Region 12 contest cancelled ....

There was quite a collection of gliders at Inyokern this weekend. From
SGS1-26 to ASH25Mi.
Jim

On Aug 28, 11:00*pm, JS wrote:
There was quite a collection of gliders at Inyokern this weekend. From
SGS1-26 to ASH25Mi.
Jim

Jim, Ron, et al.

Regardless of how many recreational flyers show up on a widely-
announced,
good-forecast-for-soaring weekend, that doesn't mean pilots will
commit money or
intent at least two weeks in advance to enter a competition.

Organizers invested time and planning energy, distributed entry
information, tried to entreat
potential pilots by offering mentoring and additional social, teaching
and fun events
concurrently, and STILL couldn't get more than ten pilots to express
interest.

Facing the expenses of importing tow planes, staff, and sanction and
insurance fees,
the willing-to-work volunteers were disappointed and had to call it
off. I am sorry for
their effort and disappointment. Having run the event for eighteen
years, it was not a huge
surprise to me that the commitment was soft.

Region 12 is blessed with many sites, and much generous soaring
weather. My personal
view is that the OLC has changed the sense of competition in our
Region. Pilots can fly from
various sites, on various weekends or weekdays, and still have a sense
of ranking and
camaraderie and poking fun with each other -- in "competition". This
decentralized 'racing'
allows each pilot and various L/Ds to fly with ZERO entrance fees
( have YOU made your smiley face
donation to OLC?), nearly zero complexity, with the variety of loggers
already in hand, zero sense
of risk in tasking ( go where you want, when you want), and still be
part of "the game".

This decentralized racing is NOT the same as a one-site, five-day
event in any sense.
Contests should not be viewed as the evil, glider wrecking gatherings
as they are labeled.
Tasking is moderate. Turn area circles allow pilots to adjust their
time aloft. In several instances,
participation is so soft that the handicapped concept is applied to
both Sports and FAI classes
(something that was done first in Region 12). The opportunity for
flying "with" other pilots, to
improve your own efficiency cannot be duplicated in OLC flying.

Worried about flight safety? Midairs? Landouts?
Truthfully, I came closer to a midair on a straight-out XC flight last
year than I had in
many years of Sports Class contesting. As usual, I was the one to
make the "Avoid".
Vigilance is the watchword, in all flights.
Landouts? Heck, I hold the shortest from home departing flight
landout award,
at under three miles. The contest environment holds no more risk of
landout damage than
any other soaring flight. Either you keep glide-slope discipline to a
safe place, or you don't.
Either you perfect spot landings before contesting, or you don't.

There can be issues of social inclusion or I'm-just-scoresheet-filler
at some events.
I think Larry, Walt and Micki were working hard to avoid that at
Region 12.
Let's hope we have another group of volunteers step forward to try to
offer a fun
time for next season. And I hope we have more pilots take the
opportunity to "play".

Thank you, Walt, Larry, Ian, Micki for offering the event. Thanks,
Tom, for your
coordination with the airport staff and airspace. Thanks Sierra
Soaring for being willing
to be invaded at a great soaring site.

Best wishes,

Cindy B
Region 12 Director

On Aug 31, 9:17*am, CindyB wrote:
On Aug 28, 11:00*pm, JS wrote:

There was quite a collection of gliders at Inyokern this weekend. From
SGS1-26 to ASH25Mi.
Jim

Jim, Ron, et al.

Regardless of how many recreational flyers show up on a widely-
announced,
good-forecast-for-soaring weekend, *that doesn't mean pilots will
commit money or
intent at least two weeks in advance to enter a competition.

Organizers invested time and planning energy, distributed entry
information, tried to entreat
potential pilots by offering mentoring and additional social, teaching
and fun events
concurrently, and STILL couldn't get more than ten pilots to express
interest.

Facing the expenses of importing tow planes, staff, and sanction and
insurance fees,
the willing-to-work volunteers were disappointed and had to call it
off. *I am sorry for
their effort and disappointment. *Having run the event for eighteen
years, it was not a huge
surprise to me that the commitment was soft.

