On Tuesday, December 18, 2012 6:30:48 PM UTC+1, wrote:

Kirk, you are right. We can do this outside of the SSA. However, there are drawbacks.
1. Lower participation. Attendance will be diminished without SSA sanctioning. Many don't have resources to fly two major contest the same year. You must fly an SSA sanctioned contest to get seeding points.
2. US Team. The USTC will not recognize a non-sanctioned contest for US Team placing. It's a bit ironic that a contest flown under IGC rules wouldn't be recognized for US Team placing under this scenario.
3. Hurt Sports Class. We don't want to draw Club Class gliders from the Sports Class to another venue. Holding a separate non-sanctioned Club Class "Nationals" at another location will force pilots to choose which location they want to fly on their limited time and financial budget. Our proposal will help Sports Class organizers by ADDING gliders to their location. We want to see Sports Class held intact and at the same contest hold an FAI US Club Class Nationals.

Sean, your proposal by definition is going to limit participation and hurt Sports class. You cut off access to a bunch of not-quite-competitive gliders at the upper end, and I guarantee you will scare off the newby sports class guys with your "foreign, unsafe" FAI rules that emphasize start gaggling and mass landouts (remember, newbies still read Soaring cover to cover). And how many club class racers really care if they get seeding points? They may just want to race.

Setup a contest - advertise it as FAI and see who comes. Let anyone race, but if they are outside Club Class just score them as guests, and don't task for them (tough on 2-33s and ETAs, so what...). See what happens - and if is a success, petition the USTC to recognise the scores for US Club Class team selection.

Good luck - really. I truly hope Club Class works (and figure in a few years my LS6 will be legal, anyway), but I'm not sure the current approach is working.

Kirk
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