chris wrote:
One downside of a more lenient landout rule would seem that pilots
would fly more aggessively / take a higher risk of landout, which would
probably equate to more damaged gliders.

Actually, I believe it would have the opposite effect. With a reduced
penalty, I suspect more pilots would opt for a safe landout opportunity,
rather than continuing with a final glide that is quite likely to end up
short...

Marc