I dont think that even handicapping will help much. On a medium to
strong day, a hotshot in his fiberglass ship will outrun all the lower
guys even with handicapping. The only time a low performance guy like
myself will win is on the weak days. Guess what, soaring contests,
especially nationals are not usually held at places with weak
conditions.

The nuts and bolts of it (in my case at least) is that I was lured into
this great sport because I was told it was cheap. And im going to hang
on to that dream for as long as i can. Currently I am the most active
Cross Country pilot in Iowa, Commercial and CFIG, and own a Cherokee II
and enclosed trailer with less than 10,000 dollars invested all
together. Thats right folks, a college kid with a 23:1 wood and fabric
glider is the most active cross country pilot in Iowa. If the lift is
positive and cloudbase is above about 3000 AGL, im outta here.

I couldnt even buy a new gelcoat on your glider for what i have
invested in the sport. Basically the reason your contests are weakly
attended is because it costs too much to be competitive, and really
what is the point of competing if you cant be competitive.

To fix this, I am organizing a contest. Only "crappy" gliders will be
allowed. Im thinking capping the L/D at something like 28. No
fiberglass, no water, no GPS or cambridge glide computer thingymabobs.
Pellet Varios are fine, Total Energy if you want to get high tech.
Basically you, your glider, a sectional and a task. We will do
triangles only, designed to make it back to the airport so that we can
tell lies and drink beer into the evening. First guy to make it back
is the first guy on the list to retrieve land outs, and so on. If its
windy, the only task will be to stay upwind of the airport. No score
will be kept, except the days winner will have to buy beer. So we are
looking at next spring/summer sometime, in Central Iowa. So far Im in
with my Cherokee, Matt Michael will probably compete with his Woodstock
(Which has done 400 km Hilton Cup Triangle in IOWA!) and a few others
from the upper midwest. Who else wants to come?