posted May 11th, 2006 - Bad news came in from the Northern Plains Skydiving League yesterday. NPSL Director Sandy Grillet had to inform his teams and competitors that the meet this weekend at Skydive Iowa had to be canceled:

"It pains me to inform you that the Skydive Chicago Otter has a maintenance problem that can not be fixed before next week due to missing parts. Bruce and I have spent the last five hours scouring the country for a replacement with no success. Therefore we have no choice but to postpone the Skydive Iowa Jumpstart 2006 boogie and NPSL 4-way meet scheduled for this weekend."

The problem with the jump plane comes along with a weather map that is not very promising at this point. It might turn out that there could be two reasons why the odds were against the season opener in the Northern Plains this time.

The unfortunate situation also cancels the NSL News trip to Skydive Iowa. Travel plans were already finalized, and NPSL Director Sandy Grillet was looking forward to the first live event coverage from his area. However, he is now looking for an alternate event date and asks his teams and competitors to help him find it:

"We would like to move the event to one of two possible dates (assuming the plane will be fixed). The options are May 27-29 (Memorial Day weekend) or June 3-4. We would appreciate it if you respond and let us know if you would attend one of those dates so we can decide. We are both very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused for people. Please accept our apologies. Sandy Grillet, Bruce Kennedy DZO".

The cancelation from the Northern Plains reduces the competition action this weekend and leaves the National Skydiving League without a meet. However, the United Kingdom has the first competition of the 2006 season scheduled for the upcoming weekend, and there will be interesting news coming from overseas.

The Brazilian 4-way league is also trying once again to launch the 2006 season. The first meet was originally scheduled for April 8 and fell victim to bad weather in South America. The upcoming weekend is the alternate date, and the Brazilian national team CTR Optimum is eager to post the first scores of the 2006 season.

CTR Optimum with Pedrosan (Inside Center), Ziara Abud (Outside Center), Fábio Diniz (Tail), André Ferraz (Point) and Chubby Renato (Camera) in the line-up is one of the few teams that has already officially registered for the World Meet 2006 in Germany at this point.

The Brazilian team competed at the World Cup 2005 at Skydive Arizona and finished in 12th position with a 12.9 average after eight rounds. CTR Optimum will also travel to Germany this year and will be pepared for a significantly higher scoring level. The team may face some of the same teams it was competing with at the World Cup this weekend. The direct competition for CTR Optimum in Eloy last year were two 4-way teams from the United Kingdom, South Parc and 4-Motion.

CTR Optimum is also very active in spreading the 4-way message in Brazil. Team member Fabio Diniz helped to initiate the 4-way league in the South American country. The team enjoys some rewards for the efforts by support from the skydiving industry, as Fabio Diniz recently announced:

"For the first time in the history of Brazilian skydiving, a 4-way Formation Skydiving team will be sponsored by Performance Designs. Optimum CTR has joined as a Performance Designs sponsored team since February 2006. The PD sponsored line-up of teams includes many top teams in the world, and we are proud to be on this list now.

Optimum CTR will bring statistics and information about the Brazilian market and serve as a messenger of PD products for the Latin American market. If an athlete wants to buy a PD canopy, Optimum CTR has two dealers among its team members, Pedrosan (Airshop) and Ziara (TSO-D). They are available through the DZs they visit and at their shops. We hoped the Latin American market understands the reliability and the benefits of PD canopies that are already used by the best FS teams in the world."

Scores from Brazil will hopefully be next after this weekend.