posted Oct 22nd, 2008 - It is a 21.2 average for the French 8-way machine after six rounds. Two faster rounds are coming up in the morning, and a 22.4 average or higher might already be on the scoreboard after Round 8. Everything is still possible.

Jerome David said that it was a nice coincidence for him when the team scored a great 20-pointer in Round 4 while he was in the NSL/PD News room. He commented in the interview that his team might be too tired to go after the record. He may change his mind now...

In the meantime, Larry Hill must have heard the desperate cry for beer help at the NSL News. Today's last message to the audience comes with good news, unfortunately only for the people in Eloy and at Skydive Arizona: The Beck's Okotoberfest is back flowing freely, and another new Belgian health drink comes from the other tab.

Larry Hill takes good care of his thirsty competitors, and for the media, as well. Thanks, Larry.

The NSL News coverage of the USPA Nationals 2008 is brought to you with the help of:

Interview with Jerome David

No sand storms or any other obstacles ever since the weather hold - the 8way competition has been back in full swing. The NSL News met with French national coach Jerome David in the meantime who observes the performance of his delegation at the USPA Nationals 2008.

Jerome set his deadline for the selection of the new national teams originally for early November. However, he mentioned in the interview that he may take more time to find the best combination for the next two years. In fact, he even went so far to say that he tries to keep the potentially leaving 8-way members still in the new lineup: "I am here to convince the 8-way members to stay on."

Four of his eight world champions will leave, no matter what. Mathieu Bernier, Guillaume Bernier, Julien Degen and Jeremie Rollett focus only on 4-way in the next two years. Jerome David tries to build the new 8-way lineup around the other four 8-way world champions, Clement Martin St. Leon, Bruno Perin, Erwan Pouliquen and Emmanuel Sarrazin.

The difficulty is to convince them to continue for another two years. The B-Team members are eager to fill the open slots and all competed in Eloy in 4-way. However, Jerome David would prefer a combination of veterans and young blood.

Airtec and Cypres representative Rob Kendall joined the conversation in the NSL/PD News studio in Eloy. His company supports the French project for the next two years. He wants to help produce three French world champion teams in 2010.

The French 8-way team is far ahead of the 8-way Open Class field after four rounds and stands at a 21.3 average at the moment. Jerome David is not convinced that his team can break the 22.4 record average. The competition draw may not allow a higher average score, and his team seems to be a little bit tired, as well, he says. The link to the video of the complete interview can be found at the bottom of this page. The scores of Round 5 and the new videos will be uploaded soon. Stay tuned.

Click here for the PD Blog Gallery - click here for the PD Blog video clips and news shows

Airspeed up by four

It is difficult to find the way back to the 4-way event when the 8-way competition requires all the intention. And it deserves all the attention since the gold and silver medalists of this year's World Meet 2008 compete with each other again at the USPA Nationals 2008.

The US 8-way team that competed in France, with Shannon Pilcher and Ian Bobo replacing Doug Park and John Hoover, has even tougher competition in Eloy to win the second place though than it had at the world meet.

Arizona Airspeed has recruited exactly the same linup as in 2007 when Airspeed's 8-way team won the USPA gold medals over KnightTrax, as well.

So far, it looks like a repeater of the situation at Skydive Chicago last year. Airspeed is already up by four points over the official US national 8-way team of 2008. These two teams are actually competing for the USPA 8-way gold medals since France is a guest team in Eloy.

Neither Airspeed nor USA 8 have enough training to keep up with the French 8-way world champions of 2006 and 2008. France is already up by five points over Airspeed after the same two rounds.

The team will probably compete once again with the standing 8-way record average of 22.4 that the Golden Knights scored at the World Meet 1997 in Turkey. The NSL News will keep this topic in mind while the 8-way scores are being posted.

Golden Knight Eric Heinsheimer is now the only defending record holder of 1997, with the highest score for a single round (31) and the highest meet average. Golden Knight John Hoover competed at the World Meet 2008, but he had to step back this time due to problems with his neck.

The NSL-TV camera made a little 8-way sightseeing tour around the dropzone this morning to catch some of the early morning activities. The link to the video clip can be found at the bottom of this page.

The PD Blog page also offers several new interviews and shows of yesterday's award ceremony. The 8-way videos of Round 2 have been uploaded, as well, and the links can be found on the 8-way leaderboard. Stay tuned or come back soon...

Sand storm causes weather hold

The 8-way competition in Eloy is now on a weather hold. It was a very beautiful morning in the desert, once again, and the first round was completed without a problem.

All of a sudden, Jan Meyer called for a camera and said that there might be a good photo opportunity - and it surely was. A strong dust storm was blowing across Skydive Arizona, while some teams were in the air and others were getting ready for the next loads. Luckily, there were no parachutes flying at that time, and the pilots were instructed to keep everybody inside.

The storm came so quickly that it was difficult to get the jump operation on a hold quick enough. Jan Meyer explained that this is probably a bigger weather system, which brings the Santa Anna winds from the north to Arizona.

The NSL-TV camera captured a minute of the storm, the link to the video can be found at the bottom of this page. The video of Airspeed's Round 2 in 8-way is already available, as well.

France wins Round 1 in 8-way

The 8-way competition has begun at the USPA Nationals 2008. However, the NSL News will go back to the 4-way event later today. There is still a lot of information to add to the previous coverage.

The NSL News will focus mainly on the three top teams in the 8-way competition.

The scores of the Intermediate Class and all other details can be found at Omniskore. Tim Wagner is judging the 8-way event and Jan Meyer takes care of the Omniskore webiste today.

The videos of the three top teams in Round 1 have already been uploaded. Arizona Airspeed opened the 8-way race with an impressive 23-pointer after exactly three training jumps. The new lineup of Team USA could not keep up and ended up with a 20-pointer. The French 8-way world champions were last in the jump order and then first on the leaderboard with the highscore of 27 points. Stay tuned, the next videos will follow soon.

Click here for the PD Blog Gallery - click here for the PD Blog video clips and news shows

Dust storm puts the meet on a hold: click here

Wednesday morning around the DZ: click here

4-way awards ceremony: click here

Interview with Jerome David: click here

More news clips from Eloy can be found at the PD Blog website.