On Sep 24, 10:15*pm, "noel.wade" wrote:
All -

Having never participated in a sailplane competition (yet), I have a
question about competiton length...

Are all "serious" events in the US (even Regionals) 7+ days long?

For major events where people are travelling long distances, I totally
understand the need for a wide window of competition days (i.e.
weather). *But the very fact that events require a bunch of dedicated
time imposes a limit on who can go to them and how many can be
attended by any given pilot, and adds to the logistical complexity of
organizing and running the event...

Has there ever been any concerted effort to have more short events on
a local level?

For example: I live in Seattle and could attend several 3-day events
in the California-Oregon-Washington-Idaho area. *I figure 1 day to
travel, 1 day of practice, 2 or 3 days of competition, and 1 day to
travel home. *Do that over a weekend and you're only taking off 3 - 4
days from work. *I could attend 2 or 3 of those events and use up the
same amount of vacation time as one 7-day event.

I've got a lot more to say about this topic (including points and
counter-points as to why this can and can't work)... but being
inexperienced I'd love to throw it open to comment by folks that HAVE
competition experience first.

Anyone with actual competition experience care to comment on this?

Thanks!

--Noel

The general reason for regionals being 6 or 7 days is to have as many
days available as possible using one week of vacation time. This
maximizes the chances of getting an official contest in(3 days for
fully ranked regional) and gets the most flying for the drive time.
Some organizers do 6 day events to reduce load on the support group.
An alternative that also can be used is to break the contest into 2
segments over (2) 3 day weekends which can be useful if the contest is
close to the pilot population participating.
FWIW
UH