competition start

Based on the ancient Roman game plumbata, lawn darts were banned in 1988 in the US. Whoops, wrong Wikipedia page... What I actually want to discuss is a term we use in racing, lawn darting.

You start and go straight into a field. Maybe you found a thermal. Maybe you didn't. We will not get picky about the duration of your short flight before lawn darting.

What caused it? It's doubtful

Again I will start with a common theme to reduce the pressure of this one small part of the race. You have the next 4 hours to screw it up.

Do not worry about a few hundred feet. When I team fly even being separated by a 1000 ft is not the end of the world, annoying yes, but there is a  lot of fluctuation in the air. Defiantly 200 ft is nothing to worry about (until you are on a marginal

It is easiest to think about starting on the upwind side of the line or cylinder. But unless it is really windy my biggest concern is getting the best energy line or strongest thermal. If you are starting a race and your first climb is good you are better off mentally. Even if someone took a slightly better start upwind, you mentally are better off with a strong climb. Imagine the pilot just upwind