posted Jul 14th, 2004 - It is not unusual and new that the hot Florida summer has never been the peak of the 4-way season. However, the fifth competition of the Florida Skydiving League last weekend was the one with the lowest attendance in the history of one of the oldest leagues in the country. FSL Director Kurt Gaebel was not really surprised with the low attendance. He has experienced the difference between winter and summer season in Florida for many years. He also knew that several of the FSL 2004 teams would not be able to compete at Skydive Sebastian.

DeLand Majik is still in Russia for a training camp from the MI-8 helicopter after winning the Malevsky World Cup. The new top team DeLand Scape was not complete since team member Pete Allum was in Denmark for the Danish national championships. Allum ist the head coach of Denmark's 4-way project. Sebastian Teiwaz' AAA Class line-up had to cancel on a very short notice when a fourth team member for this meet could not be recruited after a cancelation. Windline Lightning knew already earlier that the team members would not be able to visit at Sebastian.

However, it got even worse when Zero Tolerance Miami and FSC JAMMM had to cancel the night before the meet, as well. It was just one of these bewitched weekends where Murphy's Law rules. The new A Class home team at Skydive Sebastian, Sebastian XS with Lisa Briggs of the local Drop Shop store, Tito Ortiz, Phil Powers, Stacy Weeks and Carlos Acosta on video, was sad that the other A Class contenders from Miami and Lake Wales did not show up Saturday morning. The team was recently formed and plans to attend the remaining FSL meets of the 2004 season.

FSL Director Kurt Gaebel and Chief Judge Richard Schachner did not want to leave Sebastian XS all alone in the Cessna Caravan and without any competition on site. ZeroT member Gary Hansen had made the trip from Miami anyway and was ready to join the quickly formed Teiwaz A Class line-up. Jerry Rumberger, a former Slow Motion member of FSL competitions years ago, was also at Skydive Sebastian and looking for an opportunity to join a pick-up team Saturday morning. The perfect opportunity was now waiting for both Hansen and Rumberger.

Schachner and Gaebel had to make some arrangements to find and share additional equipment needed for the FSL judge and USPA regional director who had not expected to get in the air and provide live judging. It still did not take too long until both teams were ready to board the jump plane. Gaebel and Schachner provided the center work for Sebastian Teiwaz A and enjoyed their first freefall competition together. Both have already spent a lot of ground time together when running the FSL meets. It surely was a new and refreshing way to be involved with a meet. Hansen took his usual tail slot, while Rumberger flew the point position.

Teiwaz A finished the six-round meet with a 5.2 average. Sebastian XS matched the Teiwaz opening score of two points in round one after the competing judge deducted two points from the Teiwaz account for a broken Inter in Block 21 (Zig Zag - Marquis). The Murphy's Law story continued when XS did not only have no video of their second round. The Sebastian home team also faced an injury situation after the jump and was out of options for a replacement. Teiwaz A was finally in a league on its own for the remaining four rounds.

It was not very difficult to complete the six rounds, especially with perfect weather all day long on the shores of Sebastian. Gaebel used the very relaxed agenda to work with both teams as much as possible and provided technical 4-way information, while Schachner socialised with his constituency. Both knew that the next meet will be busier again and enjoyed the non-pressuring atmosphere as much as possible. The FSL travels to the Florida Skydiving Center in Lake Wales next month and will be back in Sebastian next year.