Bill Daniels wrote:
Mark, I think Janos was talking about winch launch. The land ahead/turn
height for winch launch depends greatly on the winch site although at 25% of
the altitude expected without a wire break, say 500 feet or 150 meters, a
landing straight ahead on the runway should be possible. The ideal,
available at most sites, is an overlap between the two options where a 360
degree turn with a landing into the wind can be made from 300 feet AGL and a
straight ahead landing can be successful at 450 feet.

Aha! An excellent point. I hadn't considered the advantages of
the steep climb from ground-launch and the increased options it
provides. Thanks for pointing this out (since ground-launch is
rare in this part of the gliding community i.e. west coast USA).