Eric Greenwell wrote in message ...
Jon Meyer wrote:
I have no problem with people that fly any kind of
glider, I just think that as a one-class contest design
the PW5 was a complete failure, and that a class incorporating
an existing 20ish year old design would have been much
more succesful.

If you believe that, then the glider you desire so much would NOT be an
LS4, because at the beginning of the World Class discussions, the LS4
was only 5 years old and competitive in the Standard Class. So, using
your criteria, a "20ish year old design" would be a Standard Cirrus! It
costs just as much to build a Standard Cirrus as an LS4, would you buy
one, or would you say, "Why should I buy a World Class Cirrus when for
less money I can get a used LS4?".

Please check your history book.
The Std. Cirrus was on the market in 1969. The LS4 went into
production in 1981 and there were over 800 built by the time the PW5
was introduced in 1994.
But that doesn't really matter since the statement was: it would have
been more successful.