"DSK" wrote

The key is to build up experience & skills consistently and remain aware
of your limits, and those of of your vessel & crew. A lot of people have
been sailing for years, but really have not expanded their experience
beyond anything a relative novice would encounter. We call this the "20
years of experience versus 1 year of experience repeated 20 times"
syndrome.

I meet people like that all the time. I was speaking to a
group of skippers at a club meeting a few years ago.
My point was obvious, the best way to learn to sail is on
small boats. One fellow was very vocal about that not
being true. He'd only been sailing a few years, mostly on
one 32 boat. He had very limited experience and would not admit it.