posted May 9th, 2011 - The scores of the UKSL May Meet, this year's season opener in Netheravon, were posted over last weekend, and the NSL News had heard that the weather situation was not too supportive.

Kaizen member Jo Hawley now provided more insights of the competition.

UKSL 2011 May Meet

Written by Jo Hawley

A windy, cloudy weekend greeted the first meet of the UK Skydiving League at Netheravon – the British Army’s parachuting centre. The Brits, used to poor weather, didn’t let that stop them though and despite some long weather holds, all six rounds of the meet were completed by late Sunday afternoon.

Coaches Amanda Kemp (Bodyflight Aerodyne) and Julia Foxwell (Satori) were on hand to help and support all teams, and the competition vibe was friendly with helping each other to puzzle dives and some even conga-ing to the planes. The Cessna caravans’ small door presented a few challenges on exit to teams used to more space. This penalised some teams with funnelling leading to some erratic scores.

UKSL 2011 - May Meet			Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		7,O,P,22	2,13,B	12,E,Q,15	19,A,4	11,C,16	5,N,1	Total	Avg
1	UK Army Nemesis	INT	13	6	12	13	12	10	66	11.0
2	UK Unagi	INT	11	11	11	13	10	9	65	10.8

The competition, the first of the four annual UKSL meets, struggled to attract AAA Class teams. Only Army Nemesis and last year’s AA Class national champions Unagi made the journey.

Unagi have a heavy season of training planned ahead, including competing at the World Cup in August. Their early season luck has not been great with their Tail Peter Mather breaking his arm skiing. Back with some impressive scars, Pete helped the team to silver, but Army Nemesis took gold by one point making an impressive comeback in later rounds after a poor Round 2.

UKSL 2011 - May Meet			Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class		7,O,P	2,13	E,Q,15	19,A,4	11,C,22	B,N,1	Total	Avg
1	UK Eclipse	INT	14	7	9	11	9	9	59	9.8
2	UK Gr4vity	INT	16	8	11	10	8	5	58	9.7
3	UK Kryos Airkix	INT	11	8	7	8	7	11	52	8.7
4	UK Sex Panther	INT	9	4	4	6	6	5	34	5.7

A recent change to Gr4vity sees new inside centre Chris Lewis reunited with his former Bonobo teammate Jonathan Ashe. The team was performing well and looked set for gold until level issues in Round 6 ensured Eclipse, in their first jumps together since last year’s UK Nationals, took 1st place. Kryos Airkix, having beaten Eclipse and Gr4vity at the World Challenge, suffered some difficult caravan exits and had to settle for 3rd. Kryos’ Point Audrey Rowe told the NSL News:

“This was a great start into the season for us in our first outside competition with the new lineup. The AA Class promises to be a tightly contested competition over the next few UKSL meets in the runup to the British Nationals. Kryos Airkix can't wait!”

UKSL 2011 - May Meet			Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Total	Avg
Rank	A Class		7,O	2,P	E,Q,4	19,A	C,21	B,N,J	Total	Avg
1	UK Raykipo	INT	7	8	7	8	5	11	46	7.7
2	UK Army Apex	INT	10	8	8	5	3	11	45	7.5
3	UK Team Toushi	INT	6	7	7	8	7	7	42	7.0
4	UK RAFSPA Phoenix	INT	9	4	6	6	5	11	41	6.8
4	UK Enigma Nom	INT	7	7	6	7	5	9	41	6.8
6	UK RAFSPA Typhoon	INT	7	6	7	2	6	7	35	5.8

World Challenge Rookie Class gold winners Raykipo made the step up to the A Class in this meet taking gold with Army Apex hot on their heels in silver and Toushi in 3rd. So far this year Raykipo, like many of the teams, have not yet done much outdoor training, but showed good potential for the season ahead. Raykipo cameraflyer Sarah Neale commented:

“The weather was pants but at least the rain waited for the evenings! Raykipo kept a positive vibe and are looking fantastic”

UKSL 2011 - May Meet			Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Total	Avg
Rank	Rookie Class		O,F,L	P,G,K	E,Q,D	A,H,O	C,M,P	B,N,J	Total	Avg
1	UK 4mula	INT	12	7	8	13	11	10	61	10.2
2	UK RAFSPA Hurricane	INT	5	6	8	3	7	7	36	6.0
3	UK Fiasco	INT	4	2	2	7	7	4	26	4.3
4	UK Team Gringo	INT	6	2	2	4	5	3	22	3.7
4	UK Jesters	INT	5	2	4	4	2	5	22	3.7
6	UK Kamikaze Satsumas	INT	3	0	1	3	4	5	16	2.7
7	UK Airtight	INT	3	1	0	0	0	0	4	0.7

4mula, staying in the Rookie Class this year with a revised lineup, took gold by a long way chalking up a 10.2 average almost doubling the scores of their nearest rivals RAFSPA Hurricane with Sibson team Fiasco taking bronze.

All the downtime allowed for some mischief. A ransom has been offered for Unagi and Raykipo’s team mascots which have been stolen. The only clue is from the thief’s note signed “The Claw”! We wonder what the next instalment will bring at the next UKSL meet at Langar in June...