On many German gliders on the ASI is a yellow triangle. This Yellow
Triangle on my ASw 20 and my LS3a is the factory recommended approach
airspeed. This speed is 49 knots. This has bothered me for a long time
now, I think the factory did alot of pilots a disservice by putting this,
to me anyway, very low number on there. On both the above gliders, the
max speed, normal landing flap flaps down, is 86 knots.

About 15 years ago my Gold Seal flight instructor Bob Faris, CX
,indicated to me in his LS3 he planned on a much higher speed in the
pattern, like 70 to as high as 80 knots depending on conditions. I
followed suit ever since.
I read in Soaring magazine frequently pilots stating that their in the
pattern around 50 knots, this makes the hair on the back of my head stand
on end! There is no margin for error at these low speeds. No reserve energy
at all.

Stalling and spinning in the pattern has been going on forever, generally
resulting in a awful crash.

I think we should all come up with a much higher speed in the pattern, and
trim for and hold that speed until about 20' off the ground, this could
eliminate alot of accidents IMHO.

I know all about the theory of adding half the windspeed and all of the
gust factor, never the less Airspeed is everything! As a group we have to
do better in this important phase of flight. What do you Glider Gods
think?

As an impeached ex-president (not PDJT) suggested - and at which other
respondents' replies hinted - it depends on what the meaning of "approach" is.
Do you mean "pattern speed" or "final approach speed"?

There's SO much in the nuances - this one and lots of others regarding "how
one flies a landing pattern".

Of the ~double-digits of late glider pilots I've known, I can recall only one
who died in the base-to-final turn...on an essentially windless, still,
day...at a camp, with lots of glider pilot witnesses (but not me). I've no
idea what her actual speed was at the time of departure from controlled
flight, but am satisfied it was almost surely "slower" than "faster"...and,
were it possible to settle the bet, would wager Real Money she was less than
perfectly coordinated during her last turn. "Slow speed" accident, or
"uncoordination-induced" accident?

Point being, there's at least one thing Joe Pilot - if interested in flying
again tomorrow - must *never* do, & that's depart from controlled flight in
the pattern. How s/he accomplishes that is the interesting bit...

As to "the yellow triangle", memory sez the only ships I semi-regularly flew
that had one were club-owned Grob variants. In benign approach conditions,
"triangle speed" seemed to me quite adequate (& comfortable) throughout the
pattern down to my "slowing down point" pre-flare. In "typical western-US
mid-boisterous day", still seriously percolating, atmospheric conditions...not
so much. Curiously, the two fastest approaches/finals I recollect were in a
G-103 (dual) and my Zuni, both "somewhere between 75-80 knots "somewhere along
upper-final-approach segment" as I recall, the Grob one due to downbursty
conditions, the other due to a howling (but remarkably steady &
lacking-in-turbulence) crosswind. I ultimately wheel-landed both, whereas in
calm conditions my default touchdown preference is the much-beloved 2-pointer.

Do what you have to do to touch down safely. Be able to do "it" consistently.
Stay away from "panacea cures" for the most part, if ever tempted to view them
as talismans in some way. Recognize any inherent paradoxes.

YMMV...