SSA Region 1 Races?

On Monday, March 3, 2014 10:15:49 AM UTC-5, Greg Delp wrote:
On Thursday, February 6, 2014 2:27:10 PM UTC-5, Greg Delp wrote: Looking back through the threads for past few years, it doesn't look like there has been a Region 1 race since 2008. Do any of the racers from the area think there will be a race in Region 1 in the near future? Is there any interest from the clubs in the Region in getting together to organize some type of soaring competition possibly in preparation for organizing a race in the future? There are several members of the Connecticut Soaring Association who are looking to start getting involved in cross country and possibly races. Is the Red Baron Trophy still circulating somewhere in the region? Last I heard it was at GBSC. Spinning wheels here to help melt the snow faster. Thanks everyone for the hints and suggestions. Hopefully this will help lead to some fun non sanctioned events so we can get some experience under our belts. Then maybe we can get back to regular Region 1 Races again. Evan if I can lend a hand in your process let me know. I'd love to come visit other local clubs and compete. Greg DY

Pros and Cons of sanctioned contests.
Pros:
Likely to draw some good pilots to participate and help.
A good place to organize training to new cotest pilots.
Potential increase in activity during the contest period.
Pilots can earn ranking
Pilots likely will be challanged more than weekend flying with associated potential for learning and advancement.
Meeting some new good pilots.
Cons:
Sanction fee of $40/pilot
Need to find a competition director. Not hard to do in the northeast.
Need a scorer. Less of a problem than it used to be now that remote scoring is becoming common.
Need a contest manager- a person familiar with running contests.
It will tie up the facility for contest days.
Flying is on predetermined days so weather has a negative affect.
Some volunteers are needed for operations in addition to tow pilots. Running the contest on successive weekends can minimize this.
You gotta run the contest by the SSA rules. No biggie if you understand them.
There is some financial exposure but the current rules permit options to minimize this.

It is worth noting that running as a regional, even 3 days long, is very little extra work and may help the draw.

We run R2 North at Wurtsboro every year and draw close to 20 entrants. We run a rookie schools and actively coach the new people. We also have a 2 seat class to get some folks exposed. Each year we get 3-5 new pilots and expose a dozen or so others to contests.

Give some thought to some of this info.

UH

Don't know if Tony or UH's comments about sanctioned races were in response to my post where I mentioned a non-sanctioned event... but in case they we Please let me clarify that I was NOT implying anything negative towards sanctioned events! Its just that a non-sanctioned event often appears less-intimidating for inexperienced organizers/volunteers. You have no set number of days you need to fly, you can allow people to use non-approved loggers, you can get away without charging an entry-fee (if you want to maximize participation and treat it as an educational event), etc.

Certainly sanctioned events can (and should be) fun & enjoyable!

--Noel