I think that it is a good idea to allow pilots to head out on course before the first start time. I figure that they are taking the chances, so let them go off by themselves. Also I know that conditions can change at launch and it is best to allow pilots to head out.

Also there is a lot of difference between the first launches and the later ones if there is a restricted launch and a lot of pilots. If you want pilots to launch in the first part of the launch window you've got to give them a reason to get off, and being allowed to start early is an incentive to launch early.

Yes, I realize that there is the argument that the pilots could be flying in different conditions, and I'm sure that this happens and happened at the 2008 Canungra Classic.

One way to get around this is to have an early start time at thirty minutes after the window opens to get those pilots who want to get going an opportunity to do so. But then pilots complain that it doesn't give everyone the opportunity to take the first start time. There is no perfect solution.

As a scorekeeper and scoring program writer (using the GAP 2000 and OzGAP 2005 algorithms) I allowed pilots to start before the first start time. But I move their start time to past the first start time. For example, if they start fourteen minutes before the first start time, I add two time fourteen minutes or twenty eight minutes to the start time and twenty eight minutes to their finish time. This works fine with OzGAP 2005 and GAP 2000, but not GAP 2002 (unless you changed all the times in the pilot's track log).

Now assuming that the start time intervals were fifteen minutes long, you would get the first start time, with a fourteen minute penalty. Of course, if you started fifteen minutes and one second early, you would get the second start time with only a one second penalty. But you would be penalized by having the second start time instead of the first.