Quote:
Originally Posted by
Come on Sean,
You completely miss many of the great points that John made about how important it is to keep contests fun. They are not all about selection for the world's!!! You didn't acknowledge his arguments about how the US rules help to make contests more appealing to barely enough contestants to have contests at all. Were any of these ideas valid?
I also agree that if USA contests started becoming consistent land-out fests that you would see participation drop. Fine, so we aren't grooming winners for the world's but we are at least still racing. You are arguing for changing the way we try to swim here and in reality we are just trying to stay afloat!
In my mind the biggest difference is that due to the USA being so large, it takes these kinds of rules changes to attract enough glider pilots to attend any particular contest. How many of the Europeans drive 1000,2000, even 3000km to attend a contest? You see that all the time here in the USA. Again, were any of John's points valid?
Thanks Dave for working on the flight analysis. Can't wait to start reviewing! 
Bruno - B4 |
Good points Bruno
As an outsider looking in it's gotta be said that lots of racing gliders makes you good at racing gliders. The Europeans get a lot more oppourtunities to race against other top pilots than do most Americans. In the UK you have to qualify for their nationals by doing well in regional contests.
The best New Zealand pilots of recent years are the ones who have been or are currently living overseas and competing regularly at the highest level.
I can't see that FAI vs SSA rules are at the heart of the problem
Colin
ps: I'd be interested to know more about the South African contest scene and how some of their pilots feel in this regard