BlueSideUp

Report Texel Island Swoop Meet 2005 The Texel Swoop Meet started out promising on Tuesday, july 26. The canopy piloting seminars kicked off with 13 participants, ready to learn from some of the best canopy pilots in the world. The Performance Designs Factory Team Members Ian Bobo, Shannon Pilcher, Francisco Neri and Jonathan Tagle did a fantastic job in teaching, guiding and coaching the participants on all levels of canopy piloting. All participants made jumps which were recorded by the coaches, thus ensuring accurate debriefings and a steep learning curve. On Friday, july 29 it was competition time. A total of 14 canopy pilots registered for the competition. Although with less participants compared to last year’s event, we had a strong international line up with participants from the USA, Brazil, Venezuela and the Netherlands. Amongst them 5 of the top 10 swoopers in the world! At 09.00 there was a general briefing regarding the competition and at 11.00 we would start competing. Unfortunately the weather gods were not on our side during the competition! The night before the meet it had rained so hard that the airport manager had to keep the grass runway closed until 15.00. Very frustrating because we had great swoop weather all day! That Friday afternoon we managed to finish 3 rounds of speed. As mentioned during the briefing this meant that we at least had a valid competition now. Saturday morning we were covered with low clouds. At around 14.00 it cleared but at the same time the winds picked up which prevented us from continuing with the competition. At 17.30 the competition was cancelled for that day and we could all prepare for the scheduled beach jump. We did 3 loads on to the beach and we had over 70 people who joined a great BBQ at Beach Club Paal 19. Despite the weather vibes were good and most people went on partying in the local bars of De Koog. Sunday the weather turned out to be even worse; low clouds and lots of rain. At 11.00 the Meet Director and Chief Judge decided to cancel the meet. At 12.00 we had the prize giving. After a short ceremony most participants and officials left for home on to new adventures and competitions. First prize - € 2750,- went to Shannon Pilcher Second prize – € 1500,- went to Luigi Cani Third prize - € 1000,- went to Ian Bobo Fourth prize - € 750,- went to Jonathan Tagle Fifth prize - € 500,- went to Francisco Neri For scoresheet and pictures check out http://www.bluesideup.nl/laatstenieuws.php Next event: Texel Island Freefly Extravaganza http://www.bluesideup.nl/freefly.php Blue Side Up Texel 0031 222 311323

Organisers: Eli Thompson, Kuri, Marco, Gigi and Wendy Smith. Check out http://www.bluesideup.nl/freefly.php

Check out http://www.bluesideup.nl/swoop.php

Hi, Texel is for sure not just a tandemfactory