The PD Blog

USPA Nationals 2011 Wrap Up

As the sun set in the Eloy desert this past Saturday, it marked the end of an amazing 2011 USPA Nationals hosted by Skydive Arizona, with just over 500 competitors participating in 19 various disciplines, and countless staff and volunteers working in the shadows to make it all happen. And let's not forget out our beloved judges and judging panel who worked around the clock to keep the scores current and the intensity of the competiton going.

For those wondering what it takes to host a USPA Nationals, just think about the 114 competition and 17 training loads that Skydive Arizona flew on the first day of the Formation Skydiving Competition.

If you've ever been to a USPA Nationals, the one thing you will see is that the average teams and competitors are not the world class, 20+ average teams, they are the day-to-day jumpers who have a passion and drive for competition. It's so rewarding seeing the up-and-coming teams fighting it out in the Intermediate divisions, the newbies to nationals going all out and having fun while fostering their competitive nature and the life long friendships that are built.

What's a Nationals without a jump off ...

In the 4-Way Advanced meet, there was a tie after 10 rounds for 2nd place between Start 4 from OH and Fallout from PA, with Start 4 coming out on top and taking the Silver, Fallout settling for the Bronze. 4-Way Intermediate saw the same deal in round 10, however this was a tie for Gold. Teams T-Minus:01 & Dallas Khaos XP  went into the jump-off with T-Minus:01 coming out on top winning Gold, 1 point ahead of Dallas Khaos XP who took silver.

Worth throwing some names around ...

Performance Designs has long supported teams and individuals both in and out of the competitive environment, and it would be rude not to show some love and thanks to those who have excelled at the USPA Nationals 2011.

Arizona Airspeed - 4-Way Open Gold Medal

Golden Knights Gold - 4-Way Open Silver Medal

Perris Fury - 4-Way Open Bronze Medal

SDC Rhythm XP - 4-Way Open, 4th Place

XP4 - 4-Way Open, 5th Place

Golden Knights F4 - 4-Way Open Womens, 1st Place

SDC Furies XP - 4-Way Open, 12th Place

Golden Knights - 8-Way Open, Gold Medal

Arizona Airspeed - 8-Way Open, Silver Medal

XP - 8-Way Open, Bronze Medal

Amphibious Attack Tigers - 8-Way Open, 5th place

One Knight Standard - 8-Way Open, 7th Place

Golden Knights - 10-Way, Gold Medal

Arizona Airspeed - 10-Way, Silver Medal

*@#!? - 10-Way, Bronze Medal

GKXP - 16-Way, Gold Medal

Arizona Airspeed - 16-Way, Silver Medal

Clean Air - CF Sequential, Gold Medal

Clean Air - CF Rotation, Gold Medal

Scarecrow - Freefly Open, Bronze Medal

Skydive Ricks - Classic Accuracy Team, Gold Medal

Cheryl Stearns - Classic Accuracy Female, Gold Medal 

James Hayhurst - Classic Accuracy Mens, Gold Medal

Jimmy Drummond - Classic Accuracy Mens, Silver Medal

Mark Jones- Classic Accuracy Mens, Bronze Medal

Marius Ivascu - Classic Accuracy Mens, 4th Place

Dennis Murphy - Classic Accuracy Mens, 5th Place

Cheryl Stearns - Style Female, Gold Medal

James Hayhurst - Style Male, Gold Medal

Marty Jones - Style Male, Silver Medal

Jimmy Drummond - Style Male, Bronze Medal

Way to represent ...

This years USPA Nationals marked an "on year" where the USPA selects teams and individuals to represent the US at the next World Meet, being hosted by Skydive Dubai, December 2012 in the UAE. These teams and individuals will go head-to-head against the world's best to try and bring back Gold, Silver or Bronze from the world stage. Performance Designs would like to congratulate everyone on their outstanding performance, and wish them the best of luck in this years training and the up coming World Meet.

Men's Style and Accuracy Team*

• Mark Jones
• Marius Ivascu
• William Beaudreau
• Jimmy Drummond
• James Hayhurst
• Dennis Murphy – Alternate

 Women's Style and Accuracy Team*

• Elisa Tennyson
• Mery Rose
• Cheryl Stearns

 VFS Team - SDC Standard XP*

• Jason Peters
• Matt Nelson
• Mickey Nuttall
• Will Pesek
• Dalton Samuelson
• Marci Ross - Alternate

 Men’s FS 4-way Team - Arizona Airspeed*

• Thomas Hughes - Captain
• Mark Kirkby
• Joshua Hall
• Niklas Hemin
• William Schmitz
• Brian Johnson - Alternate

 Women’s FS 4-way Team - Golden Knights – GKF4*

• Angela Nichols - Captain
• Laura Dickmeyer
• Dannielle Woosley
• Jennifer Schaben
• Scott Janise

