A task setting philosophy (part 2)

Read part 1 first!

Preamble: risk in competitions

A competition pilot's understanding of risk is very different from a normal pilot's understanding of risk. Normal pilots talk in terms of physical risk that might result in an them having an accident. For the purposes of this article, I will call this "safety risk", for example being blown back into a turbulent, partial lee-side. When competition pilots talk of risk it is in the context of either losing time or not getting to goal. I will call this "task risk", for example saving time by choosing not climb in a thermal and so taking the risk of more wasting time by taking more time to climb in the next thermal. Safety risk should be avoided, task risk is what makes interesting tasks.

Creating interesting tasks

Interesting tasks are tasks which are clearly achievable but have no obviously best route. They give pilots many opportunities to take task risks. New XC pilots and racers tend to prefer tasks with obvious routes: it allows them to focus on getting to goal (newbies) or climbing faster and pushing the bar harder than other pilots (racers). For this reason, it is a good idea to set an obvious route for the first part of the task and a less obvious section for the second part.

Imagine that you have the following waypoints on two long ridges (B1-B4-B7 and B3-B6-B9) with valley (B2-B5-B8) in between.

Ridge   Valley  Ridge 
        1               2 

        B1      B2      B3 
        |               | 
        |               | 
        |               | 
        B4      B5      B6 
        |               | 
        |               | 
        |               | 
        B7      B8      B9

Here the ridges can be physical ridges, or, equally, lines of reliable lift sources such as convergence lines. Classic XC routes tend to follow them. For example, the St André les Alpes to Dorimillouse out-and-return is B7 - B1 - B7. The classic XC routes from St Marcel in France are B4 - B7 - B1 - B4.

Examples of boring tasks:
B1 - B7 - B1: this follows an obvious ridge line, there are no options.
B4 - B6: this is slightly better in that it includes a transition, but there is only one place that pilots will cross.

Examples of interesting tasks:
B1 - B9: here the choice of route is not obvious: pilots can chose when to cross from ridge A to ridge B.
B2 - B8: this is a very interesting task: not only do pilots have to chose where to leave the ridges, but they also have the option of following either ridge 1 or ridge 2, or even flying along the valley.

Example areas

Ronaldino, Colombia: this area corresponds almost exactly to the geometry above with take off is at B4. The World Cup set some interesting tasks here, for example:
B4 - B7 - B6 - B2 (Task 1 at the 2011 World Cup)
B4 - B8 - B6 - B2 (Task 2 at the 2011 World Cup)

St Jean de Montclar (FR): this is basically a single ridge site. Take off is at one end of a ridge (B3). Example good tasks are:
B3 - B5 - B8 - B3
B3 - B8 - B2 - B6 - B2

St André les Alpes (FR) is possibly the best paragliding competition destination on the planet, thanks to its complex terrain and reliable weather, and has multiple ridge lines. Take off is halfway along a line of reliable lift, i.e. B6. Good tasks set at the British open include:
B6 - B2 - B8 - B2 - B6
B6 - B3 - B7 - B6

When setting tasks, don't follow ridges. Instead, set diagional transitions across ridges, or use valley turnpoints.

Elapsed time tasks

Elapsed time tasks are disliked by the majority of competition pilots, and it is difficult to set an elapsed time task that is truly fair, and as a result these should only be set as a last resort. Generally speaking, elapsed time tasks should only be set when either the launch site is so small that it is not possible for all pilots to launch within a reasonable time and when the weather conditions are forecast to be consistently weak for the entire day.

When not to set an elapsed-time task

Improving conditions: If conditions are forecast to improve then later pilots will have a significant advantage. Such a task is not fair. It is fairer to set a race-to-goal later in the day.

Worsening conditions: If conditions are expected to worsen, pilots launching early will have an advantage. This is not necessarily a problem as long as the take off is large enough that all pilots are free to chose when they launch, but normally it is better to set a short race-to-goal task with an early land-by time.

Small Launch: What makes elapsed time races fair is that each pilot individually choses when to start. Small launches stop that happening: it can happen that pilots are forced to launch earlier than they would like (and risk going down), more often it happens that pilots are stuck in the launch queue when they would individually chose to launch.

Elapsed time tasks are rarely fair. Remembering the philosophy that tasks should be safe, fair and fun, if it is not possible to set a fair task then it is better to not set a task (as long as there are other tasks in the competition!).

