A two-year international training effort culminated in the largest canopy formations ever built, redefining what CRW is capable of
The last world record was set at the Florida Skydiving Center in Lake Wales, Florida, USA, on November 21, 2007. One hundred parachutists linked up under canopy to form the largest parachute diamond formation ever created. They came from 14 countries to participate in that jump. – from the 2007 press release.
Eighteen years later, in November 2025, the Canopy Formation world returned to Lake Wales with the big mission: to build the largest parachute formation in history—a living, breathing skyscraper of parachutes connected together in the sky. Years of preparation led to these two weeks to happen.
It was an event unlike any other: incredibly complex to organize, emotionally intense to experience, deeply unifying for the community, and awe-inspiring both for those on the ground and for the jumpers flying toward the massive structure.
When I briefed the jumpers who had never flown to a formation this large, I told them: “When you fly to your setup position next to the formation, take a second to look at this incredible thing — observe it — and then forget about it. Find your slot, keep your wing leader in the corner of your eye, and FOCUS on your dock.”
Seeing a formation this huge – the size of a vertical city – can be distracting, and overwhelming. Even finding your slot sometimes required counting the rows down one by one. But let me start from the beginning…
Training and Preparation
The training took about two years. After several successful Sequential record attempts, the CRW community had grown stronger and more experienced, and the dream of a new largest formation became a possibility.
The organizers agreed to pursue it. Camps across Europe and the U.S. began evaluating every jumper on every jump: setup accuracy, echelon position, and docking precision. These scores became like school grades — everyone feared them, waited for them, and tried hard to improve to get A’s and B’s. There was no room for pity. Success depended on each athlete flying at their absolute best.
Kirk VanZandt, our statistical engineer, analyzed footage from all qualifying events around the world. He scored every jumper, every dock, every move. For the 2025 qualifying season alone, he evaluated 127 jumps and 3,205 individual docks. It was an unimaginable amount of video analysis – and absolutely essential.
At the same time, Chris Gay, Brian Pangburn, and I developed new techniques to improve timing and approach paths. We produced training videos and presentations so jumpers worldwide could learn remotely before arriving at camps.
After the summer 2025 CSC camp, the organizers agreed: the community is ready. We can build a record. Additional camps continued monthly, refining skills and bringing more jumpers onto the official List.
The List, the Teams, and the Technology
By November, the participant list was set: 132 invited jumpers from 20 countries. The initial goal was a 107-way, with plans to rotate additional jumpers in, and potentially go even bigger.
This big-way had unique components:
- The formation pilot flew a Performance Designs Spectre—unusual for CRW.
- The next three jumpers flew microline Lightnings to increase forward speed and reduce drag.
- The rest of the formation used standard CRW Lightnings.
According to Kirk’s calculations, we needed to start building at 19,500 feet to complete the formation in time before the starburst at 3,500 feet, to ensure the safe separation and landing. Kirk prepared detailed presentations outlining every piece of planning and execution.
A major technological breakthrough also debuted:
The pilot of the formation carried a ParaTrax ADS-B Out transponder from ZeroFoxWorx, broadcasting our position and altitude to nearby aircraft and ATC. Miami Center could follow the formation on radar to protect our airspace—a first in CRW history.
Nov 10–15 (week One): Building the Base
The first week was unofficial – only the people needed to practice the base were invited. The base is the initial 9-way diamond (we call them “the big boys”). Their goal was to create the smoothest, most efficient base possible to allow time for the full formation to build.
Each day they added more rows: 9-way → 16-way → 25-way → 45-way. Then the rest of the invitees arrived for the official start.
Nov 12–14: Women’s World Records
Simultaneously, the women’s CRW community pursued Women’s World Records. In just three days, they earned three new World Records, gained great visibility, and inspired future CRW athletes.
Photo by Daniel Lepot
Nov 16–23 (week Two): The Beast Awakens
Arrival, registration, and briefing took place on November 15. From there onward, the week was extremely busy — stressful, challenging, emotional — but also uniting and deeply focused. Everyone sharpened their skills to help build “The Beast,” the nickname for the formation.
Additional jumpers continued flying smaller formations, maintaining skills and waiting for their turn in the rotation. Experienced big-way pilots took turns flying these smaller groups.
The Daily Routine
- 5:00 am show time
- 5:30 a.m. briefing
- 6:00 a.m. takeoff
- Smooth morning air was essential.
- Sunrise (around 6:50am) was spent around 10,000 feet, looking at a patchwork of morning fog dissolving below.
We aimed for 4–5 jumps per day, but by noon the air was too turbulent for safe big-way building. After experiencing turbulence once in the middle of a build, we didn’t want to risk it again. Three jumps per day became the safe limit.
