posted Jan 28th, 2026 - Gary Smith explained during an NSL Live Talk conversation on 10 December 2025 that his work with Qatar’s formation skydiving delegation had come to an end. Having returned to the Netherlands, he is now ready to resume his highly successful collaboration with NMP PCH HayaBusa.

The first test of the next phase in his ongoing cooperation with the Belgian team will be the upcoming Wind Games 2026. There, the current HayaBusa lineup will face an exceptionally strong field of world-class 4-way indoor teams—possibly stronger than ever before at a single competition. The pressure on both team and coach is even greater, as the same lineup finished second at the same event in Spain last year and will attempt to defend that position against even tougher competition.

At the same time, finishing anywhere near the French Aethers does not appear realistic at this stage—neither for NMP PCH HayaBusa nor for any other team. This was the impression Gary Smith formed after observing training sessions of the French national indoor and outdoor 4-way team. Smith is currently in Spain working with HayaBusa, as team captain Dennis Praet reported during NSL Live Talk on January 3.

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NSL Live Talk with Gary Smith on 28 January 2026

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Dennis Praet discussed the first NSL Power Rankings in the event preview and suggested a possible shift at the top of the leaderboard. He expects his team’s strongest opponent at the Wind Games 2025, Tunnel Vision, to be the team finishing just behind the three leading contenders: Aethers, NMP PCH HayaBusa, and the Golden Knights.

Gary Smith confirmed the situation at the top of the leaderboard but expressed slightly different expectations for the next four teams in the NSL Power Rankings. He agrees that Arizona Airspeed’s new lineup is the strongest within this group and considers it the favorite for fifth place. However, he also expects the international Dynos lineup to be Airspeed’s main challenger, likely followed closely by the player-coached team Unruly. Italy’s strongest 4-way team, Amnesya FlyX, has dropped back in this comparison and now enters the battle for fifth place as the underdog.

The following group of teams is expected to compete for the remaining two positions in the Top 10. Previously, Yasuke and Monaco F1 were seen as the main contenders trying to defend the final two Top 10 spots. However, based on newly collected Wind Games information reported by the NSL News, this two-team duel now appears to have evolved into a three-team battle.

Wind Games 2026			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	Power Rankings		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	Aethers	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Golden Knights	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Tunnel Vision	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Arizona Airspeed	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Amnesya Fly X	IT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Dynos	INT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Unruly	INT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	Yasuke	INT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	Monaco F1	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11	Aerokart Ak'demie	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11	Kairos	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11	Skynamite	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11	Oblivion	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	Airdrops	CH	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	WingX	CH	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	Panthers	CZ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	No Chicken	CZ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
19	Magyx	EE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
19	Double Trouble	SK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
19	Feathers	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
19	MaxQ	INT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

The 4-way team Feathers, previously known as Down and Feathers, is visiting from Russia and has also impacted the NSL Power Rankings. The initial rankings listed only Feathers in the NSL database, a team that had competed once in the Southern California Skydiving League in 2017.

Russia's Down and Feathers hold a 24.0 average in their records and are expected to join Yasuke and Monaco F1 in the race for the remaining Top 10 positions. One of these three teams will ultimately miss out on the Top 10, as they also face pressure from a group of four additional teams that could be strong enough to challenge—or even outscore them—for a place in the Top 10.

So far, the projected Top 10 includes teams from five different countries (France, Belgium, the United States, Italy, and Russia), while three international lineups add even more nationalities, including Norway, Great Britain, and Mauritania. The 4-way Open Class field increasingly resembles an indoor open world championship. Notably, the current Top 3 teams are also their countries’ national outdoor 4-way Open Class teams, and at the same time the leading contenders for this year’s major FAI/ISC indoor and outdoor events.

Wind Games 2026			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	Power Rankings		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	Aethers	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	Golden Knights	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Tunnel Vision	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Arizona Airspeed	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Dynos	INT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Unruly	INT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Amnesya Fly X	IT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	Yasuke	INT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	Monaco F1	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	Feathers	RU	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	Aerokart Ak'demie	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	Kairos	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	Skynamite	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	Oblivion	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
16	Airdrops	CH	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
16	WingX	CH	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
16	Panthers	CZ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
16	No Chicken	CZ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
20	Magyx	ES	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
20	Double Trouble	SK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
20	MaxQ	INT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-