posted Aug 23rd, 2017 - The 8-way teams suffered the most of all Formation Skydiving events at the FAI World Cup 2017. Only three rounds were completed in the event that requires a higher exit altitude than the 4-way teams need.

However, even the 4-way VFS teams, who need the same exit altitude for their working time, completed one more round than the 8-way teams.

The number of rounds can surely be important for the outcome of a meet, and the French 8-way team may have become more a victim of the meteorological conditions in Saarlouis than the other teams in the same category.

The French 8-way team in Saarlouis was the real national team for the meet and is not to be confused with The French 8-way Team that competed at the Spaceland Pre-Nationals 2017. The teams in Texas completed all scheduled eight rounds. while the 8-way teams in Saarlouis were done after Round 3.

The NSL News mentioned on August 11th that France was in 8-way trouble after Round 2, when the Belgian Fly-In Machine 44 had outscored the colorful French 8-way lineup in both of the first two rounds of the meet. The story included a live conversation with two members of the French 8-way team in Saarlouis.

FAI World Cup 2017			1	2	3	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		L,O,F,K,11	C,3,7	13,2,G	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	US	24	24	18	66	22.0
2	Tanay	RU	22	20	17	59	19.7
3	Fly-In Machine 44	BE	19	20	14	53	17.7
4	VR8 France	FR	17	19	11	47	15.7
5	Project: Ride the Dragon	UK	6	9	8	23	7.7
6	Awkward Turtles	UK	7	8	4	19	6.3

It did not get any better for France after Round 2, and the team desperately needed more time and competition rounds to get back into the FAI medal rankings. The NSL News mentioned that France had never finished a world cup or world meet without winning a set of FAI medals before Saarlouis.

The lineup at the world cup had all the talent, skills and experience that it takes to finish on 8-way medal level. The missing pieces were enough training and competition rounds to get used to each other in the colorful combination of French Formation Skydiving competitors.

Another obstacle was the 8-way opposition. Tanay from Russia was expected to be well trained and well prepared, even though one of the most important players could not compete.

Evgeny Stashchenko was down after a knee surgery and could only help with coaching and engineering. However, Tanay had a more than adequate substitute with Alexey Minaev and was out of reach for France.

The possibly more unexpected obstacle came from Belgium, and the Fly-In Machine 44 neither backed down after winning the first two rounds over France.France knew after the French Indoor Nationals 2017 that HayaBusa's 8-way lineup would be dangerous. However, outdoor competition is very different, and France is well know for 8-way strength when there are exits from jump planes.

There was also a wealth of 8-way experience in the lineup. Paul "Polo" Grisoni was in the French 8-way lineup that challenged Arizona Airspeed and Russia for the gold medals between 1997 and 2001. He was still on the 8-way bench in 2003 and then won a 4-way bronze medal in 2006.

He had 8-way world champion of 2010, Martial Ferre, by his side, who was his team mate in 2000 and 2001. They both had joined forces with Arnaud Mille, Julien Olek and Thomas Perrin Gachadoat who won FAI 8-way gold medals for France in Menzelinsk 2010, together with Martial Ferre and Julien Degen, 8-way world champion of 2006 and 2008, 4-way world champion of 2010. Even video veteran Olivier Henaff came back to film this interesting 8-way lineup. Aurelien Lemaire and Eliott Lesimple, B-team members of the latest French 4-way generation (Espoir Saumur Weembi) filled the two remaining slots.

Additional rounds might have helped this French lineup to move back up to the medal level. However, the current FAI rules require only one round to determine a winner. Each round could be the last one...