28th Aug to 1st Sept - UKS Boogie

This weekend saw the arrival of the last bank holiday of 2009 and the UKS Boogie. Arguably, one of the busiest weekends of the year hundreds of jumpers turned up for coaching, organising, partying and general pirating excesses.

The weather forecast was mixed with sunshine and high winds predicted. Despite this, Hibaldstow was able to send many loads during jumping from Friday to Monday. With the huge lift capacity, no one had to wait long to get on a lift. Some jumpers managed to get 9 jumps in on one day!

Many thanks goes to all the load organisers and coaches including Caroline, Billy, Fi, Kate, Andy, Chris, Alec, Olly, Susan, Pete, Jo, Darren, Jarno and Macca. For many people the highlight of the weekend was the chance to hop out of the back of the Skyvan.

At the end of each day, Blair Stent put together a great boogie video. This provided lots of entertainment showing a combination of action in the sky and comedy moments on the ground. Food was provided by the canteen staff, burger van, a fantastic BBQ with fresh salads (thanks Noel) and meals on the Sunday evening. Stu managed to fill the food marquee with 3 tonnes of sand!

As you can guess the theme this year was Pirates, there was a fantastic fancy dress party on Saturday night with lots of jumpers dressed as pirates, pirate ships, parrots, palm trees, Somalian pirates and even a full length trench coach with DVDs stuck on the inside. Many thanks goes to Mark Flectcher and Ed Morley for the DJing.

     

Speaking to Stu today, we wanted to ask him how he felt the UKS boogie had gone:

"The event in general was excellent. It was a shame that not everyone who had paid their entry fee turned up because of the weather. The lift capacity was more than adequate for the jumpers and no one had long to wait. I heard reports of some people doing 9 jumps in a day. Not bad for a boogie with weather holds!

There were lots of people quite hung-over on the Sunday as expected, so the Irish band we hired worked well as a way of bringing people back into the Boogie atmosphere. It was nice to see people getting involved.

I actually did enjoy my event considering the vast quantity of work involved before and during. I had an idea of how I wanted it to be. Everything went well and it closely matched my expectations. On top of that, we had fantastic coaches and organisers which made my job easier."

---

 

60-way Record Attempts

This weekend saw Simon Cathrine bring together a group of 60 experienced jumpers to break the large formation record at Skydive Hibaldstow. In 2008 the size was set at 50 people. A Skyvan, 2 Dorniers and 2 SMG's were laid on to provide the lift capacity. Never before had a formation of 5 skydiving aircraft taken off from the dropzone and there was a high level of excitement amongst the jumpers.

Load one took off at 09:30am and came within a few grips of completing. Everyone agreed this was an excellent start considering the difficulty of these challenge type events which normally take many jumps to come together. The 2nd load came even closer to completing with the aircraft and jumpers working to get closer to each other.

On the 3rd attempt, the plan came together and all 60 skydivers achieved the planned formation. Congratulations to those who took part, were patient in the lengthy dirt dives and the support staff that made this possible. The 3rd bigway took place early afternoon, so Simon decided to put another 2-point sequential 60-way. Again the bigway completed and this time the team was half-way completed towards the 2nd point before the jumpers had to track away.

So what is next? Plans to beat this record have not been made yet, however there is something to get your teeth in to. Its called 8-way versus freefly and its a speed competition to be held on the 3rd and 4th October. For the first time, both flat flyers and free flyers will compete against each other in the same event. This was recently trialled in the USA and we thought it would be a great idea to bring this to the UK.

Simon Cathrine and Dan Parker are working on the rules and competition structure as we speak. More information will be released here soon. If you are interesting in forming an 8-way speed team in either FS or freefly, please contact the dropzone.

---

8way,Artistics, CF and Speed reporting this weekend

Just a reminder that the reporting and live scores are available from www.skydivingchampionships.com and not from here. Fingers crossed for some good weather and a great competition.

Photos will be gathered together and uploaded to this website next week.

