EC's & WC's in FS, AE, CF, SP, Saarlouis, Germany. Day 4

21.00hrs:  It's been an action-packed evening as the clouds finally lifted a little after 17.00hrs when it was decided to put the two local German 4-Way teams on a lift to ascertain the conditions. Thankfully a successful exercise which allowed the competition to recommence after what had been a truly miserable day. The last lift - no 28 - took off at 20.45hrs and we now have completed Round 4 in 4-Way Open where Hayabusa have edged ahead of VR4 France by 1 point, 102 points to 101. 

By the end of the day the judges had to stop judging so that the jumpers would stop looking at the big screen and turn to watch the magic show + comedian + vertical dance etc. taking place on the main stage. 

We have now completed in Formation Skydiving,  4 rounds of 4-Way open, 4-Way Female, 3 rounds of VFS and 2 rounds of 8-way with stuff left in the can to judge.  The same for Canopy Formation they have posted 3 complete rounds, with the 4th being judged.  Artistic Events have completed 4 rounds in Freefly and 3 in Freestyle whilst Speed Skydiving has completed 4 rounds.  Congratulations have to go to the organisation for believing in their own local knowledge of the weather patterns here in Saarlouis and going for it.

The final announcement for the day was an 8.30 standby start in the morning, hoping for wheels off at 9.00 am.

17.25 hrs:  Conditions are fine for FS 4-Way and Speed Skydiving but Canopy Formation has been put on Stand-by for the time being.  

Amongst the 350+ competitors are 21 unassuming characters who bear little resemblance to the familiar upbeat extroverts we rub shoulders with at competitions such as these. So who are these self-effacing individuals?

They are some of the fastest men/women on earth – the Speed Skydivers – currently representing 11 nations. It’s true there’s very little to observe from a spectator point of view - apart from being able to hear them - but when you see the eye-watering speeds they achieve, they’d leave a video cameraman floundering!

World Record Holder Henrik Raimer (SWE)	Charles Hurd (UK) looking confident

Whoever thought that man could fly at speeds of 300/400+ kph – a not dissimilar notion from when people believed the world to be flat! Yet, fly at these speeds they do – and more! For an elite few, at present 11 individuals, these figures are historic achievements, for they are members of the 500 Club – where membership is restricted to those who realise speeds of 500kph and above!

Of course, such accomplishments rarely remain static for long, so now we find an even more elite club, namely the 600 Club. The World Record holder, Sweden’s Henrik Raimer, attained an astonishing speed of 601.26 kph enabling him to claim Membership No 1 in this unique club. Yet he is not alone, for this week he has been joined by Gmyzin Dmitry of Russia who attained a similarly blistering speed of 600.34 kph in his first run this week. Will we see a new World Record this week? We’ll just have to wait and see.

16.45 hrs:  the Meet Director announced that the better weather had arrived and they were going to call the two 'local' teams first to assess the conditions before calling the rest of Round 3 4-Way Open and Speed Skydiving to complete their round 3.

16.00 hrs:  We are all on standby - there is a promising band of blue to the east - fingers crossed it makes it to the DZ.

14.30hrs:  Now it is 16.00 hrs. - we have to live in hope.

13.00hrs:  On this occasion we are all stood down until 15.00hrs.

11.30hrs:    The Stand-by has now been extended from noon onwards.   Tonight the organisation has arranged through Paratec for a Magic Show here on the Drop Zone - from 20.30hrs onwards.  The Magician arrived early and has been asked to work some of his magic on the weather for us!  Obviously not working.

Some traditional wet-weather activities!

10.30hrs:    Everyone is on extended release until 12.00 (Noon).

Thursday 10th August 2017

09.00hrs:  One piece of brilliant news to lift one's spirit on this damp and dismal morning - all the trainee judges have passed their written exam in either Speed Skydiving or Formation Skydiving! Congratulations to each and everyone of you!!!

08.45hrs:  The jumpers arrived to be told that they were released until 11.00hrs but there was hope that the clouds would clear by then and we could continue with the competition.

Meanwhile there is always work to be done (by the administration) or stories to tell.  The next information call would be at 10.30, which would be posted on both this and the organisers' website.

Meanwhile, here are some memories from yesterday: