Changes to USA Nationals System

On Jun 30, 12:26 pm, Tim Taylor wrote:
It is time for a major overhaul of the US Nationals system. With time
constraints and cost it is making the single national approach
outdated. We have discussed the idea of super regionals or multiple
nationals. I think it is time to seriously look at these
alternatives. We have to recognize that the country is nearly 3500
miles (6000 km) across. Traveling coast to coast is time and cost
prohibitive.

This thread is to kick off a discussion of alternatives. I will throw
out two possibilities and look forward to other ideas.

1. Two nationals in each class a year, one east and one west. The
points will be the same as our current nationals, 100 points to the
winner. We could reduce the nationals from 10 days to seven to make
it possible to fly in a week rather than taking two weeks for a
contest. These can be combined with a regional similar to Sports and
Region 11 this year.

2. Super regional system, points would be 96 to 98 for the winners.
This would encourage more pilots to fly and provide a place to have a
higher level of competition to improve the US soaring skills overall.
This years Region 9 at Parowan was highly competitive and I think it
pushes all the pilots to improve their skills. Super regionals would
be by seeding list similar to the nationals. Again the seven day
contest would work well for the Super Regionals.

I think we need to address the class creep issue as well soon. We
have too many classes, it is time to eliminate some classes. I vote
to kill World class and strongly consider the end of Open class and
1-26. That would put us down to four classes; Std, 15M, 18M and
Sports 9 (Club).

OK, my fault Let put the thread back on subject:

It is time for a major overhaul of the US Nationals system. With time
constraints and cost it is making the single national approach
outdated. We have discussed the idea of super regionals or multiple
nationals. I think it is time to seriously look at these
alternatives. We have to recognize that the country is nearly 3500
miles (6000 km) across. Traveling coast to coast is time and cost
prohibitive.

This thread is to kick off a discussion of alternatives. I will throw
out two possibilities and look forward to other ideas.

1. Two nationals in each class a year, one east and one west. The
points will be the same as our current nationals, 100 points to the
winner. We could reduce the nationals from 10 days to seven to make
it possible to fly in a week rather than taking two weeks for a
contest. These can be combined with a regional similar to Sports and
Region 11 this year.

2. Super regional system, points would be 96 to 98 for the winners.
This would encourage more pilots to fly and provide a place to have a
higher level of competition to improve the US soaring skills overall.
This years Region 9 at Parowan was highly competitive and I think it
pushes all the pilots to improve their skills. Super regionals would
be by seeding list similar to the nationals. Again the seven day
contest would work well for the Super Regionals.

I agree there are problems with the current FAI Class Nationals in the
US, but what I see mostly is that they're too small and, hence, it's
sometimes difficult to find hosts for all of them. Thirty years ago it
wasn't unusual to have 50 or 60 pilots in a 15M or Standard Class
Nationals. A few years ago, we had 22 for the Standard Class at
Uvalde, one of the best racing sites in the US. Many of us used to
agonize over the seeding list to make sure we qualified each year for
the Nationals. Now the only time the seeding list is relevant is at a
few popular regionals such as Perry, Parowan, New Casle, and Mifflin.
Those have become super regionals even without the incentive of higher
seeding.

I already have the flexibility to go to a "local" national contest
nearly every year. I own an ASW 24, still competitive in the Standard
Class. I can also fly Sports Class. This year I chose Standard Class
at Cordele (east) over Sports Class at Montegue (west). Next year I'll
have to choose between Sports (Elmira) and Standard (Montegue). I've
also flown in 15 Meter contests: modern Standard Class gliders are
very close to 15M gliders in the east. Pilots with Standard Class
airplanes with 18M tips have another option, though pure 18M gliders
have an advantage. I even flew one Open Class Nationals (competitive
on strong days when my wing loading and maneuverability were higher;
less so when it got weak and pure glide ratio was important).

I agree we're suffering from class proliferation. But the 1-26 and
World Classes don't really dilute participation in the other classes.
Given the prices of new gliders, it's difficult to contemplate
disenfranchising anyone by eliminating one or more classes.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"
USA

I already have the flexibility to go to a "local" national contest
nearly every year. I own an ASW 24, still competitive in the *Standard
Class. I can also fly Sports Class. This year I chose Standard Class
at Cordele (east) over Sports Class at Montegue (west). Next year I'll
have to choose between Sports (Elmira) and Standard (Montegue). I've
also flown in 15 Meter contests: modern Standard Class gliders are
very close to 15M gliders in the east. Pilots with Standard Class
airplanes with 18M tips have another option, though pure 18M gliders
have an advantage. I even flew one Open Class Nationals (competitive
on strong days when my wing loading and maneuverability were higher;
less so when it got weak and pure glide ratio was important).

Chip expresses very well what's going on: the vast majority of pilots
fly for fun, and choose a good nearby event rather than schlep all the
way across the country to follow a particular class. In the last few
years, on average there are fewer than 3 pilots who cross the
Mississippi to fly true East (Mifflin/Cordele) or West (Montague/
Ephrata) contests. I counted zero "west" coast pilots at mifflin this
year, and 3 easterners at Montague now (among the names I recognize,
which is most but not all of the field.)

This by itself isn't realy a problem. It's great to be able to enjoy
national level competition within a 1000 mile radius of home, though
with the compromise of often flying a suboptimal class. Pilots seem to
have resoundingly made the choice in favor of conveneince.

The fact does suggest that pilots might prefer a system with multiple
"nationals" in which glider classes are mixed with handicaps, as we
now mix standard and 15 at some regionals. What do US ras'ers think of
that?

It also means that world team selection is made from a very small
group of people willing to take an extra week to drive across the
country to follow a given class, and typically to fly in multiple
nationals each year since wins count and losses don't hurt you. But
team selection is another matter. First, we have to run successful
contests, then we have to figure out how to use the results of those
contests to pick winning teams.

John Cochrane