I have a friend who raced all sorts of things -- 50cc Grand Prix
motorcycles, Formula V, CanAm, etc.

His observation, which is perhaps counterintuitive, was that the tighter
rules a class has, the more expensive it is to win. For instance, he said
that with Formula V, a class designed to be simple and cheap, if you don't
have a chassis dynamometer you cannot win. The rules are too tight to win
otherwise. With CanAm, which had bigger and faster cars but was a wide open
class WRT rules, cleverness in design could easily win the day without huge
expense.

We might keep this concept in mind with regard to glider class rules.
Actually the FAI classes have pretty simple rules which leave room for
clever engineering design.

There will always be someone with more money. Platypus says "There is a
substitute for span, it is called skill. But you can buy span."
-Bob Korves

"Tony" wrote in message
...
"soaring is a form on technical sport. And to expect a techical sport
to
achieve IOC accept is the same as to expect F1 racing to make it to the
Olympics - never happens"

What's the different between racing sailplanes and sailboats - apart from
water and air? Both require technical and tactical skills. A monoclass
sailplane/sailboat comparison with F1 is invalid as competitors
performance
in F1 is largely differentiated by the car.

I also think that with todays technology and some imagination, the
'gliding
is not a spectator sport' argument is weakened. Sure it is not lke
watching
F1 go round a circuit where they pass by every two minutes, but there is
no
reason why each glider could not be equipped to broadcast live video, GPS
co-ords, and telemetry, and the gaggles could be followed by helicopters
also broadcasting live.

Sailboat racing is not always exactly gripping neck-to-neck stuff but I'm
sure that a big gaggle would be as interesting for many viewers to watch
as
a few sailboats rounding a buoy.

To promote our sport we need to be positive, and to exploit technology and
creativity to present it to viewers as the exciting, challenging and
adrenalin pumping sport that it is.





"iPilot" wrote in message
...
Beacuse otherwise it's a tehnical sport where money invested in
equipment
can make a difference and
this is what is avoided generally by IOC. The examples you made are just
bad. Reasons? WC is flawed
in design philosophy and class requirements. I do not really see who it
was made for - pilots who
hav necessary skills to compete have the skills to fly more complex
aircraft than the oversimplified
WC design. 1-26 is morally and physically aged and US only.

Last but not least. Sailing wouldn't be represented in Olympics when
they
wouldn't have made
monoclass rules long time ago. And I do not think that there's possible
to
launch 3 different glider
monoclasses from day one. BTW monoclass does not equal single class.
Monoclass is a class where only
one particular glider (like PW-5) is allowed to participate. 3 different
monoclasses in olympics
would be super, but i do not believe that it is achievable in any
foreseeable future. Maybe we shall
have monoclasses based on one standard class design and one 18 meter
design. Maybe just to declare
one current design from both classes a standard and make the drawings
available to everyone (that
doesn't answer the cost needs however).

There's nothing wrong with current FAI classes. Just the principles of
competition are different. In
it's current form soaring is a form on technical sport. And to expect a
techical sport to achieve
IOC accept is the same as to expect F1 racing to make it to the
Olympics -
never happens.



"scurry" wrote in message
...
iPilot wrote:
Your fist point is achievable and in theis regard soaring can
compete
(I
don't say it currently does) with many other sports. At least I do
not
know
anyone who wants to watch 8days of constant swimming.

Your second point is good information, but in order to succeed
soaring
needs
to have a successful monoclass before and PW-5 just isn't that. We
have to
get our own things ok before we jump to the IWGA. Otherwise we're
just
another wannabies.

Why a single class? To say its needed for the Olympics implies, to
me,
that there is something wrong or unfair with current FAI classes. Any
racing is expensive, so I don't buy that as a valid argument. Lots of
people race Standard and 15 m class all over the world, the FAI has
experience with it, and one class racing doesn't occur naturally in
the
international soaring world (WC is contrived, and 1-26 is US only).
If
gliders are to be raced in the Olympics, our best bet is to propose a
class that's already established, with gliders already racing.

Shawn




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