Glider Choice at Argentina WGC

Club Class:
Used to be the case that the Cirrus / Libelle / LS1 / ASW15 level of
performance was the way to go. But more than 2/3rds of the field are now
flying higher performance ships (Taking the hit on handicap of course).
Wasn't the Club Class originally intended as somewhere for the early
(cheap) glass to find a competitive home?

Do people think this is a good trend?
Is this just a consequence of the expected weather in Argentina?

And yes I do know that the current leader is flying a Std Cirrus

Std Class:
The perception (here in the UK) is that the D2 has the edge over the LS8 in
strong conditions. However looking at the average speeds for most days so
far the conditions in Arg have been fairly weak so the LS8s should have had
the edge. D2s still seem to be dominating the leaderboard. Is this because
the best pilots normally fly in better conditions, and therefore own D2s
and are still winning despite the conditions?

Any thoughts?

Regards

PF

On Wednesday, January 16, 2013 10:08:52 AM UTC-6, Peter F wrote:
Club Class: Used to be the case that the Cirrus / Libelle / LS1 / ASW15 level of performance was the way to go. But more than 2/3rds of the field are now flying higher performance ships (Taking the hit on handicap of course). Wasn't the Club Class originally intended as somewhere for the early (cheap) glass to find a competitive home? Do people think this is a good trend? Is this just a consequence of the expected weather in Argentina? And yes I do know that the current leader is flying a Std Cirrus Std Class: The perception (here in the UK) is that the D2 has the edge over the LS8 in strong conditions. However looking at the average speeds for most days so far the conditions in Arg have been fairly weak so the LS8s should have had the edge. D2s still seem to be dominating the leaderboard. Is this because the best pilots normally fly in better conditions, and therefore own D2s and are still winning despite the conditions? Any thoughts? Regards PF

the number of ASW-20's could simply be indicitave of the size of the fleet available in Argentina for rent/loan for the contest. If I recall correctly there has been a very high tax on importing std. class gliders into Argentina for a long time so there probably aren't a lot of Cirrus, ASW-15, Libelles available in the country. Just a thought.

On Wednesday, January 16, 2013 9:20:49 AM UTC-7, Tony wrote:
On Wednesday, January 16, 2013 10:08:52 AM UTC-6, Peter F wrote:

Club Class: Used to be the case that the Cirrus / Libelle / LS1 / ASW15 level of performance was the way to go. But more than 2/3rds of the field are now flying higher performance ships (Taking the hit on handicap of course). Wasn't the Club Class originally intended as somewhere for the early (cheap) glass to find a competitive home? Do people think this is a good trend? Is this just a consequence of the expected weather in Argentina? And yes I do know that the current leader is flying a Std Cirrus Std Class: The perception (here in the UK) is that the D2 has the edge over the LS8 in strong conditions. However looking at the average speeds for most days so far the conditions in Arg have been fairly weak so the LS8s should have had the edge. D2s still seem to be dominating the leaderboard. Is this because the best pilots normally fly in better conditions, and therefore own D2s and are still winning despite the conditions? Any thoughts? Regards PF



the number of ASW-20's could simply be indicitave of the size of the fleet available in Argentina for rent/loan for the contest. If I recall correctly there has been a very high tax on importing std. class gliders into Argentina for a long time so there probably aren't a lot of Cirrus, ASW-15, Libelles available in the country. Just a thought.

This is pretty accurate. To avoid much of the import duty (and shipping) on gliders, insurance salvage ASW-20's, among others, were packed into containers with AG planes, etc, and rebuilt in Argentina. I have a picture of such a container load around here somewhere. Trailer import is next to impossible, so removing axles, tongues, lights and importing glider shipping containers apparently worked for some.

Frank Whiteley

I too think that the choice of gliders in the club class is mostly due to the availability of the gliders in Argentina. In most other competitions that I've seen the gliders with handicaps around 100 are still preferred.

The D2 in the Std. class are mostly the "a" version of the fuselage which seems to have a certain impact on the performance of the glider. Might also be a coincidence though that most of the top pilots are flying a D2 instead of a LS8. It is quite obvious though that the ASW28 is not that famous in the Std. class.

On Wednesday, January 16, 2013 11:08:52 AM UTC-5, Peter F wrote:
Club Class: Used to be the case that the Cirrus / Libelle / LS1 / ASW15 level of performance was the way to go. But more than 2/3rds of the field are now flying higher performance ships (Taking the hit on handicap of course). Wasn't the Club Class originally intended as somewhere for the early (cheap) glass to find a competitive home? Do people think this is a good trend? Is this just a consequence of the expected weather in Argentina? And yes I do know that the current leader is flying a Std Cirrus Std Class: The perception (here in the UK) is that the D2 has the edge over the LS8 in strong conditions. However looking at the average speeds for most days so far the conditions in Arg have been fairly weak so the LS8s should have had the edge. D2s still seem to be dominating the leaderboard. Is this because the best pilots normally fly in better conditions, and therefore own D2s and are still winning despite the conditions? Any thoughts? Regards PF

The early Club class was Cirrus, Libelle, etc. Now it has expanded in part because of the gliders that are available in clubs, and also availability in the hosting country. It also give a new life to many gliders not competitive in their original class.
As to horses for courses, an ASW-20 is a pretty nice ride if the wind blows but, on the other side, in weak conditions with lots of gaggling, it may not be able to escape the group and thus beat it's handicap.
I recall in Gawler flying a very good LS1-f and almost keeping up with the LS-4gliders while making about 5% on handicap.
FWIW
UH