SRA - Good Finish !!!

As many of you know, the SRA came into existance over two decades ago
to organize focus on a number of issues important to the racing
community. Over the years, all original and emerging issues have been
resolved/accomodated by a changing SSA organization - in most
respects, the SSA has become the SRA.

Since our mission is completed, we will sunset the SRA site some time
over the next week. Please remove your links to the site -
http://sailplane-racing.org/

Thanks to all for you support of the SRA over the years.

Ken Kochanski
SRA Secretary


For those less familiar with the organization, here is Karl's brief
history of the SRA that was published in Soaring in 1991.

THE SRA

In the "old days" (prior to the late 80's) competition rules were
determined at SSA Board of Director's meetings once or twice a year.
With little input from the pilots and with most of the directors
having little or no contest flying experience, the results were less
than perfect and pilots felt powerless to make changes.

Enter the Sailplane Racing Association. At a meeting in 1985 in
Cumberland, MD Ed Byars, Bill Holbrook and Karl Striedieck sketched
out a plan to create a group to lobby the SSA for more pilot input in
the rule-making process. With the advice of representatives from the
three sections of the country, early SRA Presidents like Holbrook,
Seymour and McMaster agitated the entrenched structure for a greater
part in the rules process. Finally, in 1992, the 1984 suggestion of
Larry Sanderson to create a pilot-elected rules committee with a
predictable annual work schedule was adopted by the SSA Board.

Although its activities as a pilot-lobby organization have been
superceded by the more open framework of the rules committee workings,
the SRA still exists as a semi-somnolent watchdog. More mundane but no
less important are the services it still provides, such as scale
maintenance, binocular logistics, annual pilot poll, hosting of pilot-
input meetings at contests, travel expenses for the annual committee
meeting, and a web site. Where required, these functions are made
possible by an annual $12 contribution from pilots.

The SRA has changed in the 16 or so years of its life and these
changes were to no small extent the product of its successful efforts
to make competition rule making more relevant to those most affected
by them: We the People.

Karl Striedieck

Soaring Magazine - The SRA , Dec, 2001, page 18 ( Competition
Corner )