I've made a summary of the USA 2003 contest season, using the listings
from the SSA website. It shows the number entrants in each class in
each contest, the number of motorized and motorless sailplanes, and
the placing of the motorized sailplanes. It is available at:

http://webpages.charter.net/engreenwell/Flight_files/Flight_files.html

Here's a summary of the summary:

Standard Class: NO motorgliders (0%)out of 126 entries.

15 Meter: Four motorgliders (2%) out of 186 entries.

Sports Class: Seventeen motorgliders (8%) out of 208 entries.

18 Meter Class: Two motorgliders (12%) out of 17 entries in the only
contest for this class (18 Meter Nationals).

Open Class: Eight motorgliders (35%) out of 23 entries.

The Open Class seems to be quite different from the other classes,
which I attribute to two things: the much larger wing area and span
mean the wing loading penalty is less than it is for the smaller
classes, and the large size and weight of the Open gliders make
avoiding a retrieve more attractive.

However, the small number of motorized entries and their generally
lackluster placings don't seem to support the idea that motorized
sailplanes have a "distinct" advantage over their unpowered brethren.
Even in the Open Class, where a motor should be the most attractive,
they are a 2:1 minority, and sometimes even those pilots remove their
motors during a contest (configuration changes are allowed in Open
class).

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Eric Greenwell
Richland, WA (USA)