Chris OCallaghan wrote:
Well, since you brought it up, the stronger the tailwind, the more
important your minimum sink rate becomes in establishing the greatest
possible distance over the ground.

The interesting part about this for me is that the min sink rate
of so many modern gliders is so similar (on paper).

But I suppose this doesn't take into account ballast, which I expect
one would drop if in a tailwind and just barely
able to glide back to an airfield. How many of you folks have
dropped ballast at the end of the day when the air goes still
except for a tailwind home?