Warning, extreme topic creep!

When I started learning to race in the Arizona Soaring Association's
year-long contest series, we still carried cameras, used start gates
and finish lines, but were starting to use handeld GPSs to navigate.
Tasks were mainly assigned speed tasks, with occasional MATs or PST
when the weather was iffy, and speeds were handicapped.

The trick was that we separated the gliders into performance groups,
and tasked accordingly:

A class was full-up racers, and could compete wet if desired.

B class was current or just over the hill racers (say, std Cirrus and
G-102 on up) but had to be dry. Also new guys with fancy toys but
little racing experience. They were tasked on about 75% of the A
class task.

C class was for 1-26, Blaniks, G-109s, Pioneers, etc; anything that
wanted to race but didn't quite have the speed to fly the longer
tasks. Again, their task was a percentage of the A class.

We had weekends with bigger grids than some regionals I've been to!

Personal opinion: with small numbers of less experienced racers, the
simpler the task the better. In fact, leeching is a good thing when
you are trying to learn! I think area tasks can be too demanding for
a newby, if you really try to fly them right. They should only be
used as a last resort, for a specific reason: Iffy weather, too many
competitors in the same piece of sky, etc. The good old speed task
lets the pilot concentrate on going fast, or watching other pilots go
fast and trying to copy what they are doi

But I'm apparently a minority view (and used to that!).

Kirk
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