[igc-discuss] To change or not to change... rules ?

Dear friends,

Like I think most of you I have read with interest next IGC plenary
meeting agenda...

I appreciated particularly the wish to stabilize the rules in a period
of time as long as possible, for instance a 10 years for the open class
new mass limits or a 4 years moratory for championships rules (Annex A)
as shown as proposal 1 in the following link :

http://www.fai.org/gliding/meetings/...nex_a_comm.pdf

There are before that moratory a few minor changes in the rules that
have proved necessary. I understand that.

What I appreciated less is a list of other proposals of change that
contained also in the link above, namely proposals 4, 5, 7, 8 and 10,
which only objective is to suppress options that have been introduced a
few years ago with the new Annex A :
- suppression of Speed Task - pilot selected
- suppression of Distance task - pilot selected
- suppression of optional penalty in speed tasks
- suppression of optional minimum finish altitude in distance tasks
- suppression of the optional Kilometer Scoring system

While I understand the wish to simplify the rules, I would like to point
out that these suppression will induce a lot of unnecessary work within
each NAC : publication and translation of new documents without these
options and all the minor but necessary associated text editing work,
that means not a simplification but a complication.

More important, even if these options have not be widely used yet at the
international level, many NAC that try to follow strictly the Annex A
rules for their own competitions appreciate these options, use them, and
will be forced to change their own rules *again* if they still wish to
comply to IGC rules, contrary to the promise of long-term stability of
the rules that have been made a couple of years ago when new Annex A was
introduced.

I see no inconvenient to keep these optional rules that have proven Well
suited to many competitions.

I see so many inconvenients to suppress these rules that it would be too
long to discuss it here... only for instance :
- the minimum altitude rule is an important safety feature over
mountaneous unlandable terrain,
- the Kilometer scoring is even simpler that the "simplified scoring
system" based of a combination od distance and speed, that is supposed
to be introduced this year (I have no objection to adding the so-called
simplified scoring as another option as long as it does not impose to
remove the Kilometer scoring option that is used in several competitions
in France and that fits all the type of tasks in Annex A, contrary to
the "simplified" option).

In conclusion I see no urge to suppress these options this year, and I
wish IGC wait until the end of future the Annex A moratory, that means
2010, to eventually reconsider their position.

Best regards,
Denis Flament
--
Organiser of IGC Cat2+ contest "Prix de Gascogne" in Nogaro, Gers, 1st
to 8 may 2005
http://prixdegascogne.free.fr/
--
Denis

R. Parce que ça rompt le cours normal de la conversation !!!
Q. Pourquoi ne faut-il pas répondre au-dessus de la question ?