---

New Nationals website

As part of our continual improvements to the Nationals coverage, we have decided to release a new website, www.skydivingchampionships.com. Its designed to be bright, colourful, informative, but simple.

The website works around a simple premise of expanding and contracting sections each holding useful information such as scores, useful information, news, entry forms, etc.

---

Weekend of the 18th to the 19th July 2009.

The pre nationals training is beginning to heat up, with more and more teams making use of the Dornier aircraft each week. The drop zone is open all of next week, and several teams including Satori are making use of that!

The event for the weekend was the Funshine Boogie, with tickets at a reduced rate plenty of free flyers turned up. Dan Parker and James Davies were both coaching free flyers of all levels, improving people on a range of free fly skills.

 

A BBQ and the Bar made for a good evening, with kebabs and beer, surely a students natural choice. Part of the evenings entertainment involved a lot of wood, in the form of a giant Jenga style game. Surprisingly the stack got nearly half as high again, and there was speculation as to what would happen if someone managed to make it reach the ceiling.

 

 

 

 

Also, Rez got her birthday bumps on the Saturday night. Photo below.

 

Remember, the drop zone is open all week for the 20th to the 24th July, so it's a perfect chance for team training.

Finally, congratulations to Chris Brook, for his 1000th jump and to Dave Butterell for his 2000th jump.

---

Weekend of the 4th to the 5th July 2009.

Free fly Scrabbles was the event for the weekend, and this one was by far the most popular this year so far. The event was led by Dan Parker and James Davies, (Photo Below) and plenty of people turned up.

Each competitor, jumped with several other jumpers in their category (head up or head down) jumpers were scored on their individual performance on the jump, and jumps tallied up giving eventual winners. Photo below shows jumpers Weed and Kirsten, photographed by Chris Brook.

Winning the head up only category, with a collective score of 39, Mark Owen. Moving up close behind with a score of 35 was Amelia and in third place was Rachel with a score of 32.

The Head down group was won by James Davies and Daniel Parker with a score of 45, but they decided to allow it pass, with Jay Southall winning with 41 points. Paul Cooper picked up second place with 6 points, and Will Blackie took third place with 5.

 

 

 

 

Finally, congratulations to Ryan May for getting his 100th Jump. Gary Crisp that got his WS1&2 (Wingsuit) Lisa Lister celebrated her 200th jump, and Dave Curtain got his 2000th jump.

---

Weekend of the 27th to the 28th June 2009.

The weekend of the 28way! 5 teams turned up for the event, including the Irish team 'FUNnel Rats'. Although the air was warm, and the skies were bright, a layer of haze sat at above Hib for most of the weekend. Not letting the initial lack of jumping dampen their spirits the skydivers found several other things to do. Sumo Wrestling for one! Photo below By John Williamson.

The competition got under way with the Dornier as the lead aircraft and the two SMG Finist as tail planes. Below: Photo of Hibnosis by John Williamson

As well as the 28way competition, there was also a slightly more unusual kit being jumped. A Paradactyl. Photo By John Williamson.

Winners of the 28Way competition were Chasing Tails with 7 points, coming in close behind were Hibnosis with 6 points. Sadly due to the loitering haze during the weekend, the event was judged on only two rounds.

Below: Photo of the 28 way FS winners "Chasing Tails"

Finally congratulations to Steve Murphy who announced his engagement to Julie and to Simon Brentford who got his Wingsuit coaches rating. Ask to see his sticker, and have a look at his photo, apparently it's quite amusing.

Remember that next weekend is the Free Fly Scrabbles, run by James Davies, plus the usual FS coaching and load organising!

---

Weekend of the 20th to the 21st June 2009.

The weekend of the UKSL 4FS. A little too much cloud at the start of the weekend, but things eventually brightened up, and the competition got into full swing. A total of 16 teams turned out, and were in closely skilled groups, meaning that the competition was not only fair, but a close call. It made it all the more fun for all involved.

