posted Aug 26th, 2005 - The meet weekend of August 13 had an extraordinary turnout in Finland. A total of seven teams competed in the AAA Class and ten additional teams in the A Class. The NSL News was surprised and became interested in finding out the reasons for the great turnout.

Jukka Olkkonen is the league organizer in Finland, and he is also an international FAI judge who visited Russia for the Malevsky Cup 2005. Jukka Olkkonen provided the NSL News with background information and the history of the event at the most popular drop zone in Finland.

The competition in Hanko was not the national championship, it is called the "Hanko Open" and was created by Jukka Olkkonen and Mika Kujanpää in 1996. The 2005 national championship of Finland was held earlier this year and did not even have any teams signing up for the AAA Class competition.

The Hanko Open was originally a Freestyle competition, and the meet at the Hanko Open in 1996 was only the second Freestyle competition ever organized in Finland. After the second Hanko Open competition in 1997 the event management was given in the hands of the Parachuting Club of Helsinki, which is located in Finland's capital city.

The club used to run a busy and successful dropzone at the Malmi Airport in Helsinki. However, over time the skydiving operation ran into traffic problems with Helsinki's international airport Vantaa, which is located only a few miles away from Malmi.

Finally, the club moved the main operation to a new and beautiful location at the southern coast of Finland in Hanko, a small and very popular summer holiday town.

When the club took responsibility for the event management of the Hanko Open, Formation Skydiving competition was added to the disciplines. It did not take too long until the Formation Skydiving events became the most popular competitions of the Hanko Open, and the event soon became the main event for Formation Skydiving jumpers from all over Finland, as well.

Jukka Olkkonen explains that the Hanko Open is now more popular than the national championship: "Everyone who is interested in 4-way wants to be at the Hanko Open." He added that the event is held in August and after all the other major events. "It is somewhat considered as the season closing competition. It is also a place to get revenge after the official nationals. Since all the teams in Finland show up, you really know what your position is after the Hanko Open."

As most of the NSL meets, the competition is basically only a 1-day competition on Saturday. Jukka Olkkonen and his league following in Finland have always liked the idea of these short meets: "This means that you don’t need to get a day off from work." The low budget helps, as well: "There are almost no extra costs involved, only a small nominal competition fee."

Last but maybe not least, the teams of the Hanko Open have priority during the meet day, as Jukka Olkkonen explains: "If you want to jump on Saturday you have to participate, because there is no room in the loads for fun jumpers."

The social aspect of the league meets, especially the Hanko Open, is another contributing factor to the success of the event: "The party after the competition has always been great. You know that you don't need to jump on Sunday, so you can party until you drop." And the Fins like parties, especially in the summer...

Since the national championship did not have any teams signed up for the AAA Class competition, the Hanko Open was the place to find out which is the best team in Finland this year. As the scoreboard of the August meet shows, the all-female team Zooey won once again by one single point over FC Moukku, the team that has been dominating 4-way Formation Skydiving competition in Finland for five years before Zooey won the 2004 championship and became the national team.

The competition was just as tight in the A Class competition of the Hanko Open. Overload Light had won the official 4-way championship this year, and East Magic got the successful revenge opportunity. Jukka Olkkonen explained earlier that the Hanko Open brings the final word: "East Magic got their revenge against Overload Light, and they were very happy about that."

The Estonian guest team Tumbleweed finished in second place of the A Class competition: "The silver medalists, Estonian team Tumbleweeds, had not been able to compete too much this year, so this was also an important competition for them to see where they stand." Estonia is a former republic of the Sovietunion and lies right across of Hanko on the other side of the the Gulf of Finland.

Jukka Olkkonen finished his update with an optimistic look into the future of the Hanko Open: "Many participants got their first real introduction on how much fun 4-way can be. So I am pretty sure that the success of Hanko Open will continue."