posted Dec 6th, 2011 - It's all over at the 3rd Dubai Championship 2011, at least in the 4way Formation Skydiving competition. No changes were expected any longer at this point in time on the top of the leaderboards. It was still an exciting finish in the Open Class competition.

The last round with the slowest sequence of the 8-round meet was the biggest test for the 4way teams. The audience had a lot of confidence in the top teams, as the latest results of the NSL Poll are showing. The input by Thomas Hughes must have inspired some voters, as the trust in 20-pointers by the top teams for Round 8 went up after the NSL Talk yesterday. Only very few voters did not see any of the top teams scoring 20 points or higher.

The slow sequence (4,1,22) turned out to be even more challenging than it was expected. Only Aerodyne Aerokart mastered it with 20 points within working time. NSL News correspondent in Dubai, Paratec-Saar and Qatar Falcons member Max Thiele, reported that the 21st French point was actually also completed but accepted only by two of the five judges.

3rd Dubai Championship 2011		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Total	Avg
Rank	4way Open	L,C,P,20	K,M,6,15	G,19,H,11	2,10,E	13,9,5	O,7,3	B,21,16	4,1,22	Total	Avg
1	France Aerodyne Aerokart	33 (-1)	26 (-2)	26	20 (-1)	25	27	28	20	205	25.6
2	Belgium NMP-PCH Hayabusa	32 (-1)	23 (-1)	25 (-1)	22 (-1)	25	27	25	18 (-1)	197	24.6
3	SDC Rhythm XP	28	24	23	18	21	23	22	15 (-2)	174	21.8
4	USA Perris Fury	28 (-1)	19 (-4)	21	17 (-1)	19 (-2)	24	21 (-1)	16 (-2)	165	20.6

Max Thiele also reported that NMP-PCH Hayabusa had a tough finish and missed the 20-pointer only due to a penalty and a level problem on the subterminal page. The Belgian team was ready to join the next exclusive elite club after scoring only 22-pointers and higher in the first seven Dubai rounds. Aerodyne Aerokart is the only club member so far, after the scores at World Cup 2011, as the NSL News reported on 7 October 2011.

The French team missed the same achievement earlier in Dubai with "only" a 20-pointer in Round 4. Hayabusa scored a 22-pointer in the same round, which was the only one where the Belgians outscored France.

The NSL News audience now has the opportunity to enjoy the first seven rounds of the French team in Dubai. Aerodyne Aerokart videographer Olivier Henaff provided the eye candy for the audience. The video for Round 8 will follow later. The teams had to leave the dropzone very quickly after the the last round to make it to the dinner celebration in time. Max Thiele waited to the last minute to send the latest update before departure.

The Aerodyne Aerokart members celebrated their great performance with water landings after the jump. Especially new member, Center Inside Emmanuel "Manu" Sarrazin, the godfather of the French 8way world champion teams since 2006, must have been extremely happy. He had to fill very big shoes after 4way world champion Jeremie Rollett left at the end of the 2010 season to become the new national manager for the French Formation Skydiving delegation.

The new lineup was working hard in 4way this year and eventually made it to the top position in the world at the World Cup in Germany. Now they confirmed the Numer 1 slot with another victory over Hayabusa, and Arizona Airspeed could not challenge the French top position in Dubai.

Both US teams did not get close to the 20-point level in Round 8 and both lost two points in the judging room. Round 8 was clearly the slowest round for all four top teams. Perris Fury won another round over SDC Rhythm XP and finished in 4th place, 9 points behind Rhythm. France now travels back to Europe with $40,000 and Hayabusa brings back home $30,000 while Perris Fury wins $20,000 cash.