2024-03-29. Two jumps, both of them bad, and both for the same reason: my canopy no longer flies like everyone else's in the pattern.
A left-hand landing pattern.
Until recently I jumped the student canopy, a Navigator 240, and I was among the last to land. That makes everything easy. Once I moved to my Saber 3 210 it stopped being easy, because the others on Navigators between 190 and 240 fly and descend more slowly than I do.
The first time someone entered downwind ahead of me, I was above them and further in, flying half brake to let them land first. We were almost level by the time I turned onto base. Once I turned, I was below them and landed first. I was told afterwards that the horizontal separation was not enough.
The second time I flew without half brake, took a shorter base, and put my final further from the target to build separation. That part of the ground has water on it and I landed with my lower half wet. That was the point at which I understood the actual problem: on a faster canopy, flying the published pattern at the published altitudes is not enough on its own. I have to read where everyone else actually is and adjust, because this canopy will bypass a student canopy without me doing anything.
I was angry enough to stop jumping for the day, and spent the rest of it finishing my B license exam.
Both objectives for the trip are done - the USPA B license, and jumping my own rig.