Region 12 is blessed with many sites, and much generous soaring
weather. *My personal
view is that the OLC has changed the sense of competition in our
Region. *Pilots can fly from
various sites, on various weekends or weekdays, and still have a sense
of ranking and
camaraderie and poking fun with each other -- *in "competition". *This
decentralized 'racing'
allows each pilot and various L/Ds to fly with ZERO entrance fees
( have YOU made your smiley face
donation to OLC?), nearly zero complexity, with the variety of loggers
already in hand, zero sense
of risk in tasking ( go where you want, when you want), and still be
part of "the game".

This decentralized racing is NOT the same as a one-site, five-day
event in any sense.
Contests should not be viewed as the evil, glider wrecking gatherings
as they are labeled.
Tasking is moderate. Turn area circles allow pilots to adjust their
time aloft. *In several instances,
participation is so soft that the handicapped concept is applied to
both Sports and FAI classes
(something that was done first in Region 12). *The opportunity for
flying "with" other pilots, to
improve your own efficiency cannot be duplicated in OLC flying.

Worried about flight safety? *Midairs? Landouts?
Truthfully, I came closer to a midair on a straight-out XC flight last
year than I had in
many years of Sports Class contesting. *As usual, I was the one to
make the "Avoid".
Vigilance is the watchword, in all flights.
Landouts? *Heck, I hold the shortest from home departing flight
landout award,
at under three miles. *The contest environment holds no more risk of
landout damage than
any other soaring flight. *Either you keep glide-slope discipline to a
safe place, or you don't.
Either you perfect spot landings before contesting, or you don't.

There can be issues of social inclusion or I'm-just-scoresheet-filler
at some events.
I think Larry, Walt and Micki were working hard to avoid that at
Region 12.
Let's hope we have another group of volunteers step forward to try to
offer a fun
time for next season. *And I hope we have more pilots take the
opportunity to "play".

Thank you, Walt, Larry, Ian, Micki for offering the event. Thanks,
Tom, for your
coordination with the airport staff and airspace. *Thanks Sierra
Soaring for being willing
to be invaded at a great soaring site.

Best wishes,

Cindy B
Region 12 Director

Cindy,
When I asked my crew (aka wife) if she would consider going back to
Inyokern, she told me there was no way she would go back to that arm-
pit of a place. See did say that Bishop would be OK with her.
Something to think about for next year,
JJ

On Aug 31, 9:40*am, JJ Sinclair wrote:
On Aug 31, 9:17*am, CindyB wrote:









On Aug 28, 11:00*pm, JS wrote:

There was quite a collection of gliders at Inyokern this weekend. From
SGS1-26 to ASH25Mi.
Jim

Jim, Ron, et al.

Regardless of how many recreational flyers show up on a widely-
announced,
good-forecast-for-soaring weekend, *that doesn't mean pilots will
commit money or
intent at least two weeks in advance to enter a competition.

Organizers invested time and planning energy, distributed entry
information, tried to entreat
potential pilots by offering mentoring and additional social, teaching
and fun events
concurrently, and STILL couldn't get more than ten pilots to express
interest.

Facing the expenses of importing tow planes, staff, and sanction and
insurance fees,
the willing-to-work volunteers were disappointed and had to call it
off. *I am sorry for
their effort and disappointment. *Having run the event for eighteen
years, it was not a huge
surprise to me that the commitment was soft.

Region 12 is blessed with many sites, and much generous soaring
weather. *My personal
view is that the OLC has changed the sense of competition in our
Region. *Pilots can fly from
various sites, on various weekends or weekdays, and still have a sense
of ranking and
camaraderie and poking fun with each other -- *in "competition". *This
decentralized 'racing'
allows each pilot and various L/Ds to fly with ZERO entrance fees
( have YOU made your smiley face
donation to OLC?), nearly zero complexity, with the variety of loggers
already in hand, zero sense
of risk in tasking ( go where you want, when you want), and still be
part of "the game".

This decentralized racing is NOT the same as a one-site, five-day
event in any sense.
Contests should not be viewed as the evil, glider wrecking gatherings
as they are labeled.
Tasking is moderate. Turn area circles allow pilots to adjust their
time aloft. *In several instances,
participation is so soft that the handicapped concept is applied to
both Sports and FAI classes
(something that was done first in Region 12). *The opportunity for
flying "with" other pilots, to
improve your own efficiency cannot be duplicated in OLC flying.

