Now i know i am not going to win and it is all about taking part, but
what can i do to the glider to gain more points

Hi Neil,

Congrats on entering - that's often the biggest psychological hurdle. Quick answer to your question: point the glider in the right direction.

OK, flippancy aside, there is only so much you can do to the actual glider to prepare it for flying, and after a while you invoke the law of diminishing returns. What really helps is to have confidence that the glider is prepared properly, so you can focus on flying it to the best of your ability (and thus gain more points). The Andy Davis articles that Tom mentioned are a really good overview but here are some points I'd like to stress.

There's a lot to be gained from cleaning the glider (seriously, and a lot of gliders - especially club gliders - come back from contests cleaner than when they left), polishing it and doing your best to remove all the little functional niggles that will distract you from the actual flying. Leaky dump valves are annoying. Gear doors that don't quite close properly are annoying. Seat cushions that stop you getting comfortable are annoying. Flapping loose ends of wing tape are annoying. Etc. etc.. Make sure that everything works and you'll get in the glider relaxed and happy.

Make sure that the instruments all work and that you know how to use them - especially true of electronic varios and fancy flight computers. Trying to figure out something in flight will distract from your actual flying (see how your average thermal climb rate goes down when you're ditracted). When in doubt, fly the glider and figure it out later.

Once you know that everything works and that you know how to work everything, you'll be in a much better frame of mind in which to head off into the unknown. It's a blast! Enjoy!

DH
TX