RE: European Championship In AUSTRIA
Re biasing, I have to say that sometimes (sometimes!) one judge prefers one particular flying style that matches a competitor and thus he seems "biased" towards him, while another one does not like it at all. Although I wasn't there to see the contest, I can imagine that the top three pilots flew in completely different ways: CPLR probably quite fast and big, Mayr (as reported) extremely slow and Silvestri something in between (on the slower side, I guess). If the judge likes a slow type of flight, he will seem to be "biased" towards the latter two. I am not defending anybody in particular, as I don't know them personally.
Do not forget that pilots flew 4x preliminary rounds, 2 semifinals and 4 final rounds, that makes 10x 8 minutes, or just over an hour. Judges scored throughout the week and cumulated a lot of judging hours.
Thanks to the current software, it is immediately possible to identify these differences and have a talk with the judge(s) involved. If it turns out that he is indeed biased, I don't think that we will see him again at the next international competition. Even if currently there is shortage in good (and international level) judges, with many countries (including Switzerland) that do not currently have an international judge.
Remember: if pilots are allowed to make a mistake, so should judges. The system applied should ensure that these mistakes (or bias) do not influence the final score. I have rarely (actually: never) seen or been at a competition where the winner wasn't the best pilot.
Best regards
Fabrizio