On Mar 4, 7:28 am, wrote:
....
How about this- the skills that are rewarded in racing have a pretty
high correlation to the skills which make cruising safer and less
worrisome...

If you were to add "while underway" somewhere in there I'd be
content.

Mostly coastal sailing, mostly on the US East Coast although I've
sailed a lot of other places, and have done enough passagemaking to
know what it's like. Most recently my wife and I completed a Great
Loop cruise around the eastern US & Canada, and even on a tugboat the
skills I'm talking about contribute greatly to a smooth & safe cruise.

Neat. I think I use my racing skills most when we are trying to get
someplace say 50-70 miles away in the daylight (generally short
tropical days) and less on longer passages. At anchor not at all.
I'm guessing that US East Coast sailing involves a larger percent of
the day hopping stuff and less of the "how many weeks have we been out
here?" stuff. I wouldn't be surprised to find that played a big part
in our philosophical differences. I also have this feeling that I'm
missing some important part of your thesis. Sorry about that.

I'd be interested to know what kind of boats you raced, and what
position in the crew you held. For my own part, I've done a little of
everything but generally prefer to drive.

Yes, I can play most positions competently, too. I grew up racing the
family boats which were one designs and the usual youth stuff. I
moved on to fairly serious 470 and J-24 racing and also crewed on the
big boats. I've done some name brand ocean races and lots of PHRF
stuff. I have a "good" collection of horrible silver-plate, tatty
flags and miscellaneous trophy things...

-- Tom.