5th
FAI World Cup in Canopy Piloting : 2 – 6
December 2009
By Julie
Teague, C1603
Traditional dancers entertain the Ralph
Ridge flies the SA flag proudly
guests at the opening ceremony
Daily updates
3 December 2009
Time : 1:45
Already a day
and half into the competition, only
half a speed round has been completed
so far. The North Easterly wind which
has prevailed throughout the training
week has hindered competition progress
and performance. Seemingly unaffected
by the conditions are the Americans who
have competed so far, with Nick, Hans
and Dan in the top three spots. The time
to beat is 2.398 seconds. If the wind
persists, this could spell record-breaking
stuff as the speed course is set up 100%
down wind.
Marat Leiras was unfortunate yesterday
morning, posting a 0 score as the only
competitor to jump and stay in the competition
in the Accuracy load which went up. The
meet has unfortunately been marred by
some serious incidents, which stopped
jumping today before the wind started
up again. Jumpers are on a 15 minute
standby and are waiting on the drop zone.
Competitors represented 15 countries Grim
Swinnen (Belgium) goes the distance
4 December 2009
Time : 9:45
Yesterday evening, we completed two
rounds of speed. With a funky, bumpy
tail wind in assistance, the day finished
with 4 re-jumps due to a malfunction
and various technical equipment failures.
Jay Moledzki is currently sitting in
1st place, having beaten everyone by
a large margin on the first round, and
narrowly loosing to Nick Batsch on the
second.
With the first
load today taking off at just before
6am, we’ve kicked
off with 2 rounds of distance. The mirror-like
pond and windless conditions kept the
first round relatively uneventful. That
said, the entry gate buzzer wasn’t
working properly, so there are tons of
jumps currently under review on video
footage for vertical extensions. So whilst
I can’t yet comment on the outcome
of the first round, we have the awesome
news to report that Jay has once again
pulled a new record out the hat, wiping
out Nick’s 169m record held since
last year’s World Champs – Jay’s
impressive 175.92m was run with a 4.2
meter per second wind behind him. His
PD Factory team mate Shannon Pilcher
has not been as fortunate, surprising
everyone with verts on both distance
rounds so far. We’re on a wind
hold for now, but this competition is
definitely hotting up. Reading this back
to myself my report sounds a little like
an ‘Ode to Jay’ – but
the meet is still up for grabs and could
go any way, with less than 50% of the
jumps completed.
5 December
Time : 12:26
Could today
get any more exciting? We have 3 major
happenings to report which have kept
us on the edge of our seats. Nick Batsch
has beaten the recently established
world record in distance, by swooping
a massive 181m early in the day. Another
new record from the Americans came moments
later when Greg Windmiller managed a
2.093 seconds, beating Jay’s record
set in September this year by 0.74 seconds.
And lastly – if you can believe
it – Jay Moledzki has verted on
a speed round! So, clearly, a day he’s
not going to remember fondly. But, as
I said yesterday, ANYTHING could happen
still. Local supporters were disappointed
today, when Rob Kruger, who had been
sitting in 5th place overall slipped
drastically in rankings after scoring
a zero through an entry gate vert in
the second speed round. All of the Speed
and Distance rounds have been completed,
but the last two rounds of accuracy are
still to be jumped. We are at high altitude
and we have funky winds, so we are probably
going to wait for the last competition
rounds until this afternoon. Right
now I’m about to go and get myself
some lunch, but I can’t wait to
see what this afternoon will bring.
Left to right: Christopher Teague,
Dian Kemp, Nicholas Helfrich, Jacqui
Bruwer (Manager), Pierre Badenhorst,
Selwyn Johnson, Rob Kruger, Bertus
de Beer
6 December
Time :10:34
There was a valiant attempt by the event
organizers to finish the competition
late yesterday afternoon. But in the
face of a massive thunderstorm, the last
of the second round of accuracy and the
third round was jumped this morning.
The windy conditions were consistent
with yesterday afternoon, and so the
playing field was level.
Just when we
thought we’d seen
the meets biggest upset, along came the
last round of accuracy. Nick Batsch had
a challenging set up and ended up in
the water, which kicked him off the overall
podium. It also sees Christian Wagner
(Austria) with his first World Cup gold
medal in the Accuracy event, with Jay
and Toby Scherrinsky of Germany in joint
second place. Nick will be more than
happy with his gold in speed and Bronze
(and World Record) in distance. In Speed,
Greg Windmiller is in second, with Shannon
Pilcher in third. Jay also picked up
his only round Gold in Distance, followed
by Marat Leiras representing Brazil.
It says a lot about the Canadian 2008
Champion, Jay Moledzki to know that,
even with a zero round in speed, he still
walks away with the coveted overall event
gold. Silver and Bronze go to Austrian
Christian Wagner and Pablo Hernandez
of Spain respectively.
Overall winners Left to right:
Pablo Hernandez Champion
Jason Moledzki
Jason Moledzki, Christian Wagner
The tragedies
which the American, Lithuanian and
Russian teams have endured have been
a stark reminder of the potential dangers
in this cutting edge sport. It’s
been a long week for all. An event which
could take a day and a half in good conditions,
was spread over 5 days. The local spectators
were the real winners, as the weekend
jumps attracted their attention. Everyone
is looking forward to the closing ceremony
this evening, and as I write jumpers
are meeting with the FAI officials and
judges, to discuss improved safety and
scoring measures.
South Africa has once again hosted a
World Class event, and thanks must be
paid to the tireless efforts of the Johannesburg
Skydiving Club and all concerned.
For a complete list of scores go to: http://www.swoop4gold.co.za/cpwc/scores/scores.html
