18m Nationals weight restriction at Seminole

AK, just curious. How much does your 31MI weigh?
The handicap reference weight for a 31MI is 1189. Are you below that? Is the handicap table wrong?
If I read the safety notice correctly, the weight limit is not 1150lbs.
Gliders that weigh less than 1150 can only add water up to 1150lbs.
If a glider weighs more than 1150 dry, then it Is allowed to fly at the higher weight, but no additional ballast allowed.
Sounds like some heavy motorgliders might get an advantage.

While some heavy gliders are allowed to fly from the very back of the grid at the Seniors in March, there did not seem to be any discussion here about the density altitude difference between March and May when the 18m is scheduled.

Nice of SLGP to host the event. Would have been nice if it were earlier when the density altitude would be better or if another venue had stepped up.

On Sunday, March 11, 2018 at 10:16:04 PM UTC-4, wrote:
AK, just curious. How much does your 31MI weigh?
The handicap reference weight for a 31MI is 1189. Are you below that? Is the handicap table wrong?
If I read the safety notice correctly, the weight limit is not 1150lbs.
Gliders that weigh less than 1150 can only add water up to 1150lbs.
If a glider weighs more than 1150 dry, then it Is allowed to fly at the higher weight, but no additional ballast allowed.
Sounds like some heavy motorgliders might get an advantage.

While some heavy gliders are allowed to fly from the very back of the grid at the Seniors in March, there did not seem to be any discussion here about the density altitude difference between March and May when the 18m is scheduled.

Nice of SLGP to host the event. Would have been nice if it were earlier when the density altitude would be better or if another venue had stepped up.

I am very light, but I would be 10-15 lb over the 1150 lb limit, which brings a good point that it would not be safe for me to take a tow, according to the organizer. This means I would be forced by the organizer to self launch, nice! It seems the organizer is not able to fulfill his obligations to host an 18 m class, even with this restriction.

It would be interesting to hear more specifics on what is planned. The big issue seems to be launches on rwy18. Rwy36 has a nice runoff area and plenty of fields north of the airport. South is mostly trees. For the Seniors, they stage some of the heavy gliders off the end of runway 18 and push them one by one on to the grid after the others gliders have launched. Perhaps the plan is to accommodate a handful of heavy gliders that way. That plan would certainly not work for all of the 30+ gliders that have signed up..