SGP race is for sure more exciting to watch than the "normal" race. It is also riskier than the "normal" race. The risk and excitement go hand in hand.. Just check the YouTube, where the number of views attracted by a sport (or any other an activity) is highly correlated with its mortality rate. Wingsuit flying 5 feet away from the cliff wall will always be hard to beat by anything anyone can do in a glider, short of crashing it in a spectacular and cinematographically well documented manner.

To me the main question is this: Has SGP attracted more sponsors and a larger audience to our sport? I would argue that the short answer is no. If that is so, then shouldn't we (IGC?) reconsider the whole idea? Racing gliders is already one of the most dangerous sports out there and I don't think that adding more adrenalin to the formula is wise by any measure.

Branko
XYU