In the new BLD WR, it's clear that the fact that the competitor removes a sheet instead of a classical cover makes him win about 1.5sec. For more fairness, (and probably because times are getting lower and lower, and 1.5sec is going to be something important in one BLD time now) let's forget about the classical cover (as not everybody can have one) and have a sheet instead.

We've been using sheets in California for a while; it's much easier than keeping track of a set of covers. I think the current cover allows a sheet: [quote:wakkv95j]A2e) The judge places the puzzle onto the Stackmat and covers it completely with an object.[/quote:wakkv95j]

I do agree.

[quote="Edouard Chambon":1h5rbu6g]In the new BLD WR, it's clear that the fact that the competitor removes a sheet instead of a classical cover [b:1h5rbu6g]makes him win about 1.5sec[/b:1h5rbu6g].[/quote:1h5rbu6g] What is this conclusion based on? I fail to see how removing a sheet is in any way faster than removing a cover.

I just watched the WR video again and I can see that the way they placed the sheets allows you to just pick up the cube and remove the sheet at the same time. You don't really need to remove the sheet with a separate hand motion because it's balanced on top of the cube and you can grab the cube straight away. But to say that this saves you 1.5 seconds is greatly exaggerated. Maybe a few tenths of second. At most.

[quote="jazzthief81":2h121xvw]I just watched the WR video again and I can see that the way they placed the sheets allows you to just pick up the cube and remove the sheet at the same time. You don't really need to remove the sheet with a separate hand motion because it's balanced on top of the cube and you can grab the cube straight away. But to say that this saves you 1.5 seconds is greatly exaggerated. Maybe a few tenths of second. At most.[/quote:2h121xvw] Indeed. Unless you have a 5-pound cover, removing it is quite fast, no matter if it's a box or a sheet. Just watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEcuyBFZjKg I didn't rush to take the cover out, and it was less than 20 frames (so less than a second) until I had the cube in my left hand...

In our competitions we normally we use the plastic cups (see WC 2009). I do not mind if someone asks to replace the cup with a paper for blindfolded solving. No need to change the regulations for this, because they are pretty open already.