posted Jun 25th, 2018 - Last weekend's AA Class leaderboard was the most interesting one of a busy weekend with teams at three different event sites and a total of 24 teams who used the same competition draw.

The annual Tomscat Trophy in Hoogeveen, Netherlands, was the main event, where teams competed in all four categories. It was the 24th time that Dutch teams and any guests commemorated the two members of the Dutch 4-way team Tomscat, Remie Herder and Sjaak Strating, who lost their lives in in a plane crash in Perris Valley on April 24th, 1992. Meet organizer Mike Pennock said that he is planning a special event next year when the 25th meet anniversary is coming up.

Nine teams from three different countries posted scores on the AA Class leaderboard last weekend. Ayro from Belgium did not have to travel too far to the neighboring Netherlands, while the U.S. teams attended their meets on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

The eight rounds of the Tomscat Trophy were all completed on Saturday, as the weather forecast for Sunday was not very promising. SDC Rhevolution XP completed nine rounds at Chicagoland Skydiving Center, host of this year's USPA Nationals. The second Midwest Skydiving League team in the AA Class, Freakz on Couches, were done after the scheduled six rounds.

June 23rd, 2018			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class		M,14,B		6,G,11		C,P,E,7		D,Q,20		19,18		N,A,2		22,L,F		1,8		4,K,13		Total	Avg
1	Team Red	NL	13	-1	9		18		11		10		11		11	-1	10		-		93	11.6
1	Ayro	BE	14		11		14	-4	11		9		15		11	-1	8	-3	-		93	11.6
3	SDC Rhevolution XP	US	15		10		14		12		10		12	-1	11		9		10		103	11.4
4	DMS Freakz on Couches	US	10		8		13		8		7		10		-		-		-		56	9.3
5	Bad Habits	NL	10		8		13		10		8		10		8		7		-		74	9.3
6	Blok 43	NL	9	-1	4	-2	14		7	-1	7		9		7		8		-		65	8.1
7	Paradocks	NL	9		8		9	-2	8		7		5	-3	7	-2	5		-		58	7.3
8	Lightning	NL	8	-1	7		10		7		6	-1	7		5		5		-		55	6.9
9	Try-out	NL	7		8		10		7		3		6		6		6	-1	-		53	6.6

The best Dutch AA Class team, Team Red of the Dutch 20+ Project, tried to defend the Dutch home turf in Hoogeveen against the visiting Belgian team Ayro, which generated an exciting 8-round battle that ended up tied at the end of the first meet day.

There was no opportunity later to break the tie, and the judges applied the recently adjusted FAI/IPC rules. Team Red had the highest score of 18 points in Round 3, where Ayro completed the same number of points in working tome, before the four point deductions. Team Red was the official winner of the Tomscat Trophy's AA Class competition.

Ayro got consolation when the AA Class leaderboard was adjusted to the number of rounds that all AA Class teams completed last weekend. The Belgian team was two points ahead of Team Red and all other AA Class teams after Round 6.

The combined and adjusted leaderboard also shows SDC Rhevolution XP as a part of this AA Class battle. In fact, Rhevolution improved the ranking from 3rd to 2nd after Round 6.

June 23rd, 2018			1		2		3		4		5		6		Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class		M,14,B		6,G,11		C,P,E,7		D,Q,20		19,18		N,A,2		Total	Avg
1	Ayro	BE	14		11		14	-4	11		9		15		74	12.3
2	SDC Rhevolution XP	US	15		10		14		12		10		12	-1	73	12.2
3	Team Red	NL	13	-1	9		18		11		10		11		72	12.0
4	Bad Habits	NL	10		8		13		10		8		10		59	9.8
5	DMS Freakz on Couches	US	10		8		13		8		7		10		56	9.3
6	Blok 43	NL	9	-1	4	-2	14		7	-1	7		9		50	8.3
7	Paradocks	NL	9		8		9	-2	8		7		5	-3	46	7.7
8	Lightning	NL	8	-1	7		10		7		6	-1	7		45	7.5
9	Try-out	NL	7		8		10		7		3		6		41	6.8

The second MWSL team, DMS Freakz on Couches, went the other direction, as Bad Habits was the stronger team after the first six rounds and moved up into the 4th place. Only the four Dutch teams between 6th and 9th did not change their positions in Round 7 and Round 8.

Two of the three AA Class top teams (Team Red, SDC Rhevolution XP) attended their first 4-way meets this year. Rhevolution started at the May meet of the Midwest Skydiving League, while the Tomscat Trophy was the first competition for Team Red. Ayro is in the team's second year of 4-way training and competition. The same lineup started in the A Class of the Belgian Nationals 2017 and followed up a month later at the ESL Championship, where they won eight ESL points for the Belgian delegation.

Ayro turned to indoor competition at the end of the year and won the A Class at the ISR Grand Prix in November and at the Belgian Indoor Nationals in December.

It was time to step up into the AA Class at the World Challenge 2018 (17.0 - 3rd place) before the first outdoor competition in the same category last weekend. Ayro's starting point in the AA Class is a higher meet average (12.3) than at the last outdoor meet (10.6) in the A Class. There is another promising Belgian 4-way team...