Our flights were long. A fleet of eight aircraft carried jumpers and videographers to different altitudes:
- The first plane ascended up to 19,500 ft dropping the 9-way, geared in warm clothes, equipped with oxygen tanks and masks
- Two planes to 18,000 ft dropping jumpers on both sides of the formation
- Two planes at 15,000 ft
- Two planes at 13,000 ft
- The last plane flying above the formation through the center line, dropping at 11,000 ft
Every day the organizers met with the pilots before and after jumps to discuss strategies. Morning meetings were crucial because changing winds affected the timeline for every exit altitude. Winds at different altitudes are different directions and velocities making this type of formation flying one of the most difficult in the world. It was a huge puzzle – and the pilots loved it. It was the most challenging aircraft formation they had ever flown.
Our people
Kevin Keenan described CRW jumpers perfectly:
“Then, there are the troops. We aren’t pawns, exactly. I prefer the term, “1-feather Indians”. We are each in charge of the parachute on our backs, getting into the sky on the right airplane, following our Team Leaders through the sky, and placing a precision-made, but sometimes tricky to fly fabric aircraft into the hand of the person in the formation who is waiting to catch it. We have sophisticated radios in our ears, but they are for receiving only. We are following a plan, which we all know intimately. The radios are needed because the formation is so big, nobody can see all parts except our Air Boss, who is our eyes in the sky. We are shown the magnets on the board, we run the plays endlessly in practice, trying each time to be a bit quicker, a bit smoother. We do this for fun, but we’re seriously trying to be perfect. We all know what “perfect” looks like. We’ve all seen it in so many of our truly-gifted friends, who fly parachutes like a perfect violin solo. We watch detailed videos of each formation jump to critique each move.”
Building the Beast
After a few days of mixed large and small formations, the organizers announced:
“Today we start building the record.” The formation grew rapidly:
- Day 1: up to a 88-way
- Day 2: 98-way
- Day 3: 103-way
- Day 4: 104-way
But the 107-way remained out of reach. Time was running out, and jumpers on the ground grew anxious – they expected to rotate into the formation already.
To get the spirits back up, the organizers informed the judges early Saturday morning that they would pursue the 104-way as an official World Record.
On the very first jump of the day – the 104-way was built.
It took 11 minutes and 15 seconds to build, was held for 20 seconds, and captured by six aerial videographers.
Jeff Denis summarized the moment:
“When we completed the 104-way, we realized the beast was never a monster… It was simply part of our reality, waiting for us to understand it.”
Photo by Daniel Lepot
The Final Push
Next, we declared a 107-way attempt. Spirits were high—until a wrap formed after only 19 docks, and Chris announced: “Do not exit. Land with the planes.” It was tough. At least we didn’t have to pack. Turbulence arrived again, so we stopped and hoped for smoother air on Sunday – the last day.
On Sunday, November 23rd, the organizers declared a 111-way attempt, adding a full row 11 on the left side – Go Big. Fog delayed takeoff by two hours. Everyone geared up, stood by the planes, waited, talked, took pictures – and finally took off. We built to 106-way, running out of time with four jumpers left to dock. We landed sad… Maybe the number 107 just didn’t want to cooperate with us this year.
But: The 106-way became the largest CRW formation ever flown – even without official FAI recognition. And it marks a huge step toward even bigger formations in the not-so-distant future.
What This Event Meant
Even though we didn’t reach 107, the 2025 project was monumental:
- 5 formations larger than the previous 100-way world record
- 10 formations of 81-way or larger
- A new 104-way World Record
- A 106-way—the largest CRW formation ever built
- Three Women’s World Records
- The first ADS-B transponder-equipped canopy formation
These numbers prove something important:
The CRW community has grown, evolved, and gained the experience needed to dream even bigger. “The combination of elite skill, global teamwork, and shared passion is setting new standards for what canopy formation can achieve.” Jeff Denis And the next chapter is already on the horizon.
This World Record would not have been possible without the vision and leadership of the organizing team – Chris Gay, Brian Pangburn, Kirk Vanzandt, Yuliya Pangburn, Scott Lazarus, and the Raw Dogs crew: Joseph Thompson, Andrew Draminski, and Travis Johnson.
Equally vital was the support of our sponsors and contributors. Jump Florida Skydive, Performance Designs, Sun Path, ZeroFoxWorks, Alti-2, Cypres, XOXO, CFS, Raw Dogs, Skydiving Hall of Fame & Museum, Skydive Addiction, L&B Altimeter, Chutingstar, Paragear, AON2 Altimeter, and Cookie Helmets all played a part in bringing this milestone to life. Dozens of individuals also donated handcrafted, custom-made items created exclusively for the participants of this event. Their generosity helped fuel the spirit of community that carried this record into the history books.
