On Saturday, May 9, 2015 at 1:56:24 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Hi, I'm interested by your suggestion of the ASW 24,which I hadn't really considered. I have heard that they are trickier to thermal well, which may be a disadvantage when scratching being a relatively novice cross country pilot. Did you find any trouble in that regard?

The 24 is not hard to thermal, but I will admit, it's a better thermalling glider with decent winglets on it. I have flown a stock 24, "slip-on winglets" as well as a few "cut the tips off & do it better" winglets.
Any of the tips help, later models allowed you to fly thermals a lot easier..
In my view, the "Murray/Nixon" tips were the best to use.