Close comp ends with WIN for BLTs

Unfortunately the BLTs were without Matt, our current camera flyer, at the Nationals this year. Andy Newell of Dark Side Freefly stepped in to the void, doing his first 4-way VFS camera jump on the morning of the comp and having to learn fast. Volare weren’t able to make this year but a new team from the Manchester tunnel, including 2009 winner Fazer Smith, came to show their stuff, along with a scratch team of local Hib jumpers that stepped up to the plate and had a go at a discipline which so far has only ever attracted 2 teams.

Entering the competition the lieutenants rightly felt confident after a busy year of training but yet again the difficulty of the camera slot immediately became apparent. As Newell battled to figure out how best to film the points, the tunnel team were flying well and benefitting from an awesome performance by Jay Southall on camera.

With the BLTs picking up quite a few busts the competition was very tight and after 8 rounds the lieutenants took Gold by just 6 points ahead of the tunnel team, with The Bad Council Tenants taking third spot.

Thanks to Hib for yet again putting on an awesome event with a record number of teams completing the competition in just 2 days!

http://www.skydivingchampionships.com/

Another medal for the BLTs at the World Meet!

The Bad Lieutenants were in Russia at the beginning of August to take part to in the first World Championship of 4 way VFS. The boys achieved their goal of holding on to third spot from the World Cup in 2009. Competition between France and the USA was fierce with the the French eventually taking the gold medal. The Lieutenants took a comfortable bronze ahead of Germany, Belgium and Russia.

http://www.thebadlieutenants.com

Skydive Oslo’s annual FF/FS boogie

Towards the end of August Jim visited Skydive Oslo to load organise and coach during their annual boogie. We did some great jumps including a nice in-hop into a beautiful golf course and an awesome sunset tracking dive followed by swooping south-park before the big party. This is a lovely spot hidden away in the forest a couple of hours north of Oslo and definitely worth a visit if you’re in that part of the world.

Thanks to all the guys at Ostre Aera and I hope to see all again next year!

www.fallskjerm.no

Airkix Manchester: up and flying… fast!

Jim was in Manchester at the end of December to fly with the Bad Lieutenants in the brand new 14ft, super fast, Airkix wind tunnel. The boys did over 2 hours of training over the course of the weekend confirming that this new tunnel is easily powerful enough to accomodate serious 4way VFS.

The team will be training in the Manchester tunnel once a month right through until the summer, hope to see you there sometime soon!

http://www.airkix.com/manchester/default.asp

36 participants and 6 coaches recently met up at Skydive Spain for the September edition of the one and only Funshine Boogie. The weather was perfect for all 5 days of the event, with the only holds resulting from people needing a break in the intense schedule. With a ratio of 6 participants per coach everyone recieved personal attention and feedback, and had the opportunity to improve their skills in any area of freefly, from tracking to basic VFS.

This event continues to go from strength to strength, and there is as much demand as ever. We walk the line between boogie and workshop, offering loads of fun but ensuring everyone has the chance to learn. Book fast to get involved in the May boogie!

http://www.funshineboogie.com

The Lieutenants visited the Czech Republic at the beginning of September to take part in the second ever World Cup of 4-way VFS. Other teams present included Arizona Arsenal, Team4speed of France and team Energe from Russia. At the top of the table the US and France battled it out, with 4Speed posting some fanatastic scores that really put the pressure on the americans. However in the end Arsenal showed their experience and  pulled out a lead over the French, winning the competition with a score of 163 and a whopping average of 20.4.

Outbreak of the Bad Lieutenants finished a convincing 3rd, achieving their goal of a 10 point average. Not bad for around 80 training jumps. Bring on 2010!

http://www.ec2009.info

Jim recently took part in the UK National Freefly Championships providing video for Andy Lovemore and Claudio Lettieri, otherwise known as Italian Job. With 4 days of training leading up to the nationals the boys managed to put together a very respectable free round which saw them in second spot for most of the competition. Unfortunately round 5, the second compulsary round, brought a comedy of errors leaving Italian Job in the bronze medal position after the final round. Well done to Lovemore and Claudio for marking up no less than 4 scores of over 7.0, not bad for 4 days training!

Congratulations to Army Euporia for sticking in there and taking the silver medal right on the line and of course Volare for an awsome demonstration of 3-way freeflying.

http://www.skydivingchampionships.com

Outbreak of Bad Lieutenants missed out on the Gold medal by a single point at the UK VFS national championships, held alongside the traditional 4-way, on the 8th of August. The compeition was tight from start to finish and in the end Volare squeezed through to take gold in the last round. Only 2 teams took part, however the standard continues to rise as both achieved a score of 19 points in 35 seconds in round 5 and averages over  the 6 rounds of more than 9 points.

Skydive Hibaldstow reached new heights off efficiency with 47 teams completing the whole competition in a single day!! Thanks for the support during 2009….

http://www.thebadlieutenants.com

Jim Harris, Dan Parker and Matt O’riordan were at Hib for a BPA freefly roadshow over June 13th and 14th. The weather was fantastic and the list of participants can’t have been far short of 20. The boys were worked hard all weekend with most people getting to do 3 or 4 1-on-1s each. Well done to everyone for achieving some great progression!

http://www.skydiving.co.uk

Jim will be at Skydive Oslo, Oestre Aera, for the whole of July to coach and LO. Ever been to Norway before? If not your missing out…  its beautiful!http://www.fallskjerm.no