Scoring Discussion

On Saturday, January 21, 2017 at 3:21:36 PM UTC-5, wrote:
We used the SSA drop option it in Ionia in 2011 I believe (maybe it was 2012). People liked it but Ionia often has such challenging weather that we don't get enough soaring in to drop days. Drop races are common in sailing up to the WC level. It is called a "throw out." It kicks in only after a certain number of valid races have been completed (usually six). It makes good sense because in sailing it is extremely difficult to be consistent and (like gliding at the WGC level) other gliders (gaggle) have a big impact on your daily destiny.

Risk (scoring) is critical here at the WGC (A) start time and B) using or not using the gaggle). But the drop day probably would not directly prevent the gaggles which is the number one concern/problem here. Especially during the pre-start gaggle stage which can be well over an hour (sometimes 2+) of continuous "full attention."

The reason that it is important to constantly be with the gaggle (same position and most importantly altitude) is so that we are always in a position to start evenly with them. This ebbs and flows and people are flighting (changing circle path) to gain 300 ft again and again in order to be near the top of each thermal, biding their time to start...

For what it's worth I'm not worried about my landout day here. I did my best and broke it off and landed safely at the right time. I learned more from that landout than it really cost me. I flew that task virtually alone, well of the front of the main gaggle (TAT) except for the Czechs who came with me from 1-2 back of my start until I was able to get away. P7 and the Brits caught me at TP2 but so did not know how far the went into TP1 so we immediately split up. The goal for me that day was to hope that the main gaggle waited too long and that the day died while they were still on course. This was showing some signs of coming true that afternoon which was why I pushed to get back S quickly, that meant that I had to do more than just touch the final TP area. That was OK because this meant I could utilize the best late day thermal source in the entire task area, the Worby mountains. If I would have found one weak climb (usually a fairly good is found here), I would have had 900+ points (133kph). But I was slightly too low to connect easily or simply missed. Oh well.

A throw out might be a nice way of making the results a little closer overall, and "might" allow for a little more risk taking. That might be a nice change in dynamics. I think some changes here would be healthy.

Another note is that the 15m gaggle basically stayed intact yesterday despite the TAT and the very weak weather...

I bet even a MAT task would not have separated them yesterday either. This is a real part of the game (risk management from a scoring perspective....)

I look forward to hearing the results of the next IGC meeting in February.. I'm sure all of this will be discussed. This event format can and should be improved.

Sean
7T

Sean-
Was tracking information at Benalla real time for you guys or delayed like what I saw from here?
Thanks
UH

The trackers were usually delayed 15 minutes. Early on, for the first several racing tasks, it was 10. Then they seemed to stay with 15 minutes. JG may have more info from a team captain perspective regarding any debate around this. Several teams were rumored (unconfirmed and kept fairly secret) to have some level of Flarm radar. We utilized the delayed tracker info as much as we could (Team USA) but didn't have any functioning flarm radar for the event. I'm fine with that as it's a massive PITA for JG to manage and he had a huge amount on his plate just as the team Captain (he did a fantastic job). If we did this function in the cuter it would require additional team man/woman power. The whole thing is silly really. They should just make all gliders carry trackers and then make it live (to diffuse the flarm radar advantage). This was supposedly discussed at some level (rumor). But community level live tracking, from the team tactics perspective, will just lead to more start gaggles. Sure, it would make it really fun for spectators. I have no real opinion about what's right "ethically" anymore, but it is a little annoying and depressing since we (team USA) were at clear disadvantage if some teams had some form of sophisticated high function with flarm tracking, etc.

