Balance Aggression and Patience in Competition
Don't land out, that definitely defines the line of pushing too hard. You can see on the graph above (graph from @SouthAfricanGlidingTeam ) how devastating one bad day can be.
My classic lawn darting experience was in 2005 at the Standard Class Nationals. The last few days placing were 3rd, 5th, 2nd, a 1st.....Then I didn't even make it 20miles....I had to take a relight that day, and did not find a reasonable bump out of the start gate while everyone accomplished 160miles.
At the USA FAI Grand Prix 2016 I was typically the first to the first turn point, sometimes even would lead halfway around the course, but that aggressive flying would put me in a hole at some point. You want to balance conservative / aggressive flying to be the first one home not the first one to the first turn point. But if you want to win a contest generally you don't even need to win a day. You must be consistent every day. In the U.S. typically 950 points everyday will win the contest.
The Women's World Gliding Championships flew 12 days. Sarah Arnold from team USA placed 2nd!!! After Day 1 she wasn't at the top however a well calculated push slowly got her climbing the score sheet each day. Day 1 she was 16th and by Day 6th she was on the podium and maintained that through the last half of the contest. She never won a day but did have 2 2nd place daily finishes (one of those was 2 points behind the winner).
Risks that I am thinking about are when to move onto the next thermal. Can you beat your current average climb rate in the next thermal? Do you have multiple options to find a thermal? Make sure you stay realistic with the day if it is getting better or worse. Will that deviation be worth it?
Another aggressive decision might be a late start and trying to catch the gaggle. Starting a final glide too early and needing to stop or land-out a few miles from the finish. Pushing too low to get a thermal and running out of options to find a thermal.
All of the above items are a calculated risk, it was once told to me that winning is a fine line between brilliance and failure, however it is never acceptable to compromise safety in the hope to better your score.
Garret Willat holds a flight instructor rating with over 8000 hours in sailplanes. His parents have owned Sky Sailing Inc. since 1979. He started instructing the day after his 18th birthday. Since then, Garret has represented the US Junior team in 2003 and 2005. He graduated from Embry-Riddle with a bachelor's degree in Professional Aeronautics. Garret represented the US Open Class team in 2008 and 2010 and the Club Class team in 2014. Garret has won 3 US National Championships.
