown.

It is coincidence that only Airspeed has not met this new French 4-way power directly so far.

Aerodyne Cypres Maubeuge at the Shamrock Showdown 2010 - Rounds 1 to 10

Both teams have competed directly with each other since the World Meet 2008. The first time was the Shamrock Showdown 2009 where France ended up three points (22.9 - 22.6) behind Airspeed after ten rounds. Then the French lineup attended its first indoor competition at the World Challenge 2009 (28.8 - 26.8) and had no chance to keep up with Airspeed.

Both teams met again at the Dubai Championship 2010 in January 2010. This time, Mathieu Bernier was not available, as he was at an 8-way training camp, and coach Marin Ferre filled his slot. Once again, France had no chance against the Airspeed world champions in full strength.

The World Challenge 2010 is the next event where both teams will compete directly with each other and with the original lineups.

This time, Airspeed might be challenged more than ever before. The French lineup has completed a whole year of only 4-way training and has already posted very impressive outdoor scores. The French 4-way confidence must be on a very high level.

Aerodyne Cypres Maubeuge has also completed more indoor training than ever before. Observers reported that the French indoor performance is almost as impressive as the one shown at the outdoor competitions.

The NSL News will be able to see live on site what the French national 4-way team has to offer in the Bodyflight Bedford chamber two days before the competition. The team has scheduled a training session this afternoon, and the NSL News camera will catch some indoor action.

This first update from Bedford brings the gradual transition from the Shamrock Showdown 2010 to the World Challenge 2010.

The French national 4-way team in the Open Class still received $1,000 cash for the 1st place AAA Class at the Shamrock Showdown before traveling back to France and then to Bedford. Skydive DeLand was the sponsor of this prize for the overall winner before handcap.

The $800 cash prize for the winner of the Shamrock Skins Game for Round 10 was sponsored by Bud Light and DNA Energy. It was once again the Russian team Friday 13 that peaked at the right time. Dmitri Fridman, Janna Kazakova, Dmitri Kovalev and Alexander Tychinsky had already collected a total of $800 by winning Rounds 6 and 8 after handicap.

This time, they went even further and reached up into the scores of the Top 10 teams for the first time. The Russian 17-pointer in Round 10 tied the Genesis score for the same round and outscored Spaceland Blue. No other team came close enough to challenge Friday 13's 31.01 points after handicap.

The NSL News now also provides an overview of the penalties at the Shamrock Showdown. Two of the three A Class teams are on the top of the penalty leaderboard, while DeLand Dunamis mixes with the AAA Class teams. Black Cat and Paraclete XP4 were the cleanest AAA Class teams, while NMP-PCH Hayabusa and Perris Fury found themselves at the bottom of this ranking. Aerodyne Cypres Maubeuge performed well in this category, as well, and lost three of the four points because of a bad video angle.