posted Jan 4th, 2008 - The winter break from skydiving in Europe has always brought many teams to the professional skydiving centers in the southern parts of the USA. The off-season is an opportunity for new teams to form and prepare for the next year of 4-way competition and for continuing teams to take a break before moving on to winter and spring training.

The strong Euro and the weak dollar combine for a situation that makes it once again financially very attractive for European teams to spend their money for training camps in the USA.

The NSL News will use the opportunity of visiting guest teams as much as possible to get upates from different parts of the skydiving world. The series of international updates begins with new information from the Netherlands.

Paul Hofstee is a member of the current Dutch national 4-way team, Dynamic Force, and has been a frequent visitor at Skydive DeLand in the winter season over many years. He came back to DeLand this time as a player coach for his Punky Guppy project.

The passionate 4-way competitor is one of the most experienced skydivers in the Netherlands by now. He initiated the Dutch approach to a new performance level when he and Bert Hajee started their own 2-on-2 player coach line-up in 2002. Norwegian Arcteryx member Ole-Petter Hjelle joined the project later on.

Paul Hofstee's current Dutch team (Paul Hofstee - Center Outside, Erwin van den Braak - Center Inside, Meüs van der Poel - Tail, Koen van der Venne - Point, Hans van Marrewijk - Camera) broke all official national records in 2007, with a 17.4 average and 27 points for a single round.

Hofstee and Hajee created their own international 2-on-2 line-up years ago with the goal of moving their individual skills up to a significantly higher level of 4-way competition. They hired mostly American and Norwegian world-class competitors for their team. Punky Fish attended several meets of the Florida Skydiving League over the years and also competed at the NSL Championship at SkyQuest 2002 and 2004.

Paul Hofstee's personal experiences with the very efficient and successful 2-on-2 player coach format motivated him to accept a coaching slot when two other 4-way competitors from the Netherlands decided to copy the Punky Fish project, Leander van Schriek and Rogier Carper. Bert Hajee was the second player coach for the new Punky Guppy project in 2004, while Punky Fish represented the Netherlands as the national 4-way team at the same time.

Leander van Schriek initiated the new 2-on-2 project with the same motivation as Paul Hofstee and Bert Hajee in their early days with Punky Fish. He and Rogier Carper were members of the Dutch team Tiramisu and wanted to improve their own individual skills and experience level when they had approx. 350 jumps each.

The first Punky Guppy line-up of 2004 trained the A Class dive pool where Tiramisu competed in. Leander van Schriek and Rogier Carper were satisfied with the results of their efforts in 2004 and returned for the next Punky Guppy winter camp in DeLand one year later. This time, Teiwaz member Robert Chromy replaced Bert Hajee as the second player coach, and the 2005 line-up trained for the AAA Class dive pool, even though Tiramisu still competed in the A Class.

Leander van Schriek joined a new team for the 2006 season, and NRG competed in the AAA Class competition. The other original Punky Guppy member, Rogier Carper, did not continue and was replaced by Leon van Leeuwen at the 2006 winter camp. Leon van Leeuwen trained and competed with the Dutch team Whooops in the Rookie Class. The two Dutch Punky Guppy players had their own different teams in the Netherlands and used the 2-on-2 camp in the winter to prepare for their competition season at home.

Both Dutch competitors completed their 2006 season with NRG and Whooops and returned for the next Punky Guppy winter camp a year later. Paul Hofstee and Robert Chromy returned as the player coaches for the AAA Class training.

Whooops with Leon van Leeuwen lifted the A Class scores in the Netherlands to a previously unknown level in 2007. Only the British team SonicV scored higher last year. Both teams were in a tight race at the ESL Championship 2007, which was cut short by bad weather.

NRG member Leander van Schriek and Whooops member Leon van Leeuwen were both very happy with their progression during the Punky Guppy camps and committed once again to the next winter camp in DeLand, which is currently running. Paul Hofstee and Robert Chromy complete exactly the same line-up as in 2007. The video of the training jumps provides an overview of the current performance level. Both player coaches have the center slots.

The 2008 season will bring a new experience to the Dutch Punky Guppy members who will all compete against each other in three different teams in the AAA Class. Coach Paul Hofstee continues with Dynamic Force and the same line-up, Leander van Schriek is still with NRG, and Whooops moves up into the AAA Class competition this year.

Dynamic Force will try to improve the 17.4 average and has approx. 150 training jumps planned, plus several hours of windtunnel training in Rosendaal. The limited training schedule is even more challenging since the Dutch national team has to master the right-hand door exits from the Pilatus Porter. Paul Hofstee said that his team has literally no experience with right-hand doors so far.

He is not very happy that the International Parachuting Commission (IPC) accepted the Pilatus Porter as a jump plane for an international competition: "It really makes it so unfair for the teams with limited resources. The full-time teams can make almost everything happen, and we have to deal with it, too, somehow." The team's coach, reigning 4-way world champion Gary Smith, says that it will take approx. 100 jumps alone to get familiar with the new exits.

Dynamic Force will also have its own 2-on-2 sessions in the Rosendaal windtunnel with Hayabusa Defence members. Paul Hofstee says that it only makes sense to apply the same format: "I have experienced the success of this format from the very beginning of my own competition career, over and over again. We can apply it at any level successfully." Dynamic Force and Hayabusa Defence will share 20 hours of windtunnel time stretched out over the 2008 season.

NRG and Leander van Schriek have the 15-point average in mind this year and prepare for a long-term goal. The team plans to attend the FAI World Cup in 2009. The 2007 line-up continues this year without any personnel changes. NRG has a training camp with the complete line-up scheduled for March in DeLand.

Whooops will also return to DeLand in February, this time for a training camp with the complete 2008 line-up. Whooops has a new Center Outside. Judith Meith stepped back at the end of the 2007 season and is the alternate for the team. She will be replaced by Maurits Idema.

Both teams will train on the Dutch island of Texel throughout the European summer. Gary Smith will be available as the coach on Texel, and Paul Hofstee or other Dynamic force members will fill in whenever necessary.

Paul Hofstee, Leander van Schriek and Leon van Leeuwen also provided information of other team developments in the Netherlands. The AAA Class teams Pulse and Turbulence continue in 2008 with the same line-ups. Orange Blue has one new team member.

Former A Class team Yottsu! has scheduled a 3-on-1 camp in DeLand with Paul Hofstee as the player coach. Yottsu! prepares for the 2008 season in the AA Class competition. Flow is a new Rookie Class team of young members with low jump numbers (50 - 200 total). The Flow members have been coached and brought up by Dynamic Fource.

Paul Hofstee completed his update from the Netherlands by adding that the Punky Guppy members will continue to organize windtunnel camps in Rosendaal throughout the winter. Goal is to help prepare new and interested skydivers from different Dutch dropzones for the 2008 season.