RIP Tomas Reich - SGP Chile

Lots of good comments on this thread. I'd like to address the concept of contest participation.

Folks have commented on here that many pilots are scared away from flying contests because of the risks involved. And many posts are concerned with trying to mitigate the risk factors as well as to dis incentivize risky behavior by applying penalties.

All well and good but there exists a large portion of flyers who enjoy xc but don't want to have a dang thing to do with contest flying directly because of all the rule bull**** and hasstle that exists nowadays. I am one, and I directly know of three other experienced contest flyers who still fly loads of xc and record chasing but have walked away from contest flying due to the restrictive and political nature of the sport as it exists today.

Keep pilling on more and more rules regulations requirments and mandatory equipment and watch the ranks of contest flyers shrink even more. I ditched my ventus years ago and bought a 1-26 to race with those guys. The competition is FIERCE, the rules are sensible, most everyone flies respectfully and circumspectly. The contest is a direct test of piloting skill not bank account. AND landing out is not a sign of failure nor do guys heap loads of derision on a landout guys head.

We have very very few incidents or accidents. We DO fly over rough terrain, we do take many chances ( necessary with 23/1 ld) but for the most part, the guys that are racing these ships know what the hell they are doing and they know every nuance of their ship. I can't say the same for many other classes who have become slavishly dependent upon l/d and electronics at the expense of good piloting judgement and skill.
Dan