posted Jun 10th, 2008 - It was a disastrous weekend for Formation Skydiving competition in France, as IPC Delegate and First Vice President Gillian Winter explained after the weather damage was complete Sunday evening: "Not one plane even took off..."

Clément Martin-Saint-Léon, member of the French national 8-way team, remembered only one event of the Coupe de France that was completely weathered out before. It was the Formation Skydiving competition of 1994 in Bergerac.

42 teams had already signed up to compete in 4-way at the first Coupe de France event of 2008, along with ten 8-way teams. The field included the best of the best that France has to offer: all national A- and B-Team lineups of the French association in 4-way and 8-way.

The NSL News preview of the event on 27 May 2008 explained why the event was very important. It was the official qualification event for the two female lineups of Deep Blue and White and Sea. It was also supposed to be the final test for the national 4-way team to compete in 4-way and 8-way at the same event, before Guillaume Bernier, Mathieu Bernier, Julien Degen, and Jeremie Rollet will face the same situation at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving in August.

All 52 teams waited for three days in Brienne-Le-Chateau and had to leave without making one jump.

The first Coupe de France 2008 competition was also supposed to be another test for the French judging system. FAI Judge Tone Bergan was visiting from Norway for a last evaluation before the World Meet. Ironically, the weather in Norway was perfect, as Tone Bergan heard from her husband Pal while she was in France: 30° Celsius in Oslo and brilliant sunshine.

Tone Bergan obviously had more than enough time in Brienne to test the equipment comprehensively, and she could approve its use at the World Meet. The French judging system will now be used for the first time at an international competition. It has already been used for more than a year in France and was also the official judging system at the German Nationals 2007.

The Whites and the Blues, as national coach Jerome David calls his two female lineups, will still have to go through the qualification for the World Meet. The new showdown will take place at the second meet of the Coupe de France 2008, which is scheduled for the July 6 weekend in Vannes.

Both teams have three more weeks to do whatever it still takes to win the qualification. Deep Blue was significantly ahead of White and Sea at the beginning of the year. It could be helpful for the Whites to get some additional time for training before the official qualification event. Either the Whites or the Blues then have five weeks to get ready for the World Meet.

The French national 8-way team will most likely not compete in Vannes. The three days without any jumping did not help the training plan very much. The team will probably only do competition draws during the last two training camps before the World Meet.

However, the two 4-way lineups of the 8-way team, France Maubeuge and Aerokart Mamba Pamiers, used the down-time in Brienne last weekend to make new plans. They will make up for the missed meet with a new French Holiday at the USPA Nationals 2008 in October.