That is not entirely true. Some 'cruisy' type races allow engine runs with a penalty. There are assumptions made as to the advantage of the engine run.. One interesting consequence was a 1st place due to motoring the entire course (I think it was the Ensenada race). One contestant brought a peculiar sailboat that could plane running a huge outboard motor and he did the course at 20 knots, far faster than the penalty contemplated. Maybe we will see 13.5m gliders with big jet engines and 8m wingspans....

On Sunday, December 24, 2017 at 11:08:30 AM UTC-8, John Foster wrote:
I gotta agree with Dan here. It's like in a sailboat race: if you start your motor you're disqualified. The use of a motor in a gliding race should be either a disqualifying event, or at the least, equated to a land-out.