I have been a CD at a number of events (from local regattas to world comps) and I must say that I have enjoyed evey minute of it. There were many times when I obviously thought "wouldn't mind being up there myself" but also a few days whan I thought "glad it's them not me".
But the CD job is not for everyone. I have met very few competitors who don't really apreciate the effort made by the CD and his/her team. But they expect a certain level of understanding and performance - their expectations at a local regatta are much less than at State and National and World comps but there are still expectations. The world comps was actually easier than a state comps becaue there are so many resouces and people applied to the job. A state comp CD is very much on his/her own, often with little experienced support. Just as with a football game (whatever creed) the competitors have an expectation that the officials know the rules and apply them. Provided you do this, they will appreciate your work, even when you make the occasional blunder. They will complain about the decisions at the time (why didn't we launch?, why did we launch?) but in the end they have to accept your intent and decisions. Sometimes you have to be a little thick skinned at the time,but this doesn't mean that all pilots are bastards. Competitors do need to be courteous and appreciative, but don't expect it all of the time from every pilot as some people respond to stress quite differently. I do believe that there should be a pilot group appointed as advisors to the competition director at each comp to give advice on issues and also filter and counsel the negative perceptions (from both sides) whenever these occur. If you have the time I would recommend getting involved in running or helping to run a comp, it is actually great fun and you learn a lot about the competition and rules etc to help with your own flying. Regards Terry ----- Original Message ----- From: "lkdodd" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, August 02, 2004 8:13 PM Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] CAO's - was (Wicket Cam for Gliding Movie) > > > And yes - I did get a lot of flack about that from people, some of whom > > claimed that no low finishes meant they would not bother to fly in > > comps! But then, a comp director gets a lot of flack about everything > > (and nothing) - it will be a long time before I get talked into doing it > > again. > > I agree with your negative comments on the CD job. I have never been a CD, > but attended enough comps, and filled supportive roles to know its a > thankless job, with plenty of disputes and argumentative pilots. > > As a collective group, comp pilots need to show courtesy and significant > appreciation for the event organisers. Not just roll up with the atttitude, > I paid my entry fee, let the games begin. Lets face it without volounteers > prepared to offer their time and expertise for nothing, then there would be > no comp. > > luke dodd > > _______________________________________________ > Aus-soaring mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring > _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
