I find it hilarious that an effort to label my comments as yelling has been made. I am only one. It is, of course, up to others here to listen to whomever they choose. I suspect frustration. This is to be expected in those with different viewpoints when they are insecure about their position in a discussion.
I for one applaud those who speak up for their ideas and thoughts and defend them with passion. I applaud them if they are with me or against me. Last I checked this is how public forums (private institutions as well for that matter) worked. If you have another idea as to what is acceptable for the RAS people I am sure we are all ears.
Back to the topic at hand.
The idea that TV, DVDs or Internet videos about soaring are somehow bad for "your sport" is hilariously ridiculous (IMHO). The idea that these efforts will "bugger up" your sport is the most laughable thing I heard in many days. Thank you for that. Laughing is so good for us.. Much appreciated.
Are you seriously claiming that the glider Grand Prix videos (New Zealand and Chile) have hurt our (sorry, your) sport? Please explain. Please provide quantifiable evidence of the damage these events and their videos have caused to "your sport?"
The reality (apparently I need to explain it further) is that the Sky Race World Cup idea is totally independent and you and your club. These efforts will have zero functional impact on anything we do normally in soaring. This has nothing to do with you and "your friends" at your club. There is clear upside if the effort is succesful and absolutely zero downside. If you see downside, please explain.
How it can be percieved as a threat is predictable and yet fascinating. The natural human fear of change and new ideas is an amazing topic. I live with these detractors daily in my profesional world (and usually eat them for breakfast). At least they have an argument to respect. This argument about skyraceworldcup being a damaging invader to the sport of sparing is fundementally ridiculous. But I would appreciate a compete argument for the fun of it.
The sailplane Grand Prix / Skyraceworldcup is something an independent person, with their own money, focus and creativity, is trying to create and build. He has been working on it for some time. It will continue to take tremendous effort to be successful. The only by-products of this massive effort will be more amazing soaring videos about wonder of gliding and journey of certain young people thru out the gliding world take in order to produce superior skills over their competitors in competition. This story will be shared with the world in a manner and scale that greatly exceeds anything before it. We are talking Americas Cup levels of exposure perhaps one day. This is bad why exactly? It does not discount any other aspect of the sport in any way, shape or form. It, on a scale far greater than any other imaginable, has the potential of getting massive amounts of "net new" people interested in trying that sport (Sailing, soaring, etc) which they experience on TV (or Internet video).
If you want to produce a video series about your friends flying at your club, go ahead! That's wonderful!!! I support you fully. I'll start by sending you $100. Tell me where to send it. But we both know you don't want to do anything meaningful here other than squash the likelihood of enthusiasm about skyraceworldcup.com most likely because you don't fully understand it and your brain has defaulted to its pre-programmed but all to common reaction. Sad thing is that their might be potential in that path as well.
You (all) have 4 choices (perhaps 5) on how to behave in regards to Mario's skyraceworldcup.com idea: You can 1) support it by donating $ to the "Wings over Sweden" kickstarter project (
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...-over-sweden-0) and being positive about this project within the soaring community 2) You can "not donate" but be supportive about the project. 3) you can ignore it. 4) you can criticize it. 5) you can actively attack it, demonize it and try and defeat it? For those of you in the 4-5 region I say......WTF?
People who chose 4-5 are literally in their own way as well as our sports. They see soaring as their own private thing and honestly want few others to know about it. They actually are fine with the sports poor growth and low public interest. What it is today is "all good" for them and they are all that matters. They stand in the way of publicity and TV interest (unless of course they miraculously somehow are the source of the publicity). Shocking but true. The idea of a new wave of energy sweeping into the sport from another source is clearly terrifying to them. They actually want to stop this energy. They actively campaign against it.
The people who choose 3 are almost equally damaging to the sports growth becusse of their proportional scale. Unfortunately this is where most of us likely lie. This segment driwns enthusiasm by being passive. You shrug your shoulders and think it doesnt matter much to me. If you are in the 3 camp, please watch Mario's presentation with special attention to the importance of the Halo effect:
http://youtu.be/vKdI5pnoaAU
I for one have chosen #1. I hope some more of you will make the same choice. Perhaps at least #2. I for one truly look forward to another great video on soaring from these folks! I look forward to the real potential for a fascinating glider racing series and watching some lucky young pilots striving to become a part of this new premier soaring event.
Best,
Sean
F2