Participation

On Friday, June 15, 2012 8:13:10 AM UTC-5, wrote:
I'm not in the game so maybe this isn't an issue but my guess is races are too long. Fit everything in a week. Have Mon. be the practice day, race ends on Fri. Two days to drive in, two days to drive home. Of course you would lose more contests to weather and maybe luck makes a bigger contribution then consistency, but if a race can be done in one week of vacation time the value/time spent changes.

That is a really good point. Last year Region 10 worked well for that. First practice day was Sunday. Race was Tuesday - Saturday. Of course the weather was good so that helped. Anyone within a one day drive only had to take a week off work. I don't mind using vacation time to go soaring but I really don't like taking vacation time to drive. Anything more than 12 or 14 hrs on the road from home adds 2 more days of vacation required to attend.

I agree.

There are some contests that are well attended year after year (sold
out) such as "The Seniors," and a few regionals. It may be possible to
have a similar format with a "Class" or "Classes" mixed in and
appropriate trophies awarded.

Regional / National contest with Sports, Standard Class and/or 15 M
would fit fine. Even the 18M and Open Class could participate with
seperate, but similar tasking.

Some contests are too popular to allow such a mix. Such as The
Seniors, and Perry

Tom Knauff

On Fri, 15 Jun 2012 09:37:02 -0500, Tony wrote:

On Friday, June 15, 2012 8:13:10 AM UTC-5, wrote:
I'm not in the game so maybe this isn't an issue but my guess is races
are too long. Fit everything in a week. Have Mon. be the practice
day, race ends on Fri. Two days to drive in, two days to drive home.
Of course you would lose more contests to weather and maybe luck makes
a bigger contribution then consistency, but if a race can be done in
one week of vacation time the value/time spent changes.

That is a really good point. Last year Region 10 worked well for that.
First practice day was Sunday. Race was Tuesday - Saturday. Of course
the weather was good so that helped. Anyone within a one day drive only
had to take a week off work. I don't mind using vacation time to go
soaring but I really don't like taking vacation time to drive. Anything
more than 12 or 14 hrs on the road from home adds 2 more days of
vacation required to attend.

I second Tony's re-affirmation of Gregg's point that scheduling is a big
factor. I also flew the Region 10 for the last two years and the timing
is just right to fit into a single week off work (maybe leaving a bit
early on Friday, but...). This makes a huge difference versus having to
be gone for 1.5-2 weeks (or more).

Somebody mentioned the GTA races and I think there is a similar "league"
in Arizona that runs numerous weekend races as opposed to one marathon
race. Obviously, this is somewhat less practical for a Nationals but a
regionals run across two long weekends, for example, might work.

--
Stefan Murry