posted Jul 24th, 2007 - The July meet of the Florida Skydiving League was the 5th competition for the FSL teams so far this year, and it attracted once again six teams to Skydive DeLand on a hot summer day. Even the same two line-ups from Skydive Miami in Homestead, which both competed in June in DeLand, made the same trip last weekend.

ZT Mal4mations has attended each FSL meet this year and copied the 5.7 average of the June meet, while their Miami Vice friends improved the meet average from 3.2 to 3.6 in the Rookie Class. Javier Aguerrevere (Tail), Shiva Krovi (Point) and Pedro Diaz Pow Sang (Center Outside) seem to become addicted to 4-way competition already. Former Zero Tolerance Miami member Guido Marti guided the Rookie Class team through the meet in DeLand this time. Luis Alvarez filmed both line-ups from Skydive Miami in DeLand.

Both FSL teams in the AA Class competition, Tunnel Chaos and FSC Wind Damaged, posted their highest meet averages of the 2007 season last weekend. Both teams still lost their energy at the end of the meet at the same time and missed the 10.0 average benchmark once again. The hot summer in Florida makes it very challenging for teams in the afternoon.

Tunnel Chaos was hit very hard with the 1-pointer in Round 5 after a bad exit funnel. The 20-pointer in Round 3 shows better what the team is capable of. The 10.0 average on the scoreboard is obviously only a matter of time. The sequence of random formations in Round 3 will soon be shown on NSL-TV. Round 1 of the FSL meet is currently featured.

Teiwaz had recruited two line-ups for the July meet in DeLand, and the group was a colorful mixture of seasoned competitors and new talent in Florida. The eight Teiwaz members on site Saturday morning did not know line-ups and positions until Kris Byrne put the eight names in a hat for the team draw an hour before the start of the competition. Only videographer Chris Williams knew exactly what he would do - film both line-ups.

Rodney Cruce (Center Inside), Jim Klinge (Tail), Thiago Murradas (Point) and Ari Perelman (Center Outside) ended up in one line-up and called themselves Teiwaz BU. Then they decided that last year's rear piece partners of team FiaZco (Rodney Cruce and Jim Klinge) would also fly the rear piece for Teiwaz BU, while the two younger members (Thiago Murradas and Ari Perelman) teamed up for the front piece. Preparations for the first round could begin.

Bob Byrne (Center Outside), Kris Byrne (Point), Richard "Rambo" Calledare (Center Inside) and Kurt Gaebel (Tail) were scrambled together for the second line-up, Teiwaz BD. The 3-way with Kris and Bob Byrne and Kurt Gaebel had already competed together several times with Teiwaz in 2006 and 2007. The married couple formed the front piece since Richard "Rambo" Calledare was more familiar with the Center Inside position that he had many years ago with DeLand VNE.

His piece partner Kurt Gaebel on Tail used to be Rambo's teammate throughout three DeLand VNE years in 1995, 1996 and 1997 where he flew the Point position. Rob Larsen (Center Outside) and Ricardo Pettena (Tail) completed the VNE line-up by then. The partial VNE reunion now took place within the rear piece.

Easy to imagine that beer rules were a part of the game plan for the two Teiwaz line-ups, and the internal competition was fierce and actually very exciting. The scramble in the morning of the meet day turned out to bring both line-ups on a very similar performance level, and the battle for the free adult beverage at the end of the day went back and forth round by round.

NSL-TV currently features Round 1 of the FSL meet in DeLand. Teiwaz BU and BD opened the competition with tied scores in Round 1, and the NSL-TV videos show that both teams had their own strategies. In this case, the exit Diamonds were launched differently.

The scores of Round 2 broke the tie, and Teiwaz BU now had a 1-point lead. Teiwaz BD struck back in the faster sequence of Round 3 and won by four points for a 3-point lead, which was already reduced by one point in Round 4. The scores of Round 5 turned around the whole situation and BD's 2-point lead into a 2-point deficit.

Teiwaz BD was able to jump Round 6 before the typical afternoon storm stopped three teams from completing the meet, including Teiwaz BU. The leaderboard after Round 5 settled the battle between the two Teiwaz line-ups, and BD had to buy for BU. The first round of debriefing included taking care of the beer rules in the DZ restaurant, the Perfect Spot. The debriefing continued later on over dinner at a DeLand downtown restaurant.

Both Teiwaz line-ups ended up within the top five rankings of last weekend's AAA Class leaderboard, and internal winner Teiwaz BU is still in 3rd place, behind the top teams from Sweden and Denmark. It was a fun event for the nine Teiwaz members, and similar plans are already in the works for the FSL August meet at Sydive City. The Teiwaz management mentioned that slots are open for a third line-up...