On Saturday, August 22, 2015 at 11:21:41 AM UTC-5, jfitch wrote:

When winning becomes more important than competing, all kinds of weird things happen. I will note that I just discussed this with three recent national champions, none of them were particularly concerned about Flarm or leeching.

Exactly.

But back to the technology.

Sorry, I don't buy the "keep the cost down and it will grow" argument. Name ONE sport where that is happening. Look at the evolution of sailboats, windsurfers, race cars, gliders, bicycles (!), even track and field (priced a pair of running shoes lately?). Unless you intentionally freeze the technology, you are going to get an "arms race".

Now I have nothing against strict single-class rules - I used to race Lasers and they are about as identical as can be - but even there the serious competitors spend all sorts of cash on every possible legal tweak and high tech gizmo.

Sorry guys, the technology horse has bolted - you will see (at the upper levels of the sport) all sorts of fancy (and at first, expensive) technology. Which is exactly what happened when varios were invented, then when composite technology was introduced, then when nav/glide computers were introduced, then when GPS was introduced...PF, and by extension, remote tracking/enhanced situational awareness, is just the latest innovation that will be embraced by the sport and, IMO, make it more fun and appealing to the new generation of pilots. And since it's mainly electronics, the cost will invariably come down (Moore's law, etc.); just as how the once expensive state of the art racing gliders of the past eventually become the club ships and sports class racers of the "common man".

You hear pilots complaining that all these "aids" take away from what we are "measuring" in a glider race. I disagree. What a glider race is all about is speed: How fast can you make it around a task. And anything that allows you to go faster in a glider is progress.

Otherwise, we would all be floating around in Weihes staring at our pellet varios and trying to figure our where we are on our sectional charts, while preparing to land out in some horrible place...

So I say "Bring it on! Pump all the data into my cockpit that technology can access, and let me figure out how to use it to go faster!

And as an aside, my wife/crew, who used to love working start and finish gates, said that she would love to be involved in passing real time info to me inflight during a race - I really think real time involvement would be a way to expose more people to racing.

Oh, and, at least for me, a top of the line new open class glider is just as unattainable as an F-1 seat or the helm of an America's cup racer - so the comparison, while a bit of a tongue-in-cheek one, is valid for me!

Great thread,

Cheers,

Kirk
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