Bill Daniels wrote:

BTW, How about some of our British and European friends with lots of winch
experience jumping in here?

I can't speak for others, but I read this thread, shaked my head and
simply didn't feel like commenting. Seldom I have seen a discussion
which showed so clearly plain ignorance.

In a word: If done correctly, winch launching is safe, cheap and fun. It
is certainly much (much!) cheaper than aero-tow. It is certainly much
more fun. And it's easier, too.

The only dangerous moment for the pilot is at the very beginning of the
pull. It is very very very important not to pull too early or too
briskly. Stalling the glider at this altitude is lethal. Once
established in the climb, make sure you have always enough speed to pull
over if the rope breaks. Everything else is very easy and very safe.
There *are* rope breaks, but they are very much a non-event. Either you
have enough room to land straight, or you have enough altitude to do a
180 or a short circuit.

Winch launching has much more safety issues for the ground crew and
spectators than for the pilot. Be sure to have an experienced person
show you safe procedures.

Of course, an experienced winch driver helps a lot, too. At our club, a
new winch driver must do 50 launches under supervision befor he's
allowed to winch alone. We never had a winch accident in 40 years.

Stefan