On Jan 9, 9:30*am, Andy wrote:

I see no reason why a pilot that chooses to exit from the back of the
cylinder cannot work any gaggle on route to the first turnpoint. *Why
does joining a gaggle in the vicinity of the start have a higher risk
than joining one on course?

Traffic density near top of gate/cloud base, for starters. There's
also the issue of blending on course traffic with pre-start traffic.

From my point of view, the potential increase in opposing traffic near
cloud base/top of gate would justify the rule by itself. More
broadly, the rules strategy seems to be to take the incentive for
competitive flying out of the gate area and move it out on course
where it belongs.

-T8