Potential Club Class (US Sports Class) World Team SelectionPolicy Changes

We see a few pilots in this discussion who have admirably bought a
Club Class glider specifically to compete in Club Class. Some have no
other glider. What an awful thing to scold them. Sean, great flight at
the Dust Devil Dash in weak conditions, by the way.
I had a great time working at the 2009 Club and Sports Class
Nationals at Lake Keepit, NSW, Australia last November (final results
link below). Out of 60 gliders total, it was an even split between
Club Class and Sports Class. Perhaps this is due to the existence of a
Club Class in Australia?
Just like hosting Open Class Nationals with another class of
Nationals in the USA, holding the two classes simultaneously allows
event organizers to have good attendance. There were indeed AS-G29s
(6) and Ventus 2Cxs (5, plus one without an x) at Keepit, but they
flew in Sports Class. Discus A/B/CS flew in Club, Discus 2 in Sports.
LS-7 in Club, LS-8 in Sports. AS-W20 in Club, LS-6 and all Ventus in
Sports, and so on. We loved to see the Libelles, Ls-1s, Cirrii, Grobs,
Hornets etc. finish.
(Names withheld, to protect the guilty) one Libelle passed an AS-G29
on short final, causing vast quantities of grief to descend on the 29
pilot. For those thinking safety, you can easily land three wide at
Keepit.
A splendid time was had by all. And dare I say, "Kingaroy!"
Jim
http://www.keepitsoaring.com/LKSC/in...6&I temid=127

On Sep 21, 12:24*am, JS wrote:
* We see a few pilots in this discussion who have admirably bought a
Club Class glider specifically to compete in Club Class. Some have no
other glider. What an awful thing to scold them. Sean, great flight at
the Dust Devil Dash in weak conditions, by the way.
* I had a great time working at the 2009 Club and Sports Class
Nationals at Lake Keepit, NSW, Australia last November (final results
link below). Out of 60 gliders total, it was an even split between
Club Class and Sports Class. Perhaps this is due to the existence of a
Club Class in Australia?
* Just like hosting Open Class Nationals with another class of
Nationals in the USA, holding the two classes simultaneously allows
event organizers to have good attendance. There were indeed AS-G29s
(6) and Ventus 2Cxs (5, plus one without an x) at Keepit, but they
flew in Sports Class. Discus A/B/CS flew in Club, Discus 2 in Sports.
LS-7 in Club, LS-8 in Sports. AS-W20 in Club, LS-6 and all Ventus in
Sports, and so on. We loved to see the Libelles, Ls-1s, Cirrii, Grobs,
Hornets etc. finish.
* (Names withheld, to protect the guilty) one Libelle passed an AS-G29
on short final, causing vast quantities of grief to descend on the 29
pilot. For those thinking safety, you can easily land three wide at
Keepit.
A splendid time was had by all. And dare I say, "Kingaroy!"
Jimhttp://www.keepitsoaring.com/LKSC/index.php?option=com_content&view=a...

Hmm, that's interesting. How does WGC selection work in Australia
with
both a Sports and Club class nationals? Is the Sports class just a
"dead end"
that doesn't feed a WGC team (like it is at the moment in the US)?

Club class contests have had a successful start in the US, in my view.
We've had two in two years now, with decent attendance. I'm looking
forward to there being more of them in the future.

I'm also very disappointed by this direction from the rules committee.
I'd be happy enough to remove the restriction that previous WGC
attendees are ineligible. However, there are already people who've
invested specifically in a club class plane so they can compete for
the WGC positions.

When you get down to it, how do you pick
your class? What attracts you to Standard or 18M or whatever class?
With the FAI classes you can buy a factory-new plane that's likely
got the originally designed airfoil. With a club class plane, you're
getting a plane that's been around a while and it's going to take
work to get it to fly as well as it was designed. It's really sad
that
we're undercutting people who've already decided to take
that approach, such as Sean. Club class isn't an equivalent to
Sports class (described as the "entry and exit" class). It's a
serious racing class.

-- Matt

Matt, et al:
Have a look through:
http://2009.gfa.org.au/Docs/sport/co...otsRanking.pdf
and
http://2009.gfa.org.au/Docs/sport/co...ystemRules.pdf
Using Australia as an example is pretty simple, as the documentation
is easy to find and in a familiar language to many.
Jim

On Sep 21, 8:00*am, mattm wrote:
Hmm, that's interesting. *How does WGC selection work in Australia
with
both a Sports and Club class nationals? *Is the Sports class just a
"dead end"
that doesn't feed a WGC team (like it is at the moment in the US)?

-- Matt

On Sep 21, 4:49*pm, JS wrote:
Matt, et al:
* Have a look through:http://2009.gfa.org.au/Docs/sport/co...otsRanking.pdf
andhttp://2009.gfa.org.au/Docs/sport/competition/Australian_Ranking_Syst....
Using Australia as an example is pretty simple, as the documentation
is easy to find and in a familiar language to many.
Jim

On Sep 21, 8:00*am, mattm wrote:

Hmm, that's interesting. *How does WGC selection work in Australia
with
both a Sports and Club class nationals? *Is the Sports class just a
"dead end"
that doesn't feed a WGC team (like it is at the moment in the US)?

-- Matt

OK, fairly different from the US ranking system (which is also based
on percentage of winner's score in a given contest). Selection for
the
national team is based on ranking in the national contest for that
class
two years in a row, although preference for flying the pre-worlds is
included.

On 22/09/2010 06:49, JS wrote:
Matt, et al:
Have a look through:
http://2009.gfa.org.au/Docs/sport/co...otsRanking.pdf
and
http://2009.gfa.org.au/Docs/sport/co...ystemRules.pdf
Using Australia as an example is pretty simple, as the documentation
is easy to find and in a familiar language to many.
Jim

On Sep 21, 8:00 am, wrote:
Hmm, that's interesting. How does WGC selection work in Australia
with
both a Sports and Club class nationals? Is the Sports class just a
"dead end"
that doesn't feed a WGC team (like it is at the moment in the US)?

-- Matt


Matt's question is directly answered from the Team Selection document
http://www.gfa.org.au/imis15/GFA/Spo...Selection.aspx

In particular, this quote directly answers his question:
""Class" in this document refers to Open Class, 18m Class, 15m Class,
Standard Class or Club Class. Pilots in Sports Class may use these
results as their 40% score only if they do not have another eligible
result to use, regardless of which score is higher."

In other words, Sports class comps are pretty well just for fun. Club
Class leads to WGC selection.

GC