Hi Chris,

The ranking system is designed specifically to deal with the potential of uneven groups. Before, your normalized scores were being compared to the normalized scores of other pilots who flew in groups that may have been easier or tougher than yours in front of judges that never judged you. In short, unequal judging exposure applied to groups that may or may not have been balanced in terms of talent. With the ranking system, it's where you place among the pilots you ACTUALLY fly against each day in front of the same judges. What you want is a low number. If you came out first, you get a 1, come out second and you get a 2 and so on. The pilots with the lowest numbers at the end of three days get into the finals. You get your best finish from the 2 rounds you fly each day with one of those rounds being discarded plus your one best discarded round from the three days combined. The pilots with the lowest numbers get into the finals. In essence, these are like qualifying heats in a hydroplane race. They can't put all the boats in the water at once so they have heats. The top finishers from those heats get into the final race to determine the champion. The number of pilots allowed in the finals is at the sole discretion of the Event Director as is the decision of whether or not to use the matrix system and will be announced at the Pilots Meeting. If someone is disqualified for any reason prior to the conclusion of the first finals round for any reason, the next best pilot from the prelims is allowed into the finals. As you can see, the scenario that bit you a couple years ago is now covered.

The easiest way to grasp the whole thing is to view it from a second place finish in a round. Before, 2nd place on Site 1, Round 1 may have been worth a 997 while 2nd place on Site 3, Round 1 was only worth a 985. Comparing those two numbers as we did before is unfair because it's based on different groups flying in front of different judges. With the new system, the 997 from Site 1, Round 1 and the 985 from Site 3, Round 1 are both worth a 2 because they were both second place finishes. It's kind of a "super normalizing".

You and I share a similar perspective of what's happening as one of the 10 or 12 guys on the fringe trying to snag one of the last couple spots into the finals. As you know, there's nothing more frustrating than watching someone get into the finals that you beat when you actually flew head to head with them. Though still possible depending on how you do on the other two days, you should find some comfort in knowing that it wasn't because they were in an easier group than you or got better normalized scores from an easier set of judges than the ones you faced on any given day or that they got to fly on Site 1 all three days while you were stuck on Site 3 which is arguably harder because of all lines and angles.

This is just a snapshot of the system. You really need to read it all from the rulebook to get the whole picture. The Contest Board just added a few sentences to it to clear up some confusion that occurred at the last Nats. I'm not sure if that's been published yet. I suspect it will be simply added to the 2012 Competition Regulations.

Verne