On Mar 13, 11:19*pm, Brad wrote:
If I may come back inside for a moment. I think you just hit the nail
on the head with this post. I do not claim that OLC is a competition/
race between everyone posting flights on a particular day. I am
suggesting that the OLC traces posted by the group of guys I fly with,
that take off, and hopefully land back at the same place, are "racing"
and in "competition" with each other.
SNIP
In the context of a group of guys flying from a
common location, I posit that racing can take place without it being
sanctioned or requiring entry fees and 2 weeks of vacation in order to
participate.

Let's put this to bed so we can argue about smart phones.

Think of "classic" assigned-task racing as being at one end of the
competition continuum (all pilots flying the same task at the same
time). And think of the OLC at the other end (pilots flying wherever
they want at different times). The various forms of area tasks called
at today's sanctioned contests are close to but not precisely at the
same point as the assigned task because, while all pilots launch from
the same location and fly in the same task area, they do not
necessarily fly the same course. But that's still pretty close to
classic head-to-head racing.

I don't think anyone would disagree that a bunch of guys launching
from a common airport the same day who agree to fly the same informal
task (sometimes called ahead of time, more often after everyone
launches, and sometimes on a turnpoint-by-turnpoint basis by whomever
is out ahead) are racing.

Another variation, edging still further from the assigned task
endpoint, is the concept of the Governor's Cup season-long series here
in the NJ-PA-NY-DE area that was written up a while ago and promoted
by Erik Mann. Pilots launching from different points (mostly
gliderports) fly the same course (set around those points); you can
enter the course from any point and fly in either direction. A pilot's
best three days count towards the overall results. They don't all fly
from the same launch point nor do they all fly the same days or in the
same weather. But they do fly the same course...sort of: there are
optional turnpoints for good days and a south course and north course
to accommodate a couple of operations up in NY state. I think most, if
not all, of the competition pilots (myself included) who compete for
the Cup consider it to be a form of racing, although pilots who can
take off during the week to grab the best days tend to tilt things
slightly more towards the OLC model. On a good weekend day, it
resembles the "let's all fly a task today" pickup contest model except
we can all fly from our usual airports without having to trailer in.

All points on this continuum are valid forms of competition. The
closer you get to the classic assigned task model, however, the easier
it is to refer to it as head-to-head racing, where I (like Kirk and
many others) like to measure myself against other pilots over the same
ground under the same conditions. It doesn't mean one point on this
continuum is better than another, but they are all different.

You could also compare other attributes on this same continuum: % of
the soaring day used is much higher for the OLC, for example, and
probably also the % of completion (not having to land out). Average
speed is higher for the racing end of the continuum, all things being
equal. I'm not going to touch "fun factor" here because that's in the
eye of the beholder.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"
U.S.A.