Monday, 8 September

0800

The clouds that rolled in late yesterday afternoon turned into rain that lasted well into the evening. This morning there's lots of fog and low clouds, but leaving the hotel I could see the sun trying to fight it's way through.

I spoke with Kirk Verner briefly last night and he says Mark Kirkby, what who broke his nose yesterday, is fine. He'll be "100% ... if not better" today. Broken nose through a helmet ... that must have been some kind of collision! And it happened twice in the skydive, at the same point in the page. The first time, not so hard. The second time, which was out of working time, bam. I'd like to see that video!

Not really a controversy (yet), but there was one item of discussion that dragged on a bit after the jumping yesterday. Apparently the Norwegian 8-Way team had two different scores show up on "DZTV" when their first round was judged. The first score was a 15, the second a 13. Their head of delegation came to me last night and asked me how that was possible; he thought there was either an error in OmniSkore, or the judges did not follow proper procedures.

The "controversy" (if there is one) centers around how the score's status is displayed on "DZTV". You may recall there are two stages: the first, immediately after the judges confirm their scores individually, shows the score with the word "Unofficial" in bright red underneath. This screen may appear two or three times if the event judge sends the results back to the judges for reconfirmation or perhaps to watch (retime/replay) the skydive a second or third time. When the judges have confirmed and the "Unofficial" results are displayed (on "DZTV"), the event judge saves the score with a command on her OmniSkore interface software. Then, and only then, does the scoring processor change the score's display to show the word "Registered" (in green) instead of "Unofficial". (Sorry, I know this is boring stuff, but hey, it's cloudy outside!)

My point to the head of the Norwegian delegation was, hey, It doesn't even matter if it was a "Green 15" (which I still don't think was the case). For all the history of OmniSkore I've told competitors (as have many chief judges) that what you see on DZTV is not official. It really means nothing. It's strictly an informational convenience for the competitors and spectators. The only thing that means anything is the piece of paper with "Score Sheet" at the top and the chief judge's signature on the bottom, and positively nothing else.

I'm tempted to change the DZTV screen's messages to "this might be your score" and :"this still might be your score"!

1030

They've resumed CF rotation but that's all ... correction! make that CF sequential. France opens round 1 with an 8 ... and FS 8-Way is resuming as well. I'll try to get the day's schedule posted here soon. I now have a monitor in here where I can see one of the DZTV feeds -- UK's 8-Way just did a nice jump, 18 in round 3, what looks like a rather fast round.

Larry Hill arrived last night, and just wandered in to report that upon landing after round 3, Mark (Kirkbrokennoseby) said it was "the best 8-way jump I've ever done."

And now they're judging USA round 3 ... very nice, one slowly built Crank ... a 24 on the preliminary view ... the judges are watching it again ... a clean 24. That last point is the first part of a Star - Star, so if Russia or France is going to get a 25, they're going to have to really smoke the first 24.

Today's posted schedule is:

Until 1pm:

• FS 8-Way

• Freefly & Skysurf

After lunch:

• FS 4-Way (Open & Female)

• Freestyle Male & Female

Russia FS 8-Way also posts a 24 in Round 3, and France a 21. I missed the first part of France's skydive, but I heard someone say they were a little slow at the start.

... looking at the detailed (what OmniSkore calls "timelined") score sheets, France clearly had some sort of problem with their exit. The U.S. and Russia jumps are practically identical: first point at about 4 seconds (maybe a tad less), end of the first page at just under 15 seconds. France's first point is at just over 7 seconds, end of the first page at17 seconds, but their pace thereafter is about the same as the other two teams.

The FS judges are taking a break after 8-Way round 3...

1320

I said it before, I'll say it again ... I think those top Freefly competitors have made a pact with the devil. Or whoever enforces the laws of physics. Unbelievable air skills. Glancing at round 1's just-completed scores, Team USA's Rook Nelson, Mike Swanson and videographer Jon Devore have the early lead with 8.3. Go guys!!!

1445

While I was updating the Godfrog (the OmniWare used for speed events) browser to export standings in HTML format, the judges snuck in the entire first round of  FS 4-Way Female. France, Italy, Norway and U.K. all tied with 11, followed by Belgium, U.S. and Germany with 9, and Finland with 7. The U.S. ladies busted the sixth point, but the Norwegians and the Brits also had busts in their jumps.

And 4-Way open is now commencing round 2 ... and I just lost my monitor and can no longer see what's going on ...

1600

Round 2 FS Female is halfway done, as is round 2 Open. Gonna sneak out and watch the last of them on the big screens ...

... and France 4-Way pulls ahead of the USA with a 2-point margin in round 2, a 26 to USA's 24, while the NorLadies up their lead with an impressive 20 (that skydive has Diamond-Bunyip in it!). Time to check up on the Artistic scores ...

1630

We are on a weather hold...

In Freefly, the U.S. team took a bit of hit in round 2 with five other teams outscoring them at 6.5.

1800

The weather hold was short, we're in round 3 of  4-way FS.

We're having challenges getting photos in general ... the compact flash card reader we bought doesn't work worth a darn, the pictures keep appearing and disappearing and reappearing. Can someone e-mail me a new one please???

A new feature for our WPC coverage: a one-glance leader board! Enjoy!

1930

A bottle of 2000 Chateau Maucaillaud Bordeaux Superieur rests its weary head in the trash can. The DZ turns quiet and T1 gets the gittar out ... see ya tomorrow!

Ted Wagner, Chief Engineer | Tim Wagner, Webmaster