I agree that another change of the develuation rule to cover this kind of situation is going to come at a cost. For me, it simply comes down to what scenario is more important and therefore more weighted:

Scenario 1) Pilots purposefully abandoning or not starting a good task which intentionally devalues (or kills in this case) the day. This has happened in the recent past (from what I have gathered) and was part of the reason that rule was changed into its current form

-OR-

Scenario 2) Preventing a "bad luck" situation in which some pilots (in a class) are unable (very subjective word at best) to start the task when others are able to start and complete the task easily. This is a very, very hard thing to qualify as being "unfair." How do you determine what is skill vs. bad luck is or at what point a task changes from "flyable to unflyable?" A thunderstorm is one thing but this rule would also effect a blue, weak day in the midwest for example. What is fair, what is skill, what is luck?

Changing the devaluation formula to protect against this rare, difficult to define, highly subjective and odd "bad luck" situation is going to cause a lot of additional rule complexity and unintended consequence.

In sailing, this kind of "uncontrollable variable" or "bad luck" situation (micro or macro scale weather) happens literally ALL THE TIME!!! A wind shift or reversal can easily take the race leader to the back of the pack (especially in unstable conditions) while taking the boat well back in the pack into the lead. In fact, this is normal. Managing this crazy risk is simply part of sport. Its very difficult for sure! Its not really considered bad luck anymore by top competitors in sailing. Its part of nature and part of understanding the mechanics of weather on a micro scale (near a shoreline or on an inland lake for example). Competitors must learn to manage the instability and learn deal with it emotionally when it doesn't go your way (all the time).

In Formula One racing for another example, when you get a flat tire after hitting a foreign object, you don't have the option of protesting to throw the race out! You have to learn to suck it up and move on to the next race.

In my opinion the SSA rules cannot protect from all situations that involve uncontrollable variables (bad luck). The SSA rules are already stretched pretty thin and try to "cover" a lot of complex situations (perhaps far too many ;-)). Occasionally we all will have to accept a "tough luck" situation and move on. This is the nature of sport. Rules cannot take "bad luck" out of the game.

In short, I do not believe that we should change this rule.

Sean