thing, me old buddy, can you possibly tell us more about your gliding experience? you say you have gained the Silver Certificate, that's 5 hours endurance, climb of ? meters, and 50 kilometers x-country. But have you ever flown in competition, with a flock of other gliders sent on the same task?
Yes I have flown in comps, not at national level (don't know if the two seaters at Pocklington are national?) but local comps. I've been in the same tiny bit of thermal as ten or so other ground dodgers.
Can I make a wider point about something that nags at at the back of my head occassionally. There appears, to me at least, to be amongst some flyers a bias towards whatever it is they fly, be it powered, gliders, microlights, paragliders or whatever. The truth is, if you hit someone while flying, it doesn't matter whether you are in the right or in the wrong. What matters is that you are most probably permanently dead. We all need to recognise the strengths and weaknesses of each others aircraft and the strengths and weaknesses of the pilots thereof and stop trying to score points.