2009 Proposed US Contest Rules Changes

The reason for the start-anywhere refinement did not come from a
desire to stop the fun of blasting out the top from the back half a
Parowan.

We were worried about the following. Imagine a more typical contest in
which you can't get that much about start top, and in particular with
cloudbase 500'-1000' above start top. Think especially about a pretty
strong downwind component on the first leg.

In this situation, it will be very tempting to start out the top near
the back, and try to float around near MSH bumping the start gaggles.
This will give you an extra 10 miles of downwind flying in well-marked
lift. If you drop down into the cylinder for more than 2 minutes, oh
well, you can just take your next exit as start, or go back and try
again. Trying it is a free option. This flying is done in a very
dubious zone, close to the clouds, with pre-start gliders wandering
around everywhre. Safety minded pilots would try to avoid it, but if
everyone else starts doing it, it will be very tempting.

Yes, it will still be tempting to do this starting in the middle of
the cylinder, but we hope it will be less of a problem in practice
with only 5 miles to go. (And unsafe flying penalties still there as a
deterrent)

As for the skulduggery and evil intentions, come on guys, you know us
better than that. We're just trying to get simple, safe, workable,
fair and fun rules here. Are we thinking about problems that haven't
happened yet? You bet! The job of the rules committe is to wake up at
2 in the morning with one more way that things can go wrong and fix it
ahead of time. This scenario hasn't been a problem in the past, but if
we have a whole season of national contests where some smarty figures
out this is the hot strategy, that's a disaster. We don't and should
not wait for problems to develop, especially safety problems, do do
something about them!

Yes, the options to start out the top are a bit less generous. They're
a lot better than the old rules. This whole business is getting to be
a mess, and there is some sentiment on the rules committee to drop
start anywhere and go back to the old rules.

I think we should go with what we have for a year -- last valid start
and front half refinement, though this is a decision ultimately for
our Chair an the SSA board. If you really miss the back half of the
top of the cylinder we can revisit that after a year. If we see people
skimming dangerously over the top of the start cylinder we may have to
restrict it more or differently.

John Cochrane
BB