Deepest condolences to family and friends. I have lost more friends in glider accidents than any other cause. I hope that a respectful discussion of safety issues in the wake of a tragic loss doesn't offend anyone.

In my experience, human behavior is a big consideration when looking at safety issues in glider racing.

First, unsafe flying penalties are rarely called, and only for the most egregious acts. Contest officials don't want to be in the position of determining contest placing based on penalties so they explicitly ask for rules that aren't subject to interpretation - or better yet, are calculated by scoring software. Unsafe flying is usually pretty subjective. Finishes are a classic case. Coming in low and cutting in front of gliders in the pattern or otherwise disrupting the well-being of other pilots rarely (if ever - I can't think of a case) gets called, so we are left speculating about the minimum safe finish heights to commit to the rules.

Second, humans are terrible at assessing low probability (but catastrophic) events and they are very good at rationalizing. A decision with a 10% chance of killing you will work out 9 times out of 10. If getting away with one encourages pilots to keep pushing the limit the eventual outcome will be predictable, but many pilots seem to feel the risk is acceptably low right up to the end.

Third, competition encourages everyone to push their limits and boundaries. I think the SGP format accentuates that tendency in two ways: 1) The head-to-head nature of the race makes it crystal clear where you stand and 2) the scoring system based on place rather than time makes every fraction of a second count (as has been pointed out and was evidenced on several days with split-second finishes). This certainly adds to the thrill, but has predictable behavioral implications.

I hear a lot that each pilot-in-command is responsible for their own fate (that's tautologically true) and that we should let pilots set their own safety limits with unsafe flying penalties only for obviously unsafe or illegal acts of piloting. I just think we are kidding ourselves when we attempt to assert that how we set the game up doesn't (or can't) materially influence the degree of carnage we witness at the end of the day.

There are also factors related to tasking, which are difficult to deal with explicitly in the way we set up the rules, penalties and scoring (weak weather, long hours in the cockpit over multiple days, difficult terrain, thunderstorms, etc.). Here too behavioral considerations factor in (needing/wanting to get in a contest day, pressure from pilots, etc.). We can try to deal with this via exhortations for responsible individual behavior, but maybe there is more to think about.

Respectfully.

Andy Blackburn
9B