posted Nov 6th, 2026 - The formation skydiving delegation from the Netherlands once again demonstrated the consistency that has characterized the country's presence in 4-way Open Class competition throughout the modern era since 1985. This time, it was Out Of The Blue (OOTB) who maintained the Netherlands' flawless record of participation at outdoor world championships.

In fact, OOTB have represented the Netherlands at every outdoor world championship since Australia 2018. Mechie Voermans and Leon van Leeuwen, who switched to the camera slot in 2019, were both part of the original 2017 lineup (Mandy Feijen, Danny Dorfel, Bart Daenen on camera). They have now finished another world championship with a new team-record average at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026.

Their 17.8 average at Skydive Arizona once again secured a Top 10 finish for the Dutch national team in 4-way Open, following their 10th place at Crystal Coast 2024. This improved on their 15th place at their first outdoor world championship in Australia 2018 and 11th place at Eloy 2022.

OOTB were expected to finish in the Top 10, even though the current lineup, featuring two new members (Timmy De Smet, Siem Ibens), had only limited time together this year to become familiar with each other. Only Mechie Voermans, Roald de Leest and Leon van Leeuwen on camera returned from the previous lineup, which included Paul Hofstee and Ralf Pijnenburg and finished with a 17.5 average at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2025.

Participation of 4-way Open Class teams from the Netherlands at FAI Outdoor World Championships between 1985 and 2026

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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	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8	Out Of The Blue	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	Amnesya	IT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	Qatar	QA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11	Flyspot Sky4Four	PL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	Random Fixation	AU	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13	MeXtreme	MX	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Timmy De Smet and Siem Ibens, one of the youngest 4-way outdoor competitors in the world, attended an outdoor world championship for the first time in their competitive skydiving careers. They had already gained international 4-way experience at indoor events, including the FAI Indoor World Cup 2026. In April, the new lineup came close to successfully defending its Top 10 position at the Weembi Lille event.

It was still too early for the new lineup to keep pace with the other well-trained contenders for the unofficial amateur world championship title at Skydive Arizona. Nevertheless, they finished 9th with the highest outdoor team average in their category. They also demonstrated the full potential of the new lineup in Round 5, when they outscored every other team on the 4-way Open Class leaderboard except for the three medal winners.

Round 5 was a strong comeback after OOTB's worst exit performance of the competition in Round 4. A serious and costly exit funnel resulted in their lowest score among the same group of teams. The strong recovery in Round 5 could not make up for the points lost, but it provided more than enough evidence of the new lineup's potential. OOTB then maintained as much proximity to their nearest competitors as possible and still finished with a new team-record average.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		11,16,10		9,17,4		J,D,E,19		1,14,H		K,M,2,O		B,18,6		A,N,7,8		P,L,C,12		F,3,13		20,G,22		Q,15,5		Total	Avg
1	Aethers Lille	FR	18	-1	27		38	-1	23		33		25		26	-1	26	-3	27		21		-		264	26.4
2	Golden Knights	US	18	-1	25		33	-3	21		33		24		25	-2	31		26		21		23	-1	257	25.7
3	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	21		26		32	-3	21	-2	31	-2	23	-1	27	-2	29	-1	26		21		23	-1	257	25.7
4	Airbus 4-way Illertissen	DE	17		19	-1	25	-2	18		22	-2	18	-1	21		23	-1	21		15	-1	-		199	19.9
5	Echochamber	SE	13	-2	19		25	-1	18		24	-1	18		22		19	-5	18	-1	16		-		192	19.2
6	Skywalkers Most	CZ	13	-4	15	-3	26	-2	14	-3	22		19		23		18	-5	21	-1	18		-		189	18.9
7	Qatar Vortex	QA	13	-3	17	-2	27		16		23		16	-1	20	-1	19	-4	21		16		-		188	18.8
8	S.O.A.R.	UK	15	-1	16	-3	22	-3	18		22	-1	18		22		19	-1	18		16		-		186	18.6
9	Out Of The Blue	NL	14		17		23	-1	13		25		18		19		17	-2	17		15	-1	-		178	17.8
10	Amnesya Fly X	IT	12	-1	16		22	-2	15	-1	20		13	-1	14	-3	19		0		0		-		131	13.1
11	Flyspot Sky4Four	PL	9	-2	11	-2	12	-4	13		16		12		15		14		12		11		-		125	12.5
12	Random Fixation	AU	8	-3	14		14	-2	8	-3	15		14		13	-2	13		12	-2	12		-		123	12.3
13	MeXtreme	MX	7		9		9		8		11		5	-1	7	-2	7	-2	6		7		-		76	7.6

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Out Of The Blue at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026

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The small but strong field of unofficial amateur teams behind the medal contenders did not allow the Dutch team to climb much higher than 9th place, where they eventually finished after all ten rounds.

Neither of their two main expected opponents, Norway's Agera and Spain's Papea, attended the event, while Great Britain's S.O.A.R. proved too strong and experienced for the Dutch team.

Qatar's Vortex lineup was the most improved team in the entire 4-way Open Class field and surprised both spectators and competitors with its 18.8 performance level.

Italy's 4-way Open Class team Amnesya Fly X was compromised when long-time member Chiara Brunetti had to be replaced the day before the competition began. The new lineup, featuring substitute Mario Fatturoso, who also had double duties in 4-way Open and Canopy Piloting, completed only eight of the ten rounds and were 15 points behind OOTB when the team withdrew from the final two rounds.

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