I would hope that all glider pilots in their training understand the need to release immediately when they lose sight of the tow plane. The problem is that not everything everyone is trained to do is accomplished when needed.

In my case a 15 year old on her first solos kited not just high and fast but to the right, pulling my nose down and to the left as if in a spin and does this below 350 feet, this happened in the wink of an eye. We can discuss recurrent trainining which would not have entered into the picture in this situation. We can discuss emphasis on releasing but getting someone to actually do it is another thing. We can discuss it until the cows come home but the bottom line is the tow pilot must be given a fighting chance to have a determination in the outcome when others involved in the situation fail.

Walt