On Feb 12, 8:26 pm, "Tuno" wrote:
I've always viewed fast, low finishes them as something of a penalty
(speaking in a racing context, of course). If you have the energy to
spend the last few miles of your last leg in a highly inefficient part
of the polar, it means you accumulated too much energy before starting
your final glide, and you lose more from that than you gain with a low
finish.

Sure - it's more efficient to finish at your interthermal speed but
the penalty for finding yourself too low and topping off in a garbage
thermal is far worse that keeping a safety margin and burning it at
the end. How much safety margin may depend on pilot experience, the
terrain close to the airport, and the expectation of lift/sink.

In USA it was common to finish at 50ft min through the line and then
pull up and fly a circuit to land. It seems other countries are flying
a worm burner to a straight in landing. That seems to give less
options if the runway is congested.

Andy