Originally this was a reply to the Club Class Nationals thread but I'm
starting a new topic as I ended up going off on a tangent. Please keep
in mind that opinions are like butt-holes and everyone has one, I'm
only throwing in my $.05 to provide the US RC with another data-point...

The current Sports class format isn't for everyone and is driving (some)
people away. I really hated Sports class, apart from my first US
contest I always chose a different class if available. In fact, the
Sports class format was one of the reasons I sold my SZD-55 and moved
onto the ASW-27. Those without a competitive ship in 15m or Std. class
need an alternative to Sports class. There are a few ways of doing this
- introducing limited handicapping to the other classes is one of them,
adding a "new" narrow range class (Club) achieves the same thing leaving
the other classes “pure”.

Additionally to the wide handicap range, however, I feel that the
tasking across all the classes plays a major role in the current
downward trend in contest attendance. I think that pilots are
frustrated by driving many miles, spending a lot of money, and burning
their vacation time just to fly a 2-3 hr task. The turn areas in AAT’s
are too big while the distances between the areas are too short. There
are definitely not enough Assigned Tasks being called. The long MAT is
fine, but not a substitute for AST, furthermore, it is not usually
called instead we are given 1 or 2 tp’s… More of the flyable day needs
to be utilized instead of worrying about making it home in time for dinner.

I realize that writing rules is always a compromise, and you will never
make everyone (or is it anyone?) happy, furthermore, there are many
factors other than rules that play a big role in the types of task that
are being called at contests. Even though I don’t agree with some of
the rules, I would like to congratulate the US RC on their methodical
and thoughtful approach to writing them. At the same time I urge you to
listen to the opinion of pilots who are not satisfied with the current
format.

Respectfully
Luke Szczepaniak