Wessex XC League Rules and Guidelines
-
To enter the league . . .
- Fly cross-country (no matter how short !).
- Tell the league
secretary who you are.
- Tell the league
secretary where you took off.
- Tell the league
secretary where you landed.
- Tell the league
secretary when the flight took place.
- That is all! It really is that simple.
- You do NOT need photographic evidence.
- You do NOT need a GPS.
- You do NOT need witnesses.
- You do NOT need to fly more than 10 km.
- Other information is both useful and welcome, but is NOT
STRICTLY NECESSARY. Further details can be found below.
- The League Secretary will be very happy to assist you in any way
he can in the process of submitting your entry.
-
Purpose of the League
- To encourage cross-country flying within
the club,
- To raise the profile, within the club, of cross-country flights
made by its members,
- To recognize outstanding cross-country achievements with the
award of trophies.
-
Philosophy
- You can enjoy cross country flying without having lots of kit
dangling off your harness. An airmap and altimeter are all you need to fly XC:
- Flying with a GPS should offer no significant advantage,
- Photographic evidence is not required.
- The rules are designed to make entry to the league as easy as
possible.
- The league relies on trust; it counts on the good sportsmanship
and honesty of participants.
-
General Rules
- There is no minimum distance requirement.
- Coastal flights and ridge-runs are not admissible.
- All flights are measured on the basis of Ordnance Survey
Lanranger Maps.
- A flight may include up to two turnpoints.
- The following enhancement factors will be applied to flights of
at least 15 km, if flown predominantly out of ridge lift:
- Triangle (shortest leg no less than 28% of total): 300%
- Out and return: 200%
- Declared goal: 150%.
- The declared goal enhancement factor may be applied to the first
leg of a turnpoint flight (provided said leg is not shorter than 15
km, and does not form part of a flight subject to the O&R or triangle enhancements.)
- It is not necessary to land at goal; overflying it is acceptable.
- The flights entered in the league will determine the distribution
of 6 trophies (3 HG, 3 PG) at the end of the season:
- Go For It League,
- Wessex League,
- Longest Flight From a Wessex Site.
- The season starts on Nov 1st and ends on Oct 31st.
- The League Secreatary reserves the right to consider the validity
each claim individually and to interpret any or all of the rules in a
way which will benefit anyone making a sensible claim.
- Only flights starting from withtin the UK are admissible.
-
Turnpoints
- A turnpoint must increase the flight distance by a minimum of 15%.
- Turnpoints should be consciously chosen during the flight;
they should NOT be selected a posteriori by looking at a GPS trace.
- A turnpoint should be a landmark which is clearly recognizable
from the air, and identifiable on OS Landranger maps. For example:
- churches
- lange roundabouts
- bridges, particularly if over motorways, railways or rivers
- triangulation points
- the Cerne Giant, Durlston Head ...
Other rules
- Flights to Swanage cannot score more than 39.1 km (the grassy car
park at Durlston Head) - this rule aims to remove the temptation to
land in dangerous places in an attempt to improve your score minimally.
-
Submission of Flights
- Flight data should be submitted to the League Secretary, via email, WWW, fax, telephone, idle
chat on the hill, grapevine, bush telegraph, smoke signal or any other
means. Just get that information in !
- Flight data should include at the very least
- Pilot's name.
- OS Grid references of takeoff, landing and any turnpoints. (The
League Secretary has a large collection of OS maps, and will be happy
to provide assistance with this.)
- A complete entry will also include the following information:
- Date of the flight.
- Glider flown.
- Names or descriptions of takeoff, landing and turnpoints.
- Flights entered with more than a month's delay will be admitted
at the League Secretary's discretion. (New entrants will always be
welcomed; lagte entries of flights flown earlier, in an attempt to improve
one's position at the end of the season, will be viewed less favourably.)
- The league relies on trust, fairness of the participants and
their good sportsmanship:
- No photographic eveidence or witnesses are required. (While not
necessary, such evidence is quite welcome.)
- Turnpoint claims will need to be backed up by arguments
which convince the League Secretary that the pilot was not mistaken
about his position. Such arguments should include a list of landmarks
passed before and after the turnpoint.
- Only one goal may be declared per flight.
- Goal declarations should be made before takeoff, either in
writing or by verbal communication to another person; the purpose of
this is not to provide evidence of the declaration to the secretary,
but to prevent the pilot from later imagining goal declarations which
were never really made.
- A definition of acceptable goals will appear here shortly.
- Please note that the above requirements are extremely leniant
compared to those of the national leagues.
- Please support your club by entering your flights of more than
10km into the national leagues (see point 6 above). The League
Secretary will be pleased to provide assistance and advice.
-
The Go For It League
- The pilot's ten best UK flights of the season determine his score.
-
The Wessex League
- The pilot's best six flights from sites in the Wessex area
contribute to his score.
-
Longest Flight From a Wessex Site
- Exactly what the name suggests.