 FS 8-way Team - Golden Knights*

• Brian Krause - Captain
• Kurt Isenbarger
• Matthew Davidson
• Sean Sweeney
• Justin Blewitt
• Joshua Coleman
• Michael LaRoche
• Lawrence Miller
• Andrew Starr
• Angela Nichols - Alternate

 CF 4-way Rotation Team - Elsinore Too Wrapped Up*

• Eric Gallan - Captain
• Sean Jones
• Taylor Cole
• Will Kitto
• Glen Fafard
• Bart Stonestreet – Alternate

 CF 4-way Sequential Team - Clean Air*

• Michael Paolin – Captain
• Mark Gregory
• Brian Pangburn
• Chris Gay
• Eli Godwin
• Yuliya Korkh - Alternate

 CF 2-way Sequential Team - Clean Air*

• Chris Gay – Captain
• Brian Pangburn
• Eli Godwin
• Yuliya Korkh - Alternate

 Freestyle Team - Dragons*

• Tiffany Lamb – Captain
• Travis Mills – Video

 Freefly Team - NorCal Alliance*

• Anthony Landgren – Captain
• Aaron Johnson
• Michael Knight – Video

* Pending approval by the USPA Competition Committee

Worth 1000 words ...

Check out the PD Facebook page for photos from the USPA Nationals:

Nationals Album 1

Nationals Album 2

Podium Photos

Photos by PD and Niklas Daniel

Keeping it in the family ...

This year saw PD staff members competing at the USPA Nationals, and we even got a few medals for some bragging rights.

• Amanda Mandrafino (Engineering) - Bronze Medal in Freestyle
• Gilles Dutrisac (Engineering) - Silver Medal in 4-Way Advanced
• Albert Berchtold (Dealer Relations) - Silver Medal in 4-Way Advanced & 5th in ProAm 2-Way Sequential CF
• Alex Bittner (Marketing) - 5th Place in Freestyle
• Karl Meyer (Marketing) - 4-Way Advanced (Lost to a team called Monkey Business)

PD Sponsored Jumper Laszlo Andacs, spent a few days at Skydive Arizona and took some amazing photos, check them out here: www.laszloimage.com

Competition Velocity now available with Orange Vectran lines

Attention Swoopers!!! We're happy to announce that Orange Vectran will be available in 300 and 500 sizes for the Competition Velocity, both utilizing 750 for the lower steering lines(LST).

Through our rigorous research and development process we have found that this new line; 1) Yields a longer line life than HMA line previously used as the default line on this product, 2) Is smaller in size/diameter than comparable sized HMA, 3) Is more resistant to abrasion and maintains its strength better than comparable sized HMA.

Any new Competition Velocities (VC's) ordered or which are currently in production will be outfitted with this new line. This will also become the primary line type for VC's placed into stock. We currently have 79, 84, 90, & 96 sizes scheduled to make it to the stock shelves with this new line in November, so if your interested, get in touch with your favorite PD dealer to order yours soon!

Relines with 300 Orange Vectran will be available through PD's maintenance department in Deland, or European Center in Belgium. Those two locations have 300 Orange Vectran linesets being built this week and next to meet the upcoming demand for relines from the competitive CP community preparing for the Dubai Championship meet which begins at the end of November. 500 Orange Vectran relines may be done in either of the above mentioned facilities or may be ordered as field replaceable line kits to be installed by a qualified rigger.

More Good News! The price for the 300 & 500 Orange Vectran relines will be the same as the current 300HMA relines. That means your lines should last a bit longer, and won't cost you any more pocket change.

Field replaceable line kits for the 500 Orange Vectran are available and are listed on the updated Parts & Maintenance Price List.

Official Press Release.

Happy Learning with Axis Flight School!

For those of you in the US or abroad who read USPA's Parachutist magazine, be sure to check out Page 69.  The next in a series from Axis Flight school teaching the foundations of flight, this months article discusses the toggle stall.  You can also check out the article at Parachutist online.  Happy Learning!!!

 

ToraTora flying their Velocities

This video pretty much speaks for itself....

Mountain Velocity

Whats going on at PIA 2011

We know you been waiting to see what PD has been up to at PIA 2011. This year we headed out to Reno with something new and something orange, the PD booth was filled with education videos, Q&A and the newly launched PD Zero Accuracy Canopy along with the PD Optimum Reserve.

VASST has been hitting up all the vendors at PIA 2011 and getting the scoop on what is new, interesting and fun. Here is the interview they did with PD Vice President John Le Blanc 

 

   

 

More VASST video can be seen here

Katana over Arizona

Photographer Niklas Daniel captured this shot of Brianne Thompson under her KA 97 over Eloy, AZ.

The first monthly winner for PD's Endless Summer Promotion has been chosen!

 
 
We've just sent out the email letting our first winner of the PD Endless Summer Promotion know that they just won 1 HOUR of tunnel time at SkyVenture Colorado AND a $100 gift certificate to the PD Online Gear Store!