Sean

On Monday, January 23, 2017 at 5:49:20 AM UTC-8, wrote:
The trackers were usually delayed 15 minutes. Early on, for the first several racing tasks, it was 10. Then they seemed to stay with 15 minutes. JG may have more info from a team captain perspective regarding any debate around this. Several teams were rumored (unconfirmed and kept fairly secret) to have some level of Flarm radar. We utilized the delayed tracker info as much as we could (Team USA) but didn't have any functioning flarm radar for the event. I'm fine with that as it's a massive PITA for JG to manage and he had a huge amount on his plate just as the team Captain (he did a fantastic job). If we did this function in the cuter it would require additional team man/woman power. The whole thing is silly really. They should just make all gliders carry trackers and then make it live (to diffuse the flarm radar advantage). This was supposedly discussed at some level (rumor). But community level live tracking, from the team tactics perspective, will just lead to more start gaggles. Sure, it would make it really fun for spectators. I have no real opinion about what's right "ethically" anymore, but it is a little annoying and depressing since we (team USA) were at clear disadvantage if some teams had some form of sophisticated high function with flarm tracking, etc.

Sean

Not just FLARM tracking, but Livetrack24 is available with little delay. Contests use the delay to prevent their official site from being used to leech.
Jim

Has the feature to drop a day been left in WINSCORE?

Yes, it is still in Winscore.

Guy Byars

For the WGC, Gliding Federation Australia (Australian “SSAâ€�) provided most competitors their own LiveTrack24 system. The GFA owns and maintains 75+ LiveTrack24 “trackerâ€� units (mobile based) which are fully owned and paid for by the GFA in order to provide their member pilots the service of high quality tracking at all Australian contests for free as part of being members of the organization (SSA?). For the WGC, a 10-15 min position delay (10 for racing tasks, 15 for area tasks) was intentionally added in order to "prevent" the competitors from using real-time data for a tactical advantage.Â* But this was perhaps part of the gaggle problem, more than a solution…

Leeching is a silly word really.Â* I don't like it.Â* It's intended to embarrass pilots. But it doesn’t work, never has, never will. Leeching is so 1970's.Â* We all need to grow up about it and deal with reality. Sailplane competitions are still, generally, races in the majority of the world. Even in the US tasking, we occasionally are racing.Â* True leeching is much more common in contests with a wide skill range in which certain pilots "hedge risk" by closely following well-known pilots they perhaps fear will be faster if left to fly alone.Â* Hedging risk is of course not illegal in our sport, it's actually a very smart tactic from time to time.Â* It's really the faster pilots job to avoid being leeched in my opinion. If you put yourself in a position to be “leechedâ€� then you have made a fairly significant mistake. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Sebastian Kawa cannot start in the middle of the main gaggle, at the optimum time and expect not to be followed. You must find ways to avoid or lose leeches quickly if it is truly a threat to your scoring.

True leeching (my experience) happens far more regularly in the USA, despite the 80% wide radius area tasks and dramatically different scoring system which is in part designed to encourage (highly reward) finishing even if everyone else lands out (FAI scoring devalues the one finisher dramatically so that taking that risk doesn’t pay off).Â*

At the WGC level, I believe that almost all the pilots are capable of A) trying to "break away" (start early), B) hold in the gaggle looking for an opportunity for a small gain or C) do the "typical (start anytime you wish) sailplane competition tactic" (used regularly in the USA) of starting last and using the many markers ahead to be more Â*efficient (less centering and searching). Â*

The difference is that at the WGC level, starting even 3-5 min behind the fast gaggle (smart, efficient, working together) will often leave the late starter behind, alone and "off the back." Â*In US contests this is usually not the case (broader skill range), so we have a regular tactic of top pilots starting very late and using others as much as possible.Â* Also, to counter the late starter, the WGC pilots (teams) seem to be very happy to wait around the start area for a huge amount of time, so that any “laterâ€� starters will risk of not finishing the task.Â* Open start windows with no limitation is a huge issue in my view.Â* This policy ensures long waits with large gaggles in close proximity killing time, but keeping close tabs on each other.Â* Risk*time=Chance of an accident. So the current starting rules are utter stupidity and this single issue is the main problem with traditional soaring competition format in terms of safety and gaggles, not variance in scoring incentives.

