posted Jun 28th, 2004 - Teams and competitors in Stupino were surprised by completely different weather conditions Monday morning. Overcast skies and rain did not allow any skydiving. These conditions gave the teams the chance to get administrative chores out of the way and relax for the remainder of the morning. All teams, competitors and judges are accommodated at a hotel resort 20 minutes away from the drop zone. Meals are served for the whole Malevsky Cup crowd in a large dining room. Buses shuttle between the hotel and the drop zone in the mornings and evenings. The hotel resort and the modern and first-class facilities at the drop zone offer the participants great opportunities to socialize or use the weather break efficiently.

France Maubeuge and DeLand Majik both arrived in Russia several days ago to get used to the environment and train from the MI-8. The French team has already moved into the hotel resort, while Majik used this morning's weather hold to move from a local hotel to the same place where the other teams are staying. Sinapsi PD is the only missing team and will arrive this evening.

The two sequences for the official training jumps have been posted by the judges: 11-13-P or H-7-5. Teams have the choice to pick one or the other, or both, and have the judges evaluate their performance as a test for the real competition. The judges pick the sequences for the training jumps for certain reasons. Chief Judge Klaus Wellens explained that Block 11 (Photon - Photon) as the exit maneuver is critical for the videographer. Block 13 (Hammer - Hammer) is challenging for the judges with action on both ends of the screen, and the Opals of Block 5 rarely look like Opals.

On the other side, the teams have an opportunity to get feedback of their performance directly from the judges. It is the last chance to make final adjustments of the team strategy for the meet if necessary. This became crucial at the last World Championship in Gap when the top teams were surprised by unexpected penalty calls for certain vertical block techniques during the official training jumps. The Golden Knights changed their technique on a very short call and avoided penalty deductions in round one, while most of the other top teams decided to continue without adjustments and got busted. Hopefully, the weather situation will improve and allow training jumps today at all.

The NSL News used the weather hold to ask France Maubeuge's Davide Moy some questions about the history of the French continuity plan. Moy took the time to offer the background information. The French 4-way teams ever since the TAG team have avoided mirror image sequences and preferred memory for both pieces when Blocks 17 and 5 were draw. There have been very few teams in the world using the same plan. However, more and more teams have recently begun to test the same strategy. The NSL News was interested in the original reasons of the French team to avoid mirror images.

Moy explained that they tested both ways in the beginning and thought about the logic. Finally and after weighing the pros and cons, they followed their instincts what would fit the team the best: "There is no better or worse. It is a very team specific decision. It is kind of funny that more teams seem to turn our way recently. However, it seems to be more efficient and gives you more flexibility if you cross train both pieces. And it becomes extremely complicated with mirror images when they come together with slot switchers. We felt much better moving always the same direction, even if it required more memory."