On Tuesday, February 6, 2018 at 11:48:11 AM UTC-6, wrote:
On Tuesday, February 6, 2018 at 12:30:12 PM UTC-5, Jim White wrote:
I have bailed out of the hard deck thread as I think that all opinions have
been aired once or maybe twice!

The hard deck discussion started out following the dreadful accident in
Chile and was an attempt to discuss making all competition safer.

However, when I think around the subject, isn't the real issue about the
use of the SGP format?

We have adopted and developed SGP in order to make the sport more exciting.
Not just for pilots but also the wider public who may find the racing more
interesting and might be encouraged to enter our sport.

I suggest that by doing SGP racing we have also made racing less safe
because the format fundamentally changes the risk / reward balance.

In normal racing if you were 3 minutes behind the leader you came in with
980 points instead of 1000 and could catch up the next day. In SGP 3
minutes could well mean 0 points and you are out of the game.

The question I raise is this: have we made gliding less safe by making it
more exciting, or have we made gliding more exciting by deciding to make it
less safe??

Anyone remember the 1975 film Rollerball?

I think the SGP format is great for the big boys - get 15 world class guys and you have something really interesting. Just like the Red Bull Air Race, the Indy 500 ............. experts only and a limited known driver pool.. It is exciting to watch experts get close to the edge and really sad when the edge bites back.

The issue will be / if it is not already a issue..... too many gliders, too many inexperienced skilled pilots ..... i.e. FL?....... Sorry but I do not think the format can be expanded past the very top guys in the world without a huge problem.

My 2 cents, since I am on a lunch break

WH

FAI SGP format ain't the only way to run a Grand Prix style race. A few years ago, a series of GP format races sports class races were run out of Seminole Lake Gliderport. That's flat-as-a-table Florida,for all y'all from outside the USA. I was lucky enough to be able to participate in one GP weekend. Great fun. About 10-12 pilots. I saw no safety problem with the start. We started at an altitude that would be unremarkable for any regular contest.. We were more or less line abreast. We could all see each other and all going in more or less the same direction. Very cool to see. Lots of cu's that day so the fleet spread out pretty quick as each went their own way searching for a faster path through the air. We were all anxious to get away from the group, so gaggling was not an issue. I saw hardly anyone out on course, but somehow I would meet up with the same pilots at the turns. Very interesting that we took different paths but ended up so close. Most of the group arrived at the last turn more or less together. Then it was a drag race to the finish. We had a minimum finish height, just like any other sports class race, so one got too low. There was still enough lift to sustain, so entering the pattern and landing was a relaxed affair. I'd say that particular GP experience presented no more risk, or even less risk due to the low number of racers, than the average sports class contest day.

I'd say the lesson is that the GP format can be fun and safe as long as one adapts it to the local conditions.



WB.