posted Jul 14th, 2004 - The NSL News gave round five already a lot of attention during the event in Stupino, Russia. The June 30 story covered the technical part and the judging calls on Block 12 (Zipper - Star). Pete Allum commented the events at the Malevsky Cup and the Block 12 trouble in the July 3 story. Further back and not too far away, the June 28 NSL News story of the last Texas Skydiving League competition had already brought up the same topic and the same complications.

This was not the beginning of the complications around Block 12. The discussion of the centerpoint violations during the vertical technique of Zipper - Star caused hot discussions already at the Mondial 2003 in Gap, France. The NSL News covered the topic after the training jumps in Gap with the September 7 story. When the penalties for Block 12 hit the teams in round one, the NSL News added another story on the same day. Finally, the NSL News had the chance for an interview with Chief Judge Klaus Wellens in Gap and posted it also on the same day.

Mondial 2003 was concluded, the penalties did not change the outcome of the competition. Winter came, snow covered up the issue for a while, and a new season would bring a fresh start. However, the problem was not solved yet. It was only a matter of time when the issue would come up again. Teams had worked on their end in the meantime. The top videographers were trained to film from the best angle at the critical situation of the sequence. Teams had incrased awareness of the danger in Block 12 and tried to avoid the ominous centerpoint between the Zipper and the Star.

It did not help, the fire lighted up again, first in Texas, then in Russia. Worst of all, the judging calls in round five of the Malevsky Cup were even more inconsistent compared to the Mondial 2003. Only DeLand Majik and V-Max received penalty deductions, and the call against Majik was supported by only three of the five judges, while only two judges pushed the red button for Maubeuge and three accepted the French maneuver. Curiously, only one of the five judges made the same penalty call in both cases.

The teams are finally tired of dealing with this inconsistency any longer. The France Maubeuge team members confirmed that their maneuver at exactly the same situation in round five was identical with Majik's. Davide Moy openly admitted that either both teams should have been penalized or none. When the NSL News followed up later asking for solutions, Moy had a very easy suggestion: "Get rid of it, it has caused too much trouble."

The International Parachuting Commission and its Formation Skydiving Committee will not be able to change the dive pool before this year's World Championship of Formation Skydiving in September. Block 12 will most likely still be a part of the competition. The judging calls on Block 12 can be very critical and might decide the outcome of the race for the gold medal this time. France was too far ahead of all the other teams at the Mondial 2003. The situation at the Malevsky Cup was completely different. Maubeuge and Majik were separated by only one single point after ten rounds.

The inconsistent calls on Block 12 in Russia did not change the final results, as well, since Majik won by that one point. The Majik lead would have been three points without the Block 12 penalty. However, such a call can obviously make a difference as close as the top teams are. The outcome of the world meet will hopefully not be decided by the judges in Croatia. Judges and teams have to come to common ground and understanding before the meet begins, unless the Chief Judge decides to leave Block 12 out of the dive pool for this one meet. It has been done before.

Unfortunately, Majik's round five and several other jumps fell victim to the transmission problems in the middle of the competition. The quality of the video files is also on the lower end. NSL apologies for the flaw.