I am a relatively new competition pilot with only one Regional (Perry
2006) and one National (1-26 Championships) level contest behind me.
The only sailplane I own so far is a Blanik L-13 in which I spend
every weekend and most weeks training the pilots who are the future of
our sport. I run a gliderport because I love this sport, but were it
not for the goodness of people like Mitch Hudson and Kevin Anderson
who have given me the use of their sailplanes I would not be able to
do any cross country soaring or racing for myself, thus eventually
losing the enthusiasm and love of the sport which keeps me going while
working in the trenches running a commercial operation and all that it
entails.

Aside from the two contests which I've actually flown I have made a
point to study every contest that I can in order to learn how best to
run the contests which I manage. I've towed, attended and studied many
contest and recently finished up managing the 2007 World Class
Nationals and 1-26 Championships. So, with that said then I will
respond to Mitch's question (before the rock-throwing began) and state
my observations from the first two contest days.

1) Day 1 - I ferried the towplane through strong lift the last hour
before reaching Caeser Creek. - The first sniffer was launched half an
hour after I landed, and there was a 3 hour task called.
2) Day 2 - Cu's showed up in the sky at 11:30. I launched the first
sniffer an hour later, and by the time I'd landed he was reporting 7
knot lift and an altitude of 7000'. There was a 3.5 hour task called.

According to the rules copied below, it sounds to me that the CD is
expected to make full use of the available soaring weather and 3 hours
should really be considered a minimum. I'm thinking the first two days
at least were under-called. (Wasn't on site for Days 3-6, so I don't
know about that.)

This is CD McQuigg's first Nationals as a CD, so I guess we all need
to learn the job. I look forward to seeing him push these guys hard
enough to separate the men from the boys.

Sarah

10.3.1.1 † Task Parameters
· † Standard Minimum Task Distance: 50 miles
· † Standard Minimum Task Time: 3.0 hours
· Standard Task Time: 4.0 hours

10.3.1.3 Normal Task - Tasks should make as full use of
the available soaring weather as is practical. When feasible, tasks
should be set so that the expected minimum completion time is not
less
than the Standard Task Time. Yet a task should be short enough that a
pilot who starts as soon as the task opens and who achieves 75% of
the
expected winning speed is able to finish. A time-limited task should
normally allow a maximum possible distance at least 130% of that
achievable in the designated minimum time at the expected winning
speed.

10.3.1.5 Maximum Task - Tasks should be set such that
the total time on course of the highest-scoring flights on any two
consecutive days is less than 10 hours. But, consistent with this and
as conditions allow, it is appropriate for the CD to set occasional
tasks that are substantially longer than the Standard Task Time.