An interesting data point would be the 2011 Standard Class Nationals in Cordele. * We had arguably the best weather of the year and certainly the best in the East for quite some time (rarely less than 7,000 foot bases with most days featuring Cu and lift of 5kts or better). *We had a CD (P1) who was dead set on calling more ATs to help us be "competitive when we go to the Worlds." * Yet, we only ended up with 2 ATs out of 8 competition days, and one of the ATs was an undercall with significant devaluation. * *I believe the A Task on at least 2 of the remaining days was an AT, but they were dialed back to AAT after the day didn't seem as good as forecast during the pre-start (not as good meant "only" 4kts to 4,500 or 5,000). *Yet, even on those days, the winning speed was never less than 70kts.

This is in no way a criticism of Ray; he did a great job. But, it clearly wasn't a "rules issue." *We had the weather. *It was a Nationals. *We had the intent. * Yet, when there was even the slightest chance that the day would be tough, the advisors and CD felt the need to fall back. Why?

Not sure what that says about the whole debate about whether there would/should be more ATs if we flew under a different set of rules...

P3

Yeah, I think like many things in soaring, there is a big difference
between winter dreaming at the keyboard and putting stick in hand and
going.

We all know what the AT means. A lot more "race" feel, since you see
your buddies out on course. A lot more emphasis on start time and
gaggle/marker strategy. A lot greater danger of being sent to a
turnpoint that's in a thunderstorm, or totally dead area. So, a bigger
chance of mass landouts. A lot greater chance of overcalls and
undercalls. Either the task is too short for the fast guys (who then
spend up spending hours playing start games, or landing under a sky
full of cus) or it's too long for the slow guys. And, a lot better
preparation for WGCs where this stuff is all more common.

It's easy to see how we get all full of enthusiasm in the winter but
shy away from actually doing it in the summer!

John Cochrane