In the last 4 Club Class World/European Champs there has never been a glider in the top 5 that had a base handicap above 1.01 (1.01 is e.g. a Jantar Std. 3/LS 1F/ASW 19 - 1.02 with WL)

The best placing of a glider with a handicap near the top of the permited range (1.07+) has been 6th & 10th (ASW 24 in 2010/2008 - same pilot, he's now flying a DG 100). Best placing for an ASW 20 (1.08/1.09 with WL) has been 19th (2011), for a Discus (1.07/1.08 with WL) 18th (2008).

The sites have been your typical run of the mill European flat land/mixed terrain sites with Rieti as a true mountain site in 2008. It should be safe to assume that they had anything from strong to weak thermal conditions with typical mountain flying in Rieti. National results for Club Class e.g. in Germany will show similar results.

So statistically speaking you do not want to be at the high performance end of the Club class, the ideal performance range seems to be bottom to middle, let's say 0.98 to 1.02 with WL.

I can't see how that would change with a Ventus or LS-6 (or the remaining ASW 20s). How much more performance will a Ventus or LS-6 give you over a first generation ASW-20 to make it a game changer in your normal and statistically relevant range of conditions taking the increased handicap into account?

The question might be how much people initially migrate to higher performance ships when they become allowed because they perceive an advantage even though that might only be the case in extreme conditions that are statistically irrelevant and get absorbed by the handicap disadvantage during your "normal" days.

Here the numbers:

Europeans Club Class 2011
Nitra, Slovak Republic

1 - Std. Cirrus 1.00
2 - LS 1F 1.01
3 - Jantar Std. 3 1.01
4 - Libelle 0.98
5 - ASW 15 0.98
6 - Std. Cirrus 1.00
7 - 18 see above 0.98 - 1.01
19 - ASW 20 1.08
20 - Discus B 1.07

Worlds Club Class 2010
Prievidza, Slovakia

1 - Libelle 0.98
2 - Libelle 0.98
3 - ASW 15 0.98
4 - Hornet WL 1.01
5 - Jantar Std. 3M (Brawo) 1.01
6 - ASW 24 1.07
7 - 20 Libelle/Cirrus/Jantar/LS 1F 0.98 - 1.01
except
14 - LS 4 1.04
18 - ASW 19B WL 1.02

Europeans Club Class 2009
Pociunai, Lithuania

1 - LS 1F 1.01
2 - ASW 19 WL 1.02
3 - LS 1F 1.01
4 - Jantar Std. 3M (Brawo) 1.01
5 - Jantar Std. 1.00
6 - ASW 19 1.01
7 - LS 4a 1.04
8 - Jantar Std. 3 1.01
9 - LS 4 1.04
10 - LS 7 WL 1.07
11 - 20 Cirrus/Jantar/ASW 19/LS 1D/F 0.98 - 1.01
21 - Discus B WL 1.08

Worlds Club Class 2008
Rieti, Italy
1 - Hornet 1.00
2 - Std. Cirrus 1.00
3 - Std. Cirrus 1.00
4 - Std. Cirrus 1.00
5 - LS 1F 1.01
6 - Jantar Std. 3M (Brawo) 1.01
7 - 9 LS 1F/Cirrus/Jantar 0.98 - 1.01
10 - ASW 24 1.07
11 - 18 DG 100/Cirrus/ASW 19/LS 1F 0.98 - 1.01
18 - Discus 1.07
20 - ASW 19 1.01

Markus