At 16:17 04 March 2017, wrote:
You will only improve if you are honest with yourself and admit
your
weakne=
sses. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. A tow rope
looses
50=
% of its strength with a knot it in.

For those who have tasted flight, their eyes will be forever turned
skyward=
.. And for those who have tasted the excitement of racing
alongside
another=
sailplane, they will forever want to compete. Sailplane racing is a
sport=
in which a 16 year old can compete against an 86 year old. It is
the
most=
pure form of aviation that exists. Hot air ballooning, helicopters,
power=
aircraft to gyrocopters, can quickly reach a state where you feel
you
have=
mastered that craft. With Soaring, it takes a lifetime, an endless
pursui=
t of winning a challeng that is always changing with the winds.

What are, in your opinion, the weakest links to sailplane racing?

My opinion is that the complexities of the game have become too
overwhelmin=
g it takes the fun away.

Back in the old days, it was as simple as who can fly the furthest
downwind=
.. That's simple to understand.

Technology, spot tracking, no more cameras at the points have
changed our
s=
port, but is it really for the better? Are we embracing these
technologica=
l advancements to rise our sport or has it been used to demise our
sport?

More than often in the past decade have we seen dismal turnouts
for
classes=
.. 12 pilots for the standard class national championship showed
up!
That'=
s pathetic!

It makes me wonder, does the SSA leadership want a sold out
contest? Or do
=
they want a small turnout to reduce the competition they face?
Actions
spe=
ak louder than words! Or is it that this has become a good old
boys club
a=
nd we want to keep it small like a gentlemens hunting club.

It's shocking that a pilot can get a rating, buy a glider and finish
last
p=
lace in a regional contest and then with minimal qualifications
qualify
for=
a National Contest! =20

This alone clearly shows that what has been done to keep the
sport the
same=
size, or increase its participation levels has been a failure.


As others have noted, only a small part of the USA soaring
population cares about racing. SSA membership has gone down
from 16,000 back in the 1980's to ~10,000 now, so the total
amount of people interested in racing is down as well proportionally.

Back in the 1980's there were only 3 racing classes (STD, 15m &
Open) to carry the load of anyone that wanted to race seriously.
Now, in addition to those 3 classes, we have Sports, Club, 18m,
and maybe 2-seater coming, not to mention 1-26, World, and
aerobatic contests to boot. That is why the number of contest
entrants (per class as well) is down from back in the 1980's. There
was a big drop in membership, and an explosion in different racing
classes.

On top of that, the prices of new gliders effectively doubled in US$
when they went from the German DM to the Euro, so who can afford
to buy a new competitive glider to race anymore?? That has
dropped the participation too. As the costs go up, the participation
numbers will go down.

There are a lot of tough nuts to crack here, and it doesn't all hinge
on what kind of format we use for the few of us that do race.

RO