In regards to Flarm, Flarm radar is a capability that was not yet available to the US team.Â* Despite some efforts to develop this capability for our team, it has not worked out and has not been used in WGC competition, period.Â* In Australia, I received zero Flarm radar info.Â* Huge thanks to our guys who put significant effort into building the system and testing, but developing Flarm radar is extremely hard to do well, and requires significant manpower and team practice to use it effectively.Â* Just having the data is only the beginning.Â* We also need the experience (both on the ground and in the air) on how to use it effectively in the very tactical WGC environment.Â* This real tactical decision making is a huge challenge, far greater than the perfection of the technical challenge of getting the Flarm radar system working properly. Â*

But other top teams are rumored to have very sophisticated Flarm radar systems (user interface, mobile stations, etc).Â* I'm not sure, but let's assume this is true.Â* This means they do have a real time tactical picture of the entire racing class (15m, 18m, Open) and are relaying this information to their pilots in the right proportions, at the right time, so their pilots in the air can make better tactical decisions (they also have on-site weathermen, etc). Â*

Flarm radar is, perhaps, a huge advantage to the larger WGC teams (if real) and many of the little teams without it (naturally) feel that Flarm radar should immediately be countered/made obsolete by simply requiring all competitors to run mobile trackers (great penalty for tampering or failing to turn on) and therefore leveling the “tactical playing field� and removing the great advantage the major teams enjoy with Flarm radar (minus the cumulative experience they have already developed communicating information and making real-time tactical decisions with it).

Again, they don't use the info to leech IMO.Â* Leeching is a terrible description, word.Â* Leeching for these guys is a joke really.Â* FAI Sailplane racing tactics (WGC) is really fun (the rules used all over the world except for the USA) in that the tactics are much like the Tour de France.Â* You have a peloton (several really spread out along several lateral lines and starting at different times, of course).Â* You have break always who gamble by starting early and hoping to be faster alone and/or for the gaggle to wait too long and run into weakening conditions late in the day and C) the "autobus" of the guys who fall behind the main or fast gaggle or start too far behind to catch it.Â* These general team based tactics are extremely fun and interesting.Â* They are almost exactly the same in a racing task or an area task. Â*

The WGC pilots are rarely leeching IMO.Â* The whole group (if smaller than 10) is generally working together (sharing the lead position or working together) and trying to help their gaggle perform well.Â* Just like a stage of the Tour de France with a breakaway, sharing the lead draft position and pulling to pack, constantly rotating.Â* This was mainly my experience in the WGC event. Â*

Leeching isn't necessarily what's happening if certain pilots are hanging back, it's more likely smart tactics. There is an important difference between leeching and tactics.Â* If the tactical situation makes sense, some will sit back and let the others do the work (fly slower, climb a little higher before leaving, etc).Â* To lead out (again and again and again) or to try and get away from the gaggle is to take on more risk.Â* The gaggle behind (and out of view) may find a strong climb you missed (to the side of your line) and soon overtake you, perhaps leaving you well behind low..Â* So the smart play may be to try and always keep the gaggle in sight (laterally or behind), not leave first unless the tactical situation is worth the risk, and working together as much as possible, just like a breakaway in Le Tour.Â* And in some cases, like the tour, certain pilots (riders) choose not to share the load and to let others do all the work.Â* This could be called leeching, but in many ways, they are letting the pilots ahead take the risk and hoping to pass them when they make a mistake, not just planning to stick to them like glue no matter what (my definition of a leech).Â* So there is a big difference (as with so many things) in the traditional US term for "leeching" and what I saw in Australia (smart tactics). Â*

And, being tactically followed (or leeched) is part of racing in any sport.Â* The best pilots must learn to deal with it, and use it to their advantage. If you're calling someone a leech, you're getting frustrated. Advantage leech!Â* Complaining is useless and counterproductive. This is part of the sport, like it or not, unless we dramatically change the rules and the sport.

