I think it is pretty fair to say that the Victorian situation is an anomaly for whatever reasons ...
Just going over the data listed in Soaring Spot for 2014, entries for the various comp/regattas run and appearing on this site are as follows: Jan 2014: WA State: 29, Vic State: 16, Sports/Club Nats: 43. Feb: Horsham Wk: 41, LK Regatta 46. April: GQ Easter Comp: 52. Sept: Qld State: 25. Oct: Sports/Club Nats: 48. Nov: Cunderdin Cup: 44, WA State 13. Dec: NSW State: 27 entries to date (from website). I think there has been an incredible increase in the number of coaching activities and events available over the last couple of years, and hopefully this will result in increased comp participation. I have the feeling that many of the pilots who have participated in these activities are well and truly capable of flying in comps, but just need a bit of encouragement to dip a toe into the water. Having started comp flying in the last 12 months, I can say that it is a great way to at least find out your strengths and weaknesses. The ability to download other competitors traces through Soaring Spot and compare the various parameters with your own is really helpful in identifying what is possible, and the areas which need improving. At Speedweek at West Wyalong a couple of weeks back, some of us achieved average climb rates of around 5 kts and thought we had done really well ...until we found Ingo had achieved 6.1 ! So I don't think it is all doom and gloom. Perhaps just some local issues which need to be addressed. JT
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