32.881678,-111.854982,Francisco Grande, Casa Grande, Arizona,
USA

It has been asserted by a USHPA board member that of these ten
hang gliding pilots:

Four of the top ten would like SFCR to count for the National Team
selection. Three voted to not allow SFCR to count for the National Team
selection. Three would have voted yes if there was no opposition, but choose to
vote no since there was opposition. Therefore the majority are saying do not
allow it.

If this is true, this would indicate disgusting behavior on the
part of six of these pilots. But it is not necessarily true.

The US hang gliding competition program is a fragile construction. It relies on
interested pilots, competition meet organizers, meet directors, tug owners, tug
pilots, scorekeepers, volunteers, the town of Big Spring, and last and least on
the USHPA Competition Committee. If we don’t support meet organizers we won’t
have a competition program. Both Jamie and David have spoken recently about not
continuing to run their three competitions. The fourth main competition relies
on Jamie’s Race and Rally to be viable.

We all need to support Jamie and to support her 2012 US Nationals competition at
the Francisco Grande. If we are selfish and do not look out for all our fellow
competitors we will not have any competitions to fly in.

It would not leave a good taste in our mouths if any pilot (much less six) made
life difficult for Jamie, and therefore for all of us.

Every year all the sanctioned hang gliding competitions count for the National
Team selection. Only because of a glitch in the rules (that no one other than
Zac Majors caught) would it be the case that the SCFR doesn't does this year.

It was reported to me last night that the USHPA Competition Committee voted to
not allow the SCFR to be used to selecting the US National team for the 2013
Worlds. This totally sucks.