FAI (IGC) rules for US Club Class Nationals - Petition

On Nov 27, 8:35*am, wrote:
I'm for a seperate club class nationals. *I would love to compete in one.

There will be a separate club class nationals, at Mifflin. See you
there.

The question is the definition of "club class" and the rules to be
followed.

Class: 1) the current IGC list for Argentina 2) the US team "club
class" list that has been in force for many years, which extends the
handicap range very slightly and allows many gliders not on the IGC
list 3) #2 plus all lower performing gliders, so the latter are not
shut out of US national competition.

If you're voting for #1, do you own such a glider, and are you on the
seeding list? Have you looked at the numbers of such gliders showing
up to previous sports class nationals to gauge if sufficient gliders
will show up?

If you're voting for #1 or #2, what is your plan for lower performance
gliders? (No, Sean, 1-26 + Nimbus 4 does not work with the middle cut
out. We need a realistic plan backed by numbers.)

Rules: Are you joining Sean in the idea that Mifflin should use IGC
rules (plus local procedures yet to be written), despite nobody in the
US having tried to run a national contest under said rules (except the
team that ran Uvalde, and I can guarantee they're not coming to CD
Mifflin), all but 1 or 2 pilots who have been to WGC never having
flown under said rules and no evidence that anyone has read them?

If the issue is club class in general, and the general plan for the
future, despite the wildly misleading tone of Sean's post, it's there
for the asking. We've been running club class regionals for several
years, to try to build interest in the class. Sean, where have you
been? (At regionals, the issue of lower performance being shut out is
a bit less pressing, as there is more competition from nearby
regionals.)

If anyone wants to run one under IGC rules, he's welcome. If IGC rules
work, and attract pilots at regionals, and everyone having tried it
thinks it's more fun, they move to nationals. That's the standard
procedure. Not, jump off a cliff and see if the parachute opens.

If the issue is club class in general, this year's plan for Mifflin
sports nationals is designed as a sensible next step, which preserves
the knowledge gained in regional competition and keeps the sports
class alive.

Can somebody explain why on earth our highest ranking pilots are barred from competition in the 2013 Argentina WGC??

Not sure what you mean by this. The club class team for 2013 Argentina
won fair and square and have the highest ranking according to the US
team selection formula. If you mean, why are other pilots who you
think are better not going, (such as the actual winners of previous
sports class contests) it's simple: Because the US team and SSA paid a
lot of attention to similar requests from club class advocates and
restricted team selection to those who entered sports class in club
class gliders. (Yes, they do listen. Maybe too much, according to your
comment.)

John Cochrane