Very nice thoughtful post. Thanks!
John Cochrane BB

On Tuesday, February 7, 2017 at 6:03:57 PM UTC-8, John Cochrane wrote:
Very nice thoughtful post. Thanks!
John Cochrane BB

Following the 20m two-seat Nationals in Australia that just finished, I was amazed to see someone scored within 20 minutes of landing out in a field.
We've come a long way.
Jim

On Wednesday, February 8, 2017 at 12:31:03 AM UTC, Sean Fidler wrote:
For the WGC, Gliding Federation Australia (Australian “SSAâ€�) provided most competitors their own LiveTrack24 system. The GFA owns and maintains 75+ LiveTrack24 “trackerâ€� units (mobile based) which are fully owned and paid for by the GFA in order to provide their member pilots the service of high quality tracking at all Australian contests for free as part of being members of the organization (SSA?). For the WGC, a 10-15 min position delay (10 for racing tasks, 15 for area tasks) was intentionally added in order to "prevent" the competitors from using real-time data for a tactical advantage.Â* But this was perhaps part of the gaggle problem, more than a solution…

Leeching is a silly word really.Â* I don't like it.Â* It's intended to embarrass pilots. But it doesn’t work, never has, never will.. Leeching is so 1970's.Â* We all need to grow up about it and deal with reality. Sailplane competitions are still, generally, races in the majority of the world. Even in the US tasking, we occasionally are racing.Â* True leeching is much more common in contests with a wide skill range in which certain pilots "hedge risk" by closely following well-known pilots they perhaps fear will be faster if left to fly alone.Â* Hedging risk is of course not illegal in our sport, it's actually a very smart tactic from time to time.Â* It's really the faster pilots job to avoid being leeched in my opinion. If you put yourself in a position to be “leechedâ€� then you have made a fairly significant mistake. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Sebastian Kawa cannot start in the middle of the main gaggle, at the optimum time and expect not to be followed. You must find ways to avoid or lose leeches quickly if it is truly a threat to your scoring.

True leeching (my experience) happens far more regularly in the USA, despite the 80% wide radius area tasks and dramatically different scoring system which is in part designed to encourage (highly reward) finishing even if everyone else lands out (FAI scoring devalues the one finisher dramatically so that taking that risk doesn’t pay off).Â*

At the WGC level, I believe that almost all the pilots are capable of A) trying to "break away" (start early), B) hold in the gaggle looking for an opportunity for a small gain or C) do the "typical (start anytime you wish) sailplane competition tactic" (used regularly in the USA) of starting last and using the many markers ahead to be more Â*efficient (less centering and searching). Â*

The difference is that at the WGC level, starting even 3-5 min behind the fast gaggle (smart, efficient, working together) will often leave the late starter behind, alone and "off the back." Â*In US contests this is usually not the case (broader skill range), so we have a regular tactic of top pilots starting very late and using others as much as possible.Â* Also, to counter the late starter, the WGC pilots (teams) seem to be very happy to wait around the start area for a huge amount of time, so that any “laterâ€� starters will risk of not finishing the task.Â* Open start windows with no limitation is a huge issue in my view.Â* This policy ensures long waits with large gaggles in close proximity killing time, but keeping close tabs on each other.Â* Risk*time=Chance of an accident. So the current starting rules are utter stupidity and this single issue is the main problem with traditional soaring competition format in terms of safety and gaggles, not variance in scoring incentives.

In regards to Flarm, Flarm radar is a capability that was not yet available to the US team.Â* Despite some efforts to develop this capability for our team, it has not worked out and has not been used in WGC competition, period.Â* In Australia, I received zero Flarm radar info.Â* Huge thanks to our guys who put significant effort into building the system and testing, but developing Flarm radar is extremely hard to do well, and requires significant manpower and team practice to use it effectively.Â* Just having the data is only the beginning.Â* We also need the experience (both on the ground and in the air) on how to use it effectively in the very tactical WGC environment.Â* This real tactical decision making is a huge challenge, far greater than the perfection of the technical challenge of getting the Flarm radar system working properly. Â*

But other top teams are rumored to have very sophisticated Flarm radar systems (user interface, mobile stations, etc).Â* I'm not sure, but let's assume this is true.Â* This means they do have a real time tactical picture of the entire racing class (15m, 18m, Open) and are relaying this information to their pilots in the right proportions, at the right time, so their pilots in the air can make better tactical decisions (they also have on-site weathermen, etc). Â*

Flarm radar is, perhaps, a huge advantage to the larger WGC teams (if real) and many of the little teams without it (naturally) feel that Flarm radar should immediately be countered/made obsolete by simply requiring all competitors to run mobile trackers (great penalty for tampering or failing to turn on) and therefore leveling the “tactical playing field� and removing the great advantage the major teams enjoy with Flarm radar (minus the cumulative experience they have already developed communicating information and making real-time tactical decisions with it).

