Jfitch, good points your sharing. I talk a big game about low saves and taking managed risks, but I in actuality also fly as you do, having a place to set her down at all times when low or contemplating going into marginal areas. My situation (type of machine and experience) is such that they allow me to venture into areas/conditions which would be very very dangerous for other ships and pilots.

That being said, competition flying is always going to be a very small subset of the soaring community and it is dwindling. That is happening for a bunch of reasons, some of which have always been there. The “gaggle flying is dangerous” and “ competition will cause me to do things unsafe” reasons are old ones and have been debated for the past 4 decades. I think our dwindling ranks is probably more due to other factors: the total soaring population dwindling, and the exhorbitant cost to be competitive are probably more pertinent factors today. I don’t really think any changes in our rules will have a significant factor in getting more or for that matter less folks racing. I know for me, I will race under whatever rules we have. I think you would probable get a similar response from most everybody racing currently. The opposition to hard decks is coming from many of us who are just not interested in any further encombrances to flying how we fly.

Yes guys can get by with crazy tactics for awhile, but as you have related, the piper will be paid eventually. I don’t feel its my or the racing communities job to protect people from themselves. Like I said previously, those guys are going to break rules or commit new bonehead moves anyways.. As for them winning, beating me thru their risky actions, that doesn’t affect my opinion of how I did. I got beat on a day last year by a guy who really pulled a risky move. He beat me on points but I know I flew a much better flight. As far as I was concerned, I won the 1,000 points that day. We all have to fly by our own standards irregardless of what the rules say. Its always been that way and should always be that way.

Dan