200' Aerotow simulated rope break
I was home in the US in April - two lovely weeks with my family despite by dad being very ill. I took one day for myself and took the glider commercial written test in the morning and the checkride in the afternoon.
As part of the checkride the examiner did a simulated rope break right at 200'. I did an immediate 180-degree turn into the wind (over trees) at a 45-degree bank and continued another 45 degrees to intercept the runway. At this point my speed was slightly slower that I wanted (~57 instead of 60) and it was really hard to push the stick knowing that would give me speed instead of pulling "because I'm so low and need to stay up."
A 45-degree bank the opposite direction saw me lined up with the runway, brakes all the way out and as much slip as I could stand because I was still too high despite the 200' release.
I knew it was coming on one of the flights, so it wasn't a great surprise. I'd imagine it's different when unexpected. Hence, always expect a rope break on the winch and be ready to PUSH HARD NOW, accelerate, and fly the glider safely.
Terry
PS I've never had a real rope break on the winch, though I've seen several and done a number of simulated ones both in the UK and Germany.