A couple of things:

1) Thanks John, that's the kind of comparison/number-checking I was
looking for. I know that cloudbase/working-band/lift-strength play a
factor in determining whether the tradeoff is worth it; but didn't
think to do a straight MacCready comparison (the idea of pushing the
glider to high speed while still in spotty lift under a cloud-street
is just still feels awkward - discounting the few times where I've
approached cloudbase and needed to "bug out")!

2) I thought flying "energy lines" was the consensus these days, and
"Dolphin flying" was out - given that variometers lag and its
incredibly hard to time your pushes and pulls when flying through
alternating narrow cores and strong sink. If your strong cores are
separated by a couple of miles, their miniscule contribution (say a 50
- 150 foot height gain) when you fly straight through them doesn't
seem worth it (especially when you start considering the risks of
hitting nasty sink before accelerating back up to cruise speed;
possibly wiping out all of your gains). I've always been much more
tempted to slow down under weak spread-out lift (for example, under a
cloud thats about to OD).


Now just to turn this around and look at it from a different
perspective: For the fast guys out there, when (if ever) *do* you
start slowing down a lot while flying straight ahead? What're the
combination of factors that encourage you to switch into this mode?

Thanks,

--Noel