Again, they don't use the info to leech IMO.Â* Leeching is a terrible description, word.Â* Leeching for these guys is a joke really.Â* FAI Sailplane racing tactics (WGC) is really fun (the rules used all over the world except for the USA) in that the tactics are much like the Tour de France.Â* You have a peloton (several really spread out along several lateral lines and starting at different times, of course).Â* You have break always who gamble by starting early and hoping to be faster alone and/or for the gaggle to wait too long and run into weakening conditions late in the day and C) the "autobus" of the guys who fall behind the main or fast gaggle or start too far behind to catch it.Â* These general team based tactics are extremely fun and interesting.Â* They are almost exactly the same in a racing task or an area task. Â*

The WGC pilots are rarely leeching IMO.Â* The whole group (if smaller than 10) is generally working together (sharing the lead position or working together) and trying to help their gaggle perform well.Â* Just like a stage of the Tour de France with a breakaway, sharing the lead draft position and pulling to pack, constantly rotating.Â* This was mainly my experience in the WGC event. Â*

Leeching isn't necessarily what's happening if certain pilots are hanging back, it's more likely smart tactics. There is an important difference between leeching and tactics.Â* If the tactical situation makes sense, some will sit back and let the others do the work (fly slower, climb a little higher before leaving, etc).Â* To lead out (again and again and again) or to try and get away from the gaggle is to take on more risk.Â* The gaggle behind (and out of view) may find a strong climb you missed (to the side of your line) and soon overtake you, perhaps leaving you well behind low.Â* So the smart play may be to try and always keep the gaggle in sight (laterally or behind), not leave first unless the tactical situation is worth the risk, and working together as much as possible, just like a breakaway in Le Tour.Â* And in some cases, like the tour, certain pilots (riders) choose not to share the load and to let others do all the work.Â* This could be called leeching, but in many ways, they are letting the pilots ahead take the risk and hoping to pass them when they make a mistake, not just planning to stick to them like glue no matter what (my definition of a leech).Â* So there is a big difference (as with so many things) in the traditional US term for "leeching" and what I saw in Australia (smart tactics). Â*

And, being tactically followed (or leeched) is part of racing in any sport.Â* The best pilots must learn to deal with it, and use it to their advantage. If you're calling someone a leech, you're getting frustrated. Advantage leech!Â* Complaining is useless and counterproductive. This is part of the sport, like it or not, unless we dramatically change the rules and the sport.

Hi Sean

There are a lot more team tactics that are being used i.e. sacrifice of one lower placed pilot as seen in the Open class in Benalla (advantage to the 3 pilot Teams with the additional World Champion) Spotter from a Pilot in a different class before the startline etc. etc. However there is one common denominator of all these tactics - the radio communication. For many years the French National Championships were flown with use of one Frequency only and they also wanted to introduce this rule for the World Gliding Championships in 1997 in St. Auban which eventually was not used but had caused a major bust up in the Organising committee.

I am sure that you can imagine what a single frequency and English Language only for all pilots at all times would mean - no more passing of any kind of information etc. if misused warnings, penalties, elimination.In my opinion a worthwhile consideration, as all arguments against it would only be to support all the tactics which are being used today.

