Actually the ESL is home to some very top pilots.
Tom Kiesling, Mike Lachowski, Josh Glaab, Phil Barnes... And other good
fliers.
Tom is a landing machine.
And Joe and Larry would have tough competition with Tom. All three are
in the top echelon.
I know that there have been many contests where Tom has been off max by
peanuts.
And the Same goes for Mike, Josh, and Phil. It just depends on who and
what kind of day.
Then there are days where they are less than accurate but good enough to
win.
So how can you replace competition? You can't. But you can try...
He's the diff between landing at a contest and not a contest.: About 10
- 20 feet.
Thats how far you stand from the spot. In practice I can land at the
spot nearly every time if I try.
Why I stand by the spot and my depth perception is aided by that fact.
dharban wrote:
Jeff,
I guess Joe Wurts and Larry Jolly just wouldn't cut it flying in the
ESL. If you would like to help and be constructive, maybe you could
furnish data from a couple of years of ESL contests and we'll figure
out what numbers would be appropriate. Unless Jesus or the Pope is
flying our there I suspect that there is some scoring standard short of
perfection that would be representative. Besides, we are trying to
arrive at the closest _practical_ way of coming up with a "competition
equivalent" knowing from the get go that nothing will exactly ever be a
"competition equivalent". Maybe the bright side will be that "real" LSF
Level V's can stand on the sidelines and hold their noses while their
inferiors fake having fun.
I wouldn't have driven all the miles I did to get my Level IV nor would
I commit to drive all the miles I am preparing to drive to take a shot
at Level V if I did not understand that doing it in a contest is the
ultimate. Frankly I don't give a tinkers damn about the badge -- its
about the pleasure of meeting and competing with great people.
I'm dismayed that you don't seem to understand that there are places in
this country where competition at the highest levels is not like it is
where you live. There are places where a sane person would not
undertake a campaign -- surely my judgement in this matter is
questionable. As I have related before, I spent 20 years racing full
size sailboats. I campaigned an Etchells 22 (a world class 30 foot
racing sloop) for three years and my total all-in net cost (including a
complete set of new sails every year) was less than it will cost to
undertake what will probably be a futile attempt to complete my Level
V. How much could you spend?
The last time I checked, no one was suggesting interferring in any way
with your right to seek excellence the best way you know how. Nobody
is even suggesting that you don't have the right to look down you nose
at people of a lesser god (the god of LSF sportsman) who seek an
alternative (if inferior) way.
This is not about silly little badges -- its about doing things which
will bring increased enjoyment of our sport for people besides
ourselves.
--
Jeff Steifel
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