DIAGONAL LEG? not over there!
Trouble is, most gliding in the US is a minority sport, sharing the very active airfield with a lot of power planes. Which believe firmly in doing proper "patterns". Announcing their intentions and positions, hopefully, over unicom. (remembering to mention which airfield they are planning to visit).
Which means gliders have to conform to local practice. Downwind, 90 degree turn onto base, 90 degree turn on to final approach.
Also, one of the main gliders used over there for instruction is a tin elephant ...forget the name, but nimble it is not. And the spoilers don't help a lot either.
Worst of all, the sport is regulated by the FAA, which has so little understanding of it that instructors are not even required to do cross country.
The diagonal leg in the UK finally recognised normal safe practice for gliders; just cut off the corner! you never loose sight of your field that way.
I still remember sitting in the back of the K-13, developing a serious case of the leans, wondering if the student would turn base before we were completely out of range.......before they changed the rules at last!