Worried about flight safety? *Midairs? Landouts?
Truthfully, I came closer to a midair on a straight-out XC flight last
year than I had in
many years of Sports Class contesting. *As usual, I was the one to
make the "Avoid".
Vigilance is the watchword, in all flights.
Landouts? *Heck, I hold the shortest from home departing flight
landout award,
at under three miles. *The contest environment holds no more risk of
landout damage than
any other soaring flight. *Either you keep glide-slope discipline to a
safe place, or you don't.
Either you perfect spot landings before contesting, or you don't.

There can be issues of social inclusion or I'm-just-scoresheet-filler
at some events.
I think Larry, Walt and Micki were working hard to avoid that at
Region 12.
Let's hope we have another group of volunteers step forward to try to
offer a fun
time for next season. *And I hope we have more pilots take the
opportunity to "play".

Thank you, Walt, Larry, Ian, Micki for offering the event. Thanks,
Tom, for your
coordination with the airport staff and airspace. *Thanks Sierra
Soaring for being willing
to be invaded at a great soaring site.

Best wishes,

Cindy B
Region 12 Director

Cindy,
When I asked my crew (aka wife) if she would consider going back to
Inyokern, she told me there was no way she would go back to that arm-
pit of a place. See did say that Bishop would be OK with her.
Something to think about for next year,
JJ

I made the same mistake - took my wife to Hobbs one year. You should
read what the Lonely Planet Guide has to say about places before you
go. Their entry on Hobbs is priceless, quoted roughly from memory...
"Hobbs has a reputation among glider pilots as a good location for
soaring, but if you are not into gliders, there is no reason to go
there"

Mike

On Aug 31, 10:17*am, CindyB wrote:
On Aug 28, 11:00*pm, JS wrote:

There was quite a collection of gliders at Inyokern this weekend. From
SGS1-26 to ASH25Mi.
Jim

Jim, Ron, et al.

Regardless of how many recreational flyers show up on a widely-
announced,
good-forecast-for-soaring weekend, *that doesn't mean pilots will
commit money or
intent at least two weeks in advance to enter a competition.

Organizers invested time and planning energy, distributed entry
information, tried to entreat
potential pilots by offering mentoring and additional social, teaching
and fun events
concurrently, and STILL couldn't get more than ten pilots to express
interest.

Facing the expenses of importing tow planes, staff, and sanction and
insurance fees,
the willing-to-work volunteers were disappointed and had to call it
off. *I am sorry for
their effort and disappointment. *Having run the event for eighteen
years, it was not a huge
surprise to me that the commitment was soft.

Region 12 is blessed with many sites, and much generous soaring
weather. *My personal
view is that the OLC has changed the sense of competition in our
Region. *Pilots can fly from
various sites, on various weekends or weekdays, and still have a sense
of ranking and
camaraderie and poking fun with each other -- *in "competition". *This
decentralized 'racing'
allows each pilot and various L/Ds to fly with ZERO entrance fees
( have YOU made your smiley face
donation to OLC?), nearly zero complexity, with the variety of loggers
already in hand, zero sense
of risk in tasking ( go where you want, when you want), and still be
part of "the game".

This decentralized racing is NOT the same as a one-site, five-day
event in any sense.
Contests should not be viewed as the evil, glider wrecking gatherings
as they are labeled.
Tasking is moderate. Turn area circles allow pilots to adjust their
time aloft. *In several instances,
participation is so soft that the handicapped concept is applied to
both Sports and FAI classes
(something that was done first in Region 12). *The opportunity for
flying "with" other pilots, to
improve your own efficiency cannot be duplicated in OLC flying.

Worried about flight safety? *Midairs? Landouts?
Truthfully, I came closer to a midair on a straight-out XC flight last
year than I had in
many years of Sports Class contesting. *As usual, I was the one to
make the "Avoid".
Vigilance is the watchword, in all flights.
Landouts? *Heck, I hold the shortest from home departing flight
landout award,
at under three miles. *The contest environment holds no more risk of
landout damage than
any other soaring flight. *Either you keep glide-slope discipline to a
safe place, or you don't.
Either you perfect spot landings before contesting, or you don't.

There can be issues of social inclusion or I'm-just-scoresheet-filler
at some events.
I think Larry, Walt and Micki were working hard to avoid that at
Region 12.
Let's hope we have another group of volunteers step forward to try to
offer a fun
time for next season. *And I hope we have more pilots take the
opportunity to "play".

