At 17:09 22 July 2018, Karl Striedieck wrote:
Hopefully, US Team members will weigh in with a post mortem of
the contest
=
and their recommendations for changes in rules, preparation, and
support.
I=
t has been suggested that some differences in our rules that our
pilots
can=
't adjust to when overseas is the cause. It will be interesting to see
if
a=
ny of the team pilots site a specific US rule that accounted for
seven
days=
of back page scores.=20

RO thinks there is an intimidation factor due to the greater amount
of
gagg=
ling with its attendant close proximity maneuvering. But we get a
lot of
th=
at here in pre-start gaggles, and one of the pilots had a previous
life of
=
yanking and banking an F-14, formation join ups and still likes to
mix it
u=
p and try to pull some gunnery lead on other gliders at contests.
Yet he
fi=
nished next to last.=20

Although it's not in our rules, our CD's shun the long task calls
common
in=
Europe, and flying in tricky conditions with lots of lowish clouds,
precip=
and weak lift. =20

And, to make it worse, five of the six pilots were "western" pilots
and
rar=
ely have the chance to fly in these vital-to-win conditions.=20

As Kawa pointed out in his letter lambasting the contest directors
at this
=
WGC, the sport has evolved into a game of leachery complemented
by intense
=
use of Flarm for monitoring/chasing/vectoring competitors. Here
we have
ver=
y little of this.=20

Our best hope, for the immediate future at least, is for strong
weather at
=
future WGC's. My two silvers and an "almost" were at WGC's with
great
weath=
er. Those with the tricky weather we rarely bother to fly in here
found me
=
grovelling on the back page.

Here's for booming weather in the Czech Republic next month. Go
Team Go!


KS also has valid points. Having flown with KS at numerous
contests back in the 1980's, (before the current rules came into
effect), I can attest to his very astute abilities in leading, steering,
maneuvering in and otherwise having huge situational awareness
in large gaggles. KS also has a military formation flying
background, and I'm sure it helped him attain his gaggle flying
abilities. He always has his head on a swivel and never gets locked
onto just following the guy ahead of him. To me it is a given
prerequisite skill set to possess if one wants to do well at a WGC -
good wx or not. You have to be able make in-thermal corrections to
center the lift when the gaggle is flying "half in - half out". You have
to have the Situational Awareness (SA) to see a new wisp forming
off to the side and to lead the gaggle there from inside etc.. I had a
5th in Rieti and a 2nd in Benalla at "good wx" venues. I would not
have placed nearly as well had it not been for being able to be
effective at gaggle flying. KS mentions the pre-start gaggles in the
USA, but it's just not the same as when I'm on course. Pre-start
doesn't count for points, and accordingly pilots treat it differently. I
know that I do...

ps..Karl, I don't know if you are including Jim Lee as a "westerner"
because he's now out of Minden or not, but he was in FL for many
years prior, and before that he was a hang glider champion. I would
not be so quick to pigeon-hole him. Mike Westbrook may be from
TX now, but he spent a fair amount of time at Elmira in prior times
too. Add FS who officially hails from GA, and you have 3 of the 6
that aren't necessarily pure "westerners" experience wise....

RO