Hi all I believe the advantage in competitions is almost always with the latest and greatest. The reasons are something like this:
Gliders are notoriously difficult to handicap fairly and competitions are almost always held during times where there is likekly to be great conditions. If handicaps are not set to match the conditions on the day, it is guaranteed that some gliders will be disadvantaged on handicap. I know from personal experience that the Bergfalke is extremely competitive on light days with climb rates under 4 knots. With climb rates higher than 4 knots, the advantage is with the other competitors. Where the latest and greatest have a distinct edge is in the ability to cruise over dead / rubbish areas to get to better conditions on the far side. Lower performance aircraft will be forced to top up somewhere in the rubbish if it is too wide. Another intangible is thermal sample size. A higher performance aircraft will be able to pick the best thermal out of (as an example) 4 thermals sampled, whereas a lower performance aircraft will need to pick the best out of 3 thermals sampled. The odds are that the higher performance glider will have a better chance at finding a stronger thermal. _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