Thank you, Walt, Larry, Ian, Micki for offering the event. Thanks,
Tom, for your
coordination with the airport staff and airspace. *Thanks Sierra
Soaring for being willing
to be invaded at a great soaring site.

Best wishes,

Cindy B
Region 12 Director

I understand the efforts needed to organize and hold a competition. I
hope we see competitions at this site and others in the future. We
need more sites holding competitions, especially west of the
Mississippi!

Thanks to everyone who contributed

On Aug 31, 9:17*am, CindyB wrote:
On Aug 28, 11:00*pm, JS wrote:

There was quite a collection of gliders at Inyokern this weekend. From
SGS1-26 to ASH25Mi.
Jim

Jim, Ron, et al.

Regardless of how many recreational flyers show up on a widely-
announced,
good-forecast-for-soaring weekend, *that doesn't mean pilots will
commit money or
intent at least two weeks in advance to enter a competition.

Organizers invested time and planning energy, distributed entry
information, tried to entreat
potential pilots by offering mentoring and additional social, teaching
and fun events
concurrently, and STILL couldn't get more than ten pilots to express
interest.

Facing the expenses of importing tow planes, staff, and sanction and
insurance fees,
the willing-to-work volunteers were disappointed and had to call it
off. *I am sorry for
their effort and disappointment. *Having run the event for eighteen
years, it was not a huge
surprise to me that the commitment was soft.

Region 12 is blessed with many sites, and much generous soaring
weather. *My personal
view is that the OLC has changed the sense of competition in our
Region. *Pilots can fly from
various sites, on various weekends or weekdays, and still have a sense
of ranking and
camaraderie and poking fun with each other -- *in "competition". *This
decentralized 'racing'
allows each pilot and various L/Ds to fly with ZERO entrance fees
( have YOU made your smiley face
donation to OLC?), nearly zero complexity, with the variety of loggers
already in hand, zero sense
of risk in tasking ( go where you want, when you want), and still be
part of "the game".

This decentralized racing is NOT the same as a one-site, five-day
event in any sense.
Contests should not be viewed as the evil, glider wrecking gatherings
as they are labeled.
Tasking is moderate. Turn area circles allow pilots to adjust their
time aloft. *In several instances,
participation is so soft that the handicapped concept is applied to
both Sports and FAI classes
(something that was done first in Region 12). *The opportunity for
flying "with" other pilots, to
improve your own efficiency cannot be duplicated in OLC flying.

Worried about flight safety? *Midairs? Landouts?
Truthfully, I came closer to a midair on a straight-out XC flight last
year than I had in
many years of Sports Class contesting. *As usual, I was the one to
make the "Avoid".
Vigilance is the watchword, in all flights.
Landouts? *Heck, I hold the shortest from home departing flight
landout award,
at under three miles. *The contest environment holds no more risk of
landout damage than
any other soaring flight. *Either you keep glide-slope discipline to a
safe place, or you don't.
Either you perfect spot landings before contesting, or you don't.

There can be issues of social inclusion or I'm-just-scoresheet-filler
at some events.
I think Larry, Walt and Micki were working hard to avoid that at
Region 12.
Let's hope we have another group of volunteers step forward to try to
offer a fun
time for next season. *And I hope we have more pilots take the
opportunity to "play".

Thank you, Walt, Larry, Ian, Micki for offering the event. Thanks,
Tom, for your
coordination with the airport staff and airspace. *Thanks Sierra
Soaring for being willing
to be invaded at a great soaring site.

Best wishes,

Cindy B
Region 12 Director

You're spot on Cindy as usual. Region 12 held a contest I think it was
1996 or 97 at IYK It was my second year flying glider and I was amazed
at the participation must have been 30-35 gliders involved. There is
now alot of apathy in the sport especially here out west. It doesn't
matter where the contest is suggested Cal City, Warner Springs, IYK
most pilots just don't care to compete. The question is why? JJ & Mike
you've got a long way to come. Local pilots (within 60-100 miles or
more) don't. There's plenty of lodging and camping available around
IYK and the area isn't any worse than any other airport. Night time
temps are in the low 70's high 60's that's not bad either.

On Sep 2, 8:41*am, glidergeek wrote:
On Aug 31, 9:17*am, CindyB wrote:





On Aug 28, 11:00*pm, JS wrote:

There was quite a collection of gliders at Inyokern this weekend. From
SGS1-26 to ASH25Mi.
Jim

Jim, Ron, et al.

