posted Feb 21st, 2016 - The Sun Path Products NSL News reported on February 8th how the situation in the 4-way VFS World Rankings was at the end of the 2015 season. The same story also followed up on the Wind Games, which was the first competition in the new year.

Jason Russell, team captain of VFS team SDC Core, provided the Sun Path Products NSL News with additional information. He and his team competed at the Wind Games and confirmed owning the world's current top position after winning in Empuriabrava with a 28.1 average.

He said that the field of teams at the Wind Games could have been significantly larger. Four teams withdrew from the meet within three weeks prior to the start of the competition: "Two teams from Dubai withdrew without explanation, and AeroDisaster from Italy withdrew after one member was injured skiing."

Wind Games 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		14,D,5	16,6,E	J,C,4,3	1,9,A	F,11,N,L	13,12,M	2,G,15	7,I,B,H	Total	Avg
1	SDC Core	US	24	31	27	29	31	29	28	26	225	28.1
2	Avalon Realfly Sion	CH	24	27	30	25	28	25	24	26	209	26.1
3	Transfert	FR	22	24	25	30	25	24	22	16	188	23.5
4	Vertigo	CH	16	15	20	21	18	15	16	13	134	16.8
5	Element	BE	17	18	19	21	18	12	14	13	132	16.5

Jason Russell said that the competition was still tight for the three top teams, even though his team won by 16 points after the 8-round meet, and the leaderboard shows that SDC Core did not claim all highscores. Jason Russell provided some details:

"Avalon Realfly suffered an injury prior to the competition, so Raph (former Team4speed member Raphaël Coudray) joined Fred (former Team4speed member Frédéric Nenet) as player coaches on a talented team. From the first round they put the challenge to Transfert, current World Cup outdoor champions, and SDC Core."

SDC Core member Ryan Risberg had also suffered a recent swooping injury, and alternate Tim McMaster, former member of Dubai Nexus, stepped in to fill the slot for the Wind Games.

It took a few rounds with the alternate before SDC Core was warmed up enough with the different lineup of three Nexus members and Dusty Hanks. Then the U.S. team began to pull away, as Jason Russell recalled:

"Core and Avalon tied the first round, with Transfert just two points behind. In the next two rounds, they traded some points back and forth, before SDC Core was able to pull into a lead in some of the later rounds.

Despite some solid rounds by Transfert and Avalon Realfly as the meet wore on, SDC Core was able to hold on for the win."

Jason Russell pointed out that the battle for the 4th place was actually the tightest one: "Element (Belgium) and Vertigo (Switzerland) were both showing some great rounds, trading points back and forth right up to the finish. In the end, Vertigo VFS was able to edge out Element by two points and capture the 4th place."

SDC Core and the VFS competition at the Wind Games were still missing some other notable teams from the VFS world, including Canada's Evolution VFS lineup, the Golden Knights VFS lineup, Norway's Blue Pelican, and Russia's Flystation.

Jason Russell said that these four teams also represent strong competitors who are training hard: "Hopefully we'll get a chance to see them at the upcoming indoor and outdoor meets that lead up to the 2016 World Meet, hosted by Skydive Chicago.”

One of the missing teams, the Golden Knights, will compete at the upcoming Shamrock Showdown 2016, together with SDC Core. It will be the first outdoor competition of the year, and Ryan Risberg will hopefully be back in the lineup.