The Proper Dink CF Boogie may be over, but the jorts will live on…
Not sure what a Proper Dink is? Want to learn more about canopy formations? Then this post is for you! Here’s our review of the first ever Proper Dink CF Boogie.
The Proper Dink Canopy Formation Boogie took place in early July here at Langar and is the first event of its kind in the UK. Inspired by events like the Spring Fling and Dink Dink, the Proper Dink was the brainchild of UK national champion CF team Airspace Invaders and was created to bring together canopy formation flyers for a week of fun, learning and very short jean shorts…
Canopy Formations
The big focus of the Proper Dink was canopy formations. But what exactly does this mean?
CF has become a big part of the British skydiving scene in recent years, especially here at Langar where many of our staff enjoy getting involved, competing and winning medals in the discipline. It involves building formations with parachutes by flying in close proximity and taking ‘docks’ by holding onto each other’s lines.
The skills required to do this include not only being a good canopy pilot (a huge skill in itself) but also having good discipline, good communication and being well educated and prepared for the different scenarios that can come from flying in this way.
For this reason, there are a number of requirements that must be fulfilled before someone can learn CF, as shown in the Canopy Formation Manual from British Skydiving (quoted here):
For CF1:
a) At least a British Skydiving B Licence
b) A minimum of 100 jumps, with at least 5 made in the last 2 months
c) Received ‘Safety Briefing 1: Canopy Formation Basics’ (see section 2.1) from a CF Coach
For CF2
a) CF1 Grade
b) Received ‘Safety Briefing 2: Considerations for Larger Canopy Formations’ (see section 3.1) from a CF Coach
Proper Dink coaching and organising
It was our pleasure to welcome canopy formation coaches and load organisers from across the world for the Proper Dink. Thank you to everyone who came to coach and load organise for us: Joe Thompson, Andrew Draminski, Chris Gay, Jason Hobbes, Marcus Muir-Smith and Max Holmes.
Our team of LOs and coaches brought a huge amount of experience with them, many having been involved or organisers of world records and world level events. By bringing in the very best coaches and LOs, we were able to offer our Proper Dink attendees many opportunities to learn – with many seminars and workshops being hosted when the weather meant we weren’t able to jump.
In terms of the jumps themselves, the role of the organisers was to bring together groups of CF jumpers to hone their skills and push themselves to develop further. We had groups as small as 2 working on basic skills, right up to groups of 16 practicing advance CF manoeuvres.
Belvoir Castle display jump
As part of the Proper Dink, we made a display jump into Belvoir Castle. This was a great chance for us to take a look at this local landmark from a whole new perspective – our overseas visitors were particularly impressed with the historic building and we had a lot of fun.
When we weren’t jumping…
No skydiving event is complete without a good party – and Proper Dink was no exception! We had the wonderful Winging It band in to play for us and a good time was had by all.
We also did some ‘dinking’ (if you don’t know what this is, you’ll have to come to the next Proper Dink!) and anyone with full length trousers was subjected to the CF ritual of ‘jorting’ – cutting full length jeans into shorts!
The first of its kind
In all, the Proper Dink was a great event and we’re very proud to have been able to host an international event right here at Langar. Participants came from the UK, Europe, USA, Canada and Australia, so it really was a global gathering.
Look out for more CF events in the future, including the Canopy Formation National Championships taking place at Langar on 4-6 August 2023.