posted Sep 29th, 2026 - This year's European Skydiving League championship event at the Fallschirmsportzentrum (FSZ) in Saarlouis saw very light participation, with a total of just five 4-way teams. Nevertheless, all five had enough desire and resources to follow up on their respective national outdoor championships. Two German teams (Dark Neva and Pace Gransee) had competed in theirs a month earlier, while Belgium's Ayro had finished second behind NMP PCH HayaBusa at the BENELUX Outdoor Championship 2026 in early September. Bazinga and the AA Class team Steelers from Ukraine completed the small field.

However, Belgian team Ayro had momentum on their side and welcomed another opportunity to compete after setting a new team record average of 18.2 at the beginning of this month at their national outdoor championship. In fact, Ayro's current lineup has been building momentum ever since they began training and competing together in 2024.

Three original members of the A Class team from 2017 — Els De Bie, Wim Dens, and Arne Vandendael — recruited Steven Lopes in 2024 to form the current lineup, with Gerrit Tielens on camera. Ayro have added an average-point every year since their starting point of 15.9 at the BENELUX Outdoor Championship 2024. Their 18.9 average last weekend is the team's highest score to date, marking a new performance level for the lineup.

ESL Championship 2026			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		B,22,Q,14		6,7,4		16,O,L,21		1,H,F,9		11,17,N		8,D,P,K		E,20,2		15,19,M		J,10,5		13,C,12		Total	Avg
1	AYRO	BE	17		19		21		25		17		21		19		19		15	-1	16		189	18.9
2	Dark NeVa	DE	12		12		15		17		12		14		13		13		12		14		134	13.4
3	Pace Gojump Gransee	DE	11		11		11		16		10	-1	14		12		11		9	-1	7	-1	112	11.2
4	Bazinga	DE	11		11	-3	12		13	-2	6	-2	12		12		11		11	-1	7	-1	106	10.6
Rank	AA Class		N,20,G		L,P,19		K,6,8		E,15,D		18,O,F		A,22,13		1,9		J,11,B		4,2		Q,14,H		Total	Avg
1	Steelers	UA	7		9		8		7		-		-		-		-		-		-		31	7.8

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Ayro (BE) at the ESL Championship 2026

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Rank	4-way Open Top 10	Country	Average
1	Aethers	FR	27.1
2	Golden Knights	US	26.1
3	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	25.7
4	Arizona Airspeed	US	24.9
5	SDC Rhythm XP	US	20.4
6	Nephtys Maubeuge	FR	20.2
7	SOAR	UK	20.1
8	Skywalkers Most	CZ	19.5
8	Echochamber	SE	19.5
10	Elsinore Elevate	US	19.4
11	Ayro	BE	18.9

The NSL News had already highlighted Ayro's impressive progression following their performance at the BENELUX Outdoor Championship 2026, where the Belgian 4-way team became the second team from their country to break into the world's Top 10 rankings.

NMP PCH HayaBusa naturally attracts most of the attention in Belgian 4-way formation skydiving, and it is impressive that the small Central European country has consistently produced 4-way world champions and world-class competitors. HayaBusa's success became possible when the members of the original lineup decided to join the Belgian military and pursue their goal of becoming 4-way world champions. Ayro, by contrast, has remained a recreational team, as has the vast majority of 4-way amateur teams.

The NSL News Top 10 rankings make no distinction between full-time and amateur competitors, and there is no official or straightforward definition separating the two. The leaderboards at international FAI/ISC events, however, bring all formation skydiving teams together in the 4-way Open Class. The NSL News eventually introduced the unofficial title of amateur champions when the discrepancy became too significant to ignore, yet remained difficult to define precisely. The strongest amateur teams in the world usually finish behind the medalists at world championships and world cups, and Belgian team Ayro have now become part of this unofficial competition and its corresponding rankings.

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BENELUX Outdoor Championship 2026			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		Q,12,16		O,B,7,L		10,1,17		P,D,M,C,21		8,N,4		15,A,9		13,11,3		18,19,2		20,E,6		K,J,G,5		Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	21	-1	38		21		32	-3	22		27		19		20		25		28	-1	253	25.3
2	AYRO	BE	16	-1	25	-3	14	-2	25	-2	17		16	-3	14	-1	16		18	-1	21		182	18.2
3	Out Of The Blue	NL	14	-1	22	-2	14		26	-1	16		16		15		15		19		20	-2	177	17.7
4	Sp1nn3rs	NL	11	-2	20		13		22	-1	14		14	-2	12		12	-1	14		18		150	15.0
5	Hybris	BE	8	-4	18		12	-1	15	-2	11		15		10		11	-1	12	-2	15		127	12.7
6	Funky Falcon	NL	10		17		8	-2	13	-2	9	-2	9	-1	9		9		11		13		108	10.8
7	Full Flow	BE	11		17	-1	11		17	-2	13		12		10		11		-		-		102	12.8
8	Spare Rib Masters	NL	7		11		5	-1	12		8		6	-1	7		6	-1	9		9	-1	80	8.0
9	Bust a Move	NL	6	-1	9		7		11		9		6		6	-1	6		7	-1	9		76	7.6

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Ayro (BE) at the BENELUX Championship 2026

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Ayro lost their Top 10 position after the BENELUX Outdoor Championship 2026, even though they posted a new team record average of 18.9 last weekend. U.S. teams SDC Rhythm XP and Elsinore Elevate finally entered the new Top 10 after their first competition of the year, and their rise was not solely the result of the help they received from the Super Sequence in Round 1 at the USPA Nationals 2026 earlier this month.

German national 4-way Open Class team Airbus Illertissen was the other team to drop out of the Top 10 and is now positioned directly behind Ayro. It is a very tight field behind the medal contenders, as the new rankings show. Several teams in this group will soon battle for the highest positions behind the medal contenders at the upcoming FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026. Ayro will not be part of that battle, even though the latest unofficial NSL Power Rankings place them right in the middle of the group of Top 10 contenders in Eloy.

Along with the three U.S. teams behind the Golden Knights — Arizona Airspeed, SDC Rhythm XP, and Elsinore Elevate — Belgium also has a stronger 4-way Open Class team competing for FAI/ISC medals in NMP PCH HayaBusa. Only one team can represent each country at world championships, so Ayro have to step aside and let HayaBusa compete for Belgian 4-way medals.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open 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	SOAR	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Skywalkers Most	CZ	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6	Airbus 4-way Illertissen	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6	Echochamber	SE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Ayro	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8	Out Of The Blue	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8	Qatar Vortex	QA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8	Agera Oceanside	NO	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11	Amnesya	IT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11	Papea	ES	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13	Flyspot Sky4Four	PL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
14	Random Fixation	AU	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	MeXtreme	MX	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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