On Sep 24, 10:15*pm, "noel.wade" wrote:
All -

Having never participated in a sailplane competition (yet), I have a
question about competiton length...

Are all "serious" events in the US (even Regionals) 7+ days long?

For major events where people are travelling long distances, I totally
understand the need for a wide window of competition days (i.e.
weather). *But the very fact that events require a bunch of dedicated
time imposes a limit on who can go to them and how many can be
attended by any given pilot, and adds to the logistical complexity of
organizing and running the event...

Has there ever been any concerted effort to have more short events on
a local level?

For example: I live in Seattle and could attend several 3-day events
in the California-Oregon-Washington-Idaho area. *I figure 1 day to
travel, 1 day of practice, 2 or 3 days of competition, and 1 day to
travel home. *Do that over a weekend and you're only taking off 3 - 4
days from work. *I could attend 2 or 3 of those events and use up the
same amount of vacation time as one 7-day event.

I've got a lot more to say about this topic (including points and
counter-points as to why this can and can't work)... but being
inexperienced I'd love to throw it open to comment by folks that HAVE
competition experience first.

Anyone with actual competition experience care to comment on this?

Thanks!

--Noel

Hi Noel,

There are a lot of "real" contests out there with different formats.
Several leap to mind:

- GTA races. http://home.att.net/~g.t.a.race/gta_main.htm
- Governor's Cup. http://www.pgcsoaring.org/gov_cup/
- Chicago area. http://www.chicagogliderclub.org/content/nisc.php

It really just takes a couple of folks who are fired up about racing
to drive this sort of thing, and it really can be successful. We've
been running the Governor's Cup in NJ/NY/PA for over 10 years now, and
some seasons we've had over 30 pilots participate.

Cheers,

Erik Mann
LS8-18 (P3)