posted Mar 20th, 2011 - The Shamrock Showdown 2011 is over, and not much changed on the second day of the competition. Arizona Airspeed is the best team in the world at the beginning of the 2011 season. Aerodyne Aerokart Maubeuge and NMP-PCH Hayabusa have some work to do if they want to catch up with the US team.

Perfect weather and flawless cooperation between CamScore, judges and manifest allowed the meet management to follow through on the number one goal for the meet. Each team knew at any time throughout the entire competition what the scores were before the next round came up.

The teams and observers appreciated this service, and the on-line audience also supported this mission, as feedback from a very experienced competitor and judge confirmed: "I love you meet plan. Don't start until 9:00 a.m. and all scores before you jump. Perfect. It's about time a meet organizer became more civilized and moved skydiving more in line with other sports. I can't think of any sport off the top of my head where you don't know the scores before you go up. I really like this format, both as a judge and a competitor."

The videos of Round 8 feature once again all teams. The clip begins with the AA Class competition and has the AAA Class teams in the order of the final rankings. It also includes scenes of the dropzone in the middle of the competition and of the closing ceremony.

A short conversation with Arizona Airspeed's new videographer Bill Schmitz and SDC Rhythm XP member Thiago Muradas leads into the Airspeed video of Round 8. Bill Schmitz delivered a flawless performance at the first competition with his new team.

Thiago Muradas had a very successful competition with SDC Rhythm XP, as well. The scores show that Rhythm seems to have caught up with Paraclete XP4, which was one of the main team goals for the 2011 season. It would bring Rhythm into medal contention at the USPA Nationals.

Airspeed and France both lost one point in Round 8, the only round that Airspeed gave away. Hayabusa had two point deductions. XP4 lost a point, as well, while Rhythm, the Norgies and Aerodyne Cypres Deep Blue Defenders were clean. The NSL News will soon follow up with a complete overview of the point deductions.

The closing ceremony was a combination of different activities. Bob Hallett, Skydive DeLand's owner, bid the teams farewell, and the NSL management expressed appreciation to the NSL partners and the supporters of the Shamrock Showdown 2011.

The videos of Round 10 were not shown before the closing ceremony, and the teams were asked to present themselves to the audience while the videos of Round 10 were running on the screens. The winners of the Skins Game also received their cash at the same time. The total of $3,100 went to eight different teams. Airspeed was on top of the money list with $1,000 for the 1st place in the AAA Class. The NSL News will follow with more details of the Skins Game and the winners.