snip

Of course one can fly hors de concourse and have some fun, but is that
really competing, or just getting in the way? *

snip

I think this is where a lot of pilot miss it on contest flying. They
think that contest flying = competing. Of course there a a few that do
really compete but I bet at most regional contests 90% of the pilots
are there for the concentrated week of flying (it is easier to take a
week off of work and fly), availability of tows and crew, (There are
always enough people to retrieve you if you land out), the social
aspect, (spending lot of time around other glider pilots), and the
once every 5 years that conservative flying and luck align to let you
win a day.

With so many MAT and TAT tasks being called most of the time it really
is a lot like just going out and flying on a regular Saturday
afternoon and going where you want to. Maybe we should start calling
the a regional fly-in instead of a contest.

Brian
HP16T