There is logic in this rule, anyhow:

1 Soaring is dependent on the weather.
2 For a contest task (not the same as a leisure cross-country flight)
to be fair, it has to give more or less the same opportunities to all
contestants, so the weather should be "sufficiently" homogenous and
dependable, or else it's no longer a matter of skill but luck.
3 As it is next to impossible to assess the weather objectively in the
whole contest area, some kind of objective criterion is needed.
4 The best way the rule makers found until now was by taking into
account the effective results of the contestants, hence: the less they
perform, the less the day was predictable, the bigger the luck factor,
the less the day is valued.

I agree it doesn't seem fair at times, but on average, it's not that
bad a rule. Anyhow, it's a rule that was made for international
contests. There is nothing that prohibits the organizers of smaller
competitions to amend it. You can drop the day factor, drop the minimum
distance, drop the minimum number of contestants having to cover the
minimum distance, add a rule saying that if even only one contestant
flies the task, it will be valid regardless of other limitations... Of
course, you have to check with your national competition body if this
makes the competition acceptable for them to be recognized - but then
again, if it's a competition just for fun, it doesn't need to be
sanctioned.


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stephanevdv
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