Muttley

On Sunday, February 19, 2017 at 9:37:50 AM UTC-5, Muttley wrote:
On Wednesday, February 8, 2017 at 12:31:03 AM UTC, Sean Fidler wrote:
For the WGC, Gliding Federation Australia (Australian “SSAâ€�) provided most competitors their own LiveTrack24 system. The GFA owns and maintains 75+ LiveTrack24 “trackerâ€� units (mobile based) which are fully owned and paid for by the GFA in order to provide their member pilots the service of high quality tracking at all Australian contests for free as part of being members of the organization (SSA?). For the WGC, a 10-15 min position delay (10 for racing tasks, 15 for area tasks) was intentionally added in order to "prevent" the competitors from using real-time data for a tactical advantage.Â* But this was perhaps part of the gaggle problem, more than a solution…

Leeching is a silly word really.Â* I don't like it.Â* It's intended to embarrass pilots. But it doesn’t work, never has, never will. Leeching is so 1970's.Â* We all need to grow up about it and deal with reality. Sailplane competitions are still, generally, races in the majority of the world. Even in the US tasking, we occasionally are racing.Â* True leeching is much more common in contests with a wide skill range in which certain pilots "hedge risk" by closely following well-known pilots they perhaps fear will be faster if left to fly alone.Â* Hedging risk is of course not illegal in our sport, it's actually a very smart tactic from time to time.Â* It's really the faster pilots job to avoid being leeched in my opinion. If you put yourself in a position to be “leechedâ€� then you have made a fairly significant mistake. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Sebastian Kawa cannot start in the middle of the main gaggle, at the optimum time and expect not to be followed. You must find ways to avoid or lose leeches quickly if it is truly a threat to your scoring.

True leeching (my experience) happens far more regularly in the USA, despite the 80% wide radius area tasks and dramatically different scoring system which is in part designed to encourage (highly reward) finishing even if everyone else lands out (FAI scoring devalues the one finisher dramatically so that taking that risk doesn’t pay off).Â*

At the WGC level, I believe that almost all the pilots are capable of A) trying to "break away" (start early), B) hold in the gaggle looking for an opportunity for a small gain or C) do the "typical (start anytime you wish) sailplane competition tactic" (used regularly in the USA) of starting last and using the many markers ahead to be more Â*efficient (less centering and searching). Â*

The difference is that at the WGC level, starting even 3-5 min behind the fast gaggle (smart, efficient, working together) will often leave the late starter behind, alone and "off the back." Â*In US contests this is usually not the case (broader skill range), so we have a regular tactic of top pilots starting very late and using others as much as possible.Â* Also, to counter the late starter, the WGC pilots (teams) seem to be very happy to wait around the start area for a huge amount of time, so that any “laterâ€� starters will risk of not finishing the task.Â* Open start windows with no limitation is a huge issue in my view.Â* This policy ensures long waits with large gaggles in close proximity killing time, but keeping close tabs on each other.Â* Risk*time=Chance of an accident. So the current starting rules are utter stupidity and this single issue is the main problem with traditional soaring competition format in terms of safety and gaggles, not variance in scoring incentives.

In regards to Flarm, Flarm radar is a capability that was not yet available to the US team.Â* Despite some efforts to develop this capability for our team, it has not worked out and has not been used in WGC competition, period.Â* In Australia, I received zero Flarm radar info.Â* Huge thanks to our guys who put significant effort into building the system and testing, but developing Flarm radar is extremely hard to do well, and requires significant manpower and team practice to use it effectively.Â* Just having the data is only the beginning.Â* We also need the experience (both on the ground and in the air) on how to use it effectively in the very tactical WGC environment.Â* This real tactical decision making is a huge challenge, far greater than the perfection of the technical challenge of getting the Flarm radar system working properly. Â*

But other top teams are rumored to have very sophisticated Flarm radar systems (user interface, mobile stations, etc).Â* I'm not sure, but let's assume this is true.Â* This means they do have a real time tactical picture of the entire racing class (15m, 18m, Open) and are relaying this information to their pilots in the right proportions, at the right time, so their pilots in the air can make better tactical decisions (they also have on-site weathermen, etc). Â*

Flarm radar is, perhaps, a huge advantage to the larger WGC teams (if real) and many of the little teams without it (naturally) feel that Flarm radar should immediately be countered/made obsolete by simply requiring all competitors to run mobile trackers (great penalty for tampering or failing to turn on) and therefore leveling the “tactical playing field� and removing the great advantage the major teams enjoy with Flarm radar (minus the cumulative experience they have already developed communicating information and making real-time tactical decisions with it).

