On Jul 18, 6:19*am, JJ Sinclair wrote:
Andy wrote?

The 5 minutes comes right from the master, Charlie Spratt. Its an
acknowledgment that some are in trouble, but we're here to race and
race we will. Probably done more as an answer (in advance) to any
potential Parowan type protests that might be lurking out there.


Got it. The 5 minutes is just lip service - not my preferred approach,
by probably effective most of the time.

I do think in this case the CD would have been justified in not
opening the Sports Class gate at all - as disappointing as that may
have been for several dozen pilots. Opening the gate makes an implicit
statement that the CD believes everyone in the class has been given a
fair opportunity to get a start. This should probably be made more
explicit - either in the rules or in the guidance given to CDs. We
should also consider making it more explicit that the CD should take
whatever measures s/he thinks are necessary to ensure that
opportunity, including raising the release altitude and/or changing
the drop zone (changing the drop zone in particular is tricky, because
changing ANYTHING can lead to griping and protests).

9B