The Bad Lieutenants were also gracing the skies with their presence, led by Lt Davies and Private Parker. They also have a special Funshine Boogie event planned for the 18th-19th July, with a strict limit of 12 places. Not only will people be coached by some of the best flyers in the world, but you get priority manifesting too! Contact the office to book your place.

Above: Random Vengeance, winners of the AA class. Photo by John Williamson

Below: Phobia, Winners of the AAA class. Photo by Noel Purcell.

Winners of the AAA class were; Phobia, taking 1st place with 75pts, Fusion in second with 70 pts and Vision in 3rd place with 67 pts. Just one point behind were Fend For Yourself, and one point behind them Kaizen with 65. A really close contest for medals in the top class.

Winners of the AA class were Random Vengeance scoring 59pts, Strangers having scored 58 pts got second place, yet another fierce battle for top position.

The A class was won by Unagi with 49 pts, Slot Machines took silver with 35 pts and 5D's got third place with 26 pts.

In the Rookie class, Nimeton got 1st place with 29 pts, Karma followed up in second place with 22 pts, and RAFSPA Typhoon with 9pts took third place.

Not only has the UKSL 4FS taken place, but a lot of tandems jumping for the Help the heroes charity have been to Hibaldstow and jumped for the cause. On top of that, there are a lot of congratulations below!

Starting with FF1 and FS1s, congratulations go to Mick Nunn Blythe Davies and Mike Chui for their FS1s, Aidan Mittra, Lee Armstrong and Bruce Bryan for their FF1s. In ascending numerical order, Neil Whitehead and Rachel Gentle got their 100th jumps, Debbie Williams got her 200th jump, Mike McNulty for his 300th jump, Clara Melia for her 500th Jump, Brian Cumming for his 700th jump, Ane Brentford for her 800th jump, Liz Class for her 1000th jump and special congratulations to Sally Uren for getting her 3000th jump. It was pointed out that for her 3000th jump, she did something special, another AFF jump!

---

Weekend of the 13th to the 14th June 2009.

A warm and windless weekend, and the swoopers loved it. A busy weekend once again, this time with POPS, an FF Road show, Separate FF Coaching, A lot of FS coaching, Birdman flying, Team Training, and the CF Grand Prix. On top of that, charity tandems and all of the experienced jumpers. Needless to say, the Dornier was in full use, and the Finist picked up some of the extra pace. Below: Fusion launching a very tight exit!

With the aircraft dropping off several CRW jumpers, the loads became even lighter, and the Dornier, which can happily reach altitude in around 12 minutes shot up even faster with the ever lighter loads!

The POPS enjoyed their accuracy event called "Hit and Rock", where they landed on an accuracy target, dropped their kit and jumped into a rocking chair. Enjoyed by all, including the spectators, and even some younger jumpers who found the comfort of the relaxing rocking chair. They are sure to join the POPS club once they reach 40! Photo Below: POPS boarding the Dornier.

The FF Road show went down well, with quite a number of people getting further coaching. Not surprising really, as the coaches were some of the best free flyers in the world! Every one that signed up benefited significantly, from getting FF1s to improving their skills in the air, and of course having a lot of fun doing so.

Next events are; 4 Way FS UKSL this weekend (20th and 21st) , 28 Way Comp 27th & 28th June.

Finally, congratulations go to Aidan Mitra and Bruce Bryan for their FF1s, and Blyth Davies for his FS1. Also to Mike McNulty for his 300th Jump.

---

Weekend of the 30th to the 31st of May 2009.

By far, the warmest and most welcomed weekend of the year so far. With plenty of tandems, experienced and students jumping there was plenty going on. On top of this, those that had been participating on Brian Vachers canopy course were lucky enough to spend lots of time under canopy after doing hop n pops in the cooler air at 7,000ft.

The Al Kahir foundation brought down some tandems all the way from Glasgow to jump with a female instructor, so Karen Bain was kept busy for most of Sunday.

Kaizen and Vision were still hard at their team training regime, and Kaizen managed to do 75 jumps through the week (not including Tue & Wed) and even finished just after lunch on some days!

