posted Jul 5th, 2011 - Last weekend had 4-way competition action only in two different countries, Brazil and Finland, which are usually accommodating smaller numbers of teams. However, both countries have been relevant players in the international 4-way community for many years.

Yesterday's meet report from Brazil mentioned that the CISM Military World Championships 2011 brings many teams and competitors to Rio later this month. Finland hosted the World Games in 1997, where Formation Skydiving competition was a part of the event, and recently produced the Pro Team, which was the best team from Scandinavia at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2010.

Weather always plays a big role for skydiving in all Scandinavian countries, and Finland was lucky last weekend, as Event Judge Jukka Olkkonen reported: "For a change we had good weather, and enough plane capacity to do the competition."

Finland July 2nd, 2011		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Total	Avg
Rank	A Class	9,7	L,2	19,D	K,F,J	E,N,8	G,21	Total	Avg
1	Creme Brule	8	2	3	6	7	5	31	5.2
2	Hanna Ja Lapset	6	5	4	8	7	-	30	6.0
3	Pokassa Hyppäävät	4	3	2	-	-	-	9	3.0

Jukka Olkkonen mentioned the plane capacity since his small 4-way community was unlucky earlier this year. The early April meet had perfect weather, as well, and a lot of Finnish skydivers were ready to jump at the place with about the best facilities for skydiving in Finland when the Cessna Caravan did not start. The Cessna 206 then could not get everybody in the air often enough, and the 4-way teams completed only two rounds with waiting times up to six hours.

Last weekend's meet was the last competition before the national championships in two weeks. Jukka Olkkonen said that the three teams had a good opportunity to get reminders of what to do and what not to do in a competition.

He also reported that one Pokassa Hyppäävät member suffered a shoulder injury in Round 3, and the team could not continue.

Other news from Finland confirm that it has become easier for the skydiving community to get in the air this year. Jukka Olkkonen reported that two of the biggest skydiving clubs, SLK from Helsinki and ULK from Utti, have joined forces for this summer, and they are both operating in Utti now.

This meant for last weekend that there were two Cessna Caravans lifting a lot of skydivers in the perfect weather. The merger of the two clubs was not that easy, as their different cultures and administrations needed to be combined. However, it all turned out well, and the positive results could be enjoyed last weekend, as Jukka Olkkonen explained:

"We had a lot of skydivers with plenty of plane capacity, so that everyone could jump as much as they wanted, at the pace they wanted. And all this during just a normal weekend at the dropzone. It was great to see the action as it should be."