Sailplane Contest Strategies & Tactics

After the practice day at the 1966 Nationals in Reno, Dick Schreder
got a fortune cookie that said something like "You will be victorious
in a great contest."

Just $0.02 from someone who was recently a newbie contest pilot:

It is very VERY tempting to say "I'm better than the average pilot, I
can jump right into the _real_ racing strategies". But it just ain't
so. I know because - while it may sound a bit cocky to delcare this -
I _AM_ better than the average pilot (though I'm definitely no
superstar).

Here's the catch: the "average" is surprisingly low when you look at
all of the pilots who can only soar locally or who only take a couple
of flights a year in old club equipment. The truth is that "below-
average" just doesn't really exist in the glider-racing world. Below-
average pilots hardly ever make it out to a contest. There are guys
who don't score well in contests - but even those folks can soar cross-
country with a reasonable amount of success. So you can't compare
yourself to the folks at your local airfield or club and use that as a
gauge for how you'll do in a contest.

This does NOT mean that you have to take it easy and be non-
competitive at your first contest!! I thought that's what people were
telling me when I asked these questions in 2008 and 2009 and got many
of the same responses you have gotten. But I realize now that we were
just communicating in different ways.

Here's the thing: Cross-country soaring and sailplane-racing use
remarkably similar _piloting_ skill-sets. But _mentally_ they are
very different. From the organization of the day (morning meeting,
grid-time, launch-time, start-time, etc), to the task (programming it,
flying it, tracking your time, guesstimating your past and future
speed and performance, etc), to the finish (make it home safe and
don't bust anything) - your head will be full of a lot of stuff OTHER
than flying fast and thermalling well. There's nothing but practical
experience that can get you comfortable with this, and is why
experienced racing pilots do so well.

So with that said, here are my tips for successful contest flying:

1) Get familiar with your GPS, logger, and flight computer!! Try them
out in "contest mode" and actually use that feature. Don't just plan
a route with them - program a task with time limits and try to fiddle
with it (safely) in the air. I made the mistake of thinking that I
was ready just because I knew how to fiddle with waypoints and read my
current status on my PDA. Actual contest flying involves time limits
and a constant re-evaluation of your progress. MATs and TATs require
you to tweak your destination on-the-fly, so you have to understand
how to find out what you've accomplished so far and how to adjust
accordingly. You also need to find out if you can trust your flight-
computer's estimates and calculations. I still have no idea how good
or accurate my PDA is at estimating my final glide - and I've been
flying with it for 3 seasons now...

2) Get really really good at thermalling. Low saves happen - you need
to be confident that you can make 'em without endangering yourself or
the other gliders that may be in the same weak thermal with you. When
you can find and center weak lift, you're on the path to success. You
don't want to waste your time with weak lift during a contest - but
sooner or later EVERYONE needs a weak thermal in order to make a low
save. And the confidence that you can work one gives you the ability
to really fly competitively and push your speed and range up.

3) When you get to the contest, do NOT change your safety attitude or
comfort margins. This is _hard_. I did not intend to fly
aggressively in my first contest; yet the desire to not land out led
me to a couple of close shaves and some unnecessary risks. Learn when
to recognize that you can't win the day (or even significantly improve
your finishing position), and fly safe.

5) Never stop asking questions. Some guys will complain about
"leeches" when they're bellyaching to the world - but I've found that
almost every contest pilot is willing to answer the polite questions
of a newbie (as long as they aren't asked during a critical phase of
the morning's preparations). Seek out the hot pilots who are local to
the contest area and milk them for a little bit of knowledge every
single day. Whenever a contest day can't happen, take one of those
guys out for a long lunch and turn the "lost day" into some positive
experience and knowledge!

Have fun!

--Noel