Don't forget that the next week is the Skydive Choreography Event, and the weekend after is the CF Grand Prix, POPs meet and the FF coaching Roadshow! So quite literally over the next two weekends, anyone interested in the main disciplines of Skydiving, will have something to look forward too!

---

Weekend of the 23rd May to the 25th May 2009.

The warmth of summer was welcomed by the skydivers at Hibaldstow this weekend. Kaizen and Vision were once again making full use of the back to back Dornier lifts. A mass of firsts and achievements throughout the weekend was not surprising seeing as a total of 983 descents were made!

Tandem instructor Shane Pennington (aka 'Baldrick') did his first fun jump in around 2 and a half years. Photo of his landing below.

 

Derrick Kent was loading organising some 10 way FS for a little fun for all. Dan Brown, Tim Cushnie and Louise Shaw all got their AFF Level 8 done, and with only a few consol jumps left to go, they will likely have their A certificates next weekend.

Jump tickets for this week are just £16, but they have to be purchased and used this week. Also the Safe Flight school will be running starting on Friday, so if you want in on the canopy course, contact the office for one of the last places available!

Finally congratulations to Pippin Brennan, John Gaytor, Tatiana Yusupova, Tim Hunt, Lisa Stephenson and Kate French who all got their A Certificates.

Congratulations also go to Lisa Stephenson for her 50th jump, Kaz Simpson for her 100th jump, Rai Ahmed for reaching the 800 jump mark, and Caroline Guest for breaking that four digit barrier for 1000 jumps. On top of these people Tom Ruttle got his first hour in freefall, and Dave Grimes got his FS1. Special congratulations to George Glass who through determination has reached AFF Level 7.

---

Weekend of the 9th to the 10th May 2009.

With the week before having exceptionally strong winds across the UK, opportunities for jumping were limited. Yet most afternoons, the winds dropped to almost nothing and the skies remained clear, making us hopeful for the weekend ahead. Our hopes were confirmed, as the winds allowed even the AFF and RAPS students to jump throughout the weekend, and jumpers interested in swooping to have plenty of fun.

There was a Fly-By with a Spitfire for the RAF Hibaldstow & Kirton-in-Lindsey Old Comrades Reunion. One of our Pilots Chris Rika, who loves his aircraft, has yet to see one of these fly-by at Hibaldstow as he is always busy elsewhere, we did try and leave him a voicemail message with the aircraft engine noise on it.

 

Simon Cathrine and Henry Chow were running some Pre-Competition training programmes. Simon ran some seminars and did a little team coaching, whilst Henry concentrated on training teams. Several teams, including 'Karma', '5D's' and 'Uvavu' took advantage of this. With 5D's making their first jump of their team career.

Finally, congratulations to Kate French for obtaining an A Licence, and to Derrick Kent for getting 1800jumps.

---

Weekend of the 2nd to the 3rd May 2009.

Skydive Hibaldstow was open all week as part of the BPA instructors course, for both AFF and Tandem courses. Two of our own skydivers Jo Burns and Susan Farquah were on the AFF course, and both of them passed and got their AFF Instructors rating. Photos below. Well done girls!

 

Above left: Susan Farquah. Above Right: Jo Burns

The weekend, although wet at times did provide plenty of breaks to get lifts up in the air. Teams including Fusion were able to do back to back training on a fast Dornier turn around, yet also managed to find time to coach others during their lunch break.

The free flyers were back, launching larger formations, and doing a little coaching on the side. So if you want FF coaching, just ask the manifester! there's plenty of people around to help you.

The Warwick static line course all got jumped on the Saturday, along a few that did tandems too! Next year "The Great Warwick Jump" will hopefully have 400-500 people jumping over the weekend, and a massive amount of money raised for charity too!

Finally: Congratulations to; Tom Ruttle for his FS1, Leanne James for her CF1, James Grayson and Peter Mather for getting their A Licenses.

---

Progression Days