On Sunday, August 13, 2017 at 8:30:09 AM UTC-4, Michael Opitz wrote:
I am staying with my STD class glider because I can fly STD, Sports,
and Club classes with it, and be competitive in any of them...
RO

Same here, RO. I bought my state-of-the-art Standard Class glider 25 years ago. I've flown it in five classes (Std., Sports, 15M, Open, and FAI Combined/Handicapped 15M/Std.) and am still competitive in Std., Sports, and Club (thanks, Rules Committee!). I owned a 15M glider for many years and would love to fly flaps again but the cost makes no sense at this point in my life. UH helped me refinish my fuselage last winter and my wings are on the list for this winter. So my plan is to close out my gliding career in the same aircraft I've been flying since 1992.

Soaring has never been inexpensive. It's just even less so now. And, yeah, the proliferation of classes doesn't help, although ironically it arguably makes the Std. and 15M classes somewhat more affordable as used prices decline with shrinking popularity. So as long as they don't disappear entirely....

Chip Bearden