contest strategy

Remember that sailplane racing is a game of duration, not short sprints. There is no throwing out your bad day, so my best advice is to not have a bad day. You have to think tactically about how each decision will add up to 9 good days of flying.

Flying fast doesn't always mean the highest speed. Sometimes it means avoiding getting stuck. You can have the fastest flight, up to a point, but

No matter how many times we talk about this, it happens. Some of you might be following the FCC contest in Slovakia that finishes today. A club class pilot did it again. Won a day, then well, then he didn't win the next day, actually, he didn't make it home the next day.

Many of us are not mentally prepared to win yet. We are still working on our Mental preparation.

"If you are not

Dick Johnson got this to work for him much better than I did. Charlie Spratt told me that this was a tactic he saw work time and time again in Hobbs and Uvalde when there was a big storm in the forecast. The idea behind this is a large storm is going to shut down a turnpoint at some point during the day. It could even develop at the home airport. Leaving early could get you in and out of the turnpoint

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