Regardless of how many recreational flyers show up on a widely-
announced,
good-forecast-for-soaring weekend, *that doesn't mean pilots will
commit money or
intent at least two weeks in advance to enter a competition.

Organizers invested time and planning energy, distributed entry
information, tried to entreat
potential pilots by offering mentoring and additional social, teaching
and fun events
concurrently, and STILL couldn't get more than ten pilots to express
interest.

Facing the expenses of importing tow planes, staff, and sanction and
insurance fees,
the willing-to-work volunteers were disappointed and had to call it
off. *I am sorry for
their effort and disappointment. *Having run the event for eighteen
years, it was not a huge
surprise to me that the commitment was soft.

Region 12 is blessed with many sites, and much generous soaring
weather. *My personal
view is that the OLC has changed the sense of competition in our
Region. *Pilots can fly from
various sites, on various weekends or weekdays, and still have a sense
of ranking and
camaraderie and poking fun with each other -- *in "competition". *This
decentralized 'racing'
allows each pilot and various L/Ds to fly with ZERO entrance fees
( have YOU made your smiley face
donation to OLC?), nearly zero complexity, with the variety of loggers
already in hand, zero sense
of risk in tasking ( go where you want, when you want), and still be
part of "the game".

This decentralized racing is NOT the same as a one-site, five-day
event in any sense.
Contests should not be viewed as the evil, glider wrecking gatherings
as they are labeled.
Tasking is moderate. Turn area circles allow pilots to adjust their
time aloft. *In several instances,
participation is so soft that the handicapped concept is applied to
both Sports and FAI classes
(something that was done first in Region 12). *The opportunity for
flying "with" other pilots, to
improve your own efficiency cannot be duplicated in OLC flying.

Worried about flight safety? *Midairs? Landouts?
Truthfully, I came closer to a midair on a straight-out XC flight last
year than I had in
many years of Sports Class contesting. *As usual, I was the one to
make the "Avoid".
Vigilance is the watchword, in all flights.
Landouts? *Heck, I hold the shortest from home departing flight
landout award,
at under three miles. *The contest environment holds no more risk of
landout damage than
any other soaring flight. *Either you keep glide-slope discipline to a
safe place, or you don't.
Either you perfect spot landings before contesting, or you don't.

There can be issues of social inclusion or I'm-just-scoresheet-filler
at some events.
I think Larry, Walt and Micki were working hard to avoid that at
Region 12.
Let's hope we have another group of volunteers step forward to try to
offer a fun
time for next season. *And I hope we have more pilots take the
opportunity to "play".

Thank you, Walt, Larry, Ian, Micki for offering the event. Thanks,
Tom, for your
coordination with the airport staff and airspace. *Thanks Sierra
Soaring for being willing
to be invaded at a great soaring site.

Best wishes,

Cindy B
Region 12 Director

You're spot on Cindy as usual. Region 12 held a contest I think it was
1996 or 97 at IYK It was my second year flying glider and I was amazed
at the participation must have been 30-35 gliders involved. There is
now alot of apathy in the sport especially here out west. It doesn't
matter where the contest is suggested Cal City, Warner Springs, IYK
most pilots just don't care to compete. The question is why? JJ & Mike
you've got a long way to come. Local pilots (within 60-100 miles or
more) don't. There's plenty of lodging and camping available around
IYK and the area isn't any worse than any other airport. Night time
temps are in the low 70's high 60's that's not bad either.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hi there Glidergeek, I suspect Region 12 is similar to Region 11 where
we can only muster about 10 pilots that want to race anything /
anywhere! If we get 8 at Air Sailing its unusual + the AFA rounds it
out to 13 or so and we're damned glad they like the place. I believe
most that have a ship and skills to race are content with on-line-
contest. I'm afraid the good old days are gone forever. Peter Dean is
trying to promote a Super Regionals next year at Avenal. May get both
regions to come, but I'd rather see it at Bishop.
Cheers,
JJ

On Sep 2, 1:32*pm, JJ Sinclair wrote:
On Sep 2, 8:41*am, glidergeek wrote:









On Aug 31, 9:17*am, CindyB wrote:

On Aug 28, 11:00*pm, JS wrote:

There was quite a collection of gliders at Inyokern this weekend. From
SGS1-26 to ASH25Mi.
Jim

Jim, Ron, et al.

