posted Nov 4th, 2009 - The NSL News has covered the unofficial "amateur record average" quite a few times in the past. Mass Defiance (Ben Liston - Center Inside, Jim Rees - Tail, John Silva - Center Outside, Brian Stephens - Point, Scuba" Steve Feldman - Camera) had posted the 19.3 average at the USPA Nationals 2007.

The highest 10-round meet average of a weekend amateur team is still standing since no team scored higher at the 2009 USPA National Skydiving Championships. Two former Mass Defiance members, Ben Liston and Brian Stephens, watched the top challenger of this record, SDC Rhythm XP, trying to break it this year. They competed with the Amphibious Attack Tigers in Texas (Scott Latinis, Ari Perelman, Alan Levy on camera) at the same time and finished ten points (18.1 - 17.2) behind this year's "amateur champion" in the Open Class.

Ben Liston had also released a DVD with wind tunnel instructions earlier this year, as the NSL News reported on 10 June 2009. He and his AAT team mates then followed up with live instructions in the SkyVenture New Hampshire wind tunnel at a camp before the USPA Nationals.

He organized a wind tunnel competition at the same location last year for the first time, and the success of the event has motivated him to follow up with the second indoor competition. He now released the first official announcement of the event:

Members of Dallas Rogue/Mass Defiance and SkyVenture New Hampshire will be hosting our second annual formation skydiving tunnel competition on Saturday December 5, 2009. Our goal is to have a fun meet and give 4-way junkies something to hold them over until the snow melts – this meet will also be a great opportunity for folks interested in forming teams for next year to meet potential teammates. There will not be any cash purses, but prizes will include tunnel time and donated prizes from manufacturers. There will also be a 2-way VFS meet on Sunday December 6th. Ari Perelman, who will be the meet director for that event, will send out more details about the VFS meet later this week.

Registration prices this year (for the Saturday FS events) will be $60 per competitor regardless of her/his competition class. Price includes a pizza lunch, bottled water, a DVD of your team’s flights, your meet flights and warm up time, and if you register before the November 20 deadline, a free t-shirt for each team member.

This year, we will be adding in a Rookie Class event that will take place in the morning. This will be a 5-round meet, and two competitors will be paired with two veteran 4-way folks who will serve as “player coaches.” You can either form a team with experienced 4-way competitors from your home DZ, or we will pair you with folks that have won medals in the Advanced or Open Class at USPA Nationals at no additional charge. Two minutes of practice time will be included in the cost of $60/person ($120 per team).

Competitors should be on site by 7:15 AM to complete paperwork and payment before the 7:45 briefing and warm up time for the Rookie Class event will be flown from between 8:00 and 8:30 AM. The Rookie Class meet flights will be completed by 11:30 AM, and awards ceremony will happen as soon as the judges can finish (before the Intermediate/Open Class meet). Rookie flyers should sign up as a pair and provide me with a team name. If Rookie Class competitors also wish to participate with an Intermediate Class team in the afternoon meet, they may do so at a discounted rate of $45, however, the Rookie Class is designed to give folks that are new to 4-way a chance to get involved – no sandbaggers please!

In the afternoon, there will be an Intermediate and Open Class competition. These teams will complete 10 competition rounds. Two minutes of practice time will be included in the meet fee of $60 per person ($240 per team). Teams should arrive no later than 11:00 AM to complete paperwork, make payments, and prep their warm up time before the 11:30 briefing. Practice time will be flown before between 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM. The final briefing and draws will take place immediately after the warm up time. Competition rounds will be completed by 7:00 PM, and the awards ceremony will either happen as soon as the judges finish (at about 7:30 PM).

The meet will be modeled in NSL fashion for the three divisions of 4-way. The Open Class will have 5 to 6 points per round and use a modified dive pool for the meet (all random formation plus blocks 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 14, 15, and 17). The Intermediate Class rounds will have 4 to 5 points per round and consist of random formations and a few blocks (blocks 7, 9, and 14). The Rookie Class will have 3 points per round and consist of only random formations.

Judges will score each round based on the tunnel video, and it is the team’s responsibility to stay low enough in the flight chamber for the judges to see all the grips in each formation (this means staying well below the top of the door frames of the tunnel). Three teams will enter the tunnel chamber at the same time and then will each complete two separate meet rounds during that flight session. Therefore, teams will have about a two-minute break between Round 1 and Round 2, then they’ll exit the tunnel and another three teams will enter the flight chamber. For each meet round, teams will have a one minute flight session to enter the air column, complete their 35 seconds of working time, and then safely exit the air column. Teams will have approximately 45 minutes between each flight session to prep their next two competition rounds.

The maximum number of Intermediate and Open Class teams (combined) will be 15, and the maximum number of Rookie Class teams will be 9 – teams will be registered on a “first come first serve” basis. To register for the meet, all you need to do is email Ben at NHtunnelmeet”at”gmail”dot”com with the team name, the competition class you will be competing in, the full names of all four team members, each team member's e-mail address, and each team member's t-shirt size. All payments will be made on site at SkyVenture New Hampshire on the day of the meet. Remember, teams that register before November 20 get free t-shirts. If your team needs an additional member or two, or you are an individual looking for a team, go to the following google spread sheet.

There you can enter your information if you are looking to find a team, or look for potential teammates if you are short a person or two for your team. Please be careful not to change or delete any fields besides your own as the changes will get save automatically. REGISTRATION IS ALREADY FILLING QUICKLY - PLEASE CONTACT ME SOON TO RESERVE YOUR TEAM'S SLOT!

Registered teams will be able to purchase discounted training time from Friday November 27th through Friday December 4th at a rate of $360 per half hour or $660 for hour blocks. If you are flying practice time with your team, it would be good to have the tunnel driver note your airspeed and communicate it to me.

Lastly, discounted rates at the Radisson Hotel are available for registered teams. Price is just $52 plus tax per night. To book a room you should contact SkyVenture New Hampshire at (888)SKY-VENTURE and leave a message for Laurie Greer with your check in date, your check out date, how many beds (double or king), your name and phone number, and your credit card number. She’ll book the room and call you back with a confirmation number. The Radisson has a pool, sauna, hot-tub, health club, free internet in the room / wifi in the lobby, full restaurant, bar and more.

We look forward to your participation! Please feel free to forward this on to folks (and DZ list servers) and contact me by e-mail if you have any questions about the event.