Proposed 2005 Rules On SRA Site

I looked over the 2004 opinion poll again because I remembered that there
was a fairly strong mandate to change our Scoring formulas.

quote:
8.0 WGC-style Scoring

8.1 Should SSA contests adopt the scoring and devaluation formulas used
at the World Gliding Championships?
Yes 104 61%
No 54 32%


Twice as many people agreed as disagreed, so why was no action taken on
this?

I personally feel that we should move in the direction of the WGC scoring
formulas. Possibly adopt the WGC formulas 100%, or possibly a blend of our
current system and the WGC system.

I think adopting it will help us select and breed pilots so the US be more
competitive in the world championships.

As a negative side effect of the WGC system there seems to be such a
stronger bias toward speed that middle of the score sheet pilots such as
myself used to scoring 750-900 points per day would likely be discouraged by
scoring much lower [300-600points?]. This could cause frustration and
pilots more likely to drop out of competition flying. However I'm in favor
of moving toward the WGC formulas at least partially.

Chris

comcast webnews wrote:

I personally feel that we should move in the direction of the WGC
scoring
formulas. Possibly adopt the WGC formulas 100%, or possibly a blend
of our
current system and the WGC system.

I wonder how many pilots in favor of moving to WGC scoring formulas
have actually read them? (Actually, how many poll respondents have
actually read the US scoring formulas?!)

The idea sounds nice, "let's score the way the worlds are, so our guys
get used to that and do better." But when you actually look at the mess
in the world scoring formulas, you realize "why should we screw up
every contest in the US just because the world rules are screwed up?"

Two small examples, second-hand from the last worlds.

1) Start gate with limited height but not limited speed or the US
two-minute rule. Back to dive-bombing. Do you really want that?

2) MAT style task is distance in a set time. It allows the strategy of
timing-out low, way downwind, then trying to scratch back to the
airport to see if you can get the bonus for finishing at home. Do you
really want to do this at US contests?

And of course, world and European devaluation rules give a huge benefit
to gaggling. I hear there was a day in an Australian worlds where
pilots simply refused to go out on course since nobody wanted to be
first. Again, do we really want that?

Are US contests places for US pilots to have fun, compete, learn to do
better in a safe environment, or are they just a training camp for the
top 5 or so who want to go to the worlds? The poll question on "goals"
suggested a lot more pilots in favor of the former, not the latter.

If you move to WGC scoring, what do you do when you see obvious safety
or procedural problems? Here, you call up UH or the current rules
committee chairman, and it gets fixed. If you're committed to WGC
scoring, fixing the simplest problem has to wait for the IGC to move on
it. This is like having the UN in charge of parking regulations.
John Cochrane (BB)

A quick (and not exhaustive) search on Google turned up the WGC rules for
1999. I could not find rules for anything later, though I am sure they
exist. Would someone please direct me to the site for the most current
rules?
Thanks
--
Hartley Falbaum
ASW27B "KF" USA

"BB" wrote in message
oups.com...

comcast webnews wrote:

I personally feel that we should move in the direction of the WGC
scoring
formulas. Possibly adopt the WGC formulas 100%, or possibly a blend
of our
current system and the WGC system.

I wonder how many pilots in favor of moving to WGC scoring formulas
have actually read them? (Actually, how many poll respondents have
actually read the US scoring formulas?!)

The idea sounds nice, "let's score the way the worlds are, so our guys
get used to that and do better." But when you actually look at the mess
in the world scoring formulas, you realize "why should we screw up
every contest in the US just because the world rules are screwed up?"

Two small examples, second-hand from the last worlds.

1) Start gate with limited height but not limited speed or the US
two-minute rule. Back to dive-bombing. Do you really want that?

2) MAT style task is distance in a set time. It allows the strategy of
timing-out low, way downwind, then trying to scratch back to the
airport to see if you can get the bonus for finishing at home. Do you
really want to do this at US contests?

