Australian Junior Nationals - 'JoeyGlide 2004'

G'day All,


2004 Australian Junior Nationals - 'JoeyGlide 2004'


Overview:
The Gliding Federation of Australia have endorsed the
setting up of the first ever dedicated Junior Nationals.
Although the FAI national championships have been held
for many decades, very few of them have contained a
'junior' prize and never has there been a separate
tournament - until now.


Dates:
Sunday Nov 28 - Saturday Dec 4, 2004


Location:
Temora NSW, Australia

Temora has been chosen for the following reasons;
* It is in the middle of excellent cross country area
* The weather at this time of year is likely to produce
good reliable flying
* It is semi equi-distant from southern Qld, NSW, Vic
and SA.
* Temora township offers a variety of accommodation
from super luxury expensive motels (the
type that I cant afford), to camping on the airfield
with a good range of budget pubs in
between.
* Temora club have offered to assist with the event.


Eligibility:
To be eligible, you need to be less than 26 years of
age as at the completion of the contest (8 December
2004). To be able to compete, you need to have completed
the following;
* Solo,
* Silver C certificate
* Cross Country rated by suitable instructor level
* Sufficient flying standard and currency to be able
to fly a glider in the range as per below with or without
water ballast.
* Access to glider / car combination that meets the
range below.

Junior Pilots who are just shy of this are encouraged
to express their interest in flying the contest in
a high performance two seater with an experienced sports
coach.

Previous contest experience is not required, though
naturally encouraged.


Contest Format:
Contest to be held over a 1 week format with a champion(s)
to be determined at the end of the week assuming a
minimum of 4 contest days.

The contest is proposed to be a single class handicapped
event based only on glider performance with (suggested)
glider range limited between Jantar 2/3 and Ventus
1. Included in this class / contest is expected to
be a number of medium - high performance two seaters
in the range of Twin Astir to Duo Discuss / DG1000
/ Janus.

Tasking format is expected to be assigned area and
/ or POST task. The organizers reserve the right to
make an assigned area into either small circles (i.e.
traditional speed task) or wedge shapes depending on
the days conditions.

Water ballast may be used.

Pilot Pairs may be allowed (i.e. where two pilots share
a glider on alternate days for the week)

Two prizes are expected to be awarded;
(a) Australian Junior Champion, based on cumulative
points at the completion of the contest, handicapped
only by the gliders performance level. Handicap format
proposed is FAI Multi class nationals handicapping
system.
(b) Australian 'Joey Cup / Weight for Age' Handicapped
Champion. This award shall be based on the above score,
averaged per day, further modified by a formula that
shall include the age and experience (in flying hours)
of the contestant. I.e. the aim is to recognise the
best performance for their respective experience levels
so that even the least experienced competitors in the
field have an even chance of winning.


Scoring:
Scoring will be by data logger only. If organizers
and entrants cannot borrow enough IGC approved loggers
(i.e. Collibris, Cambridges etc..) then at our discretion,
we may allow Garmins as primary loggers.


Contest Objectives:
* To award the prize of Australian Junior Champion
as well as 1st and 2nd runners up
* To award the 'Joey Cup' handicapped prize.
* To set up and establish the beginnings of a robust
Junior Nationals that ideally will grow to self perpetuate
itself for years to come (much like the current British
system)
* To use this contest as the primary selection criteria
for GFA endorsed Australian entrants to the Junior
World championships.
* To reserve places for International juniors so as
to have some high standard foreign competitors to test
our best.
* To have a contest with a better balance between fun
and seriousness than FAI or Sports Class Nationals.
* To include respected sports coaches in similar performance
two seaters to coach less experienced pilots in the
air and all (who want it) on the ground.
* To encourage juniors who are just short of the experience
level who want to enter, to follow the development
plan below so that they are at this level by the time
of the contest.
* To keep costs for competitors as low as reasonably
possible.
* TO HAVE FUN!


Expressions of Interest:
Although it is a little early yet to take formal entries
(i.e. we havent worked out costs yet), we would appreciate
expressions of interest as early as possible so that
we know who and how many to plan for. When expressing
your interest, please also advise your preference for
flying; whole week yourself, flying as part of a pilot
pair (i.e. sharing a glider) and / or flying in a high
performance two seater with an experienced competition
instructor. Please also indicate your experience approximate
level.

Please forward your expressions of interest to the
following;
and
Or
By phone on 0413 444 614

Mitchell Turner
Contest Director


Best Regards,
Adam Woolley, 19
Australia