SSA Region 1 Races?

We have pretty limited racing experience at Connecticut Soaring with only one member with previous race experience and none that have ever helped host one that I know of. Having watched a few races I can see what a big job it is to host one. I wouldn't want to bite off more than the club could chew for the first time without someone with much more experience around to help coordinate everything. I was hoping to ignite some interest with the bigger clubs in the Region so that we could participate and learn enough to host our own race someday. I know we have lots of very experienced racers in the Region who I hope would enjoy having another event nearby.

Well, the answer here is to set up some informal weekend racing. Down South where I fly in the spring, we have a thing called GTA (Ga/Tn/Al) race series where a couple of weekends a month through Sept, we have an informal sports class race with A Class for experience and B Class for newbies. Every time the race is at a different site on a rotating basis. Scores are recorded and every one chips in some money for organization and trophies at the end of the year. All you need is a tow plane and some one with enough experience to mentor and call appropriate tasks; and some one who knows how to use WinScore. It is all for fun and an excellent way to bring new folks into racing.
This is the GTA web site: http://www.gliderpilot.org/GTA
I think regional racing in Region 1 may be dead, for now anyway, but this works great. Who knows, if we get enough people hooked, things could change.

Cheers,
Tim
1FL

On Saturday, March 1, 2014 4:16:22 PM UTC-4, Greg Delp wrote:
We have pretty limited racing experience at Connecticut Soaring with only one member with previous race experience and none that have ever helped host one that I know of. Having watched a few races I can see what a big job it is to host one. I wouldn't want to bite off more than the club could chew for the first time without someone with much more experience around to help coordinate everything. I was hoping to ignite some interest with the bigger clubs in the Region so that we could participate and learn enough to host our own race someday. I know we have lots of very experienced racers in the Region who I hope would enjoy having another event nearby.

We do something similar in Northern Illinois. Rules he

http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/john...index.htm#nisc

Since moving from club to club is hard, we score flights originating from any of the area clubs. We use winscore and standard ssa race parameters, which really helps new pilots get used to start, finish, turnpoint geometry and rules and task strategies. Every day is a potential race day, best 8 flights over the season crowns the champion, AKA Herb Kilian.

John Cochrane

On Sunday, March 2, 2014 7:24:24 AM UTC-5, cuflyer wrote:
[GTA]

I'm composing an email to my board....

Evan Ludeman / T8

Great, Evan.
Good luck.

Tim
1FL


On Sunday, March 2, 2014 11:33:58 AM UTC-4, Evan Ludeman wrote:
On Sunday, March 2, 2014 7:24:24 AM UTC-5, cuflyer wrote:

[GTA]



I'm composing an email to my board....



Evan Ludeman / T8

Another suggestion:

If your area has no contest experience, you could hold a non-sanctioned introductory race with just a single class (sports) over a long weekend. If you introduce contests in a low-pressure scenario then you can build interest & momentum & volunteer knowledge over 1-2 seasons so that holding a sanctioned contest is not as high of a hurdle in a future season.

I've been helping organize an event in WA called "The Dust Up" every Memorial Day weekend over the last 5 years. Each year we alternate between holding an XC camp (with nightly talks, two-seat 2-3 hr mentorship rides, and some lead-and-follow flying) and holding a mini-contest (the nightly talks then focus on safety and strategy basics). A 3-day contest risks being rained out of course; but on the flip side it's relatively easy to manage with a single class and a small number of "contestants" (say 15-30). 3-4 days is just enough time to show people 1-2 simple TAT tasks and 1 MAT, give them 2-3 nighttime seminars, and hold a couple of good potlucks/BBQs to build camaraderie and get experienced folk mingling with newer folks.

It's been well-received up in our region, and if anyone is interested in hosting a similar event I'm happy to offer tips, advice, share presentation material, etc. You can contact me at noel.wade(at)gmail(dot)com.

Good luck,

--Noel

Any of the northern racers looking for a nearby competition should consider the Canadian Nationals being held 25 June - 4 July at SOSA Gliding Club just west of Toronto.

All the details on the web at: http://sac.ca/nationals/

There will be FAI and Club handicapped classes. FAI is pretty much 18 meter with a few ASW-27's - the class is defined by handicap 0.95

Club is defined as handicap 0.90. Gliders that fall between 0.90 and 0.95 can elect to fly in either class.

Depending on the number of competitors, we may further subdivide the Club class into two classes where one will be in the low performance range, ie handicap about .99