Rules

As tomorrow is Day 1, it's probably a good point to summarise the competition structure and rules.

There is a lot of information on my previous blog here

But in short, you race around a pre-defined course and the fastest wins. Simple. Actually it can get quite complex, more later.

Typical course distances are 150 to 500 km.

A regional or national comp would normally last 9 days, this may seem like a long time but don’t forget, gliding is very much weather dependent so in a good comp you’d expect to fly on 6 out of 9 days. Some comps last year had only 2 days. International comps are 12-14 days.

Competitions are split into classes, the main classes are:

Club class: Handicapped comp for gliders with relatively low performance
Standard class: High end gliders with 15 meter wingspan and no flaps
15 Meter class: High performance gliders with 15 meters wingspan with flaps
18 Meter class: High performance gliders with 18 meters wingspan with flaps
Open class: Anything goes – no limit on wingspan or otherwise

In this competition I am competing in the Club class with team mates Helen and Cloudy.