Video from Day 1 of Region 4 North 2012

Video here --- https://vimeo.com/52396659

Side note: Interesting PowerFLARM warning in at the 9:13 point of this video.

The glider that bumped directly thru this thermal (about 20 ft. below me) will go unnamed. I am not claiming he/she did anything wrong at this point. But...this happens often to me OFTEN in contests. My understanding is that contest pilots should not fly directly at another glider established in a thermal and should NOT do their pull-up at such close proximity. I had to change my direction significantly to stay in a position that I considered safe.

My understanding is that a contest pilot MUST do their pull-up outside the thermal and blend in safely from the side of the thermal in a safe, predicable and benign manner. This is rarely the case in my experience. The glider in the thermal should have, for lack of a better work, the RIGHT OF WAY. But many, many do the straight in attack run technique in the contest environment. It can be very distracting. I have another video of a couple "incident's" at this summer's Sports Class Nationals that were far, far, FAR worse. Ill may put those up at some point in the future.

How would the rules committee govern this? How can this be enforced, if it is improper technique or unsafe according to the standards the rules committee has set? What are the consequences for unsafe flying and how does one prove that they have been subjected to an unsafe pilots poor technique (or worse)? Seems like the onus is, unfortunately on me. Seems like the wild west at times. I see no disciplinary action happen to pilots who cause, for example, collisions.

My goal is to better understand where the line is drawn and what I should expect and not expect.