Regardless of how many recreational flyers show up on a widely-
announced,
good-forecast-for-soaring weekend, *that doesn't mean pilots will
commit money or
intent at least two weeks in advance to enter a competition.

Organizers invested time and planning energy, distributed entry
information, tried to entreat
potential pilots by offering mentoring and additional social, teaching
and fun events
concurrently, and STILL couldn't get more than ten pilots to express
interest.

Facing the expenses of importing tow planes, staff, and sanction and
insurance fees,
the willing-to-work volunteers were disappointed and had to call it
off. *I am sorry for
their effort and disappointment. *Having run the event for eighteen
years, it was not a huge
surprise to me that the commitment was soft.

Region 12 is blessed with many sites, and much generous soaring
weather. *My personal
view is that the OLC has changed the sense of competition in our
Region. *Pilots can fly from
various sites, on various weekends or weekdays, and still have a sense
of ranking and
camaraderie and poking fun with each other -- *in "competition". *This
decentralized 'racing'
allows each pilot and various L/Ds to fly with ZERO entrance fees
( have YOU made your smiley face
donation to OLC?), nearly zero complexity, with the variety of loggers
already in hand, zero sense
of risk in tasking ( go where you want, when you want), and still be
part of "the game".

This decentralized racing is NOT the same as a one-site, five-day
event in any sense.
Contests should not be viewed as the evil, glider wrecking gatherings
as they are labeled.
Tasking is moderate. Turn area circles allow pilots to adjust their
time aloft. *In several instances,
participation is so soft that the handicapped concept is applied to
both Sports and FAI classes
(something that was done first in Region 12). *The opportunity for
flying "with" other pilots, to
improve your own efficiency cannot be duplicated in OLC flying.

Worried about flight safety? *Midairs? Landouts?
Truthfully, I came closer to a midair on a straight-out XC flight last
year than I had in
many years of Sports Class contesting. *As usual, I was the one to
make the "Avoid".
Vigilance is the watchword, in all flights.
Landouts? *Heck, I hold the shortest from home departing flight
landout award,
at under three miles. *The contest environment holds no more risk of
landout damage than
any other soaring flight. *Either you keep glide-slope discipline to a
safe place, or you don't.
Either you perfect spot landings before contesting, or you don't.

There can be issues of social inclusion or I'm-just-scoresheet-filler
at some events.
I think Larry, Walt and Micki were working hard to avoid that at
Region 12.
Let's hope we have another group of volunteers step forward to try to
offer a fun
time for next season. *And I hope we have more pilots take the
opportunity to "play".

Thank you, Walt, Larry, Ian, Micki for offering the event. Thanks,
Tom, for your
coordination with the airport staff and airspace. *Thanks Sierra
Soaring for being willing
to be invaded at a great soaring site.

Best wishes,

Cindy B
Region 12 Director

You're spot on Cindy as usual. Region 12 held a contest I think it was
1996 or 97 at IYK It was my second year flying glider and I was amazed
at the participation must have been 30-35 gliders involved. There is
now alot of apathy in the sport especially here out west. It doesn't
matter where the contest is suggested Cal City, Warner Springs, IYK
most pilots just don't care to compete. The question is why? JJ & Mike
you've got a long way to come. Local pilots (within 60-100 miles or
more) don't. There's plenty of lodging and camping available around
IYK and the area isn't any worse than any other airport. Night time
temps are in the low 70's high 60's that's not bad either.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hi there Glidergeek, I suspect Region 12 is similar to Region 11 where
we can only muster about 10 pilots that want to race anything /
anywhere! If we get 8 at Air Sailing its unusual + the AFA rounds it
out to 13 or so and we're damned glad they like the place. I believe
most that have a ship and skills to race are content with on-line-
contest. I'm afraid the good old days are gone forever. Peter Dean is
trying to promote a Super Regionals next year at Avenal. May get both
regions to come, but I'd rather see it at Bishop.
Cheers,
JJ

JJ one of my fondest memories was a second place finish sports class
at L71 in 2003 only because of lack of entries :)

On Sep 2, 4:32*pm, JJ Sinclair wrote:

" I'm afraid the good old days are gone forever."


It's sad to hear that JJ. But things can change on a dime, just like
weather forecasts, the stock market and even enthusiasm in our sport.


