You can get pretty much any glass ship and fly Sports Class, which
is a
goo=
d place to start. It's handicap flying and not every contest offers
sports,=
though it's pretty common. Club Class restrict you choices to
gliders
that=
are a couple of generations old. You only really gain the right to
fly
Clu=
b Class Nationals, so I wouldn't necessarily go there unless you are
budget=
constrained.=20

You can look at Standard Class as you suggested, but many
Standard Class
ra=
cing pilots have moved to 15/18 Meter as there are no current
production
St=
andard Class Gliders so ultimately Standard Class unhandicapped
racing
will=
become pretty rare. You will mostly find yourself flying in
Sports/Club
or=
FAI Handicapped.

Modern STD Class is allowed in USA Club Class. Just look at the
last Club Class Nationals results. A Discus-2 or LS-8 can be flown
in STD, Sports, and Club Classes - all of them handicapped, so if
something newer comes along later, you will still be able to
compete.

If you choose to buy something which is new-mature production
in a flapped ship, just be prepared for the resale value to go down
in a couple of years when the next greatest thing comes out, and
you are now at a competitive disadvantage because there is no
handicapping in that class. In the USA, the resale value goes
down as soon as the glider is no longer top-competitive. In
Europe, the resale prices hold up better because there are clubs
out there which want those ships. I played that game for years.
I had 6 different brand new gliders in one 8 year period, all for the
sake of staying on top of the performance curve for racing. (non
handicapped STD Class at the time)

Modern STD Class gliders have come down in price along with
V-2's and ASW-27's. You can get a good D-2 for ~35% of what
a new ASG-29 will set you back. It all depends on how much
money you have to throw at it. If you aren't sure, I'd suggest
you try the lower cost entry point, and adjust from there (if
necessary) at a later date when you can define your parameters
a little better.

Good luck, and welcome back.

RO