Yes 13.5 gliders are great fun, especially for the recreational pilot.
But the problems with longer span gliders here in Europe are the
restrictions
imposed by EASA on certified aircraft. With UL, flying costs are lower too
- no aerotows, self maintenance, smaller batteries for electric power etc.
etc.
Used new-design 18m self-launchers are still way more expensive than
13.5m gliders.
If cost is not an issue then just wait 3 years for the latest super-yacht!

At 05:40 10 December 2015, Surge wrote:
On Wednesday, 9 December 2015 15:46:55 UTC+2, Casey Cox wrote:
I figured that but seeing someone else actually state it helps. The
othe=
r advantage you missed is Self Launch. I did not realize that Vne
limitati=
on became a problem. (Haven't got there yet).

I didn't miss the self launch option as one can already purchase self
launc=
h gliders new or second hand so there is no particular advantage to a
13.5m=
self launcher.
If I'm not mistaken there is a self-launch option for the LAK 17B FES so
FE=
S self-launch is possible on longer wingspan gliders too even if it's not
t=
hat popular yet.

It comes down to cost vs performance and if I had the choice I'd rather
spe=
nd the money on a second hand, 18m, petrol powered self launcher than on
a
=
new 13.5m FES glider simply due to bang-for-buck. But then again I'm one
of=
those types who doesn't replace my vehicle every three years and
couldn't
=
care about driving the latest and greatest. I'm sure the 13.5m gliders
are
=
plenty of fun to fly.