As I read the rules I am hard pressed to find any language
that indicates that radio calls are intended to determine
which starts or finishes are to be used. There is certainly
no specific language requiring this. To the contrary,
what language there is appears to indicate safety as
the reason, particularly for finishes. Furthermore,
the specific language in the 2004 rules makes start
calls optional at the CD's discretion.

10.8.8 Start time reporting
The CD *may* require pilots to report their start times
by radio.

When it's mandatory, the rules read *shall* rather
than *may*.

As to the efficacy Jonathan's 4-lap strategy, I guess
it is theoretically possible that you could have a
1.5 hour MAT called (with or without a first TP) on
a day with 6 hours of good soaring conditions after
the gate opens. Gary points out some of the practical
limitations (best conditions near the Start/Finish,
outlanding risk, needing to find a good thermal from
low altitude right after each intermediate finish).


The biggest negative for me is the fact that you would
need to take a start earlier than normal to get in
the first 'lap' and from then on you are 'on the clock'.
This means that you are forced at each subsequent finish
to get back out on course right away, rather than trying
to optimize the height or location or time of your
start. This is particularly true if you need more than
one lap to get over minimum time. There is also (as
John Cochrane would point out) a structural points
penalty associated with multi-lap strategies that put
you well over minimum time.

A potentially more likely scenario is a pilot who elects
to add turnpoints after 'finishing' a task - either
because he finds himself under time and/or sees conditions
ahead that allow him to quickly bag a couple of additional
turnpoints. I pursued this strategy one day at a contest
this summer, but never connected with a good thermal,
so I landed.

I personally don't have a problem with pilots pursuing
these strategies - practical or not. It doesn't seem
unfair and the rules required to preclude them would
just add complexity.

9B