I was the key organizer for the Region 10 North contest last year. We
gave lots of thought into what it would take to host our first
contest. Financially speaking, IMHO, you only need 5 contestants to
enter a race to have it pay for itself and meet minimum entrant
requirements. Not speaking to you JJ, but speaking to other clubs
across the country, I'm shocked that more people don't see it this
way.

For instance, I'm a part of a group of 5 pilots who meets up typically
every other week. We call a task, race each other, and run the scores
through WinScore. We grid our gliders, have a safety briefing, then
chow down on a combo of BBQ fixings and a shmorgishborg potluck. As
the cumulus clouds are popping, we jam our throats with what's left
and fire up the towplane. It's no different than a typical day at a
contest and costs 1 tow for each person. When we're done, we sit
around the hanger, have a so-called winners speach over an ice cold
beverage and look forward to the next time. If we wanted to do it 6
days in a row, we'd have to scrounge up a thousand bucks to
technically call it a contest and have our scores factored in to the
glider pilot ranking.

For the Region 10 Contest we organized, a 200 dollar entry fee, and
pay for each tow option as defined in the contest handbook, we were at
break even with 5 contestants. 5 X 200 = 1,000 bucks. With that you
can pay your insurance, SSA sanctioning fee, welcome meal on the first
night, cost for a contest website and your basically set! Have the
towpilots volunteer, get some of the crew to run wings (they'll enjoy
feeling involved) and stay away from wasteful spending. T-shirts,
Banner's, extravagant winner gifts, trophies, etc can all be added to
the budget as more people pay the 200 dollar entry fee. It takes
getting creative, thinking outside the box and using all available
resources.

Our club did this and we profited handsomely, $6,000 take home from
slightly less than 20 competitors. When you add a few bucks to the
cost of meals, t-shirts, aeroretrieves, RV hookups, and all optional
extra's, it really really add's up. Again, we charged the standard
200 entry and 48/aerotow. 20 competitors times 200 dollar entry fee
is 4,000 dollars. Nobody is required to buy a t-shirt, nobody is
required to do an aeroretrieve. Granted it was our first contest, so
we really penny pinched because many other clubs had told us how these
contests can suck all your money away. Not with us. We even added an
extra free meal and paid for some unexpected costs. You don't need a
big tent, use an awing from someones RV, or an open hanger. You don't
need to rent portapotties for a small contest, use what you would
normally use.

The result from our well thought through contest? One club member,
bought his own racing glider afterwards in excitement. Other members
set new goals in their soaring adventures to attend races. And the
money earned was poured back into our club. The Memphis Soaring
Society has grown since then and I honestly believe this contest
contributed to that.


I hate to see a contest cancelled, when ours was just sooo
profitable. IMHO it just doesn't have to be that way. Low attendance
just means fun in a different way - less competition for a higher
chance of winning perhaps! The glass is half FULL.


Maybe I should write an article detailing exactly how we did this...

Scott,

Really nice e-mail. Thanks for the perspective.

Just to add another datapoint to the discussion, down in Houston the two
area clubs are hosting a (non-sanctioned) series of 3-day contests...one
club hosts Memorial Day weekend, the other Labor Day.

Greater Houston Soaring (my club) hosted the 1st one last Memorial Day.
We charged $30 entry fee (remember this was not sanctioned, so no sanction
fee to pay), and everyone just paid for their tows. For the entry fee,
you received two free meals (one BBQ, and the other hamburgers lovingly
grilled to perfection by some of our club members).

We had anywhere from 8-12 competitors (if I remember correctly, and it
varied a bit from day to day). I'm sure you can imagine with only $30
entry fee that the club didn't exactly have a windfall profit. In fact,
we probably ate the cost of one of the meals, plus the trophies. However,
depending on how you amortize towplane maintenance expenses, you might
make the argument that the extra tow revenue allowed us to break even. In
any case, with a $50 entry fee, we probably could have covered all the
expenses and turned a (modest) profit off the tow revenue.

If we wanted to break even, and pay the sanctioning fee, that's where the
extra $170 (gap between what we charged and the "typical" contest fee)
comes in.

This is not to argue with anyone here. Just to second Scott's assertion
that contests can be "big and expensive" where you need many competitors
to cover the fixed costs, or they can be "small and cheap" more like a
typical weekend at the club, but with just a bit of extra structure and
planning.

