3rd Dubai International Parachuting Championship & Gulf Cup 2011 - Daily Diary - 7th December

Day 7 - The day Prince "Fazza" jumps in.

The morning started with Accuracy and the female jumper who had so many re-jumps, on a change of clothes, made successful 6th and subsequent 7th round jumps.  A really bizarre and unique problem for the judges and equipment.  Accuracy continued with round 7, only slowing in the late morning when a Twin Otter was utilised for His Highness Sheikh Hamden Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum's jump with a couple of friends, and they swooped the pond - it was nice that he could share the excitement of the event he has done so much to promote.  He has visited almost every day, normally just arriving and quietly watching what is happening on his DZ.

Early afternoon and Canopy Piloting 3rd round of Accuracy was called, but after the first two runs a black cloud moved in under the opening point, and although the helicopter circled for some time, it eventually landed.  The cloud moved away, but the wind that cleared it stayed above limits.  There was an impromptu swimming competition organised with teams relay racing the width of the "pond" attracting more spectators than anything else so far today.

 Eventually the helicopter took off again with Canopy Formations 2-way round 8, but only two teams jumped before the weather got the better of the competition. 

Another early start in the morning - 8.00 a.m for the Canopy Piloting jumpers - depending on the wind it will either be accuracy or distance.

Photographs courtesy of Nicolre Bradfield "On Snap Photography", here with the Canadian team.