Class mobility

The 57th Australian Multiclass Nationals are underway in Narromine.

They are running 4 classes: Open, 18m, 15m, and Std.

All four classes are handicapped. The entry rules seem to be:

a) You can enter Open Class if your wingspan is at least 18 meters.
b) You can enter 18m Class only if you use an 18m Class glider.
c) You can enter Open and 18m simultaneously if you meet both conditions (a) and (b), above.
d) You can enter 15m Class if your wingspan is = 15 meters.
e) You can enter Std Class if you use a Standard Class glider.
f) You can enter 15m and Std simultaneously if you meet both conditions
(d) and (e), above.

They have a total of 79 entries: 24 Open, 22 18m, 19 15m, and 12 Std.

The total number of pilots (and gliders) is 44.

Tasking is constrained to settiing two tasks each day: one for the
Open/18m classes and one for the 15m/Std classes. Presumably, the two
tasks must be different; otherwise pilots would be tempted to enter more
than two classes simutaneously!

So, the pilots flying flapped 15 meter span gliders and the pilots
flying gliders with long wings are disadvantaged - they are entered in
only one class.

Everyone else can set their sights on two different podia. As of today
(Task 9), the leaders in the Open and 18m classes are the same people,
in the same order, in places 1-8.

I wonder how they handle the national ranking list and team selection!

Yes but do they pay seperate entry fees and or tow fees for each class? Pretty interesting stuff

It's not intentionally so elaborate, it's just that we 'virtually' lump in standards to 15m and 18's into open to give 15/open valid classes.

On Wednesday, 5 December 2018 17:30:49 UTC, Pat Russell wrote:
The 57th Australian Multiclass Nationals are underway in Narromine.

They are running 4 classes: Open, 18m, 15m, and Std.

All four classes are handicapped. The entry rules seem to be:

a) You can enter Open Class if your wingspan is at least 18 meters.
b) You can enter 18m Class only if you use an 18m Class glider.
c) You can enter Open and 18m simultaneously if you meet both conditions (a) and (b), above.
d) You can enter 15m Class if your wingspan is = 15 meters.
e) You can enter Std Class if you use a Standard Class glider.
f) You can enter 15m and Std simultaneously if you meet both conditions
(d) and (e), above.

They have a total of 79 entries: 24 Open, 22 18m, 19 15m, and 12 Std.

The total number of pilots (and gliders) is 44.

Tasking is constrained to settiing two tasks each day: one for the
Open/18m classes and one for the 15m/Std classes. Presumably, the two
tasks must be different; otherwise pilots would be tempted to enter more
than two classes simutaneously!

So, the pilots flying flapped 15 meter span gliders and the pilots
flying gliders with long wings are disadvantaged - they are entered in
only one class.

Everyone else can set their sights on two different podia. As of today
(Task 9), the leaders in the Open and 18m classes are the same people,
in the same order, in places 1-8.

I wonder how they handle the national ranking list and team selection!

What Matt said.
Our rules require 8 per class minimum, there were not enough 15s or Opens so mixed classes with scoring also for 18 and Standard as they have the numbers.
Handicaps allow slighly older gliders to compete fairly. (1% for $150K) 😉
Tom
....

I see your point about undersubscribed classes, and I agree that all
comers should be welcomed.

But I don't see how the contest differs from a 2-class event. You seem
to have a handicapped Open class and a handicapped 15m class, with
appropriate tasking for each.

The prospect of giving two trophies to the winner for flying a glider
that happens to meet the definition of two FAI classes seems a bit
contrived to me.

Best of luck for the rest of the comp!

-Pat

The thinking is, why should standard class be compromised (with an expanded handicap range including 60kg/sqm JS3-15's) because of the lack of 15m glider entrants? I think it's a very reasonable compromise.

On Thursday, 6 December 2018 12:51:51 UTC, Pat Russell wrote:
I see your point about undersubscribed classes, and I agree that all
comers should be welcomed.

But I don't see how the contest differs from a 2-class event. You seem
to have a handicapped Open class and a handicapped 15m class, with
appropriate tasking for each.

The prospect of giving two trophies to the winner for flying a glider
that happens to meet the definition of two FAI classes seems a bit
contrived to me.

Best of luck for the rest of the comp!

-Pat

We did this in the UK in 2017 with great success. 15s and standards flew
the same task with standards scored at a handicap of 100 and 15s at 103.

There was a 15s champion, a Standards champion and a contest winner too.

Jim

We merge classes in Italy too, when the number of participants is lowish. And we have rules defining classes with a minimum number of participants for the national title to be awarded to the winner.
So, let's say we have an Open Class national. We setup a handicapped competition, any glider can participate; then we score with handicap. The final result goes to the IGC-ranking system.
At the same time, we create a results sheet, without handicap factors as the Italian definition of the Open Class is such. Based on the final, we have a second prize-giving ceremony and a national champion has the title.

The IGC-ranking will not allow duplication of the results, so this latter results remain in the annals of the NAC but don't affect the IGC Ranking.

Now, surely all participants of the handicapped competition are considered in the Ranking's calculation of the value. There is a completely fair impact on the points awarded by the Ranking. The only ones who can complain are the Open Class pilots, who get handicapped scoring so they might in some particular occasion get less personal points if they're beaten by a lower performance sailplane. On the other hand, they most probably would get much less points if the class was segregated (due to small participation), not to mention they wouldn't get the Title due to less than 6 participants in Open Class only.

Seems fair for all. Of course nothing is perfect.
In my humble opinion, removing the minimum number of participants would encourage participation, rather than the contrary. Mine is a minority position however.
What seems to motivate large participation at our competitions is the expected value for the IGC ranking (more pilots, more highly qualified pilots), combined with a friendly atmosphere, a welcoming region with good food and accommodation, a well-known competition area for easy management of strategies, and lastly a reliable organizing team.

Aldo Cernezzi
(competition director)
www.voloavela.it

Aldo, thank you for your explanation of the way it works in Italy. I believe that it is the same in UK.

You say that the Ranking List does not allow duplicate entries. I take this to mean that Australia may not submit the 18m results separately from the Open Class results from their recent Multiclass Nationals.

In other words, while there are new national champions in 4 classes, the FAI will consider the Australian contest to have been a 2-class comp, for the purposes of ranking.

Can someone from IGC confirm this?

-Pat

“Aldo, thank you for your explanation of the way it works in Italy. I believe that it is the same in UK.

You say that the Ranking List does not allow duplicate entries. I take this to mean that Australia may not submit the 18m results separately from the Open Class results from their recent Multiclass Nationals.

In other words, while there are new national champions in 4 classes, the FAI will consider the Australian contest to have been a 2-class comp, for the purposes of ranking.

Can someone from IGC confirm this?

-Pat “

Pat, that is correct from the Aussie side of things, only 15M and Open class results will go to the IGC for ranking points.
The whole joint classes is to deal with the numbers of gliders, not anything to do with IGC rankings.
Tom
....