Again, they don't use the info to leech IMO.Â* Leeching is a terrible description, word.Â* Leeching for these guys is a joke really.Â* FAI Sailplane racing tactics (WGC) is really fun (the rules used all over the world except for the USA) in that the tactics are much like the Tour de France.Â* You have a peloton (several really spread out along several lateral lines and starting at different times, of course).Â* You have break always who gamble by starting early and hoping to be faster alone and/or for the gaggle to wait too long and run into weakening conditions late in the day and C) the "autobus" of the guys who fall behind the main or fast gaggle or start too far behind to catch it.Â* These general team based tactics are extremely fun and interesting.Â* They are almost exactly the same in a racing task or an area task. Â*

The WGC pilots are rarely leeching IMO.Â* The whole group (if smaller than 10) is generally working together (sharing the lead position or working together) and trying to help their gaggle perform well.Â* Just like a stage of the Tour de France with a breakaway, sharing the lead draft position and pulling to pack, constantly rotating.Â* This was mainly my experience in the WGC event. Â*

Leeching isn't necessarily what's happening if certain pilots are hanging back, it's more likely smart tactics. There is an important difference between leeching and tactics.Â* If the tactical situation makes sense, some will sit back and let the others do the work (fly slower, climb a little higher before leaving, etc).Â* To lead out (again and again and again) or to try and get away from the gaggle is to take on more risk.Â* The gaggle behind (and out of view) may find a strong climb you missed (to the side of your line) and soon overtake you, perhaps leaving you well behind low.Â* So the smart play may be to try and always keep the gaggle in sight (laterally or behind), not leave first unless the tactical situation is worth the risk, and working together as much as possible, just like a breakaway in Le Tour.Â* And in some cases, like the tour, certain pilots (riders) choose not to share the load and to let others do all the work.Â* This could be called leeching, but in many ways, they are letting the pilots ahead take the risk and hoping to pass them when they make a mistake, not just planning to stick to them like glue no matter what (my definition of a leech).Â* So there is a big difference (as with so many things) in the traditional US term for "leeching" and what I saw in Australia (smart tactics). Â*

And, being tactically followed (or leeched) is part of racing in any sport.Â* The best pilots must learn to deal with it, and use it to their advantage. If you're calling someone a leech, you're getting frustrated. Advantage leech!Â* Complaining is useless and counterproductive. This is part of the sport, like it or not, unless we dramatically change the rules and the sport.

Hi Sean

There are a lot more team tactics that are being used i.e. sacrifice of one lower placed pilot as seen in the Open class in Benalla (advantage to the 3 pilot Teams with the additional World Champion) Spotter from a Pilot in a different class before the startline etc. etc. However there is one common denominator of all these tactics - the radio communication. For many years the French National Championships were flown with use of one Frequency only and they also wanted to introduce this rule for the World Gliding Championships in 1997 in St. Auban which eventually was not used but had caused a major bust up in the Organising committee.

I am sure that you can imagine what a single frequency and English Language only for all pilots at all times would mean - no more passing of any kind of information etc. if misused warnings, penalties, elimination.In my opinion a worthwhile consideration, as all arguments against it would only be to support all the tactics which are being used today.

Muttley

Even on one frequency useful information can be exchanged. It requires use of codes. The down side is that everyone has to listen to a lot of radio chatter and learn how to deal with the distractions.
Been there- Done that
UH

Even on one frequency useful information can be exchanged. It requires use of codes. The down side is that everyone has to listen to a lot of radio chatter and learn how to deal with the distractions.
Been there- Done that
UH

Codes = Misuse, chatter greatly reduced as no information is being passed, only regular aviation use!!