On Dec 14, 9:42*am, Luke Szczepaniak wrote:
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.