Zephyrhills Drop Zone to Host 2026 National Canopy Piloting Championships

Skydive City Z-Hills will host the 2026 USPA National Canopy Piloting Championships from September 22 through September 28, putting Zephyrhills on the short list of just two U.S. sites chosen this year to hold a national skydiving title. The other, Skydive Perris in California, will run every other discipline. Zephyrhills gets the one event built for spectators: canopy pilots diving in at speed and skimming across water on landing.

The drop zone sits at 4241 Sky Dive Lane, and the competition will unfold over its 1.2-million-square-foot landing area, which includes a competition-grade swoop pond built for exactly this kind of event. Canopy piloting, sometimes called "swooping," has competitors open their parachutes at altitude, then dive back toward the ground at high speed before leveling off just above the water to carve through timed and distance gates.

How the week is structured

Registration and official practice run September 22 and 23, with freestyle "drama sheets" due by 2 p.m. on the 23rd and a briefing that evening. Standard canopy piloting competition runs September 24 through 27. Freestyle canopy piloting, where jumpers add tricks and style to the swoop, runs September 25 through 28. The week wraps with an awards ceremony on the 28th.

Greg Windmiller is serving as meet director, with Marylou Laughlin as chief judge. Amanda Owens is the USPA controller for the event, Kevin Drivas is technical scoring director and Emily Wallace is course technical director.

What it costs to compete

Athletes registering before August 30 pay $595 for their first event, whether that's standard or freestyle canopy piloting; after that date the fee rises to $625. Each additional event costs $100 more, and practice, competition and re-jumps run $39 apiece on top of the sanction fee. None of that includes what it takes to get to Zephyrhills and stay there for a week.

Skydive City is offering on-site tent camping, RV rentals and RV slots for competitors who want to stay at the drop zone through the week. For those who'd rather sleep somewhere with air conditioning, the Quality Inn, Roadstar Hotel and Microtel Inn in Zephyrhills are all listed as partner lodging for the event, and visiting skydivers can ask about a discount by mentioning the competition when they book.

For a city of Zephyrhills' size, hosting a national championship in any sport is unusual. Hosting one in a sport where the athletes are essentially skimming across a pond at highway speed, in full view of anyone parked along the fence line, is the kind of thing that draws a crowd without anyone having to sell a ticket. The standard and freestyle competitions run on public drop zone grounds, and past USPA Nationals events have typically been free to watch.

USPA has not yet published a detailed spectator schedule breaking down which days feature the most jumps, so anyone planning to come out to watch should check the event's official pages closer to September for firm jump times.

Stay with Zephyrhills Community Website for more as the championship week approaches, and join the conversation in our Community Forum if you're planning to head out to the drop zone in September. For more local happenings, check out our events coverage and sports coverage.