Canopy Formation Nationals : 12 – 13 June 2010, Skydive Rustenburg
By Corné Vorster, C1727

This weekend gave a whole new meaning to the phrase “No shit, there I was, thought I was gonna die.” I arrived at Skydive Rustenburg on the Friday night and was told by André le Roux that in order for me to attend an official Nationals (as a D licence requirement) I can’t just do the 2-way Junior development event, I have to be in a 4-way Rotation team. Now, me being a CRW “expert” with a sum total of one introductory CRW jump, thought “what could possibly go wrong?”

The next morning, after the briefings and packing lessons, we divided into our 2-way teams. I got paired with Nico Cilliers for the 2-way junior Rotations jumps. He gave me a brief of what needs to be done and off we went. Once we were in the aircraft it became more real and I had my first “what the hell am I doing?” moment of the weekend. To explain my situation, when you first start skydiving your instructors tell you to stay far away from other canopies, but now the basic brief is “you see that parachute? Now fly into it!”

The first jump went as well as it could have even though I was the only one that got docked and didn’t come close to docking Nico. On the third jump I got a real positive dock from Nico that made me realize that parachutes can be real robust in the air. I also had the sudden realization that I am having fun and this isn’t as scary as I initially thought it would be.

The fourth jump of the day was to be my first 4-way Rotation jump. This is about the same time that I got nervous again. The team consisted of Nico, Sharky, Jim Stewart (all CF Cat 3 jumpers), myself and Gavin Chapman on camera. In the aircraft I was on about my fifth “what the hell” moment when it was time to exit. Jim had a bit of a slow pull and ended up being too low, meanwhile Sharky and Nico had built the 2 stack and after a couple of attempts I was able to dock it. Knowing that Jim was low I wasn’t expecting to see another canopy behind me, when suddenly I heard someone scream “Take me!” and before I could wonder who said it I had Gavin’s canopy in my hands. After he docked Sharky started spiralling the stack, now THAT was fun. As we dropped off and landed I was shaking from the adrenaline and finally understood why people do CRW. It wasn’t just scary it is a hell of a lot of fun. That night I had to buy a lot of beers for the many firsts I did. I didn’t care, it was worth it.

On Sunday morning we continued with the 4-way Rotations with Gerrit Lambert replacing Nico. After changing the exit and dirt diving we were ready to go. From the exit everything just went right. We built our 4-stack with me as base and Sharky, Gerrit and Jim docking in that order. When I heard “GO!” I almost froze up. Here goes nothing, I was about to do my first rotation. I popped off the top, little brake, little left, HARD right and jumped onto my front risers. I overshot a bit and tried again and docked Jim. We did 6 Rotations before we ran out of altitude. When we landed chills ran down my spine and I was the happiest man with a canopy.

By the end of the weekend I had done three rounds of 2-way Junior Rotation jumps and 3 rounds of 4-way Rotations. I had an awesome experience and did things with canopies that gives me a whole new respect for parachutes and the “CReW Dogs” that fly them. I now feel like I have graduated as a CReW puppy and have the line burns on my shoes to prove it.

Thanks to all the “Dogs” that had the patience to provide us with such an opportunity to learn and for helping us juniors. Thanks to Skydive Rustenburg for hosting the weekend and for the cold beer and quick aircraft.

Blue skies.

Results – 2010 Canopy Formation Nationals

2 Way Sequential

TEAM	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Rd4	TOTAL	TOTAL AFTER DISCARD	Standing
Boer and Brit	4	4	5	5	18	14	1
Brace yourself	1	0	2	0	3	3	3
Bruce Almighty	1	0	2	1	4	4	2

4 Way Rotation

TEAM	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Rd4	TOTAL	TOTAL AFTER DISCARD	Standing
Sergeant Strongshaft and the Thrusters	10	4	10	10	34	30	1
Jiiiiiiiimmmmmm	0	3	1	0	4	4	2

Team Members:

Event	Team Name	Name 1	Name 2	Name 3	Name 4	Camera
4 way Rotations	Sergeant Strongshaft and the Thrusters	André le Roux	Peter Annandale	Gerrit Lambert	Bruce Askham	Charles Barnhoorn
	Jiiiiiiiimmmmmm	Nico Cilliers	Jim Stewart	Corné Vorster	Peter Annandale	Gavin Chapman
2 way Sequential	Boer and Brit	André le Roux	Gerrit Lambert			Charles Barnhoorn
	Bruce Almighty	Graham Field	Bruce Askham			Jasper Williams
	Brace Yourself	Peter Annandale	Nico Cilliers			Gavin Chapman

There was also a developmental, 2-way junior rotation event which had a 2-fold purpose:
One was to be an entry-level "easy" event that gave a junior a one-on-one experience with a senior.
Two was to prep the juniors for a more challenging 4-way event where appropriate.

The event was judged ground-to-air with the telemeters being very ably manned by Patches Kennard and Annelie Hoeksema.

Unfortunately, there were last minute cancellations for this event but it is hoped to expand interest during the coming months.

Patches Kennard and Annelie Hoeksema doing ground-to-air judging

Sergeant Strongshaft and the Thrusters
Charles Barnhoorn, Bruce Askham, Peter “Sharky” Annandale, Gerrit Lambert, André le Roux

(Photographs: Peter Annandale & Bruce Askham)