Todd -

I like your last answer (about practical solutions) and it sounds like
we've got very similar ideas, so I don't want to be antagonistic
here... but a couple of minor bits of "food for thought" for everyone:

Budget for prep is very different than budget for glider purchase. *I
want a class that a $20,000-$50,000 glider can have a reasonable
chance of winning in.

You talk about this and you talk about One-Design sailboat races.
Have you heard about the World Class Glider competitions or the 1-26
Association? :-)

I also wonder about that budget range... That would include an LS-6 or
an SZD-55, and I think those are pretty competitive machines aren't
they? How about an ASW-20 or an LS-4 or a Discus b/c? And if its
true from the post above about a Twin-Astir and an LS-3 winning
recently, then those are two concrete examples of a glider in the $20k
- $50k budget range that can win under the current system.

That was a real situation in a real contest, if the intention is not
to fairly score the contest, why did we have scoring ?

The intention is to score the competition as fairly as possible within
reasonable bounds. My point is that at a certain level you just have
to understand that the guy in an ASK-14 is at a disadvantage no matter
what you do - and he can't expect to compete on a serious or high
level with that equipment. A lot of the arguments I hear about the
new handicap class is to "internationalize" it and allow for US Team
selection and all that jazz - that implies competition at a high
level, and I'm just making the point that high-level competition
demands good equipment. I return to my argument that trying to cater
to the minority with the worst equipment will be harmful to the
majority in the long run.

I want the rules simple, a small handicap spread allows use of a
simple system such as we have today. *Allowing any glider into the
scoring, *(Nimbus vs 1-26) *breaks the simple handicap system.

Right, but there's no way to be inclusive and encourage all
participation and drive up numbers and attract new folks - yet exclude
specific ships or have ultra-complicated handicapping systems that try
to take too many factors into account.

BTW, one minor point: You use the term "fair scoring" several times.
I haven't even competed yet, but I've looked at the handicaps on the
web and they seem reasonably fair to me. My experience with auto-
racing is that the more complicated you make the handicap, the more
factors people point to and whine about being "unfair". It would be
great if we could come up with _perfect_ scoring (I think the better
term for what is desired) that only takes pilot skill into account...
But unfortunately I just don't think its practical.

....Will be interesting to see all of this play out!

Take care,

--Noel