On Dec 22, 6:03*am, wrote:
I was reviewing some contest flights from 2008 and it occurred to me
that there hadn't been a thorough review of people's experience with
the new "start anywhere" rule - which measures distance on the first
leg from a start from anywhere along the boundries of the start
cylinder.

I general I prefer it to the old rule, but it seems to put more
pressure on getting the perfect start. I found myself popping the
brakes and going down for a lot more starts than in prior years. At
Parowan a few of us lobbied for and got a higher MSH to keep people
out of the weeds when going back down for another start in the high
ground east of the field (where most of the good thermals were).

Any other reactions out there?

9B

I brought this up a couple times at the regionals I flew this year. I
was assured that we were flying "start anywhere" with actual distance
from the start fix to the first turn being scored, but I never saw the
actual rule that made it so. This is what the 08 regional FAI rules,
published on the SSA web site state: "10.8.6 The distance of the
first task leg shall be taken as the distance from the Start Point to
the control fix at the first turnpoint, minus the Start Radius."
That, of course, is the old rule.

-Evan Ludeman / T8