Frank wrote:

In America, the 2005 handicaps (the latest list I could find) we

Std Cirrus 1.000
LS3 0.953
LS4 0.950
ASW28 0.925
LS8/15 0.925

So, given the current handicap system, allowing 0.925 handicaps would
have the effect of negating the entire idea.


My .925 quip was tongue-in-cheek; I buried the :-) as part of a
parenthetical. I basically think the floor should be LS4 or maybe
another antique like the ASW-24 (that thrown in as a barb at my friend
JB ) :-)))

Certainly there is no incentive to drive forever and spend $2K or so to
compete in a contest where there is no chance of winning. Who knows
how that would change if there actually was a chance. We won't know
until we try. In any case, the SSA supported a 2006 World Class
Nationals with only 9 gliders present, and I suspect I could get 9 SC
pilots to commit to a meet where they are assured there will be only
?SC gliders in a 0.95 to 1.1 or so range.

I used to be a teaching pro in tennis years back. It was funny how some
guys would always come in and buy the latest racket, have me fiddle
around with new strings, etc. They were sure that "if only" they had
the better equipment, they'd be competitive. Year after year, the
same guys won the championship, no matter what the equipment. We're
all potential champions until we put our talent where our mouth is.
To some extent, I feel the same way about folks that say they don't
come to the Sports Class nationals because they would have no chance of
winning. Try it and see. I mean, if you look back, a well flown
Libelle won in 2005 and a well flown K6 would have won in 2004
(excepting his Day 5 landout, Stevenson had a huge lead at Ionia).
Also, I'll note that I count 10 (of the 27) gliders at Ionia falling
within the sports class range if you include the ASW-24 (otherwise I
think it was 8).

To some extent, my position on participation from this "latent" group
of true Club Class pilots is "I'll believe it when I see it." The
idea of running it within the Sports Class nationals for a couple of
years seems to have a lot of merit.

P3