How did this lucky skydiver win?  The winner is someone that purchased a new PD canopy on or after January 5th, 2011, then registered at MyPD Online, filled out an Endless Summer Promotion Entry form and set the form to and a copy of thier sales receipt to PD.  That's it!  PD is going to choose one lucky winner each month for the first six months of the year, giving away great prizes along the way.  One grand prize winner will even get a CHECK BACK for the purchase price of thier canopy!

To learn more about the promotion, visit our website at www.performancedesigns.com and click on the Endless Summer Promotion link.

Who is going to win the next hour of free tunnel time?  Will it be you? 

PD ZERO Demo Day at the Dubai Championships 2011

  

 

PRESS RELEASE

1^st December 2010 

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Performance Designs, Inc.

support@performancedesigns.com

Tel:  +1 386-738-2224

Fax: +1 386-734-8297

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Performance Designs ZERO Demo Day*

Dubai Championships/Gulf Cup, 16^th January 2011

 

Deland, FL., 1st December 2010

 

Performance Designs (PD), will be attending the 2^nd Annual Dubai Championships/Gulf Cup - 5^th January to 17^th January 2011, during this time representatives of Performance Designs will be on site to document the event and be available to current and perspective clients who have queries related to the company, and its products and services.

 

As part of this initiative Performance Designs will be hosting a product demonstration day for the recently released accuracy canopy, the PD ZERO, on the 16^th January at Skydive Dubai, (weather delays permitting). We would like to invite all competitors, team captains, heads of delegation and interested parties (jumpers) to come out and evaluate the PD ZERO. We will have a full selection of sizes available to demo/evaluate (205, 225, 235, 245, 255, 265, 275, 285, 295, 305). Our staff will be present on-site to explain the details of its construction, answer any questions you may have, and allow you to test jump the canopy in your appropriate size. Jimmy Hayhurst and Cheryl Sterns from the US National Accuracy Team will also be available for discussions on the PD ZERO performance and flight characteristics during the PD ZERO Demo Day*. http://www.thepdblog.com/Dubai_PD%20Zero%20demo%20day%20press%20release%202011.pdf

For more information on the PD Zero, please visit:

www.performancedesigns.com/zero.asp

We look forward to having you attend this event, please feel free to contact us if you have any specific queries related to this event.

Sincerely

Performance Designs Inc

support@performancedesigns.com

Tel:  +1 386-738-2224

Fax: +1 386-734-8297

* All the PD ZERO demo canopies will be supplied on risers, however you will need to use your own harness container, deployment bag and PC

 

USA CF Team Clean Air

If your interested in taking up CF, or just want to bang end cells with someone, we can't think of a better group of people to learn from.  Brian Pangburn, Chris Gay, Mark Gregory, Mike Paolin, Liz Godwin, and Pam Pangburn have been introducing skydivers young and old to Canopy Formation(CF) skydiving for many years. Here's a video bit of info from Brian about the team and the disclipline from their win at the World meet in Tuege.  The team recently returned from the 2010 World Meet in Russia where they again won Gold in the 2 way sequential event AND in the 4-way sequential event flying their CF Storms.

 

PD Winter Tour Stops

Your season may be winding down up north….but our season down here in Florida is just beginning!  Old Man Winter may be bringing your local northern DZ snow and freezing temperatures, but the winter season is the boogie season down here where the oranges grow and the alligators out number the local residents.

Don’t store away your gear just yet…. there are plenty of exciting boogies down here in Florida this winter with turbine aircraft, after hours parties and most importantly (from our perspective!) plenty of Performance Designs canopies for you to demo during the events.  The PD Tour is in full swing this winter, and not just here in Florida, we are attending events across the southern U.S. states from December 2010 through March 2011 to give winter boogie attendees the chance to fly the latest and greatest from our product line.  Have you seen the new 7 cell Storm or the new low bulk 9 cell Pulse out there in the field yet?  Now’s your chance to not only see these canopies and ask questions about them, but fly them too.  Have you flown the Optimum reserve yet?  It opens and flies so great that people actually want to jump it as their main!  The entire PD product line will be available at our winter tour stop events.  Whether you want to demo a Sabre 2 or a Velocity, we’ve got you covered.

Click here for the US Tour Calendar. 

A sample of the US events we are planning to attend this winter season are:

12/16/10 - 12/21/10
The Annual Christmas Boogie at ZHills

12/26/10 - 1/1/11
Skydive Sebastian’s Annual Invasion 2010-2011

12/27/10 - 1/3/11
Skydive Arizona’s Holiday Boogie

12/28/10 – 1/1/11
Collegiate National Skydiving Championships at Skydive Arizona

1/20/11 – 1/23/11
The Great White North Boogie at ZHills

1/27/11 – 1/30/11
The Evereglades Boogie at Air Adventures Clewiston

If you don’t get what you want for the holidays, stop by the Performance Designs demo canopy tent at one of our events.  Even if it’s only for the day, at least you can pretend you got what you wanted for the holidays by flying your favorite PD canopy at your boogie.