Interesting discussion this World Class / PW5 thing!
Problem as I see it is:
1) the vast majority of people can only afford one
glider (if that).
2) Competion pilots only spend a small amount of their
total gliding time actually competeing in official
comps.
3) Most of us like to spend our XC time flying with
others around the same task, whether for company or
sport.
So for the comp pilot who fits in with 1, 2 and 3 which
most I believe do, the choice of machine is dictated
by the performance of their peer groups gliders (not
necessarily ego's)
So, If I wanted to fly world class for 2 weeks a year
I would have to buy a PW5 rather than say an ASW20
and accept that I would loose out on a large amount
of fun for the other 50 weeks of the year.
I also can't help feeling we already have single design
comps! Look at the entries in any Stardard, 15mtr,
18mtr Nationals and whilst the badges may be different
on the gliders, the relative performance isn't.
Now for real fun we ought to take all national champions
from all countries and all classes. Put them in PW5's
and let them fight it out for a single, true World
Champion. That would be a comp to watch!
David H
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