posted Mar 28th, 2014 - The trip to the United Kingdom for the World Challenge 2014 at Bodyflight Bedford is next for the Sun Path Products NSL News.

The leaderboard has been set up earlier than usual for a good reason - it is once again bigger than ever, and it takes some time to generate it. The field of teams has grown consistently year by year since the event was launched with 12 teams in 2006.

Owner Paul Mayer has arrived at his dream number of 100 for all participating teams and accommodates a few extra ones this year. 86 of the teams are competing in 4way which beats last year's record number by eight teams.

UK Nationals 2013		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Total	Avg
Rank	Rookie Class	J,C,Q	L,G,H	K,P,M	N,E,O	F,A,D	B,H,C	F,D,M	L,A,N	Total	Avg
1	Fly Wild (UK)	11	8	13	12	17	13	16	9	99	12.4
2	Royal Navy Sea Fury (UK)	6	9	11	14	14	9	11	12	86	10.8
3	Team Meteor (UK)	8	5	7	7	12	11	16	8	74	9.3
4	Sky Dogs (UK)	7	6	11	7	11	9	13	8	72	9.0
5	Why So Serious (UK)	6	6	11	10	8	9	13	5	68	8.5
6	Free4ll (UK)	4	4	12	7	7	11	16	6	67	8.4

The AAA Class field is the biggest one as usual with 38 teams and several new visitors in Bedford, such as the German national team Paratec-Saar. However, more A Class teams than ever have also helped to create a new record number for this year's event.

The A Class field is a promising combination of a few teams who competed in the Rookie Class of 2013 (UK team ChatterChicks, Wind Shear from Ireland) and others who are coming back in the same category, plus new teams who have not competed at the World Challenge yet.

Wind Shear has joined two other teams from Ireland in the A Class (Men Flew, Tail Spin) while Trajectory begins as a new Irish team in the Rookie Class. Ireland is also represented in the AAA Class by Celtic Air.

Canadian Indoor 2014		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Round 9	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class	K,G,9	15,Q,M	18,14	4,D,P	11,19	A,J,7	B,F,6	21,2	N,H,L,O	Total	Avg
1	4Astrophe (CA)	20	23	14	17	15	21	25	17	-	152	19.0
2	Impulsion (CA)	17	17	11	14	11	21	21	14	23	149	16.6
3	Soul Reaver (CA)	19	16	11	20	10	19	16	15	19	145	16.1
4	4Fun (CA)	19	17	10	14	12	17	17	10	-	116	14.5
5	4Nations (CA)	17	15	10	10	8	18	17	11	-	106	13.3
6	Flying Creepers (CA)	16	10	9	13	10	19	15	11	-	103	12.9
7	Sky Cows (CA)	17	11	6	12	7	16	14	11	-	94	11.8

There is also a team from Northern Ireland at the World Challenge 2014. The Sun Path Products NSL News had introduced UK's reigning national champion in the Rookie Class, Bodyflight Fly Wild, with the story on 5 September 2014. Fly Wild has signed up for the A Class competition, together with the three teams from Ireland.

Team member Nadine Bibby said that her team is "delighted to be competing for the first time in the Bodyflight World Challenge". Bodyflight Bedford supports the UK team from the Wild Geese Parachute Club in Northern Ireland.

She said that the team members have enjoyed the step up into the A Class and learning the block moves in the Bodyflight flying chamber with their coach Gordon Hodgkinson: "We are really looking forward to being part of the Bodyflight World Challenge, having heard what an awesome competition it is, and being able to watch and learn from the best of the best!"

The 2013 champion in the Rookie Class, Pro Team Extended from Finland, is not coming back, and Italy's Panik team will try to take the 1st place this year. It will be a challenging situation for Panik, despite last year's 20.1 average in Bedford, as the HF Chicks from the Czech Republic have also posted impressive scores this year at their home tunnel, the Skydive Arena in Prague.

The AA Class field is significantly bigger than last year, as well. Four strong teams of the A Class competition in 2013 have moved up, and only the SolarFlakes from Lithuania are back in the same category. 2013 winner Raykipo now competes in the AAA Class, and the medal positions in the AA Class seem to be open.

But then there are the visitors from Canada, 4Astrophe, with original Evolution member Richard Bisson and his two children flyers, Yannick and Valerie. They just posted a 19.0 average at the Canadian Indoor Skydiving Championship 2014 and are well prepared for the World Challenge 2014 and the battle for AA Class medals...