As far as results, at least 4 of our club members have bought new racing
ships since the contest (one was a syndicate of 3), one member who hadn't
flown much in years pulled his Cirrus out of the box and had a good enough
time that flew at the Region 10 South in Llano last month. I'm sure that
some of this would have happened even without our little contest, but the
enthusiasm that was generated had to have contributed to this positive
outcome. In addition, many members who don't normally get to experience a
contest did, and I'm sure this "planted a seed" for some that will
eventually grow.

One final note for the competitors. Since this was not a sanctioned
contest and was much more of a "low key" affair, we had some of the most
experienced pilots in the area there giving very detailed strategy
sessions and really working with the newbies (like me) to get them up to
speed for future contests.

Altogether, I think it was a very worthwhile thing. The club at least
didn't lose any money, new contest pilots gained experience and received
(practically free) instruction from some very experienced competitors, and
many club members got to experience what a contest is like and hopefully
will progress towards one day flying a contest themselves.

--Stefan



On Sun, 04 Sep 2011 01:27:22 -0500, Scott Alexander
wrote:

On Sep 2, 4:32 pm, JJ Sinclair wrote:

" I'm afraid the good old days are gone forever."


It's sad to hear that JJ. But things can change on a dime, just like
weather forecasts, the stock market and even enthusiasm in our sport.


I was the key organizer for the Region 10 North contest last year. We
gave lots of thought into what it would take to host our first
contest. Financially speaking, IMHO, you only need 5 contestants to
enter a race to have it pay for itself and meet minimum entrant
requirements. Not speaking to you JJ, but speaking to other clubs
across the country, I'm shocked that more people don't see it this
way.

For instance, I'm a part of a group of 5 pilots who meets up typically
every other week. We call a task, race each other, and run the scores
through WinScore. We grid our gliders, have a safety briefing, then
chow down on a combo of BBQ fixings and a shmorgishborg potluck. As
the cumulus clouds are popping, we jam our throats with what's left
and fire up the towplane. It's no different than a typical day at a
contest and costs 1 tow for each person. When we're done, we sit
around the hanger, have a so-called winners speach over an ice cold
beverage and look forward to the next time. If we wanted to do it 6
days in a row, we'd have to scrounge up a thousand bucks to
technically call it a contest and have our scores factored in to the
glider pilot ranking.

For the Region 10 Contest we organized, a 200 dollar entry fee, and
pay for each tow option as defined in the contest handbook, we were at
break even with 5 contestants. 5 X 200 = 1,000 bucks. With that you
can pay your insurance, SSA sanctioning fee, welcome meal on the first
night, cost for a contest website and your basically set! Have the
towpilots volunteer, get some of the crew to run wings (they'll enjoy
feeling involved) and stay away from wasteful spending. T-shirts,
Banner's, extravagant winner gifts, trophies, etc can all be added to
the budget as more people pay the 200 dollar entry fee. It takes
getting creative, thinking outside the box and using all available
resources.

Our club did this and we profited handsomely, $6,000 take home from
slightly less than 20 competitors. When you add a few bucks to the
cost of meals, t-shirts, aeroretrieves, RV hookups, and all optional
extra's, it really really add's up. Again, we charged the standard
200 entry and 48/aerotow. 20 competitors times 200 dollar entry fee
is 4,000 dollars. Nobody is required to buy a t-shirt, nobody is
required to do an aeroretrieve. Granted it was our first contest, so
we really penny pinched because many other clubs had told us how these
contests can suck all your money away. Not with us. We even added an
extra free meal and paid for some unexpected costs. You don't need a
big tent, use an awing from someones RV, or an open hanger. You don't
need to rent portapotties for a small contest, use what you would
normally use.

The result from our well thought through contest? One club member,
bought his own racing glider afterwards in excitement. Other members
set new goals in their soaring adventures to attend races. And the
money earned was poured back into our club. The Memphis Soaring
Society has grown since then and I honestly believe this contest
contributed to that.


I hate to see a contest cancelled, when ours was just sooo
profitable. IMHO it just doesn't have to be that way. Low attendance
just means fun in a different way - less competition for a higher
chance of winning perhaps! The glass is half FULL.


Maybe I should write an article detailing exactly how we did this...


--
Stefan Murry