Final Post Before Voting Ends

I would like to thank all the people who took the time to read my blog and vote on the questions that I and others felt were important. It has been interesting to say the least. I hope the rules committee will take this information and use it for the betterment of competition soaring.

I don't know all the issues and I don't know all the answers. I believe that the people who elect the rules committee should state the issues and have input to the answers. It then becomes the duty of the RC member to make decisions based on the collective input gathered. The one thing that I have learned these past several weeks is that there are plenty of smart people in the SSA and together with the rules committee nothing is impossible.

There is one thing I would like to make very clear. I have a great deal of respect for our current rules committee and I truly appreciate the job they have done thus far and the complexity of their efforts.

My Final Poll Results:
Please see the final results of my polls. I think you will find them very interesting.

Establishment of a Club Class separate from the Sports Class: (72 total voters)
Support: 58%
Against: 41%


Establishment of a Club Class as part of the Sports Class but with separate scoring: (65 voters)
Support: 49%
Against: 50%


Establishment of a Club Class will reduce overall participation at contests: (68 voters)
Agree:10%
Disagree: 89%


Implementation of a Club Class in less than 4 years: (71 voters)
Support: 64%
Against: 35%


East Coast-West Coast Nationals: (50 voters)
Support: 64%
Against: 36%


SRA poll voting participants - all or just competitors: (53 voters)
Support polling all soaring pilots: 45%
Support polling just competitors: 54%


Seven Day Nationals: (14 voters)
Support: 64%
Against: 35%

Question #7: Seven Day Nationals

One last poll question before the voting ends.

Question #7: Would a seven (7) day nationals starting on Sunday and ending on the following Saturday encourage more participation in competition soaring?

Please refer to the bottom of the blog to submit your answer.

I will be following up with a summary of all of my blog postings before the voting ends.

Thanks, Sam

ALL Soaring Participants

Recently, I received an email from a soaring pilot who describes himself as a “newbie”. He stated:

“I find it refreshing that you are asking for input from *all* soaring participants. The SRA poll is only available to folks that have previously competed, shame on them. If the SRA truly wants to see participation increase at all levels they must remove the elitism attitude and perception. While us newbie’s may not understand all of the background and nuances of the competition our feedback and opinions are equally important as the seasoned competitors.”

Therefore, I would like to address this issue in another poll question. Please refer to Question #6 at the bottom of the blog.

East Coast- West Coast Nationals

Participation in competitive soaring has been at the core of this blog. We have looked at a couple of ways to increase the number of pilots who compete. I would like to continue along this line by asking the question:

Would an East Coast Nationals-West Coast Nationals increase attendance in national contest?

Please refer to Question #5 at the bottom of the blog to submit your vote. Also, any comments with your ideas of how this can be accomplished are welcomed. Thanks, Sam

Increase competition participation by increasing the fun

Fun is increased when pilots have quick feedback on their relative performance for the day (score). The RC should address ways (rule changes) that will simplify scoring to minimize the time from task completion to score availability. In the distant past it was once possible to tell how your score compared with any competitor by comparing time on course. This is impossible today with our complex rules. Most now agree that our three basic tasks (AT, TAT, MAT) are set in concrete and unchangeable. The number of competent scorers in the US can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Therefore it is not uncommon to wait at least until the next day or longer to get scores and have any idea of relative performance.
Your comments are appreciated!