Tim wrote:
X3 and all:

Please let me get up on my soapbox for a second as I prepare to go off
to Club Class WGC on Saturday. I hope my comments here can spur the
development of this class here in the US so I can truly come home to a
class of my own.


Tim,

Lot's of good stuff in there. To summarize the proposal, "Include a
separate Club Class Championship within the Sports Class Nationals with
the World Team selection based on the highest placing Club Class ship."
Sounds okay to me...

A couple of comments/questions:

1. Club Class Parameters: Why not just keep it simple and set a
handicap range using the annual CH Handicaps that most closely
resembles the World Club Class list. Something like .95 to 1.1 would
be pretty close (though I'm partial to .925 as the lower limit:-) That
can be adjusted every 2 years if/when the IGC changes their list.

2. Equipment vs. Participation: Despite the fact that I agree with
your proposal, I question the base assumption that a lot of potential
competitors (by that I mean people capable of winning a Club Class
Nationals against top talent) are scared off because people show up
with their V2s and ASW-27s. Maybe I'm in the minority, since I had
no problems showing up for a Standard Class nationals and 15-Meter
nationals with my LS-4 when Discii and ASW-27s ruled the roost. If I
look around Region II (ie. my region) I'm hard-pressed to count more
than a couple of guys who could win a competitive Club Class Nationals.
I've spoken to a couple, and they have explicitly said that it's the
cost of 2 plus weeks at a contest that keeps them away, not the fact
that their ship is mildly uncompetitive. Point being, I doubt that
there's this broad underground of potential Club Class Champions
lurking in the shadows. Plus, there are a LOT of Sports Class
regionals around, and I don't see these being over-subscribed with Club
Class entries either.

3. Tasking: Frankly, someone showing up at a Sports Class Nationals
in a 1-26 shouldn't have delusions of winning. Therefore, the tasking
guidelines ought to focus on ships with a Handicap within the range of
..9 to 1.1 or thereabouts.

4. Site Selection: This is a tough one, since Mifflin is really about
my favorite place to fly. But, I wonder if Sports Class site selection
needs to be revisited with a thought toward places that are less likely
to require extended periods of flight at speeds outside the design
limits of true Club Class ships? The obvious counter-argument is that
there aren't enough hosts for Nationals as it is. But, I think it
ought to be discussed.

I'm sure there's more, but this is a good thread that deserves to be
hashed out.

Erik Mann
LS8-18 (P3)
Formerly LS4 (P3)
Formerly Grob Astir (P3)
Formerly 1-36 (JG)