It's OK to fly with top pilots on a task. When it's your turn to lead out (you're on top of the gaggle or you're on the same level and the other pilot has led out a couple of times), go. If you don't, you're a leech.

If you see other gliders up ahead (i.e., markers) and pick the best gaggle, take advantage of the few circles they wasted coring it to roll in underneath and gain a little ground trying to repeat the process and leapfrog a stack or two, you're opportunistic, not a leech. And maybe a daily winner, although eventually you'll end up having to find thermals yourself. And you better hope that your late start doesn't leave you floundering out on course when the day dies early and the first starters are gleefully announcing their finishes (note: switch off radio at the first hint).

Are you willing to leave early, alone, convinced it's the best chance to get around the course at good speed before the day dies early? Stop reading right now; your only anxiety should be whether the two pilots who started just behind you are leeches or if they'll contribute to getting around the course.

If you're flying with other pilots and constantly evaluating whether they're making the right decisions and willing to go your own way, you're not leeching. You may share the same thermals, but the minute one of you thinks you have a better idea, he or she is gone, perhaps pursued by the other pilot(s).

If you're trailing another pilot and he/she suddenly disappears (FLARM fails you, you're heads down, the mother ship reels him/her in), do you panic because you have no idea what to do next? (don a scarlet "L") Or do you push on, regretting the loss of the company, especially if it's blue, but not dismayed. (independent)

Pre GPS, the acid test was: if you lose your "tow", do you even know where you are? Leeching can be hard work and they often weren't able to navigate and fly at the same time. GPS was the first gift to leeches. FLARM is the second.

When you leave a thermal, do several of you spread out horizontally convinced that you know better than the others where the good air is? Do you take advantage of numbers in the blue to sample more air, then converge on the happy pilot who finds a good thermal--which sometimes is you? Not a leech. Or is your biggest fear the whole day that you'll lose the pilot(s) ahead of you and be left alone? If you have to ask....

Do you fly along with a top pilot for a few thermals just to see what it is that he/she does differently in the vain hope that you can do it, too? Not a leech. Is your best skill determining whom to follow each day, determined to ride around in his/her wake? You could give lessons to aspiring leeches.

Do you stop and circle every time a top pilot does, whether it's 1 kt. or 6 kt., and have no idea why? Do you linger at the top long after the climb rate has fallen off because the guy you're with is slightly below you? Shame on you!

From an analytical perspective, there are few single actions that define leeching. Externally it's patterns of behavior over time. Internally, it's the way someone thinks.

If you're concerned about being a leech, you probably aren't. If one person has ever made a comment that implies you might not be flying independently enough, you probably are even if you're in denial.

Fear not, it's possible to graduate out of the leech ranks. If your average placings plummet, it confirms the diagnosis. If you start winning contests, you were a good, if annoying, student.

Yes, leeching is a skill. So is robbing banks.

Good luck and have fun. It's a great sport despite the quibbling about the rules.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"
U.S.A.