Taking a dive with Good Vibes
11 Aug 2010
Good Vibes, Nelson
18 - 22 August, 2010
Motueka’s skies will swarm with some of the most amazing skydiving spectacles seen in New Zealand when the 2010 Good Vibes event is held from 18 - 22 August.
New Zealand’s largest annual skydiving event will be based at Motueka Aerodrome, in the northern South Island, and is set to be the biggest ever in the event’s history.
More than 180 skydivers - including 40 Australians, and others from the US, Canada, and Japan - will take part in the event hosted by Skydive Abel Tasman.
Global skydivers
Skydive Abel Tasman sales and marketing manager Lisa Chambers says the company is very excited about the planned festivities.
"The Australian uptake on the event has increased quite significantly. We also have coaches with high skill level coming over from Australia this year to support the event and we are hoping to create the New Zealand record in wingsuit formation, girls RW formation (currently stands at 11) and New Zealand’s big way formation."
Good Vibes was first launched in 2003 as a two-day event celebrating New Zealand’s skydiving community. It has since grown to become New Zealand’s largest skydiving event, offering people of all levels and abilities the chance to learn and develop their skills.
The range of aircraft featured at the event will include Fletcher, Pac 750, an EC130 helicopter as well as micro-lights, hang gliders and bi-planes.
National Skydiving Competition
Immediately before the Good Vibes festival, Skydive Abel Tasman will also host the NZPF National Skydiving Competition (14 - 17 August 2010).
This event offers a range of skydiving from all discipline levels - including flat and vertical flight, formations and canopy competitions.
There are several different categories for the competition, which offers something for all skill sets and levels. The competition categories are: 2-way and 4-way RW formation (novice, intermediate, advanced), 8-way speedstar and 2-way VRW.
Background: Skydiving in New Zealand
Away from the cities and main airports, most small New Zealand towns have at least one airstrip or helipad, and many offer flight-based activities, schools and sight-seeing.
Parachute drop zones usually have a choice of experienced operators offering flight-seeing, skydiving, and hang-gliding.
Some skydive operators and clubs offer static-line jumps, but most novice jumpers opt for a tandem skydive. In a tandem jump, the learner is linked in a double harness to the instructor who has control of the parachute.
After instruction, tandem skydivers are taken to 2500 - 4000m before leaping out together and experiencing up to 45 seconds of freefall.
The Southern Alps and Fiordland in the South Island are popular jumping grounds, as are Taupo and Rotorua in the central North Island.
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