I don't think the numbers bear any of this out -- though of course I'm
too lazy to go look them up right now to prove it.

My impression is that overall the number of pilots flying contests in
the US is stable or increasing. So is the number of classes and venues,
hence the occasional contest with small numbers. Yes, there were more
gliders at a nationals in the 1960s -- but there was only one
nationals; now we have 6! Why was Uvalde so empty? Perhaps because so
many standard class pilots had already flown sports at mifflin, 15
meter at Montague or 18 meter at Hobbs, or any number of high-class
regionals. The new classes give pilots more choices, which is a good
thing, at least for a pilot!

I see lots of new faces at each contest. The average age seems to be in
the low 50s exactly where it always has been. Competitive soaring is,
has been and probably always always will primarily draw middle aged men
with the money and time to pursue it. The "young blood" is in their
late 30s, which is fine, so long as they keep coming.

Contests with room means supply of contests is growing faster than
demand, not necessarily that demand is shrinking.

But of course all this is idle speculation. Chip; how about going
through the past contest results on the web and telling us how many
pilots actually did fly how many contests, both national and regional,
over the last five years?

John Cochrane BB