Archive | December, 2009

Jay Moledzki Takes the Gold

Jay celebrates with team mates Ian, Shannon and Jessica

After the completion of nine rounds Jay Moledzki from the PD Factory team stood atop 66 competitors as the winner of the 2009 World Cup in Canopy Piloting. The final round of accuracy was completed on Sunday morning in a downwind. The full results can be found here on the events official website.

There were also two new world records set yesterday afternoon. The first was in the speed event set by Greg Windmiller of the US Golden Kinghts/USA with a time of 2.093 seconds. The second was in distance set by Nicolas Batsch of the USA with a distance of 181.70 meters.

Posted with permission from Performance Designs, Inc.
Photo courtesy of Performance Designs, Inc.

Wind Holds at World Cup Leave Time For Mischief

The Canopy Piloting World Cup started in South Africa on Wednesday and is due to conclude on Sunday. So far 2 rounds of Speed have been completed and, with the exception of 4 re-jumps, 2 rounds of Distance have also been completed. This included Canadian competitor and PD Factory Team member Jay ‘Sexy Pony Tail’ Moledzki smashing the World Record with an impressive 175.92m on round 2 on his Comp Velo 79. This currently leaves him in first position with almost a 40 point lead ahead of some strong competition. The 5,000′ elevation and changing wind conditions have resulted in a large number of zero scores.

For skydivers, weather holds can be the most dangerous time, particularly at a Canopy Piloting World Cup. For some, there was time to kill, and the Australian delegation challenged some of the other nations to an improvised game of indoor (well, in-tent) cricket. Others took the time to get some much needed rest, particularly following the early starts we’ve been having with 0530 take-offs. Here are a few pictures of competitors resting while they wait for the winds to drop.

World Records in the Making – Zoom Zoom

After a bit of a rough start with challenging conditions and a series of serious injuries, it seems that the World Cup of Canopy Piloting at Johannesburg Skydiving Club is finally on a good roll.

British competitor Alastair Macartney commented in his Facebook status update this morning that Brian Vacher (UK competitor and a member of the PD Factory Team) had just set a National Distance Record – and then as a side note mentioned that Jay Moledzki (Canadian competitor and also a well known member of the PD Factory Team) had gone on to set a new Distance World Record – 175.92 meters (still unofficial, pending FAI approval).
There are still plenty of competition rounds left to go so we might still see some exciting news from JSC.
For those of you that don’t care too much about Canopy Piloting, competition or world records – but do enjoy mischief and prankstery (yup, new word, I just invented it), we got something good coming. Just waiting on Prankster in Chief to find himself a good solid internet connection to transmit the pixels our way – stay tuned!

Help an Injured Skydiver

Photo courtesy of Skydive Midwest

Giedrius “G” Kasiulynas was injured during a training jump at the World Cup in South Africa and is currently in critical condition. Although he is on staff at Skydive Midwest in Wisconsin, his family is in Lithuania, where he is originally from. They need to get to South Africa to make medical decisions about G’s life, so an account has been set up to help them make the trip.

Julie from Skydive Midwest sent us this information this morning:

The info for his sister; Inga’s PayPal account, for donations: gaizauskiene.inga@gmail.com

LT197044060003600396

Her other info:

Inga Gaizauskiene
AB SEB bankas
Gedimino pr. 12, LT-01103 Vilnius
SWIFT Kodos CBVILZX

Happy Birthday, Kolla!

Today is a big day for our favorite little Icelandic magazine mogul, Kolbrun Kolbeinsdottir! You may know her simply as Kolla, lover of Coca-Cola, crusher of dreams, swimmer, runner, cyclist, feared giver of unsolicited advice—or just friend. However you know her, some number of years ago at this exact moment (8 a.m. GMT), at the Akureyri, Iceland hospital, Kolbeinn Sigurbjornsson and Helga Jónsdóttir brought a new daughter into the world. (Thanks for that, you two )

This has been quite the year for our Kolla, so if you see her, be sure to give her a big hug and smoochy wet birthday kiss. I hear she loves both of those, along with whatever kind of physical affection you can come up with.

“Fly free and happy beyond birthdays and across forever, and we’ll meet now and then when we wish, in the midst of the one celebration that never can end.” — Richard Bach

Help Wanted: ICARUS Canopies Sales Rep

Have you been itching to turn your most favorite hobby ever into your job?? Now is your chance. ICARUS Canopies is looking for a U.S.-based sales rep.

Here are the details:

ICARUS Canopies is looking for an outgoing sales representative that believes in a quality product and a fabulous brand! Must excel in customer relations, be self motivated and goal oriented. Will work closely with Head Quarters, dealer network and sponsored athletes. May travel to boogies, events and symposiums to represent the brand as well. Relocation to North Carolina would be necessary. If interested please contact Lauren Demme with cover letter, resume and any questions.

Now go live that dream!

Alti-2 Releases New No-F*ing-Way Audible Altimeter

N3 Audio by Alti-2

It is not April 1, so don’t bother checking the calendar. Alti-2 has begun production on the N3 Audio (N3A), a new audible altimeter and electronic logbook…with a twist. Instead of speakers, the N3A has one mp3 player input and one headphone slot.

Music from your mp3 player can be played during your skydive, with interruptions from the N3A at your pre-set alarm times. At the first freefall alarm altitude, you will hear “Breakoff Breakoff”, then “Deploy Deploy” at the second alarm. OR…you can record and upload your own alarm .wav tones. (The third flatline alarm remains the same and is not changeable for safety reasons.) The N3A can also optionally be set to announce altitude at every thousand feet (twelve… eleven…ten…).

Canopy alarms sound the buildup tones like normal, but at the end of the buildup, a voice will say “Downwind” at the first alarm, “Base” and “Final” at the second and third alarms, respectively. Like the freefall alarms, you can record and upload your own canopy alarms.

An mp3 player is not required to function; those with frequency-specific hearing loss (common among people with repeated exposure to things like turbine engine noise) can use the N3A to play tones or voices at more audible frequencies.

We want to hear your best custom alarms! Submit them to shenanigans@blueskiesmag.com by January 15, 2010. Grand prize is one new N3 Audio, courtesy Alti-2.

Contest fine print:

Audio file length: 3.5 seconds maximum
Audio file format: .wav
Alarm set: three (3) freefall alarms and three (3) canopy alarms. Final freefall alarm cannot be used in the N3A, but it is allowed and will be judged in this contest.
Include your name, e-mail address and theme name.
N3 Audio is not required to create pull tone alarms.
All submitted audio files become the property of Blue Skies Mag and Alti-2, Inc. Files may be posted for public download on either or both company Web sites.
All judging will be done by Blue Skies Magazine.
Submissions will be accepted to shenanigans@blueskiesmag.com until midnight, Eastern Standard Time, on January 15, 2010.
First prize is one (1) N3 Audio from Alti-2, Inc.

Blue Skies Magazine

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