And of course, world and European devaluation rules give a huge benefit
to gaggling. I hear there was a day in an Australian worlds where
pilots simply refused to go out on course since nobody wanted to be
first. Again, do we really want that?

Are US contests places for US pilots to have fun, compete, learn to do
better in a safe environment, or are they just a training camp for the
top 5 or so who want to go to the worlds? The poll question on "goals"
suggested a lot more pilots in favor of the former, not the latter.

If you move to WGC scoring, what do you do when you see obvious safety
or procedural problems? Here, you call up UH or the current rules
committee chairman, and it gets fixed. If you're committed to WGC
scoring, fixing the simplest problem has to wait for the IGC to move on
it. This is like having the UN in charge of parking regulations.
John Cochrane (BB)

HL Falbaum wrote:
A quick (and not exhaustive) search on Google turned up the WGC rules
for
1999. I could not find rules for anything later, though I am sure
they
exist. Would someone please direct me to the site for the most
current
rules?

All international rules are at the FAI website. What you're looking is
at:

http://www.fai.org/sporting_code/sc3.asp#sc3a

-Tom

comcast webnews wrote:
I looked over the 2004 opinion poll again because I remembered that
there
was a fairly strong mandate to change our Scoring formulas.

quote:
8.0 WGC-style Scoring

8.1 Should SSA contests adopt the scoring and devaluation formulas
used
at the World Gliding Championships?
Yes 104 61%
No 54 32%


Twice as many people agreed as disagreed, so why was no action taken
on
this?

I personally feel that we should move in the direction of the WGC
scoring
formulas. Possibly adopt the WGC formulas 100%, or possibly a blend
of our
current system and the WGC system.

I think adopting it will help us select and breed pilots so the US be
more
competitive in the world championships.

As a negative side effect of the WGC system there seems to be such a
stronger bias toward speed that middle of the score sheet pilots such
as
myself used to scoring 750-900 points per day would likely be
discouraged by
scoring much lower [300-600points?]. This could cause frustration
and
pilots more likely to drop out of competition flying. However I'm in
favor
of moving toward the WGC formulas at least partially.

Chris

Reply:
Chris Who? Always nice to know who we are sharing with.
Change to WGC scoring , or somehting similar, is a major change that
requires significant study, testing, and feedback before adoption.
There are many attributes of scoring and tasking at the World level
which may well not fit how we race here.
In any case- minutes of RC meeting, which are also available to you at
the same site say:
40 Use IGC scoring system Comments

Discuss later. Under study. No change for 2005. Possibly try on a dual
scoring basis once we work out the details. 2xx agreed to chair a sub
sub committee to study this.

Thanks for sharing
UH RC Chair

wrote:
snip
Chris

Reply:
Chris Who? Always nice to know who we are sharing with.


"Chris Who", well let me reply by asking "UH Who?"
- hey just playing games here.

Chris Ruf - a name you will find on the lower half of the score sheets.



Change to WGC scoring , or somehting similar, is a major change that
requires significant study, testing, and feedback before adoption.
There are many attributes of scoring and tasking at the World level
which may well not fit how we race here.
In any case- minutes of RC meeting, which are also available to you
at
the same site say:
40 Use IGC scoring system Comments

Discuss later. Under study. No change for 2005. Possibly try on a
dual
scoring basis once we work out the details. 2xx agreed to chair a sub
sub committee to study this.

Thanks for sharing
UH RC Chair

So long as it is not forgotten that is fine. I am not proposing that
we adopt all the WGC rules instead of US rules. High speed dangerous
start gates and forced downwind landouts are not what I would seek to
adopt. My goal would be to look at how cross-country and speed skills
are rewarded in the WGC scoring system, then compare it to the US
scoring formulas. There may be some adjustments we can make that would
help us better pick and breed US pilots to be competitive in Worlds.
Hopefully a compromise could be found that does not require a massive
overhaul, but would bring us more in alignment.

I think it is a topic worthy of more study and discussion. I don't
have a fixed opinion on the matter.

Chris Ruf