Chris Rollings wrote:
I am a staunch defender of anyone's right to risk his
or her own life in pursuit of any goal they hold dear
(including saving money). In launching on a C og G
hook you are risking the tow-pilots life more than
your own, and this I will not defend.

I personally prefer to fly aerotow with nose hooks, and both of the
gliders I now fly have them. But, I'm not convinced that anyone has
provided actual evidence of an observed safety issue with CG hooks.
Some numbers like these for, say, the past 20 years in the UK:

How many aerotow operations were there per year?
What percentage of aerotow operations used CG hooks?
How many aerotow upset accidents were there during that period?
What percentage of the aerotow upset accidents involved CG hooks?

If these figures aren't available, is the use of CG hooks being
discouraged based simply on the assumed lack of positive longitudinal
stability during aerotow?

Marc