What percentage of USA glider pilots compete?

wrote in message
ups.com...

And of course you get these yahoos with 25:1 antique wood and fabric
ships who are crazy enough to sign up for a contest while only hoping
to get their silver badge in the next few months. Not gonna be
competitive, but I suppose they'll have fun.


Hey, I resemble that remark! I did my Silver distance a few months before
my first contest. I did have an absolute ball and finished at the top of
the bottom quartile.

I don't understand the yahoo/crazy part of your comment. IMHO it is crazy
to compete against anyone but yourself. Maybe I'm crazy to think this, but
isn't it possible that some/many/all top competitors are always competing
against themselves and contests are just situations where many people are
gathered together, competing against themselves and comparing their
outcomes? I encourage folks to enter contests as early in their XC careers
as their comfort allows--not to win, that can come later, but to observe and
talk with more experienced pilots and to have the experience of flying to
your personal limits on several consecutive days--that alone will improve
your skills dramatically and you can't get that with weekend flying.

I suppose Dave Stevenson in his Fokka resembles the antique part of your
comment, but I imagine he's had his silver for quite some time and typically
finishes at the top of the top quartile.