2022 GBSC Gold Cup Rules
Published By: Rick Roelke (RR)
Revised: 8/27/2022
________________________________________
OVERVIEW: The concept for the Gold Cup is to provide a fun contest with a fixed course that can be flown at any time. The name is drawn from the ābase courseā which is a 300k triangle suitable for Gold Distance (diamond goal as well). As an incentive for new XC pilots, any pilot achieving their valid Gold Distance leg will be awarded an extra 10% for that day.
The Gold Cup task is a Turn Area Task that allows flights of 82 to 296 miles. This large variability should accommodate large performance differences, as well as pilot skills from day to day. The task is flown as a closed course into the two turn areas in either direction with a minimum time of 2.5 hrs. The Turn points are as follows:
Start Sterling: 4mi start cylinder with a 5500 ft MSL ceiling
Springfield turn area: 45mi radius from Hartness State Airport, Springfield VT (VSF)
Southbridge turn area: 5mi radius from Southbridge Municipal Airport, Southbridge MA (3B0)
Finish Sterling: 2mi radius finish cylinder with 2500 ft MSL min altitude
The Gold Cup will be scored using Herold Handicapping and is intended to encourage ALL types of sailplanes to compete. The sailplane need not be owned by the pilot, in fact flying club gliders is highly encouraged. For that matter, a pilot need not fly the same sailplane on each of the flights he submits.
The following rules are guidelines for the Gold Cup. The Competition Director reserves the right to modify or interpret the rules as necessary to account for unforeseen circumstances.
1. CLOSED COURSE: The race is a closed course. All entries are attempting to return to Sterling.
2. DIRECTION OF FLIGHT: The pilot may complete the course in either direction (Clockwise or Counter Clockwise).
3. STARTING: The pilot will announce his start over 123.30, broadcasting in the blind per the following example: "MARK - P3 starting Gold Cup at 5300 ft" The pilot will note his starting time.
A. Start height: The maximum start height is 5,500 MSL. Maximum start height is on the honor system (although the Competition Director will be awfully tempted to peek at the GPS recorded heights). The pilot should not zoom down to start height. The pilot should be at or below the limit for 2min prior to the start. Thermaling out of the top of the start is allowed providing an accurate start time can be determined.
B. Restart: After proceeding on course, a pilot may elect to restart. All starting rules still apply
4. TURN AREAS: GPS traces will be required as this is a Turn Area task. Logs should be submitted as IGC files, but need not be secure. If the log does not include altitude, you are on the honor system to meet the start and finish altitude requirements.
Official Turnpoint list:
|
Turnpoint |
Size |
Altitude |
GPS Turnpoint |
|
Sterling Start |
4 mi |
5500 ft max |
N42Ā°25.570' W071Ā°47.630' |
|
Springfield |
45 mi |
|
N43Ā°20.460' W072Ā°31.160' |
|
Southbridge |
5 mi |
|
N42Ā°06.050' W072Ā°02.330' |
|
Sterling Finish |
2 mi |
2500 ft min |
N42Ā°25.570' W071Ā°47.630' |
5. TURNPOINT EVIDENCE: GPS traces are required and must be in IGC (.IGC) format. Formats from other recorders MUST be converted into IGC format.
6. FINISHING: The pilot must announce his finish on 123.30 or 122.9 with an approximate time on course "MARK - P3 finishing Gold Cup. 2 hours 45 minutes."
7. SCORING: Scoring will be on a relative ranking, based on handicapped speed and distance. Pilots will be scored on his best three flights. Any number of flights may be submitted.
A. Speed Points: The fastest handicapped flight of the year among all competitors will be scored as a 1,000 point flight. Each flight thereafter will be scored as a percentage of this 1,000 point flight (e.g. if the fastest flight is 50 miles per hour handicapped, then a 40 mile per hour handicapped flight will be 800 points). Therefore, the final scoring will be in doubt until the last day of the contest season.
B. Distance Points: The longest non-completion of the year among all competitors over 50 handicapped miles will be scored as 500 points or 80% of the lowest speed points. All other non-completions will be scored as a percentage of that flight. If no distance flights exceed 50 miles, they will be scored as percentage of 50 miles x 500 points (e.g. if the longest non-completion is 25 miles, then the maximum distance points will be 250).
C. Two-Place Ship Entry: Two-place ships may be entered with one pilot as the primary pilot. The intent of this rule is to encourage a mentor to bring a cross-country student along to practice tactics, navigation, field selection, etc. The majority of the actual flying is to be done by the student.
8. CONTEST SEASON: The Contest Season commences 1 April and ends 30 November.
9. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS PROCESS: The competition directorās decisions are final, except when they arenāt. Phone calls or E-Mail messages are invited (see entry forms). The successful outcome of any appeal can be favorably influenced by beer or other beverages.
End of the rules.
Elaboration
Rick has provided the following advice on turn area tasks (TAT):
For those unfamiliar with Turn Area Tasks, they are flown as follows: after exiting the start cylinder, you fly into the turn area, you can fly to any point in the turn area and then fly to the next turn area. The point on your trace that give the most favorable score (distance) will be used. Why would I fly farther than the minimum distance? The answer lies in the minimum time requirement. The Gold Cup minimum distance is 82 miles, if you finish before 2.5 hours, you will be scored as if you flew for 2.5 hours. This gives the minimum un-handicapped speed of 32.8 mph. To score faster than this, you will need to fly farther within the minimum time.
While at the national level of competition, the ātrickā to a fast score is to go just far enough to finish right at the minimum time, this is very often outweighed by picking a fast path and fly further than required for a minimum time finish. Further, much of that advantage is from the start to finish height differential. We have intentionally designed this task with a high finish altitude for two reasons. First is safety: the finisher will enter the sterling area above pattern height with plenty of room to inject themselves in a conventional pattern. The second reason is to lessen this start / finish height differential so the benefit of āon timeā finishing is minimized.