On Friday, 2 December 2016 14:33:01 UTC+2, Tango Eight wrote:

From the XC performance standpoint, there's little advantage to empty weight very much below 500# in a 15m sailplane. For self launching, well, weight is really important...

-Evan Ludeman / T8

With lighter structure and materials you can build smaller wing and still have acceptable min. wing loading. Smaller wing - higher aspect ratio - higher performance (Diana-2 for example)?