The Club Class and 2-seater class works in europe because
there is a
bunch of those ships available (from the neumerous
clubs) In the US our
ships are 98% privately owned and one can enter sports
class where you
can 'fly what you brung'.
JJ

I think that the term 'Club Class' is slightly misleading.
Certainly in the UK the vast majority of 'club class'
competing gliders are not club owned. I would say that
in the UK Club Class Nationals 85-90% of the gliders
are privately owned (if not more). Thus, it is not
popular in Europe because there are no private owners.
I rather think that it is popular because it allows
people to get into a class which can be competed in
at World level for a fraction of the cost of new gliders.


As for whether the US needs a club class, I suspect
the sports class satisfies most of the objectives.


Owain