Pre-Start Crowding

The classic start problem is crowding. A number of techniques have been developed to diffuse pilots at the start of the task. These include:

Shot time between Window Open and Start: This effectively makes the task a ground start. The more experienced and confident pilots tend to launch earlier, the less experienced tend to hold back. Therefore, the field spreads out, reducing crowding. This is entirely appropriate for small competitions with a wide variety of skill levels, or if the launch is large enough to allow pilots to launch when they want. In the case of large competitions it is only fair if the launch is large enough to allow pilots to launch when they wish, otherwise it is unfair.

Remote starts and pre-start turnpoints: The goal of remote starts and pre-start turnpoints is to give pilots some extra distance to fly before the race starts. This spreads out the field, once again reducing crowding. As long as pilots launching up to 30 minutes after window open can get to the start line on time (see part 1 on timing) then this is reasonably fair. This approach does tend to annoy less experienced pilots who may bomb out before reaching the start line, but is a good strategy for high level competitions.

Long start lines

Often the best way to reduce crowding is to create the largest equal area for starting. Pilots will naturally spread out along the start line in accordance with their own tactics. Some examples of doing this:

Large entry cylinders: Large entry cylinders provide long, balanced start lines by giving pilots several areas in which to wait before the start opens. Ideally, pilots further from launch should have a slight advantage, for example being slightly more upwind of the first turnpoint than those starting later. This encourages pilots to spread out along the start line.

Off-ridge exit cylinders: A carefully-placed exit cylinder in front of the ridge with a first turnpoint on the ridge can provide a long, balanced start line. The exit cylinder is placed such that pilots starting closer to the first turnpoint must start further out from the ridge (and therefore further from reliable lift), and equally pilots starting nearer to the ridge must start further from the first turnpoint. This can be very effectively, particularly because the use of an exit cylinder draws pilots into the cylinder before the start and therefore away from the ridge.

Start lines on transitions: Placing a start line on a transition, i.e. where there is no reliable lift, is another effective way of reducing crowding. Some pilots will head to the start line early, others will hesitate.

Inverted days

Task setting on inverted days is tricky. There is little vertical space available to separate pilots and lift is often broken. This makes for crowded starts and stressed pilots flighting over lift. Forecasts are not always accurate; sometimes the inversion breaks early and the task - set with the expectation that the inversion would not break - becomes trivially easily. On other days the inversion is lower than anticipated, putting turnpoints out of reach and making the task impossible, ruining it.

Key factors when setting tasks on inverted days are:

• all turnpoints should be several hundred metres below the inversion
  
• avoid crowding, especially at the start
  
• consider setting an elapsed time task with a last start time
  

Tasking the week

Ideally, all days should be equal - we're comparing pilots, not days. Sometimes the weather doesn't play ball and you end up with just a couple of good days in the competition week. Make the most of them.

Pilot fatigue is a big safety factor. Well-rested and un-stressed pilots have far fewer accidents than tired and stressed ones. Beyond not setting tasks with needless safety risks, setting the correct pace for the week (while, of course, making sure that no flying opportunities are missed), is one of the key elements to running a safe competition.

A good rule of thumb is that you should limit competition activities to no more than 50 hours per week, counting from morning briefing to when they have checked in, downloaded their GPS, and are free to go. If you reasonably expect to fly every day, this works out at about three hours flying per day and about 20 flying hours total. If there is enforced rest due to bad weather then you can, of course, have some longer days.

Examples:

St André les Alpes: briefing 9am, on launch by 11am, window open 12pm, start 1pm, land 4pm, retrieved by 5pm, download by 6pm. Total: 9 hours. More than five days of this (5 * 9 = 45) will result in pilot fatigue.

Piedrahita: briefing 9am, on launch by 11am, window open 12pm, land 5pm, retrieved at 7pm, back at HQ by 9pm, download by 10pm. Total: 13 hours. More than four days on this schedule (particularly if the days are consecutive) will result in tired pilots!

St Jean de Montclar: transport 11am, window open 1pm, landed by 4pm, retrieved by 5pm, downloaded by 6pm. Total: 7 hours. With a seven hour day, it's feasible to run six or even seven tasks in a week.

Generally speaking, pilots will need eight hours sleep and four hours for food, beer, tending to their better halves and generally faffing. This leaves twelve hours for competition activities. Twelve hours per day for competition activities is the upper limit: any more than this and you will be accumulating a fatigue debt that you must repay in rest/bad weather days or short tasks later.

Summary

• Tasks should be safe, fair and fun.
  
• Each task should be obvious to start, and difficult later. Think diagonals.
  
• Limit the competition week to 50 hours - that's about 20 hours flying per week.
  
• Make tasks interesting by giving pilots a choice of routes.
  

To come in part 3: creating good waypoint sets, safety turnpoints, and future task formats.