posted Jun 1st, 2018 - The NSL News is going back to the first outdoor competition of the year in France, the Coupe de France in Pamiers. There is a good reason for doing that, and it is not only the fact that both French national 4-way teams are gold medal contenders at the FAI World Meet 2018 in Australia.

Michel "Skyboy" Laynaud has been filming the new French lineup in 4-way Women since is was selected at the end of the 2014 season, and he was on camera for the French silver medals at his first FAI World Championship of Formation Skydiving, the Mondial 2016.

He had a very long winter break after the five rounds at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2017 where his team won the gold medals in Saarlouis. The Aerodyne Weembi Girls attended seven meets ever since; however, six of them were indoor competitions, where the team videographers are not needed.

Julie Fournier, who trains and competes with the Weembi Girls in 8-way, was on camera for the Aerodyne Weembi Girls at the only outdoor meet since August 2017, the Shamrock Showdown 2018, before Michel Laynaud took back his slot behind the camera at the Coupe de France competition in May.

Coupe de France 2018 - Pamiers		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	J,C,O,16	21,E,A,8	3,13,D	Q,N,9,2	M,B,12,K	4,11,5	G,6,H,L	17,1,18	19,P,7	10,14,15	Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Realfly	34	24	21	33	28	20	32	20	26	19	257	25.7
2	Aerodyne Weembi Girls	32	22	19	33	28	19	25	19	26	17	240	24.0
3	Odin Parachute System	18	13	12	19	18	13	18	12	17	11	151	15.1
4	Espoir Saumur Weembi	0	15	14	19	14	12	16	13	20	12	135	13.5
5	Airbivores Annecy Pamiers	15	12	9	17	12	8	15	9	6	8	111	11.1
6	Be Air Force	0	9	7	15	9	9	13	7	7	9	85	8.5

Michel Laynaud now kindly provided the original footage of the ten meet rounds, after national coach Mathieu Bernier approved the publication.

He was filming a very special occasion, as the Aerodyne French Girls finally erased the still standing 10-round 23.6 record average in 4-way Women that the national team of 2010, Deep Blue, had posted at the FAI World Meet in Menzelinsk, Russia.

Julie Fournier had recorded on camera the ten rounds at the Shamrock Showdown that brought the Aerodyne French Girls closer than ever to this record mark with the 23.5 average in DeLand. Team videographer Michel Laynaud came back just in time to have the honor of posting the new 24.0 record average in the history of 4-way Women.

The competition draws at Shamrock Showdown and Coupe de France were quite similar, and the Aerodyne Weembi Girls simply added a few more points to the total in Pamiers. National coach Mathieu Bernier and the team were both happy with the performance, despite the weaker Round 7.

Exactly the same lineup had finished with a 21.7 average at the FAI Mondial 2016, which was below expectations. Less than two years later, the team's outdoor average is at the 24.0 level, and there are still more then four months of outdoor training and a few test meets ahead.

FAI Mondial 2016				1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class			12,A,16		18,15,O		1,F,E,C		17,B,14		10,2,20		21,11,G		J,5,19		L,M,K,7		D,8,4		3,13,Q		Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	E	24	-1	25		35		26		19	-1	22		27	-2	39		23	-1	22		262	26.2
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	E	21	-1	23		31		26		18		22	-1	27		40	-1	23		23		254	25.4
3	France	FR	E	21		20		30	-1	21	-3	18		21		27		39		21		20		238	23.8
4	Black Cat	RU	E	22		20	-1	30		24	-1	17		21		24		33	-1	21		19		231	23.1
5	Qatar Tigers	QA	E	21		20		30	-1	24		17		20		23	-1	36		17	-2	18		226	22.6
6	Golden Knights	US	E	21		21		30		20	-2	17		19		24		35		20		17	-2	224	22.4
7	French Girls	FR	E	21		18		30	-1	23		17		18	-2	24		34		18	-1	14		217	21.7
8	Evolution	CA	E	20		18		29		24		16		18		23		32		18	-1	16	-1	214	21.4
9	Satori XL	UK	E	18	-2	19		27		24		16		18		22		30		18		18		210	21.0
10	Airbus	DE	E	16	-2	18		29		19		15		18		22		29	-1	14	-1	19		199	19.9

There does not seem to be any other 4-way Women team in the world who could even be close to matching the indoor and outdoor performance level and challenge the Aerodyne Weembi Girls for the gold medal position in Australia. The same lineup was also miles ahead of any other teams on the same leaderboard at the FAI European Indoor Championship 2018, and it could be the same situation at the outdoor world meet.

It is nothing new that the Aerodyne Weembi Girls have been checking their progression and performance level with the help of the 4-way Open Class leaderboard. They would have finished in 7th place of the 4-way Open Class competition at the Mondial 2016, including the Golden Knights, 4-way Women gold medalists.

There is no doubt that the French goal is a better placement for the Aerodyne Weembi Girls on a combined leaderboard this year. In fact, the 24.0 average of the Coupe de France 2018 would have won the bronze medals in 4-way Open at the FAI Mondial 2016, only two years ago. However, the French team in 4-way Open, Aerodyne Realfly, won the bronze medals in 2016 with a 23.8 average, which has gone up to 25.7 at the Coupe de France in May...