X-mas boogie
From 26/12/2009 till 3/1/2010 the first Christmas boogie was held on the island of Mali Losinj in Croatia for the first time in its skydiving history. Even though it was for the first time in this locality and not everything was completely ready (covered pack room, manifest room etc.) jumps organization was perfectly prepared. It was mainly because the organization was done by doyen of European sport skydiving (even though the name is not precise) JUMP-TANDEM from the Czech Republic together with local aeroclub Cumulus. By the way JUMP-TANDEM was last year the co-organizer of World Cup and European Championship on their own DZ in Prostějov. It was one of guarantees of high quality organization and emphasis on maximal jumps safety.
The island of Mali Losinj is really small and there is no place which would be far from the sea. That is the reason why safety was put to the first place. During winter it is quite usual here that the wind is changing quickly by 90 or even 180 degrees while the airplane is climbing or even when it is in jumprun. This situation was perfectly managed by the crew of L-410 from the Czech Republic. Thanks to that there were usually just two passes. The only thing which was not according to our wishes was the weather. But at that time it was quite bad all over Europe. We still managed to do about 300 jumps during the sunny periods and everybody who did not give it up was satisfied. We also jumped on 31/12 till sunset and that is why people could have their last jump of the year. There was a big raffle prepared for the New Year celebration which was supported by companies CYPRES, LARSEN & BRUSGAARD, BONEHEAD, ICARUS CANOPIES, ROBNIK ALTIMETERS, AKANDO and others... On the 1/1 2010 the sky was again covered by clouds. But on 3/1 the weather changed and it was a beautiful sunny day when we managed to do 6 loads with 18 people in each load. It was quite cold though. Once we had -24 degrees Celsius in 4200m.
Very important person who participated on the boogie was Mark Harris from England – a few weeks before boogie Mark was coaching national record in wingsuits in the USA (Elsinore, 68-way). Mark brought some wingsuits and tracksuits for coaching but he also jumped with camera, tandems and he used all his experience to help with safety at the DZ. Another important person who participated on the boogie was Philip Grünzweig from Austria – freefly coach.
There were over 70 skydivers from Germany, England, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovinia, Serbia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Switzerland, Poland and South Korea.
Next island boogie will be held from 27/2 till 7/3/2010. The average temperature in that time is about 14 degrees Celsius. Registration for this boogie is possible on www.jump-tandem.com.