You did not provide a logical reason why this big change (scoring as land out) was made rather then just raising the finish height and leaving gradual penalty.

The point of scoring low finishes as a landout is real simple. When you're deciding "shall I land in the last good field or press on" at MacCready 0 plus 50 feet, it needs to be crystal clear that you will gain nothing by pressing on. This is not safety legislation -- points are off the table, make a good decision, points are the same either way. With a graduated penalty there is always some benefit to pressing on. And complexity. Didn't you guys want simple rules? Try figuring out the points to finish 397 feet low.

It just moves the hard ground down. You used to be scored as a landout -- with none of this mollycoddling graduated penalties -- if you missed the fence by a foot.

Don't think of it as a "penalty." The task is to start below (say) 5000', get inside three turnpoints, and finish no less than (say) 700'. If you didn't do that, you didn't fly the same race as everyone else. In what other sport can you miss the finish line by 200 feet and still get a "finish?" And want more?

John Cochrane