posted Sep 3rd, 2005 - The preview of the AAA/Open Class competition at the USPA Nationals 2005 has covered four of the BIG-6 so far, the Golden Knights, DeLand Fire, Airspeed Odyssey and Velocity. The summary and evaluation of the 2005 events and scores have not lead the NSL News or the audience to any clear conclusion who might win the competition in Perris beginning on Monday.

The preview completes with the two missing teams, Fastrax and DeLand Majik. It happens by coincidence that these two teams have been literally far away from each other throughout the regular 2005 season, except at the very beginning. Fastrax and DeLand Majik both competed at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2005 in March before parting on their paths toward the USPA Nationals 2005.

Top teams in 2005	SSL February	FSL March	SSL April	MESL May	MESL June	Malevsky July	MESL July	Germany August	NSL August
DeLand Fire	-	20.7 (10)	-	-	-	21.6 (10)	-	21.2 (10)	-
Golden Knights	20.2 (6)	20.4 (10)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Airspeed Odyssey	19.5 (6)	-	20.8 (6)	-	-	20.4 (10)	-	-	20.3 (6)
Fastrax	-	18.3 (10)	-	16.3 (6)	22.8 (6)	19.9 (10)	19.0 (6)	-	-
Airspeed Velocity	18.7 (6)	-	22.8 (6)	-	-	20.2 (10)	-	-	18.2 (6)
DeLand Majik	-	19.3 (10)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

DeLand Majik was one point average (19.3 - 18.3) ahead of Fastrax in March in DeLand. However, that was a long time ago, and things have changed ever since. DeLand Majik, officially the reigning 4-way world champion, retreated even further back than the Golden Knights and never competed again this year.

This could not be more different compared to Fastrax, the BIG-6 challenger that attended more meets in 2005 than any other top contender. The Fastrax 2005 agenda included several competitions of the Mideast Skydiving League and the Malevsky Cup 2005.

Fastrax used the MESL meets and the international competition at the Malevsky Cup to collect competition experiences and gain momentum and motivation. The Fastrax plan worked out well. The regional meet agenda included a fast competition draw on the June 18 meet, and Fastrax posted a 22.8 average in the 6-round competition.

It was the last evidence needed to convince the rest of the 4-way world that Fastrax had become a serious contender in the US 4-way competition this year, whether it was a fast competition draw or not. In fact, the 22.8 average was the highest meet average in 2005, exactly tied with Airspeed Velocity at the April meet of the Southwest Skydiving League.

There was more to come from the Fastrax headquarters in Greensburg, Indiana. While DeLand Majik, the Malevsky Cup winner of 2002, 2003 and 2004, did not even try to defend the 2005 title due to financial and logistical constraints, Fastrax used the event in Russia to gain even more confidence and respect.

The NSL News reported live from Russia, and the stories included several impressive news related to the Fastrax performance. The Indiana team did not win the competition and did not even make it to the medal rankings, however, Fastrax kept up with the best teams in the world for the largest portion of the 10-round meet and event posted some highscores. If there were still any doubts before the July meet in Russia, then the field of serious US contenders for gold medals in Perris had definiteley gone up to six teams after the Malevsky Cup 2005.

Meanwhile, the reigning world champion, DeLand Majik, struggled to get a significant number of training jumps in the team's logbook. Majik had to replace two members when Gary Smith joined DeLand Fire and Joey Jones took a vacation with his new team Black Magick.

Solly Williams and Doug Park teamed up with David Van Greuningen and Robert Healy for the 2005 season. The new DeLand Majik line-up did not only stay away from any additional meets, it was also very difficult to schedule training camps for the complete line-up. Even though the new line-up might have the talent to continue where DeLand Majik ended up in September 2004 in Croatia, logistical difficulties did not allow the DeLand team to pull ahead of the BIG-6 pack. It is more the opposite, the reigning world champions Solly Williams and Doug Park see themselves as the underdogs in Perris.

Fastrax and DeLand Majik both have similar things in mind though, which will benefit the sport. The DeLand team wants to continue the Majik project and try to set in place what Arizona Airspeed has already shown for many years on the west coast - ongoing top competition.

Fastrax has already launched its own project with full strength, and it continues to grow. Team founder and sponsor John Hart had already a tandem and demo team, then added Fastrax Select to the 2005 line-up and recently completed the project with a swooping team.

The Fastrax line-up with Niklas Hemlin, Eric Gin, Billy Andrews, John Hart and John Judy (camera) can push the success of the project with another impressive 4-way performance beginning on Monday, while DeLand Majik will try to repeat what the original line-up did in 2003 and 2004 - win the US 4-way competition.

Tomorrow, Sunday, is the last training or resting day for the teams, while the NSL News sets up the work station in Perris. Stay tuned.